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Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller

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“Keith”, “Max”, “Skorobeus”? I either need to play through previous episodes again or there will be new suspects introduced right before the reveal.

     

NP: A Link Between Worlds, Beneath a Steel Sky and Vampyr

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Skorobeus?  Let me guess—Jane Jensen named that one.

     
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LOL, no, that name came from a backer, actually.

Max has been mentioned before—that’s the name of Cordelia’s brother. Keith & Skorobeus are new, though. This is the first time we’ll be seeing any of them, though.

     

Katie Hallahan
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KatieHal - 10 May 2013 11:29 AM

Good news!!

Cognition Episode 3: The Oracle has a release date! Next week, on Thursday May 16th, we will be launching the episode and celebrating with a live launch party!

Join us at our YouTube channel at 11 AM PST/2 PM EST for a Google Hangout with the directors, designers, and special guest composer Austin Haynes where we’ll take your questions, talk about the Episode and have some exclusive giveaways!

Oh, and did we mention that in this episode you’ll not only find out who the killer is, but you’ll be playing as them as well? Smile Check out the new teaser trailer and let us know who YOU think the killer is!

Great news indeed! Love the series so far:)

     
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Skorobeus: Still a less stupid name than Malachi Rector.  Wink

     
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I really don’t see why that one’s such a terrible name, but to each their own I guess. Tongue

A friend of mine who helped us out with play-testing remarked that the named Skorobeus sounded like it should be a dragon’s name,. Smile I kinda love it because it is such a great name that’s clearly not going to come up in the real world.

     

Katie Hallahan
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Personally I think Skorobus sounds like a misspelled name for a porn site. And Malachi Rector is a great example of trying to make a name that makes the character sound even more mysterious. Most of the time it is just ridiculous.

     
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KatieHal - 12 May 2013 11:44 AM

I kinda love it because it is such a great name that’s clearly not going to come up in the real world.

Tell that to my 6 month old niece!

     

Life is what it is.

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tomimt - 12 May 2013 12:19 PM

Personally I think Skorobus sounds like a misspelled name for a porn site. And Malachi Rector is a great example of trying to make a name that makes the character sound even more mysterious. Most of the time it is just ridiculous.

Sorry to get a little off topic, but since people seem to like poking fun at “Malachi Rector,” here’s an explanation Jane gave in a recent interview:

How do you come up with names for you character? Where did Samantha Everett and Malachi Rector get their names?

For Sam, she’s a tough character and so I wanted a name that could be boyish and yet feminine too. Everett is the name of a city north of Seattle, where we lived at the time. The name Rector is an old German name and close to my mother’s maiden name (Rarick).  Malachi’s father is German and his mother was Spanish. Then Malachi just struck me as rather old fashioned and unusual (and biblical) and suited to his sort of prophetic meta purpose in the story. His nickname is Kye (pronounced like ‘eye’), though he doesn’t let many people call him that.

As a writer myself, I know that a lot of thought goes into characters’ names and authors often land on something that embodies the character in some way. In the case of Malachi, very few people besides Jane have “met” him yet, so who are we to say it’s not an appropriate name? Wink You have to admit that if he were named “Bob Smith” (or even, ahem, “Gabriel Knight”) you’d have a different opinion of what sort of character he is from the get-go.

Getting back to Cognition, I’ve played episode 3 [I’m doing PR for the game] and the name Skorobeus definitely adds a dimension of “hmm, what’s this guy up to?” to this particular character that a “Bob Smith” or equally “normal” name wouldn’t have. That being said, I keep referring to him as “purple suit guy” because I can’t remember how to spell Skorobeus. Meh

     
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fov - 12 May 2013 01:41 PM

As a writer myself, I know that a lot of thought goes into characters’ names and authors often land on something that embodies the character in some way. In the case of Malachi, very few people besides Jane have “met” him yet, so who are we to say it’s not an appropriate name? Wink You have to admit that if he were named “Bob Smith” (or even, ahem, “Gabriel Knight”) you’d have a different opinion of what sort of character he is from the get-go.

Getting back to Cognition, I’ve played episode 3 [I’m doing PR for the game] and the name Skorobeus definitely adds a dimension of “hmm, what’s this guy up to?” to this particular character that a “Bob Smith” or equally “normal” name wouldn’t have. That being said, I keep referring to him as “purple suit guy” because I can’t remember how to spell Skorobeus. Meh

If a story has a character of importance named “John Doe”, and the only way the writer manages to portray his importance is to change his name into Prophecy Fulfiller, then that’s more of a weaknes from writers part. I’ve personally grown a distase towards “prophetic names”, as I see them more of a lazy attempt of sounding cool. The actual research doesn’t matter IMO. It’s rather old gimmick and I’d hope writers would get over it.

 

     
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“Malachi” always makes me think of Children of the Corn, and the actor who played him, Courtney Gains.


Bt

     
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tomimt - 12 May 2013 02:28 PM

If a story has a character of importance named “John Doe”, and the only way the writer manages to portray his importance is to change his name into Prophecy Fulfiller, then that’s more of a weaknes from writers part. I’ve personally grown a distase towards “prophetic names”, as I see them more of a lazy attempt of sounding cool. The actual research doesn’t matter IMO. It’s rather old gimmick and I’d hope writers would get over it.

THIS.  A THOUSAND TIMES, THIS.

Sigh…Jane Jensen.  I’m going to start calling her “Hackney McDrivel” from now on.

“Gabriel Knight” is almost as bad, by the way, but at least that one is somewhat plausible.  Malachi Rector just sounds painfully fake.  A name clearly invented to try and sound as “prophetic” and “mysterious” as possible.  It’s a weakness, not a strength, for the very reasons outlined so perfectly by tomimt above.  It’s lazy, overwrought, Stephanie Meyer caliber bullshit.

     

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are there any options to purchase the episodes drm free yet?

     
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Lambonius - 12 May 2013 10:08 PM
tomimt - 12 May 2013 02:28 PM

If a story has a character of importance named “John Doe”, and the only way the writer manages to portray his importance is to change his name into Prophecy Fulfiller, then that’s more of a weaknes from writers part. I’ve personally grown a distase towards “prophetic names”, as I see them more of a lazy attempt of sounding cool. The actual research doesn’t matter IMO. It’s rather old gimmick and I’d hope writers would get over it.

THIS.  A THOUSAND TIMES, THIS.

Sigh…Jane Jensen.  I’m going to start calling her “Hackney McDrivel” from now on.

“Gabriel Knight” is almost as bad, by the way, but at least that one is somewhat plausible.  Malachi Rector just sounds painfully fake.  A name clearly invented to try and sound as “prophetic” and “mysterious” as possible.  It’s a weakness, not a strength, for the very reasons outlined so perfectly by tomimt above.  It’s lazy, overwrought, Stephanie Meyer caliber bullshit.

The worst is probably the cringeworthy title “Gray Matter” but strangely Samantha Everett is Jensen’s most sensible character name.

Not that I mind too much, at most I find it amusing and I’m fully aware it’s both a computer game and pulpy fiction, both perfect vehicles for Hackney McDrivel.

I’ve never read Stephanie Meyer but I’m 99% sure if Twilight were an adventure game series we’d praise it as much as Gabe Knight.

     

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tomimt - 12 May 2013 02:28 PM

If a story has a character of importance named “John Doe”, and the only way the writer manages to portray his importance is to change his name into Prophecy Fulfiller, then that’s more of a weaknes from writers part. I’ve personally grown a distase towards “prophetic names”, as I see them more of a lazy attempt of sounding cool. The actual research doesn’t matter IMO. It’s rather old gimmick and I’d hope writers would get over it.

While I agree with the overall sentiment here, we have no idea as of yet how well(or not) developed a character Malachi Rector will be, so him having a distinctive name, whether judged as a good or bad thing, doesn’t mean anything as to the character’s development as things stand now.  And in my opinion based on her past work, having interesting, well-developed characters in her stories is one of Jensen’s strong points.

Getting back on Cognition, definitely looking forward to the release on the 16th.  The series has been strong thus far and expecting that this episode will be the best one to date.

     

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