Calling All Gamers!

Wow, where have I been?  My last journal was months ago. Well, since Guild Wars 2* came out, my life has been a bit of a blur.  Days have faded into nights, and nights, into day.  I'm not even sure what year it is any more, to be honest.

However, all these games I've been playing lately have got me thinking.  In many games, you can name your character whatever you want, but the people of the realm address you by a common title, such as "hero."  In Dragon Age: Origins, you were "The Grey Warden."  In Mass Effect, you were "Commander Shepard."  On the other hand, I have played a couple of games before (now these are very few, mind you) where you could select a pre-determined name from a list of names and opt to be called, in speech, by that name from other people in the world.  I thought this added a touch of realism/RPG, myself.

So, that leads me to my question which I put forth in journal form because I can't do polls any more:

Do you prefer to name your character anything you want and be called in-game by a generic title, or do you prefer to choose from a smaller list of pre-determined names but have the in-game characters address you by name?

I think I prefer to be called by name, even if it's not exactly what I'd type for my character myself.  Granted, in Mass Effect, you were called by name, but it wasn't one you had any say on.  There's just something really cool and RPG-building about picking a name for your character and hearing it in-game.   What do you fine, upstanding folk think?  That is, if you're not busy playing GW2 or something.

* _{OH MY GOD SO AWESOME.  Waybetter than Diablo III.  I mean, seriously, they can't even compare.  Honestly, it doesn't even compare to GW1.  They got so many things right.  Thank you to the GW2 team!  It's been a long time since I couldn't put a game down, and it's been even longer since I played a game that felt like the creators cared about the user experience and not just the bottom line.  Diablo III: Not worth $60.  Guild Wars 2: Soooo worth $60.  And this is coming from a tightwad.   Get a copy!  Or don't, actually.  It will ruin a good two weeks or more of your life.  You'll start to stink from lack of hygiene and won't notice or care.  You will get boils on your butt from sitting in the chair so long.  Your skin will grow pale and sallow and your eyes will sink in.  Basically, you'll become a WoW player, except you'll have more fun, won't pay a monthly subscription fee, and you won't have the stigma WoW players do.   Okay, gushing over.  Back to GW2 for me!}