Larian Studios Forums Divinity 2 - Ego Draconis (English) Divinity 2 - Ego Draconis Divinity II: Why it is called "Ego Draconis"

People have wondered why it is exactly Divinity II goes by the name of Ego Draconis, so let me explain. "Ego" is Latin for "I" and "Draconis" is the genitive of "Draco" meaning "dragon". Why then, isn't the game simply called "Ego Draco"? Well actually, there is a very good reason, namely that "Ego Draconis" is a genitive of origin. This means that Divinity II isn't called "I, dragon", but "I of dragon", or more fluently translated, "I, descendant, scion, heir or successor of the dragon". Which of these possibilities comes closest to the meaning we want it to carry, or how it ties in with the story, is for you to find out when the game ships.

Hope this clears things up! Class dismissed.

Cheers,

Macbeth

was already wondering if draco followed the conjugation of 'avus' or 'dux' :p
mystery solved I guess

Interesting. Thanks MacBeth

i would say "divine divinity II- age of dragon's" sound better..
or:
"divine divinity II- dragon slayer"
or:
"Divine Divinity II- rawr. for i am, le dragon."

Divine Divinity ranks 21 in the Worst Video Game Names of all time. Although the actual ranking the name should have is debatable it does belong in that list. Divine Divinity is a stupid name.
For this sequel they dropped the 'Divine' which is good.
Personally I would have sticked with just Divinity 2. In my opinion the Ego Draconis addition doesn't make it a better title.

but ego draconis makes the whole name nerdy. sorry but its true
saying the "Idragon" would be simpler.. althogh not original xD

its an RPG.

I tend to think of Divine Divinity as the originally intended Divinity: Sword of Lies (a much better name for it!). In that context, : Ego Draconis has a similar naming pattern, and a nice symmetry.

Why did publisher decid to change the name into divine divinity?

I assume the name change was due to marketing or focus groups (someone thought the original name was too complicated, or that DD was cool, or catchy). I don't know if the publisher ever explained their reasoning (as I understand it they didn't even tell Larian about the rename in advance).

My own assumption is that they did it, because of the then similar-sounding good selling game by them, which was called "Sudden Strike".
I assume that someone at CDV just thought: Let's make another title with this naming pattern !

Only, Sudden Strike made sense.

And so does Ego Draconis!

and so why did you not oppose them!?

Yes it makes sense and it takes someone with a degree in literature to explain that it does. Which means that a majority of those potential buyers that do not visit this thread probably don't have a clue what the title is about and might even avoid it. That or you end up with another range of articles and newsbits where the opening part is spent on the choice of names for Divinity instead of its content.

People avoid games, books, movies, because they don't know what the title means? If they are that shallow, we should name everything "The Awesome Greatness of Challenging Fun". I hear people like things that are awesome, great, challenging and fun.

A name is just a name. You know: "that which we call a rose/by any other name would smell as sweet."

the bestest game evar II: it pwnz all the other gamez

bit long, but the most awsomeness title for a game evah!

If I bought games because the names made sense I wouldn't own a ton of the games I do - starting with Divine Divinity, which is nonsense in any language and shows an embarrassing lack of literacy in whoever came up with it.

Even if you take 'divine' in the sense of 'find by investigation' it should still have been called 'Divining Divinity' in order to make sense.

Proper conjugation does not kill

sorry for being under the radar, everyone! :P

i only saw this a few hours earlier & boy, what a good shock to the system it gave me. the trailer was truly drool inducing.

back on topic; i love the name Ego Draconis for the fact that it gives an aura of mystery (with that slight sci-fi feel too) to DD2. can i still call it DD2 for old times' sake?

now back off topic; where is Barta?

glad to see some of u again - Draggy, EK, Myrthos, Al, Raze, Rince, Lews.

aahh.... u too, Macbeth.

Ah yes, but we are fans. We don't care what's the name of the game, we'll buy it anyway. Then again there are those who do care. You can believe that all the bickering about the Divine Divinity name in almost every review did not hurt the game, but I believe it did. I also think that there are plenty of people out there that don't consider buying a game because they think the name is silly and make the connection 'Stupid name = stupid game'. You will find enough responses on the internet to support this statement, also with respect to Divine Divinity.
Fortunately there will be enough people who don't care and are not that shallow and did buy Divine Divinity. Still it amazes me that there are marketeers who actually thought the name Divine Divinity was great. Maybe in Germany there are other marketing rules about branding.

Divinity 2: Ego Draconis as a name is an improvement over Divine Divinity. I don't know what the marketing logic is for a proper subtitle to a brand that has already been flamed for having a silly name. Somehow I think it should be a name that doesn't start similar discussions about the name again. Still the first comments are already there.

Hey Jang!

Agreed on the name thing - I love Ego Draconis. Sounds great

Edit: Myrthos - I really don't get your point. What is wrong with Ego Draconis?

In a world where games development is a multi dollar business you don't want sites and paper magazines to make jokes about the name of your game. I belief that to be very bad for business. Good names are catching and have a positive ring to them.
Having a game with a title that needs explanation by someone with a degree in literature or at least someone fluent enough in latin, is not really a catching title. It's more a title that will bring back all the fun people had over the name Divine Divinity, which isn't really a positive ring. I think it will hurt the sales of the game. That's my major issue with the name.

For the record: I couldn't care less about the title, as far as I am concerned it can be called Divinity 2 and the missing bathtub, I still would buy it and make any effort possible to create a strategy guide for it and tell everyone (if the game really is good) to buy it. So I will be gladly corrected by reality next year when the reviews will show up on the internet and magazines, without devoting an entire paragraph on the name.

Actually, even without an explanation to provide some depth to the meaning, I think the title is pretty recognizable as 'I dragon', which should be close enough not to confuse people. Even if it is interpreted as 'the dragon' etc, that still kind of gets the main point across.

I agree with Raze.

I didn't see too many complaints that you need to know something of Medieval Christian Demonology to understand what 'Diablo' is - but you would. Didn't hurt sales too much, there

There are plenty of names that make no sense unless you know the background, though - certainly far less than 'Ego Draconis'.

What exactly does 'Warhammer 40,000' mean? 'Baldur's Gate' tells you nothing. How about HALO? Or Crysis - which is not even a word? 'Mass Effect' is pure nonsense... You get the idea

What sells a game is not the name, but how well potential customers understand exactly what it's about and how much interest they have in what they hear. Some of the best selling games of all time have names that make little real sense. How clear would 'The Sims' be as a title to someone who didn't know what the games were about? 'Final Fantasy' means what exactly? Could be anything, right?

You get the idea, I'm sure. Interest people enough in the game and you could call it almost anything you want

Myrthos;
The difference here I think is that Divine Divinity was silly and redundant, while Ego Draconis sounds cool and mysterious. Even if its meaning is not immediately obvious (though draco/dragon is a no-brainer), I think the mystery would be a draw, not a turn-off, for the uninitiated.

If anything about the name is mentioned in future reviews, it will probably be in reference to the improved naming of the sequel. 'Cause there's no escaping the naming of the original.

I beg to differ. I'm convinced the Divine Divinity name hurt sales because of the reactions that you can find everywhere. Do some research on the opinions on the name of the game and the comments that people didn't want to touch it because of its name. I agree with you if you call those people stupid for not seeing past the name, but that doesn't take away their opinion.
Divinity 2 is bound to be compared to its predecessor with the stupid name. Does Ego Draconis put a stop to those discussions? I think it won't be as bad compared to Divine Divinity, but it isn't a name that would stop that debate. A debate you wouldn't want them to have in the first place.

Games are sold because people learn about their existance. Reviews, magazines, advertising, and hear say to name a few. There are plenty of people that don't inform themselves properly before making a purchase. And I'm sure you can't name a game anything you want unless you have the benefit of a lot of money or a big publisher.

Warhammer 40K followed a very strong title named Warhammer. It could have been named anything.
Halo was hyped for the release of the Xbox. It could have been named anything with Microsoft backing it.
Baldur's Gate is a name that isn't bad in my opinion. Not good either though, but not a name that raises any discussions.
Crysis is a stupid name in my opinion. But FPS games just sell a lot better than RPG's
Mass Effect is from Bioware, they have some track record as far as games are concerned, so they probably get away with a lot of names.
Ego Draconis follows Divine Divinity that ended up in the top 50 of worst names ever.

Like I said before I would have sticked with Divinity 2

...but Divinity 2: Ego Draconis sounds better...
I must admit that also Final Fantasy is perhaps a stupid name as another member said before...but sold milions of copies...

However I think that the name "Divine Divinity" is considered stupid for magazines,articles,previews and reviews...not for people...:people don't care about the stupidity of the name...;the magazines writers underline it as defect of the game. I remeber that when I bought DD in summer 2005 I didn' t care about its name...but I liked (I only play few hours) its graphics, its style, its music , its dialogues...etc...

I think that a name is very imporatant for a person, for films, for games ect...but I don't think that people are so stupid to judge a game only for his (stupid?) name...

if DD sold not many copies...the problem I think is that publisher did not publicize too much the game...imho...

Myrthos & Juanpablo...

Divine Divinity is a stupid name - no question at all. But honestly I think the main problem was a lack of publicity. I'm pretty sure I'd never heard of it when I saw it (I know I knew nothing about it) and while I appreciate that Larian just don't have the resources to do a massive Blizzard-level push I think it was that combined with the name that hurt, not the name alone.

The number of people who are bored enough to pick up a game they have never heard of with a silly name... Well, it's not gonna happen very often...

the same thing that I think and underline in my last post...
I think that the publisher and not Larian Studios didn' t make too much publicity (as Elliot said) for the game...
Why?
we don' t know...
budget I think...

Ehhh...still, you're talking about the first game here, and like I said, there's nothing to be done about that title or the negative comments and feelings it generated, except to not repeat the same mistake. I too think Divinity 2 would have been sufficient, but Ego Draconis isn't going to land in any bad names lists.

There are a significant number of people who make game purchases as impulse buys in retail stores. This demographic will be influenced strongly by name and box art. I can certainly see people not picking up DD to check out based on the name, or their perception of the box art. With ED, though I don't think the name will give a negative first impression. Even if it does, though, presumably having a dragon on the box (I assume) will more than make up for that, for those interested in fantasy themed RPGs.

Like other have said, positive coverage or publicity also overcomes negative connotations of the name. DD didn't get much marketing, and a few weeks after release I rarely saw it on store shelves around here (when I did I'd make sure it was in front, though ). Hopefully ED will do better in that regard.

And I hope these comments or these, which are triggered by the first name remain an incident.
I don't think Ego Draconis is a strong name, but as I said before on a personal level I couldn't care less what it is called. We can agree to disagree and that I'm the odd one out on this one
I'll gladly be proven wrong on this subject too.

It's not that we hade a real choice about the name Divine Divinity. When we decided to have a go with CDV it was in the package. And believe me, we tried to convince them otherwise.

For Div 2 now it's just a subtitle and a matter of taste anyway I guess. We discussed several possible ideas for quite some time in the office at the end it was a fair team vote. And personally I like the sound of EGO DRACONIS. But then again I'm neighter a english nore latin native speaker.

I know Divine Divinity was forced upon everyone by CDV and that unfortunately the responsible person could not be fired
And meeting a native latin speaker would be cool

Look... *hints at the "day of the tentacle" time machine*

Nice to have one of those around, let's go and find a Latin girl

There is a new backstory entry at The Locus inn, which has recently moved from RPGDot (which is no more) to the RPGWatch realms.

Look here: http://www.locusinn.com/#10523

I love the name Ego Draconis. While most people won't know exactly what it means, any one with half the sense of a farm-raised turkey will know it has something to do with dragons. And IMHO, box-art will have a lot more to do with people buying it on impulse than a name. If the cover of a box has great artwork, with dragons, battlefields, and fires, it barely matters what the name is

Let's hope so!

Please send this to the publisher of and tell them they lost half the sense of a farm-raised turkey

I was wondering, about hte name alson. Can you ride dragons or horses in this game?

And unfortunatley I was one of the people with nothing else to do in my life at the moment that to pick up anunknown computer game and buy it!! :P

In D2:ED you can turn into a dragon. Since your character is a dragon slayer (a source of some conflict once you are 'cursed' with the ability to change into one) it is unlikely you would be able to ride a dragon. Riding horses has not been mentioned or shown, so I doubt that would be possible either.

Unofficial FAQ


Welcome to the forum.

Wow, have the forums ever changed since I was last here. I'll have to put this back on my regular visiting list again now that D2 is on its way.

indeed indeed...already done my good man........

hey RaZe , how you doing friend ...still here ...i see .. thats awesome ..

Thought I'd pop in again and see if there was any news on Divinity 2. Imagine my surprise when I see its due for release this year. WOO! =D. Personally I love the name, but then anything is better than Divine Divinity =P.

BlackHawk / Turak.

ive been wondering what ego draconis means

Ego is latin for "me" and I suppose that Draconis has something to do with the dragon, so I am guessing something like "me, the dragon" or "i am a dragon" or sth like that

Euhm... the meaning of the title has been explained in the very first post in this thread

damn I was very close without having read that... my 2 years of latin studies still pays of sometimes

no ego draconis is nice name

Glad you like it. Welcome to the forum!

Great name, a bit misterious, and also i think that the picture from the game it's related to the name so that's cool for a game.

I think Divinity II: Ego Draconis is a very good title for a rpg.

A bit of latin is always classy and it's also somewhat mysterious: Chances are folks won't exactly know what it means but that it has something to do with "dragons" and "yourself" and will be intrigued by it (that's how it was for me until I read the thread's opening post ).

Plus, I simply like the sound of it. Kinda cool.

I never thought of why does it called Ego Draconis but it's interesting
Thanks teacher!

You're welcome!

I think also in a world that is getting even more so loaded w/ lots of expansion packs and DLC, this is probably why sub-titles are becoming even more commonplace -- for gamers and people to be able to easier differentiate b/t the original box game and its later expansions, stand-alone expansions, and/or DLC's.

I mean, would anybody have complained if original game "Guild Wars" was say re-titled Guild Wars: Prophecies? When I say "Guild Wars", what campaign of the game am I referring to? Hmmmm...Am I referring to all of the GW Content? Nightfall? Prophecies? Factions? Eye of the North? Which one? I think a sub-title makes it easier for me and gamers to be specific, if they choose to be.

I have no problem w/ the title "Divinity 2" or "Divinity 2: Ego Draconis" -- actually, I like the specific-ness of the subtitle "Ego Draconis", which translates into "I, from/of the Dragon" (as a scion or descendant).

It's a lot better of a title than the title overly redundant "Divine Divinity."

I agree completely.
You can still call it "Divinity 2", but if there are add-ons eventually, you can call it "Ego Draconis".

Personally, I even use Ego Draconis usually when I mention it, 'cause hardly anybody knows about Divinity anyway.

I don't know about the degree bit, I didn't even take lit. at college and even I knew that "draconis" was something to do with dragons and that "ego" was something to do with a person/me. I think most people would at least get the draconis bit. You don't need to understand the litteral translation to understand the meaning. Maybe that's just me

BTW: BlackHawk is your avatar of a spacewolf/something similar? good paint-job if it is

Name is good.

I liked first Divine Divinity.. I like this.

Nerdy? Hah.. this game apparently isn´t made for no-brainers. So name suits it well.

I haven´t study latin, but meaning of those words is quite easy to get.. unless you are completely stupid.

The idea of a dragon is easy to understand, but a non-Latinist would more likely think "draconis" is a nominative (subject, "I, the Dragon") than a genitive (I, of the Dragon). The wrong translation looks like an identity, while the right one is more "family-related". That's pretty cool, some kind of House in the Roman time.

Yet, I found "I, of the Dragon" isn't a perfect translation. Latin is a very economical language, and, though the flexional system permits to change the place of the words, it has some habits. So, a genetive after the word it goes with is rare. I guess there is an attribute missing, so that translation would be: "I am [the Son? the Legacy?] of the Dragon." Sounds better, doesn't it?

Oh, I know it isn't real Latin but a Latin-like title of a modern game, but I have fun analyzing that (yes, yes, really!). Little philologist delirium, don't worry

[And sorry if my English isn't perfect; I'm not sure of the translation of grammatical vocabulary)

Ah and here I see the name in a whole different light. Some of you may know me and some wont. I remember when I first picked up Divine Divinity years ago and joined the forums. For some reason a few forum memebers including me started up a Role-Playing Thread. ( Thats still before Larian moved over to the new servers and we lost the thread ) But it focused around a story of a Dragon Knight that used to be able to turn into a dragon on command.

A few of you might remember it. And I am not even sure if they decided to base the new game on the Story. But something just hit home in the end. The name suits it perfectly and I doubt there could have even been another choice.

To Larian Studios. Well done on another brilliant game. Now the wait is on for when it finally gets released in South Africa for me.

There already exists a game called "The I Of The Dragon", in English language.

Ego sum draconis?

Ego draconis [sum], yeah :p Latin doesn't like redondancy(?), so there is a choice between "ego" and "sum" to make. Yet, "Ego Draconis" is a great title in a phonetic point of view

Redundancy Which - as you point out - means either "ego" or "sum" is interchangable and in this case, I'm certain "ego" sounds best.

Me too "Draconis Sum" sounds like some Asian meal, while you can get 4 pages of debate about "Ego Draconis"

That's why I find Latin title interesting; the interpretation makes you thinking a little time

¿Ego Dracon is?

I thougt "ego draconis" is "age of dragons"
heh

Aetas Draconis

Showoff!

Ceterum censeo Greever esse delendam!

Bring it!

Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo, MacBeth pathice.

(Parental Advisary: Explicit Latin)

Tua mater!

(Yeah, I said it.)

What a language, guys! (or "girls"? I guess so because the "delendam") Lucky I'm too shy to translate your insanities.

(Especially because "irruo" and "te pedico" have perfect translations in English ^^ though I'm not even sure that's in any Latin/English dictionary for students... Roman people were quite hot-blooded.)

The Vatican approves of this game.

But why isn't there a latin discussion board for Divinity? Tsk, you gotta think globally, Larian...

It's probably called Ego Draconis because it sounds cool.

Haha, good guess.
I like the title ego draconis and the meaning of the title

Well, as you can read there's a little more to it than just 'cool'.

The latin here makes me wonder if the latin Sermon in the chapel is a easter egg. I demand transcript and translation .

I love it when games get all esoteric. Although I feel the work esoteric is in itself esoteric, lol. It's as Shakespeare said, "What is in a name? Would a rose by any other name not smell as sweet?" I think a good game doesn't have much to do with the title. Although I must admit, Ego Draconis does sound pretty sweet.

i think the image on the box will attract people more than the actual name on the box...

I think the premise of ego draconis is to make people curious about the game.
I bought it yesterday and will start playing it soon. I dabbed into it a bit and i find the graphics amazing!