This was probably already mentioned but I noticed DoW2 retribution has every faction calling them chaos space marines. Orks call them spikey boyz but I may have heard them call them chaos marines also.
We care about this enough to justify putting our time into making the case for changing/fixing it, and we know there are a large number of less vocal peeps who support this change being made from the two polls conducted over the past 6 months. We aren't arguing that this is the most important change that could be made, only that it's a low effort change that would be valued highly by many chaos players, which players of other factions have also recognised and agreed with alongside us. We think that's a pretty good reason not to dismiss it out of hand. The real difficulty with trying to judge how valuable it is is that it's a very subjective issue. How important would it be if Space Wolves were give a Librarian class rather than a lore accurate Wolf Priest? In gameplay terms, people of other factions (or even other Space Marine chapters) could justifiably say "So what? Surely other things are more important to address?". To Space Wolf players, who are passionate about the lore of their chapter, misrepresenting one of their key unique features would cause a fair bit of unhappiness. And in this case, implementing Wolf Priests would be more effort than renaming a class. Similarly, if the Eldar Seer class was named the Eldar Witch class, we'd be joining the outraged Eldar players in arguing for it to be named in line with Eldar lore, not Imperial judgement. And setting aside the outrage that would occur if the LSM tactical was renamed a "Lapdog Marine", which is basically the situation we have in reverse, we'd also be right there with you in asking for it to be changed. These things may not be the same as fixing a gameplay bug, but they nonetheless play an important role to the communities behind the factions. In the long-run, that will be just as important in keeping the game afloat and successful as resolving any individual gameplay issue.
If you haven't really encountered Chaos' side of the lore, and would find it interesting to see their perspective rather than their typical role as fall guys in the Imperial stories, I'd recommend Soul Hunter, Storm of Iron and/or Talon of Horus. That's partly because they're all fantastic stories in their own right, and widely acclaimed across the 40k fan base. That's partly because they tell three very different stories, of three very different characters and situations, and each has something genuinely interesting to show about different aspects of the Chaos faction which the Imperial lore rarely touches on. That's partly because they're relevant here; Soul Hunter (Night Lords) and Talon of Horus (Black Legion) are both written by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, who also worked on the lore and writing for EC. Storm of Iron (Iron Warriors) was written by Graham McNeill, another well-recognised Black Library author, credited with causing a huge surge of new interest in the Iron Warriors. All three legions are represented in EC. And that's partly because they are in my view the best stories for shining a light on why Chaos is a surprisingly popular faction, and the motivations of different groups of Chaos Space Marines, which both go beyond the "we're the heels of 40k, kill everything, RAWRR!" label that a number of people presume is the only reason. Particularly if they've never explored the lore of 40k beyond the Imperial factions, who understandably have a galaxy-sized downer on their archenemy.
So... back to business then, I think the poll has grown to the point that it would be a good time to attempt to start a legitimate conversation with the people actually able to make the change. Of course it's not unanimous, but there appears to be overwhelming support barring an unexpected change.
Indeed. I am still happy to draft an open letter as a starting point and share it with the proposed signatories to edit, if that would be useful. I delayed by a day only because there wasn't much direct response. However, it's only a suggestion - other ideas are welcomed. I was just keen that we didn't accidentally lose momentum and find ourselves holding a conclusive poll with no agreement on what we were going to do with it.
OY! Dere's a bit o' a problem wiff yur namin' konventenz. Tratior: Me: "OY! We need a traitor at da B point!" SmarmyGit: "OKAY!" SmarmyGit teamkills everyone at B. "JOB'S A GOODUN BOSS!" Tactical: Me: "Taktikul to C point!" SumRunt: "Wot? Yu meen an enemy comin' or yu needz one o' us?" Me: "Uhhhh... dunno.... wich one arr we again?" Chaos Space Marine: Me: "Oi need a chaos boy over 'ere to take this point!" Spellflinga: "What kinda boy? Yu needz da fightin' juice?" BigDakkaer: "'Ow bout sum big shootaz???" Sikkboy: "Mebbe 'e needz me ta run in an' start krumpin'!" Me: "OH JUST SHUT YER GOBZ AN GET OVA 'ERE!" I dunno wot to call yur theivin' gitz but just callin' em someting generic lyk "Chaos Space Marine" aint much a solution. Da old names are even worse doe so I guess it's an improvement.
I'd take spiky dildo over Traitor. I'd prefer something better but being a spiky dildo is better than a traitor.
