Author Topic: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation  (Read 6792 times)

Cryhavok101

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Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« on: 06 September 2016, 23:03:41 »
I am putting together a corporation that manufactures damn near anything you can imagine, and manages to sell across the inner sphere. My problem is I can't think of a name that appeals to me for the life of me. Following is a brief description of it, and I would welcome any decent suggestions for a name. This is mostly to be used as a background in A Time of War, but also I will be slapping the name onto the various parts of any custom designs I make as soon as I have settled on a name.

It's primary products are civilian vehicles, from racing units to family sedans to work mechs. They also produce limited numbers of combat units, but few know about that service. They do business by making deals with local governments to set up small manufacturing plans on worlds to produce civilian equipment and sell it on world, allowing the company to tailor it's production to the local needs. In exchange the locals wave several import fees and generally clear red tape the company might otherwise run afoul of. Thanks to this practice, the company has small plants across the inner sphere, however no one has managed to identify the central authority for the company. To outsiders it seems to be run like a franchise chain, with local branches being mostly independent, but aligned with each other branch.

Due to primarily being a civilian producer, the company has stayed off the radars of most powers, despite being a household brand across known space. This has begun to change. With the HPG network going down, and the renewed war in the inner sphere, the various powers have been employing civillian equipment in military capacities to fill holes in their defenses, and many of this company's products have been seen in battle, though never in major roles, the extent of the company's holdings have begun to become noted, and several powers have begun wondering if they can make use of the company's capabilities for their own ends.

Founded during the chaos of the Amaris coup and the wars that followed, it's early years were spent trying to survive the chaos of the early succession wars, but it managed expanded across the inner sphere over the centuries despite the horrific toll of war. It's current leaders are a former belter who retired from the republic military and declined to return to the Sol system, a former goliath scorpion seeker who lost in battle to pirates and was captured, exchanging services several times until ending up in the same unit as the belter within the republic military and retiring at the same time, a sea fox warrior mechant who "lost" in battle to the company in order to create a working relationship between the merchant clan and the company, a former hansa merchant prince who was ousted by rivals, but views that as a mere setback, and a scientist whose background is very murky but seems to have ties not only to most major powers, but even to the homeworld clans (society plant in the inner sphere, lost contact with homewolrds when HPG shenanigans went down).

worktroll

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #1 on: 07 September 2016, 02:22:54 »
It's classic, and slightly hackneyed, but "Universal Exports" sounds like a good match.

"It's a big universe. Just as well Universal is big enough to meet your requirements."

"It's not just good. It's Universal."

"Your need is clear. The answer: Universal."
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Cryhavok101

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #2 on: 07 September 2016, 09:53:13 »
Hmmm... I hadn't thought of that one, but it makes some sense. It would support the idea of going somewhat unnoticed for all those years, being somewhat generic. I'll definitely consider it.

Daryk

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #3 on: 09 September 2016, 18:17:39 »
Shop smart, shop S-Mart!  ;D

More seriously, you could honestly pick two random letters (for the original founders, or their worlds, or any other reason... "A-Z has everything you need, from A to Z!").  Marketing and branding goes much deeper than the name of the company, so it could start as anything.  Think Walmart... who would have thought a name that would fit a small town store would become the biggest retailer in the world?

hive_angel

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #4 on: 12 September 2016, 10:01:00 »
I tend to make cooperation names around what they do. It makes it easier for players to recall in game and so forth.

If the corporation has survived through so many confrontations (wars) maybe it could have adopted the name "War Safe Tech" over the years birthing from the outbreak of the Succession Wars. I believe you said it was that old.
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Red Pins

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #5 on: 12 September 2016, 21:42:51 »
The canon answer is, "Interconnectedness Unlimited", from the Battletechwiki site.  Its a FedSun company that sounds like its a front for somebody else.  From there, just make something up is my suggestion, and explain it as a IU subsidiary hidden under shell companies.
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Tai Dai Cultist

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #6 on: 12 September 2016, 21:57:54 »
Omni Consumer Products. You've already got their first industralmech's name in the ED-209.

Cryhavok101

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #7 on: 12 September 2016, 22:09:38 »
The canon answer is, "Interconnectedness Unlimited", from the Battletechwiki site.  Its a FedSun company that sounds like its a front for somebody else.  From there, just make something up is my suggestion, and explain it as a IU subsidiary hidden under shell companies.
I just got the supplement that has them in it (Jihad conspiracies (ISP 2)), and was thinking of ways my company could have had it's fingers in that mess. I was actually thinking that my company would have been using IU to hide some of it's own assets for a time. Shell games on the interstellar level.

Omni Consumer Products. You've already got their first industralmech's name in the ED-209.
If I did that, I would have to figure out the story of how the grey death legion's battlearmor manufacturing was one of my company's holdings lol, I think those battle armor are a shoe in for Robocop. The story practically writes itself once the company gets a hold of Domini cyber tech.

guardiandashi

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #8 on: 14 September 2016, 00:45:47 »
I have been using a couple names a lot for several years in my altverse

DHI was my first one which has had 2 major variants DeVreis Heavy Industries, as a company from a Rifts Character I played for years... towards the end (last time I played the character) she was arguably an inter Dimensional manufacturer and arms dealer.  if you are familiar with the Neruni from rifts ... ya if she really wanted to she could go toe to toe with them she manufactured and sold everything from personal arms and armor all the way up to capital starships and at a moments notice could literally pull an entire regiment of battlemechs out of her Personal armory.

of course that character was frenemies? mostly friends but occasionally fought against, and was a sales rep for her "friends" interdimensional arms company (GM's char) who Alecia owned somewhere around 4% of Kara's business.  (you know its ridiculous when you could pay for a death star out of petty cash, and it would likely be less than a quarters income....

anyway I was thinking something like Devreis industries, Drakon industries (my other major name varient) or something similar.

just pick something that works for you whats even getter is if you can spin it as a joke like LBB industries (Little Black Box ) or General Industries (spun off as a part of General Motors back when they were seriously concerned that the succession wars would wipe them out... so they diversified, and now most people don't realize that GI and GM are related, even though they sometimes "loan" each other plans or funds.

Tai Dai Cultist

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #9 on: 14 September 2016, 08:35:37 »
Vandelay Industries.  (I have more fun crossing IPs than making up new names)

HyperionCormyr

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #10 on: 20 September 2016, 08:33:04 »
"Disney" 

The slogan?  "We really DID conquer the universe, we're just quiet about it."

Cryhavok101

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #11 on: 20 September 2016, 09:19:37 »
Vandelay Industries.  (I have more fun crossing IPs than making up new names)

I had to look that one up, but that is kinda funny.

Pat Payne

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #12 on: 30 September 2016, 14:50:45 »
It's classic, and slightly hackneyed, but "Universal Exports" sounds like a good match.

"It's a big universe. Just as well Universal is big enough to meet your requirements."

"It's not just good. It's Universal."

"Your need is clear. The answer: Universal."

And if they have a covert-ops merc unit attached, so much the better...

Cryhavok101

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #13 on: 30 September 2016, 15:01:27 »
And if they have a covert-ops merc unit attached, so much the better...

Hmmm... getting different results this time, than the last time I searched the name.... how long has that name been linked to James Bond?

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #14 on: 15 December 2016, 23:31:58 »
Since Ian Fleming began writing about JB ;)
* No, FASA wasn't big on errata - ColBosch
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* The Hellbringer is cool, either way. It's not cool because it's bad, it's cool because it's bad with balls - Nightsky
* It was a glorious time for people who felt that we didn't have enough Marauder variants - HABeas2, re "Empires Aflame"

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #15 on: 15 December 2016, 23:39:22 »
ACME



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Red Pins

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #16 on: 16 December 2016, 01:49:24 »
Sacrilege!

The American Council of Mechanical Engineers is outraged.
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DOC_Agren

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #17 on: 20 February 2018, 20:49:29 »
I know I'm bring this back from the dead.

Interstellar Mechanical Group
or IMG
They outsource large part of their components, concentrating on assembly and marketing, and perhaps manufacture of a few major systems within the local plants.  This allows them to "custom" vehicles to system the plant is in, while on the outside they might look similar on the inside it will depend on where the outsourced components come from.
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YingJanshi

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #18 on: 20 February 2018, 21:55:26 »
Would Weyland Corp be too much of crossing of IPs?

I just got the supplement that has them in it (Jihad conspiracies (ISP 2)), and was thinking of ways my company could have had it's fingers in that mess. I was actually thinking that my company would have been using IU to hide some of it's own assets for a time. Shell games on the interstellar level.

The first write up was in the original House Davion sourcebook. (OOC it's a reference to Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency".)

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Grognard

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #19 on: 27 February 2018, 23:06:25 »
B-n-L (By and Large) from WALL-e

GROGNARD:  An old, grumpy soldier, a long term campaigner (Fr); Someone who enjoys playing tactics and strategy based board wargames;  a game fan who will buy every game released in a certain genre of computer game (RTS, or computer role-playing game, etc.)

Thelosttexan

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #20 on: 02 April 2018, 20:41:59 »
I think you had it at damn near anything, so maybe DNA solutions ?DNA enterprises, DNA manufacturing,

Sebastian Llywelyn

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Re: Need Help figuring out what to call a corperation
« Reply #21 on: 14 April 2018, 16:40:33 »
All
Technologies
Of
Man(kind)
=
ATOM Corp. aka: ATOM

I personally like acronyms, and ATOM seems like a good one to me since an atom is in everything and your company developes and manufactures a wide variety of technologies, which also plays into the meaning of the acronym: All Technologies of Man(kind). Which is essentially saying: "We can sell you any tech you want." whether they really can or not.
« Last Edit: 14 April 2018, 16:42:48 by Sebastian Llywelyn »
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