1.6 On the Name Player

Player was originally named Golem, and the Stage simulator was originally named Arena. However, we soon discovered that many, many, many pieces of robotics-related software already use those names. So, we had to make a change. We needed names that capture the now-integral relationship between the server and simulator, so we chose Player and Stage, as suggested by a living Englishman, in reference to a very dead Englishman.

From As You Like It Act II, Scene 7:

``All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,''

From Macbeth Act V, Scene 5:

``Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.''