Is it ill-advised to create custom text for a login link (e.g. “Become a ninja” as opposed to just “log in”)

Question

I'm trying to figure out whether it's best to:

• stick with the tried and true link text for login ("log in" -> linking to the login page)

• Make the login button custom to the site and somewhat of a call to action ("Become a ninja" -> linking to login and signup page.)

The familiar and boring vs. the custom and possibly ambiguous? (Err, this is in context of a ninja webgame [ http://ninjawars.net ], of course)

Answer 1

I'm not a UI/UX specialist, but based on my experience I would do the following:

• keep a boring but grandpa-recognizable links "Log In" and "Sign Up" at top right corner.
• make a nice call-to-action button "Become a ninja" and place it on the page content, linking to "sign up" page.

Answer 2

Dave's answer would probably be the best route to take. If you wanted to use the "Become a ninja" text instead in the usual spot, I'd still look at having "Log in/Sign Up" listed next to it, just styled in a smaller/different font.