Grammar

[Adaryn]

Dear Avalonians:

Its = belonging to "it"
It's = it is
your = belonging to "you"
you're = you are

-"alot" is actually spelled "a lot".
-Randomly capitalized words are obnoxious.
-Comma splices are not cool.
...and finally, there's a difference between typos and just outrightly spelling things, usually simple words, horrendously wrong.

I'm no spelling bee champion- far from it, actually- but good lord at least I know the differences between these things. Come on now, guys....

[Jashiri]

Adaryn. I’m seriously not trying to knock you, as I would tend to agree. I’m not the greatest speller either. I’ve often been of the opinion that as long as you understand the meaning of what is being said or written, there’s nothing to complain about. An intelligent idea can be conveyed via poor grammar and spelling just as well as it can with impeccable form. Try spending time trading Ims with a medical doctor sometime. *shudder* Not to say all doctors are ridiculous spellers, but the stereotype is there for a reason.   

At any rate, within the context of the game, any misspellings I try and think of as someone talking. For all intents and purposes, people in Avalon aren’t spelling, they’re talking. To use an extreme example, Panurge can be extremely difficult to talk to at times, and his “spelling” leaves a lot to be desired, but its how he talks, and I appreciate the atmosphere his dialect brings to the game.

[Adaryn]

^ I'm not directing this to people trying to imitate a dialect.

[Narissa]

(hint, her core audience's name rhymes with Lastity)

[Narissa]

More constructively, a copy of a post I made in another game. It is, overall, about designing things in a game, but the grammar rules are useful.

To people on both ends of the crafting queue, whether you are submitting or rejecting, here are some common mistakes and easily made errors that can be avoided if you are careful.

First, just to set some ground, a clause is simply a group of words that have both a subject and a predicate. Clauses can be either independent [ie, the can stand alone as a simple sentence ("Moirean is a Syssin")] or dependent [ie, they modify or are connected to another clause ("Because Moirean is a Syssin,")].

= comma-splice: This is a very common mistake that people make, which occurs when two independent clauses are joined together. "Moirean is a Syssin, she is very sneaky." To fix this is quite simple. You can insert a semi-colon or a hyphen, or add a coordinating conjunction ("and" "so" etc), or you can make one clause dependent on the other. "Because Moirean is a Syssin, she is very sneaky."

= comma placement: Commas are key to help connect clauses together (as above), and to also help break them apart. In descriptions, many elements modify others and commas help to ensure that clarity is maintained. When you are inserting a dependent clause that modifies the main subject of the sentence, commas around that clause are necessary:

"Moirean's outfit, a stunning black number, helps her stay sneaky."

The bit in the middle is an addition - it interrupts the main meat of the
sentence, and needs to be separated from it with commas. You can quite easily take it away, and everything still makes sense.

= That/which: This is more of a petty one, and most people overlook it, unless they are really anal (or having a bad day). That and which can be used to differentiate between specific and more general things. That is used when you are describing something vital that helps to identify a certain thing, whereas which is used to simply add more description to the subject.

Consider the following: "Designs that are poorly written are annoying to read." "Designs, which are poorly written, are annoying to read." The first indicates that badly written designs suck to read. The second implies that all designs are both annoying to read and badly written! Comma usage and correct word choice here is key to help avoid confusion in meaning (note the use of commas - which, because it is describing something additional, has the commas!).

= Dangling modifiers: Big term, but quite simple. When you put a
dependent clause before an independent, make sure that the verb in the first agrees with the FIRST noun in the second. "Pouncing out of the shadows, I was scared by Moirean." This has YOU pouncing from the shadows, whereas you quite likely want to say, "Pouncing out of the shadows, Moirean scared me." Make sure the thing that's being described or is acting, goes first in the following clause.

= Sentence fragment: For designs, we're not allowed the artistic license to really get away with these. A fragment is simply when you use a dependent clause or phrase as a complete sentence. "This ring is red. A true color of love." No go!

Hopefully (for those of you who read to the end of this novel) this
helps a bit with some common errors - and perhaps it will open the eyes of some approvers who have been rejecting things perfectly grammatically correct, because they "sound wrong."

[Adaryn]

^ Most informative, Narissa. Thank you! 

[Svar]

I'm horrible at spelling/grammar... more so than should be considered normal. The only reason my posts/phrases aren't butchered is thanks to constant-spell-check. -hugs it- You'll have to forgive me when I butcher a sentence here and there... or every other sentence... I'm rather pathetic. -sniffle-

[Lightfingers]

fags

[Narissa]

no u

[Narissa]

I'll throw in my 2 cents - I know many people are more lazy than uninformed when it comes to proper grammar and spelling and so on in typing. However, we play a game based entirely in text; it is the medium through which we communicate and present ourselves. To me, interacting with people who tlk liek this olol is akin to meeting someone who slouches, mumbles, has food on their shirt and drools RL.

Present yourself how you want to be viewed. It's not a malicious reaction...it's just the instinctive response.

[Adaryn]

fags

If you can't say anything nice, I'll have to cut your head off with your own knife, so behave.

I second Narissa's last comment on the matter. It's too hard to take someone seriously who can't even make the effort, in a text based game, to even get the little things down properly. I can't remember who it was, but the other day someone was mentioning something about being screwed over and they wrote 'skrewd' and I sort of sat there like, "O_O ok." I don't know. It's little things like that, and the lack of differentiating between possessive pronouns and contractions, that really put me in a bad place with some people.

[Lightfingers]

lol at Morigan

[Kresslack]

One of the big killers I think of potential RP is when people don't even bother to capatilize properly and try to shortcut with things like 'u' 'i', etc. Seriosly, it doesn't take much effort to perform at least the basics.