Spelling and Grammar in all posts in the MRG

[Sketchley]

Spelling & Grammar
It has come to my attention that some posts have been misusing English to the point of not being understood by fellow members.  Please keep in mind that many of our members are non-native English speakers, and the majority come from a country different from yours, with different slang, and occasionally different meanings for words.

Take, for example, "I take money from students."  An Australian I met understands that as "I receive money from students."  I (a Canadian) understood that as "I steal money from students."

This example is a bit extreme, and is something that we don't have to worry about, as it's written in plain language.  Nevertheless, if you include regional slang or even dialects in your posts, the chances of being misunderstood increases greatly.  So too, does misspelled words and bad grammar.

When posting, please keep in mind that many of our members are non-native English speakers, and it helps them (as well as everyone else) for posts to be as free of spelling errors as possible. All anyone here has to go on is your written word, so if there are multiple errors, people can easily lose the thread of what you're trying to say. A simple spell checker can help a great deal. If nothing else, you can paste your text into a Yahoo Mail message composer and run their spell check on your text. One thing you'll want to watch for (that a spell checker won't catch) is this: it's UN Spacy, not UN Spacey.

We don't expect you to be perfect, just use a spellchecker, reread your post at least once before pressing send, and if you use slang, regional dialects and idiomatic expressions, be prepared to either or both be misunderstood and have to explain what you wrote.

See also
MRG Rules: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/mrgrules.php
Terms Of Service: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/termsofservice.php
General Discussion Guidelines: http://www.macrossroleplay.org/forums/index.php?topic=10.0



Punctuation Counts
"Let's eat grandpa."
"Let's eat, grandpa."

Take care of your punctuation!

Kudos to the DArtist that came up with the idea.

[jwlyon1]

Does this mainly apply to body text? That is, the descriptive, non-dialog portions of a post?

When I'm writing dialog, I'll try and be a bit more vernacular with the character's language. I realize it may be confusing, but for characters speaking in pronounced slang, I like that. I don't understand all the slang I hear around me, but it adds to the richness of a world.

Speaking US English, I take the above example as "steal" as well!

[Sketchley]

Definitely with prose.  Dialogue - I can understand the creative choice to want to use colloquial language.  However, it must be stressed that using it runs the risk of not being understood and/or having to explain yourself.

The rule of thumb is - if you're being misunderstood or the players and/or GM in your game don't understand what you're writing, it should be changed.  If everyone's ok with it, don't worry about it.

[Dvotchka]

I should point out that military aviation has a highly specialized jargon. I tend to use it in my posts, for the sake of realism. If anyone would like me to explain my posts, I would be glad to do so on the OOC board on the game the confusing character is in. It's not there to confuse or obfuscate, just to make it sound like the real thing instead of "I fire my gun," which would be considered bad communication in military communication.

Hope this is OK with everyone.

[hegemon]

I agree it is good for realism, but may I point to a couple of comments.

• 1. While a lot of players are American types and understand US military Jargon, there are those Non-American types who grew up with their own countries Jargon,
• 2. US Military Jargon, is by definition US Jargon, Macross by definition isn't US Military, UNSpacy is also a abstract concept of a general Military structure with its own idiocies and terminology, more explained in the next point,
• 3. Wouldn't it be fun if we came up with our own UNSpacy Military Jargon, I actually think this is something we should do
• And Finally, actually I don't have any more points except, that I like having a "Finally"

PS yes I am weird and eccentric, I'm allowed  :salute:

[Heron]

I support the use of military jargon, especially since some of it is used in the current Macross series, I would just leave out the specific US jargon and apply the United Nations instead. If one goes by Macross Compendium, it has official squadron structure, rankings and so forth

[hegemon]

Is there a list for people that do not know UN Jargon, I am not one of these peeps, #looks shifty to both sides#  just raising their point for them. Honest.

[jwlyon1]

I'll take that one. I do not know UN jargon. I admit being completely USA centric (I mean, why not right?). But as an open American, I'd like to learn about other cultures. What language do they speak in the UN?

(Warning! Warning! Sarcasm detected in the above post!!)

[hegemon]

Its a well known fact that sarcasm is a british thing that USAians do not understand nor get. So please don't try, but really good attempt I must say, hehe.

[Dvotchka]

Pretty much all USN terms are shared with NATO pilots. I got a cribsheet together when my sister tried playing. I was going to share it with JWlyon, but will gladly share it with anyone that would like to see.

[Sketchley]

Ah, but the UNS in Macross is not NATO.

Nevertheless, Dvotchka, I'm going to recommend that you do the following:

a) have fun when playing
b) use all the slang and jargon that you want, but include somewhere in your post a translation of the slang and jargon into plain English.  This way, you'll have your fun, and you won't interupt anyone elses fun, either.

[Dvotchka]

Alright, I'll accept that, though no GM's I play under have called me out, and pretty much the same vocabulary was used in Macross Zero.

Though compliments are listed on the Archangels OOC board, I am sure a few people might have trouble with it. I'll provide both a crib sheet for those that have requested one- and they have for their characters, and a translation for all posts requiring them.

Sorry if I confused anyone. It was my intent to provide good roleplay for fellow players, not to befuddle.

And yes, I am  aware that the United Nations Spacy is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

[Jester]

pretty much the same vocabulary was used in Macross Zero.

As I noted when you pointed this out earlier today, Macross Zero is a lot more accurate to the real worlds Armed Forces than the rest of the series and OVA's. The average Valkyrie pilot would be arrested for Gross Insubordination, Disobeying the Orders of a Superior Officer, Dereliction of Duty, and more, and in the most extreme cases, Treason.  Yet they all get away with it because the UNS is a lot more lax. Plus its all a make believe cartoon

Maybe we can put together a list of real world non-country specific military terminology. 

[Dvotchka]

If mierin or my sister has the cribsheet I put together for them, I will gladly post it.

The same lack of realism could be said about Top Gun, Iron Eagle, Battle of Britain, Knights of the Sky, and pretty much any military aviation film or programme. I was attempting to move my characters only- back towards some semblance of realism.

[jwlyon1]

What! Top Gun wasn't realistic!! I'm crushed!! Iron Eagle I could see, but not Top Gun. I mean, the whole opening sequence oozed credibility. And don't all fighter pilots (okay okay, RIO) carry polaroids? Those were real migs, right?

Seriously though... I think striving for realism is admirable, and it's enlightening too. Showing the real consequence of war was one of the things that made Macross so powerful back in the day, and to strip it of some of that (albeit thin) realism seems counter productive. UN Spacy is not Star Trek, so a nod at least to real world military procedures and jargon adds to the game.

And in a real world sense, it makes me more cognizant of what it's actually like in the military. Which I think is positive for those of us who didn't go that route. To a lot of people, and maybe gamers more than others, there is a distorted sense of how things work in the military, I know mine is. So to have someone knowledgeable share the real deal is really beneficial.

I think Sketchley's suggestion is reasonable, I know it would add to my playing experience. The translations would work in post or via a glossary somewhere handy. I'd prefer the glossary route, it would be easier for me as a writer to incorporate the jargon.

Bleh! I should stick to poorly executed sarcasm! Maths or math? You tell me!
(Edited to fix a typo! How appropriate.)