A Quick Note on Attitudes Towards Spelling

[Archangel-WHA]

Hey everyone.

Recently a topic was made and the replies on it pretty appalled me. Here's the deal: Someone came onto these forums and wrote out a couple of perfectly acceptable questions. The only, and I mean only, fault of his was to spell in a manner that can be considered... badly. You know the score, the "you" lacking in two of its vital letters, "lol" being thrown around, "z"s replacing "s", and generally a mess of punctuation: the usual. Now here on this site we do appreciate a certain level of awareness in regard to spelling etc, to generally make it possible for everyone to be able to understand everyone else and get along easily onto answering questions.

What should have happened, and will happen from now on: You see a guy/gal come on here spelling a bit poorly, you answer their question to the full extent. You help them. Now if you don't like the way they spell, we don't want to know about it. If you're going to comment on their spelling/grammar then go ahead! But do it in a polite and explanatory way, asking them if they would mind using a spellcheck or make a bit of extra effort for the benefit of everyone else. But your reason will not be because you simply "don't like it". Your reason will be to help them and their understanding of the English Language grow, and to make it easier for their message to be transmitted properly. If you see that someone else has already made this polite request, then there is no need for you to do it too.

What did happen and won't be happening from now on: People crawled all over that thread proclaiming their superiority over the english language and making terrible and insulting remarks. We don't want, nor do we need this on these forums. This is your warning here, action will be taken to stop people that can't have the courtesy to welcome newcomers and guide them. To guide someone is to be helpful, making derogatory comments never will.

Please please please try to remember to be courtious to your fellow forumites on here, wether they be new or old and no matter who they are or how they spell. A bit of general politeness will make everyone's life much easier.

I hope this helps people out.

I bring you guidAnce.

[XadeemTG]

Nice post. I totally agree, some people like to use shorthand because they don't really like typing or because they don't have alot of time to type stuff out. They shouldn't be flamed about it.


Oh, you misspelled Guidance ;)

[DesoGM]

While I agree, there are naturally different cases and different extremes... Seeing as I spend a LOT of time on the web, I can generally tell when someone honestly just can't spell (I have a couple friends who I joke about needing a translator for on the guild forums). Those I have absolutely no problem with, nor do I have problems with shorthand and such to a certain degree. I do it myself in some instances, for example for some reason I type 'prolly' instead of 'probably' all the time. Don't know where I got it or why I do it when I don't use much shorthand in most other cases, but I can't remember the last time I actually used the full word... (other than just now as an example).

When it gets to be excessive in a post; when the entire post is almost nothing but abbreviations, shorthand, "leetspeak" etc though, it isn't worth my time. I've never been one to attack someone like you're indicating happened though, I'll just skip the post and not bother reading it. Like you said, it is their choice to post however they like, it is also my choice whether or not to read and acknowledge that post. While I fully support that no one should attack someone for the way they post or try to act all superior because they "spel gud", on the same hand, I feel if someone wants their post to be taken seriously they should put more of a serious effort into it, otherwise I'll just skip it.

[Goreth]

Nice post Arch, I'd find just as important having text not bunged up but split into paragraphs. It's so much more easy and better to read.
But luckily nearly everyone on the forums likes there paragraphs, so its all good.

[Illya]

Try rping with someone who doesn't know where the enter button is... *sighs*

Some people just aren't as good as others in English. Heck, I'm Norwegian. I'm always a little sad when I see Americans, or people from UK, or any english speaking country, who type with an appalling amount of typos.

Some people are lazy, others don't care, some don't know better, and there are a few who are dyslectic. Just be polite about it.

Oh, and Archy. The irony of you misspelling guidance in a post on spelling. *evil chuckle*

[MageLite]

I know your talking about that 'combat stuffz' thread. Granted, he was not from a naturally english-speaking country, but if you can type 'any1' and 'u' then chances are you know how to spell the words. And there's no excuse for lazyness.

[Archangel-WHA]

Aaaaah, Magelite, the perfect example. Did you read any of what I just put up there?

I stated quite clearly that neither I, nor anybody cares how much you don't like bad spelling. Your post did nothing to help the person, nor guide them. You in fact merely insulted him, made no effort to be accomodating nor even pointed him in the direction of a way in which he could have stopped the "leet speak" that annoys you so much. No, you did what you have just done now. You've told us all how much you don't like it and that it is a bad thing.

Now please go and re-read what I have painstakingly written above for everyone's beneifits. In fact, especially your benefit now. I really do hope you can learn something from it.

DesoGM: spot on.

Thanks for the feedback guys. The more the better.

:p even mods misspell the odd thing.

I bring you light.

[MageLite]

Aaaaah, Magelite, the perfect example. Did you read any of what I just put up there?

I stated quite clearly that neither I, nor anybody cares how much you don't like bad spelling. Your post did nothing to help the person, nor guide them. You in fact merely insulted him, made no effort to be accomodating nor even pointed him in the direction of a way in which he could have stopped the "leet speak" that annoys you so much. No, you did what you have just done now. You've told us all how much you don't like it and that it is a bad thing.

Now please go and re-read what I have painstakingly written above for everyone's beneifits. In fact, especially your benefit now. I really do hope you can learn something from it.

DesoGM: spot on.

Thanks for the feedback guys. The more the better.

:p even mods misspell the odd thing.

I bring you light.

I did not insult him directly or nor did I mean any direct offense towards him I merely commented on his poor english skills which I at first thought was caused by laziness but then he showed he was from another country. However, if you can mispell a word on purpose, there is no reason why you should not spell it properly.

And I also pointed to him that he should read a preview. And in my second post I tried to be more informing.

[Archangel-WHA]

Magelite matey, I know exactly what you did. Answering back isn't appreciated either.

I need you to understand what you, and other people, did wrong and why I've written all of this out. Let me explain again: we don't need insults greeting anyone new onto here that doesn't conform to anyone's spelling standards. I'm asking for you to be more polite and forthcoming, willing to help people instead of put them down. How is telling him his grammar is bad going to help him improve it?

Here's a couple of things that can be done and are done by some members on here:
-Reccomend a spellcheck! It's that easy. Politely ask if they would be willing to look into aquiring a very handy tool that automatically looks for spellings.
-Respect his desire to spell how he wants. If he refuses to change, let him carry on spelling poorly! it's his own prerogative and demonstrates an unwillingness to improve, but that's his own decision and so you should let him carry on no matter how much it might "annoy" you. Let him look silly compared to everyone else.
-Ignore the spelling. Surely it can't be that hard? just be nice and set an example by spelling well. He'd eventually get the hint.

Once again I'm going to ask you to re-read my first post. And now I'm going to ask you to email the person in question with an apology, as you have now stopped a perfectly acceptable new member from feeling welcome. Apologies are always a good way to repair wrongdoings and I can always reccomend them.

Thankyou.

I bring you my dissapointment.

[Rak Twoblades]

I love your endings, Archangel. :)

I wonder what happens when you ban someone though. Do you send them a pm explaining why they were banned with a line at the end that says: "I bring you death"? Or maybe its: I bring you my sorrow." :P

[Warren]

See, this is why some of us don't venture far from the community forums.

[Cassandra]

*helps Archy with his spelling problems.. because she's a minx* I will admit I tend to correct people's spelling for them, though most of the time when I do that they either say thank you or whap me repeatedly. Or chase me around the room with a spatula.

Let's not go there.

Ahem, anyway.

Recommend, disappointed. Courteous, whether. Benefits (though that was a typo) and of course, guidance! ;).

Not bad really, but still... :D.

*runs away before she can be spanked*

[ChaosDreamer]

me bad at english? Thats unpossable!! :)

Now are you sure the person wasnt trying to get into the RP spirit and talk like an Orc. I will admit that even though im an American, my spelling and grammer are on par with a freshman in high school where my comprehension is that of a graduate student. Im not perfect and i never claim to be perfect, but who can say they are? We are all humans and we all make mistakes, so just go with the flow and help people out.

[Saintanius]

well i started the thread *Combat stuffz* with one Purpose, and that was to get some info on the combat system on WaR.......was i lazy since i havent read the reviews? No because i didnt even see that we had reviews on this site.....rather dumb or blind but it happens.....cant see everything on this site.....yeah im not american and my english isnt that good and in my first post i see now that i wrote: *becuase i cant really stand everything that has to do with Combat in WoW and i hope it wont be like that*....Now the right word is Because and anything instead of everything.....

yeah my grammar isnt good but everything that i typed should be understandable for most people....Magelite was the first to respond to my post, allthough i found it kind of rude, i really didnt care about it.....but then more and more came along and started telling me how to type......

i type fast, my grammar isnt good and i type stuff like: u, any1, every1, stuffz, likez prolly.....ive heard that most Roleplaying folks dont talk about real life and no leet talking.....i even got flamed for using the word *leet* but im sorry...i couldnt find a similar word to it at that time.......

i got help from Excommunicate and Garthilk and i appreciate that someone wasnt rude allthough Magelite said i should read the previews too i didnt notice that since i was a bit mad (lol).....

im not gonna flame anyone.....ive been annoying, childish,....well thats you all were saying.....i guess most of you are Roleplaying folks who play on PR servers...the so-called Mature servers should actually be the mature ones....Admin is atleast doing a good job...

Again i didnt mean to start any problems but when people started flaming me and telling me what to do just because of the way i typed my post......well its not a good feeling.....got abit mad and then some guy said that i needed to change MY behaviour and called me a kid lol (btw im not 12 years old)



if you see a post like that again just ignore it or try your best to help....if you think a 12 year old kid wrote it and it didnt seem so serious of a post ignore it or whatever...


well i have now tried in this post to type the best i can without words like: u, any1, every1, stuffz, likez and i just want raise myself above this HONK and move on.....

sorry if people found this annoying but i just had to get this out...

[Rak Twoblades]

I believe its spelled "RP" servers, not PR.




















Hehe, just messing with you. :P

[Rimner]

Boy are we lucky to have Archangel as a moderator. Who knows what would happen without him. You should all listen to him. And me.

But in ohetr nwes, did you konw taht as lnog as the frist and lsat ltetrs of the wrod are pacled in the rgiht oedrr, msot ploepe can siltl raed waht you are tpynig. Ptrtey cool in my mnid. :D

[CrusherDestroyer]

This thread rulez

But seriously, there is never a good reason for anyone to get mad or harsh with one another; especially on internet forums for a game that isn't even out yet.

[Ghimpi]

Google toolbar spellcheck FTW?? :D

[XadeemTG]

well i started the thread *Combat stuffz* with one Purpose, and that was to get some info on the combat system on WaR.......was i lazy since i havent read the reviews? No because i didnt even see that we had reviews on this site.....rather dumb or blind but it happens.....cant see everything on this site.....yeah im not american and my english isnt that good and in my first post i see now that i wrote: *becuase i cant really stand everything that has to do with Combat in WoW and i hope it wont be like that*....Now the right word is Because and anything instead of everything.....

yeah my grammar isnt good but everything that i typed should be understandable for most people....Magelite was the first to respond to my post, allthough i found it kind of rude, i really didnt care about it.....but then more and more came along and started telling me how to type......

i type fast, my grammar isnt good and i type stuff like: u, any1, every1, stuffz, likez prolly.....ive heard that most Roleplaying folks dont talk about real life and no leet talking.....i even got flamed for using the word *leet* but im sorry...i couldnt find a similar word to it at that time.......

i got help from Excommunicate and Garthilk and i appreciate that someone wasnt rude allthough Magelite said i should read the previews too i didnt notice that since i was a bit mad (lol).....

im not gonna flame anyone.....ive been annoying, childish,....well thats you all were saying.....i guess most of you are Roleplaying folks who play on PR servers...the so-called Mature servers should actually be the mature ones....Admin is atleast doing a good job...

Again i didnt mean to start any problems but when people started flaming me and telling me what to do just because of the way i typed my post......well its not a good feeling.....got abit mad and then some guy said that i needed to change MY behaviour and called me a kid lol (btw im not 12 years old)



if you see a post like that again just ignore it or try your best to help....if you think a 12 year old kid wrote it and it didnt seem so serious of a post ignore it or whatever...


well i have now tried in this post to type the best i can without words like: u, any1, every1, stuffz, likez and i just want raise myself above this HONK and move on.....

sorry if people found this annoying but i just had to get this out...

I think it's awesome that you took time to write this out and explain. It shows alot of maturity. I personally don't care about the way a person types, I usually use capitalization and puncuation, but sometimes I feel lazy and don't bother.

At least you didn't spout off with " u guyz suxxorz!!1!!11 i quit!!!!11!"

[Archangel-WHA]

Thankyou very much for that Saintanius. It's very rewarding that you've tried your best on that post, and hopefully it is for you too. Like Xandeem has said, it's very mature that you've come along and explained.

This topic seems to have been very helpful. I'm really proud of the way you guys have responded to this. Thanks a lot. And now to the less serious issues:

Rimner matey, that's crazy talk!

Rak: There's only one way to find that out.;)

And Cass... Cass, Cass, Cass. What can be said, eh?

I bring you a spatula and a chase scene with Yackety Sax as the backing music.

[Rak Twoblades]

Hehe, that was hilarious!

[Saintanius]

I think it's awesome that you took time to write this out and explain. It shows alot of maturity. I personally don't care about the way a person types, I usually use capitalization and puncuation, but sometimes I feel lazy and don't bother.

At least you didn't spout off with " u guyz suxxorz!!1!!11 i quit!!!!11!"


lol Plan B

[Grkarshh]

is there a in forum spell check? if I want to spell check my writing I have to put it into word...







that was what I did with this one :p

[Cassandra]

Yes, there is. Go to your User CP (short for Control Panel, and click on Options.) On the last one I believe it asks you what kind of Editor you want. Turn it to WYSIWYG, and there should be a little button on the right hand side that looks like ABC with a navy tick beneath it. Once you have finished your post, click on that button and it should spellcheck the post for you.

I bring you mischief, laughter, helpful advice, spelling corrections and a random chase scene.

The mods love me really. Otherwise I wouldn't get away with it ;).

EDIT: Or you can use the Standard Editor with extra formatting controls, as that has a spellchecker too.

[Willstar]

Or you could just download the google searchbar. There is a spell checker on that too.

[DEVLiN]

i type fast, my grammar isnt good and i type stuff like: u, any1, every1, stuffz, likez prolly.....ive heard that most Roleplaying folks dont talk about real life and no leet talking...
i appreciate that someone wasnt rude
i guess most of you are Roleplaying folks who play on PR servers...the so-called Mature servers should actually be the mature ones....
Again i didnt mean to start any problems but when people started flaming me
Just a few helpful hints:

Please try to treat people with respect, wether or not they are "roleplayers" in your eyes. You'll find that you're probably incorrect about most of those that replied being roleplayers; but regardless of if they are or not it's not only rude and ignorant but also extremely annoying to see you using the term in such a derogatory sense. I know it's quite popular among the "cool kids" to do so, but it's a tired beaten horse by now. Just stop.

Fact is, a well constructed and typed post will both get more people to read it as well as reply. A poorly written post may make it more difficult to read to such extent as to most readers not bothering. A purposedly badly written post will get most people to just skim through it; or have the poster put on ignore list so they don't have to read such posts again. I'm not saying everyone should spell perfectly, I'm just saying that people should be aware of what their choice of action might lead to. Want to be taken seriously? Put some effort into your posts. That doesn't include resorting to swearing in Norwegian by the way.

[Saintanius]

That doesn't include resorting to swearing in Norwegian by the way.


but was that norwegian sentence pointed at the flamers? no u know it cuz ur swedish and should understand a sentence like that

lol ur swedish....explains why ur attacking the way im typing

ta det lugnt da....jag har inte gjort noe....

[Alinor]

Ok... See where should I start.. Oh, yes! Now I know.. What people do not think about is that maybe the person making the post is in an extreme hurry? This might not been the case but still.. You can expect everyone to fully follow every single in the english langue. Any1 or u.. who cares? You still understand it,dont you? Yes you do.. so dont attack person and keep bugging about their spelling problems or langue problems.. I dont really think anyone cares about you spelling words incorrect...

[DEVLiN]

lol ur swedish....explains why ur attacking the way im typing
If you actually bothered to read my post, both here and in the now infamous thread - I never once attacked the way you spell or type. Not once.

No, I was referring to you using the term "roleplayer" in a derogatory manner. It's your apparent habit of labelling people and putting them all into the same behavior box that annoy me. Even if I could put up with it - it's still insulting, and something you should strongly reconsider doing.

Edit:
What people do not think about is that maybe the person making the post is in an extreme hurry?
They could ask themselves if it's really so extremely important that it can't wait until they have more time? ;) (just messing with ya)

Anyway, I've said what I wanted to say - I'll leave it at that.

[Alinor]

Ok.. well It can wait for a later time sure.. but you know what I meen..

[Archangel-WHA]

Right, guys. That's enough out of both of you. DEVLiN, I'm going to ask you to stop here: if you have a serious problem then report it, that's what the button is there for. Or alternatively try sending a message to the person in question. Sainanius: These forums do not need swearing in any forms. If I see any more of that from you then further action will be taken, this is a warning. Also, we will not tolerate racism in any sense of the term. And that was a final warning.

Seriously guys. The argument has already been closed and this is a follow up. Try to remember the original message of this topic. If there are any further problems, email me.

Any more of this silly nonsense on here and I'll close this topic. Don't either of you dare to answer me back.

Tsk. Honestly.

I bring you shame.

[Saintanius]

Any more of this silly nonsense on here and I'll close this topic. Don't either of you dare to answer me back


sry for all my posts if they seemed like nonesense and Devlin i wasnt intenionally using the therm Roleplayer like that so sry if u saw it that way

dont worry Archangel u wont see more posts like these from me just wanted to say sry..


Peace

[DEVLiN]

and Devlin i wasnt intenionally using the therm Roleplayer like that so sry if u saw it that way
Fair enough :)

Sorry if I sounded harsh in my posts, it's hard to get points across in the manner intended over the Internet. :)

[Archangel-WHA]

Cheers guys, that's the sort of positivity these boards need. That makes me happy.

I've gotta shut this thread down now I'm afraid. And I've got to apologise to anyone I may have embarrased with the use of this topic.

I bring you an end.