181: Speech of teh Realm

[Richard Hehemann]

Speech of teh Realm

"The situation was dire, and becoming more so. It was time for the bard to call on a higher power. 'My friends, you will soon force my hand. If you do not desist in this loutish mode of outlander speech, I shall be forced to call upon Those Who Watch Above in Silence.' A hushed calm fell over the tavern. Torgil gazed from one face to the next, ensuring that they understood the gravity of his words.

"'Dude,' said the wizard, 'is he going to, like, report us?'"

Torgil the Bard attempts to stave off the invasion of his beloved RP server.

Permalink

 

[Beery]

Good story!

Not really sure where the author comes down in the RP vs. natural speech argument, but I will say this: if you're on a RP server you have to at least be respectful of those who want to roleplay, and talk about pwnage and die rolls is not cool. On the other hand, very few of the roleplayers I've met in a game know how to do the early modern English (i.e. 'thee and thou') speech thing properly, so when they do try, it sounds terrible to someone like me who was brought up with a dialect that still used it in normal speech (yes, there are some - I'm from Yorkshire and the 'Broad Yorkshire' dialect still used 'thee and thou' when I was a kid).

Personally, given that hardly anyone knows how to speak using 'thee and thou', I'd prefer people to just speak normally on RP servers, but since it's unlikely that anyone with my preference will ever be the god of a server, it's unlikely that the butchering of early modern English will ever stop.

 

[curlycrouton]

"The situation was dire, and becoming more so. It was time for the bard to call on a higher power. 'My friends, you will soon force my hand. If you do not desist in this loutish mode of outlander speech, I shall be forced to call upon Those Who Watch Above in Silence.' A hushed calm fell over the tavern. Torgil gazed from one face to the next, ensuring that they understood the gravity of his words.

I sometimes speak like this in real life. It's just a habit.

 

[Gxas]

I really enjoyed the read. It actually got me pissed at the kids who don't play by the rules on RP servers. I've always wanted to try one, but was always wary for this exact reason. Maybe I'll give it a shot sometime. It's always sounded like a lot of fun.

 

[John Funk]

My Druid is on a RP server in WoW, and... well, I don't actually see RP all that much of the time despite that. So it still feels kind of weird to walk into the inn at Dalaran and see people having an in-character chat, or to have that one Dwarf Hunter come in and start gabbing away in a pseudo-scottish accent during our H.Gundrak run.

Loved the piece, though

 

[iburns]

lol@rp

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

lol@rp

Prithee sir, I do mock your laughter with laughter of my own at your petulant display of aloofness towards those who speak in a loquacious manner rather than the speech of those determined to obfuscate their own meaning.

 

[johnman]

I

lol@rp

I will thank you not to say that again good sir - unless you wish to feel the back of my glove

 

[Baby Tea]

Loved every word.
I never played on a RP server (I dabbled in WoW for a time), but this actually reminds me of my old PnP games more then anything. Trying to progress the story, and some idiot has to ruin it by doing or saying something WAY out of character:

"Steve, you can't just stab the guy in the face."
"Why not?"
"Because, you're a good alignment! You'd never just stab the guy in the face."
"But he's evil!"
"He's also unarmed and hasn't provoked you. You can't stab him."
"Well then I want to change my alignment."
"You're already level 3! You can't just suddenly switch alignments!"
"Maybe this is a traumatic experience that causes my alignment to change."
"An old guy not letting us into a tavern?"
"...yes."

Ahh...so much frustration and spilled coke.

But still: Great piece! One of the more enjoyable ones I've read at the Escapist.

 

[WolfLordAndy]

Reminds me of playing Never Winter Nights on an RP server. Was good fun, and our small wizards guild son showed the locals "The true might of intelligence, that the spell is indeed mightier then any mere man could be."

 

[Cousin_IT]

lol@rp

Prithee sir, I do mock your laughter with laughter of my own at your petulant display of aloofness towards those who speak in a loquacious manner rather than the speech of those determined to obfuscate their own meaning.

its Early English, not Thesaurus English :-D

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

lol@rp

Prithee sir, I do mock your laughter with laughter of my own at your petulant display of aloofness towards those who speak in a loquacious manner rather than the speech of those determined to obfuscate their own meaning.

its Early English, not Thesaurus English :-D

Worryingly that's without using a Thesaurus.

Is this better?

LOLWUT? LMAO @ LOL@RP? U LOL @ RP=WIN RP=FAIL OR DIS RP=WIN/FAIL? nOOb!!!!11!

 

[xitel]

I must admit that both manners of speaking professed in this bardic tale of fantasy doth strike true upon my personage.

 

[not a zaar]

RPers are pretty lame. If you want to roleplay, go play DnD. MMORPGs are about numbers and loot, that's it.

 

[Kwazimoto]

RPers are pretty lame. If you want to roleplay, go play DnD. MMORPGs are about numbers and loot, that's it.

And I say unto thee...Noob.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

RPers are pretty lame. If you want to roleplay, go play DnD. MMORPGs are about numbers and loot, that's it.

Who says? Thats what RP servers are for. Honestly man, thats just ignorant. "You're playing a game and having fun with it for the wrong reasons! Wahh!!"

I think its hilarious, and although I would never play an RP server myself, I think that if they're enjoying themselves, go right ahead. Its good fun for people doing it and for those onlookers.

 

[snuffler]

Is this better?

LOLWUT? LMAO @ LOL@RP? U LOL @ RP=WIN RP=FAIL OR DIS RP=WIN/FAIL? nOOb!!!!11!

HAHAHAHAHAHA is it bad that I understood that? Is it worse that it made me laugh?

I play D&D drunk and/or stoned on occasion. There's no better way when your in game character slowly progress to a state of complete intoxication and you're constantly rolling a die to see weather or not you pass out from intoxication. I was a dwarf. + to drinking for the win. It was usually a battle to see if I would last longer than my character or not.

 

[anti_strunt]

Why does "RP" also mean "write like you're a character in a bad Sir Walter Scott novel"? People in the Middle Ages did not talk like that. Most of them probably just cursed all day anyway, so Internetspeak is most likely a more accurate portrayal than faux Shakespearianisms.

Hmm, maybe "RP" means "write and act like you're in a 3rd rate fantasy novel". That would explain a lot...