Stolen Pixels #33: Literacy is not a Superpower

[Shamus Young]

Stolen Pixels #33: Literacy is not a Superpower

With great power comes great responsibility, which is really hard to spell.

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[The_root_of_all_evil]

"Literacy is not a Superpower" - That's why they killed off Cypher. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypher_(comics)]

 

[Shamus Young]

I should point out the Thunder Dude123 is played by my character Star On Chest.

Which is arguably a funnier name, but it didn't fit in with where the joke was supposed to go.

 

[pseudoidiot]

Yeah, but Beeg Beef Taco is hard to beat.

 

[lesterley]

Oh Shamus, I feel your pain!

I share many of your MMO frustrations. Just last night I saw a player in another MMO who had named his character "Camltoe".

How can someone be so stupid/offensive/crude/immature? Do they really think they're being funny or clever by giving their character such an obviously inappropriate name?

I wanted to climb into the monitor and beat the guy senseless...

Leslee

 

[Veylon]

Can I point out generally one is writing in a hurry? It's the equivalent of short hand or stenography. Writing everything longhand (and spell-checking it) just takes too long in a real time environment. Or else it's an unnecessary pain when a well-known acronym exists.

Maybe what these games need is an optional built-in translator to turn MMORPG-speak into something more literate. Given how similar most of this writing is, having an algorithm pick out intent and dressing it up a little ought not to be that hard.

 

[Dev Null]

Please please please tell me Beeg Beef Taco is a real character!

"Halt villainous scum! Prepare to eat Beef!"

"Spicy!"

 

[Halbert]

Veylon, I'd give you that point, but it is not isolated to instances of needing to write quickly. This sort of garbage spills over into people's names (such as finding that Dwarven Paladin with the epic name, "pwnsunub"), into chat channels in non-combat zones, and, God help us all, into email.

I'm sorry, but there is no way to convey to the world that you have a functional grasp of the
english language when that stuff spills over into . . . well, anything.

Edit: I'd like to cite exhibit A [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=155].

 

[Naaman]

I'm happy for them to talk like that, in all but a few instances they may as well be wearing a "I'm an idiot who'd get us all wiped" sign