Can We Agree on a Tense?

[MithralMelody]

Can We Agree on a Tense?

"No," she replies with mild derision in her tone. The player of Melody Darius then departs from the thread.

[whatsittoya]

This is pretty pedantic anyway. So long as you have a clear enough understanding of what's being done and said that you can formulate a similarly-coherent response, everything else is flavor and inconsequential details.

[Stolcor]

Grammar Nazi detected.

*shrugs* I mean, I guess I can't really deny it, I just love our language!

[DM Theophanies]

I think the player-base has responded pretty well here to give the OP a reasonable gauge of their request. As mentioned previously, we have players with various experience roleplaying and many to which English is their second language. We maintain a very diverse sandbox here, so trying to force grammatical restrictions on it is not feasible.

The best advice I can give the OP is to be the change you want to see. If you inspire others, things will change.

[Stolcor]

This is pretty pedantic anyway. So long as you have a clear enough understanding of what's being done and said that you can formulate a similarly-coherent response, everything else is flavor and inconsequential details.

Come now, I tried to make it pretty clear that I wasn't angry or all that worried. It doesn't warrant an insult just because you don't agree that the intricacies of grammar and language are important. Precision and consistency are good, that's all I wanted to get people talking about, even though I know it's not something that can -or should- be enforced. Still, it's a distant hope that one or two people will give it more thought and help make their actions clearer for all of us. Especially if someone is ESL, they might appreciate some insight into our notoriously difficult language.

And for what it's worth, there are times when RP is significantly slowed by the poor or inconsistent use of tenses and emotes. Some people don't use -any- formatting in their emotes: when talking to someone who uses plain text to speak, like me, it can be a bit puzzling and kill the flow. The conditional used in a non-conditional way is another good example. *He would drink*... is he drinking? or not? What's the condition? Especially when another player -is- using it conditionally like *she leans in and would hug him if he doesn't refuse*

Language matters. It's not pedantic to want to understand others better, or to be understood.

[Stolcor]

I'm sensing some defensiveness. Maybe this wasn't clear, but my only "request" is that we talk about it and give it some thought. I wasn't requesting that some kind of announcement be made or rules drawn up. At most, a note in the Roleplaying Tips would be fitting, but I wasn't even requesting that. Just a discussion.

I appreciate the point. I do try to "be the change" as you put it.

To those of you who contributed positive input, thank you!

[Young Werther]

That last *he would drink* sounds like he would drink if an animation of drinking while sitting would fire. There's not a lot of animations in the game. And about the "negativity" in this thread, well, not everyone is a humble English major. If they kill the flow, they kill the flow. Some RP is less about conversation and more about exhibition, you'll find.

[Asmodea]

In the specific case of using the conditional I think it may help shift the focus of the emote without being too full of words?

Examples!

"She drinks and watches the fire crackle."

vs.

"She would drink and watch the fire crackle."

vs.

"She drinks and would watch the fire crackle."

Each sets a slightly different emphasis on the various actions and can help express which is more 'important' or in the forefront of the 'scene'.

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As a note this all doesn't have to occur inside the same emote. For example:

She stares at the fire.
"I don't like it here."

VS.

She would stare at the fire.
"I don't like it here."

Both those have a very different 'feel' to me as to what is possibly bothering the character and hints as to if the fire is the source of her discomfort or not.

I think maybe because one sounds most distant and formal? I dunno! But it's interesting sometimes to pick apart styles and figure out what people are going for vs what is heard on the other end.

[MadSeer]

Grammatical restrictions on emotes wouldn't really improve roleplay and some players aren't necessarily very fluent in english, as mentionned above, which is a very important point. So it'd be a no from me.

[krighaur]

English is not my natural language and I don't even learned it at school, only by trying to translate D&D and Starfleet Battles rules !

I like to write the story of my character, but cannot make it as good as I would like due to limitations in grammar. So a discussion like this one is enriching for me and I see no problem in it as long it stays a discussion between people who would like to improve their writings.

[kersplunk]

I sympathize with you, Stolcor. I myself am something of a grammar Nazi and stickler for proper punctuation, spelling, and syntax. I like the idea of consistency across the board, if for no reason other than to ease the burden on my own sanity trying to read a wide variety of self-enforced proofreading (or lack thereof).

However, I'll echo some of the sentiments posted here in response as well. RP in game is about self expression, and trying to enforce a particular style on others kind of squashes a bit of the fun out of it. Not only is it not fun to be corrected all the time, but I wouldn't like to be the one doing the correcting all the time either. I want to be immersed in the setting and in my character's head, not policing writing styles, or being chomped at for using the wrong tense by accident.

Also, as you said, English is a notoriously obtuse and weird language to wrap your head around if you're not a native speaker. And even native speakers have trouble with it at times. When there is fast paced or heavy RP going on, a few slip ups, typos, and mistakes are bound to happen. If this were a writing group, or a play-by-post game, I'd be all for some more rigid enforcement of consistency. But since it's done in real time (or near enough), I'm okay with giving others a pass as long as I understand what they meant.

For me, personally, I always use the present tense when RPing, since those actions are what's currently happening at the time I write it. In my mind, I see the scenes my PCs are involved in as though I were there myself, not reading them in a novel describing events that have already happened. Others, however, prefer the second option, and in the end, both views get the same enjoyment out of roleplaying, I think, and neither detracts from the other enough to matter.

I've thoroughly enjoyed playing with Saiphus so far, and I like your style of writing and RP. So, like a couple of others have said here, just continue to be that change you want to see. I know I've picked up RP style habits I found I liked from other people over the years, and I feel it's improved my own style greatly since I started. I know others probably have, too.

Again, I think the points you brought up are perfectly valid, and I understand (and, to a degree, agree) with your stance on grammar and consistency. I just don't think it's a hill worth dying on in this case, given the nature of NWN RP.

But *I* will try my darndest to keep to your same standards, even if I don't wish to enforce it on others.

[K'yon Oblodra]

Damn good post kersplunk!

I've also already adjusted a few things from others and it's a cool process I have to say. Lots of good points brought up from you here .

[metaquad4]

The best approach is to rapidly switch your tenses. I go once every few lines, but if you felt really courageous at the current time, you might have started swapped every few words.

[chad878262]

Trying to get a 'Murican to have proper or even consistent grammar just don't work bruh!

[LISA100595]

Trying to get a 'Murican to have proper or even consistent grammar just don't work bruh!

ahahaha

Ok, to answer the OP's question... I'm going to say the answer is No. It is truly a matter of preference.