Normal speech

lol

I frankly haven't noticed this. Are you referring to any thread/s in particular? Some of them I don't read, like ones about sneakies or crits, etc.

I haven't seen any so bad that it required me to google words in order to deduce the meaning. And besides, I mean, lets be frank here guys, this isn't a Political History of Poetry and Arts forum populated by professors, university students and potential employers..

It's a board about a text-based video game, populated by dwarves, breeds, eleves, giants and talking mantises.

Everyone is just as apt to talk like a backwater, back alley bumpkin punctuated by copious use of four-letter derogatory language as they are a Game of Thrones, snidely elegant noble itching to hire the aforementioned bumpkin to shiv you with a sharpened piece of glass for a bag a wheat. Its ARM. The board is about ARM for people who play ARM!

Yes, we make ARM references and jokes. The forum is about ARM. If you don't think ARM speech is going to come up, then I have no idea what to say to that with out just sounding like an asshole. But have you -heard- a standard dwarf or deep 'rinthi talk?

Further more, it largely consists of rants about the games staff or mechanics or player base with as much venom at times that you would have to strangle out of ten white asps to obtain the verbal equivalent of enough poison to kill a small town.

Soo.. ..Are we seriously going to get our panties ruffled over 'Too much Slang' how 'Casual' our language is on here?

Come on. Seriously? Don't rain on my internetz.

I am not completely concerned about English vs some other already established language such as Spanish or French, that being said, ARM is an English speaking game, BUT some of the posts are so peppered with lingo that it makes then tough to decipher what the heck is being said. For someone who comes on to get information, having to research just to understand what is being said is quite a chore, not everyone will get the gist. As a person in IT, I have to be careful how I speak to people who are not technologically inclined, so I try to cut out the lingo, and not being someone who is immersed in the 'culture' of ARM, trying to 'get it' becomes difficult for me. Basically, this jargon serves to exclude rather than include and I believe that the board was started as a way to include more people.

I dunno what the lingo is either.

I mean, as it stands right now, we could be talking about anything from "Rough Circlez" to "IIRC".

(I actually DON'T know what IIRC means but I always just skimmed over it whenever it's used.. I reveal my lack of internet winning right there, I know, alas)

are we talking about .. Using "U" instead of "You"

Maybe a phrase like, "Suddenly, Mantis Head."

Is it too confusing if I say "She were stanky like a Gith."

Or if I say "Chargen" instead of "Character Generation."

Is it only bad if I combine these things?

U kno, IIRC I rolled a PC and right out of chargen, was on my way to find some rough circlez, bumped into this 'rinthi elf who were stanky like a gith. So I tells her, "Oi, give yah a sid fer a sharp-tickle." Then, Suddenly Mantis Head.

Seriously, if you have used the internet and also played ARM for any amount of time, you understood that. Don't lie to me.

I'm gonna go the other direction on this. I think you should start a thread where you maintain the first post as a glossary and make subsequent posts where you bring up words you dont recognize. Because I sometimes encounter words/phrases I don't know and I just ask people what they meant. Nobody's been rude in answering me yet.

I'm guessing it's probably not just you so a glossary thread would be a bit of a public service. And I suggest this because the biggest offenders are not likely to start speaking formally. A large part of the way some people write the way they do when they are here is to conceal their identity. And to throw off people whod know their typing style/word choice otherwise.

I dont even play anymore but I make intentional mistakes and write differently on here. Because i fully expect a couple old friends who still play to be at risk of spillover damage. So there's that to consider.

This is the most logical explanation, with maybe a few exceptions.  I highly doubt some one incapable of writing correctly, would have much interest in a 20 year old text based WoW that every takes very seriously.