MMO terms and tabletop, anyone completely ANNOYED by this?

[Janx]

I've got an extra theory on why some folks hate MMO speak at the gaming table.

New Guy Syndrome.

In the workplace, if you're the new guy, the biggest fitting in mistake to make is to talk about "that's not how we did it at my old job."

While everybody claims they're all for bringing in new ideas and such, they ain't really ready for it. And certainly from the newb who hasn't taken the time to learn the group's dynamic and earn their respect.

So some new guy throwing around all his fancy MMO terms and not talking like the rest of the group, is just showing how much of a clueless outsider he really is. If he was smart, he'd lay back, see the sensibilities of the group, and adopt their terminology.

There's a time and place and method for bringing in new jargon and new practices. But handled poorly, it just irritates the group and interferes with the new guy's acceptance into the community.

Personally, I have a knack for making up words, sayings or introducing existing ones to new people and having them adopt them into their own speech. I don't have a handle on the exact conditions and delivery that make it work, but I have a fairly decent track record.

People point out years later that they still hear my phrases like "ding free parking space" referring to a corner or protected spot that reduces the likelyhood of their being a neighboring car to ding your car when they open their door.

I'm not saying I'm a marketting machine or influencing the mass population. Merely that I can get people who I am with to adopt phrases as their own that I introduce to them in conversation.

 

[Desdichado]

Not everyone says that they're all for new ideas and such. Plenty of folks say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." With regards to how they spend their hobby time, they're probably much more likely to adopt that attitude.

 

[Krensky]

I don't allow "moist", "lobsters" (although "lobster" is okay), or "chotchke". If you don't like it, play somewhere else.

I ban articles.

 

[Nytmare]

I'm actually bothered far more by people quoting the same half a dozen lines of Monty Python at the game table than a cross pollination of MMO terms.

 

[Cor Azer]

I'm actually bothered far more by people quoting the same half a dozen lines of Monty Python at the game table than a cross pollination of MMO terms.

So... You're saying it's time for something completely different?

 

[Nytmare]

So... You're saying it's time for something completely different?

What I'm hoping to impart is that it's extremely unfortunate that the comedy troupe that mastered the art of the non sequitur has had some of their finest work relegated to the knee jerk, socially awkward response of far too many of our kin.

There are a handful of words that you can throw into any nerd gathering, and if you get caught in the blast, you'll be stuck listening to a chorus dudes trying to one up each other with a better word for word rendition of the entirety of Holy Grail, including the beginning and end credits.

This is not a healthy thing.

[PS - I got the joke just fine, I just found it to be more painful than funny and wanted to explain why.]

 

[Dannager]

This is kind of what I was trying to get at.

It's not "Ragdar the tank aggros the orcs".

It's "Ragdar the brave warrior lures the orcs away from his companions"

Does no one here see the difference?

Both would be perfectly acceptable in my games. They're different, but let's not pretend that the latter is how True D&D plays and that the former is somehow less.

 

[billd91]

Wouldn't a rose by any other name smell just as sweet?

That's only true because the rose's scent is entirely independent of its name. It could be a rose or a Montague or even a stinkpetal and it would smell the same. RPGs being games of evocative language as much as anything else, the comparison of language used to Juliet's musing about Romeo's name is not really apt.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

I'm actually bothered far more by people quoting the same half a dozen lines of Monty Python at the game table than a cross pollination of MMO terms.

Yes, what is the link between the Savage Tide adventure path and the Dead Parrot sketch?

 

[Cor Azer]

What I'm hoping to impart is that it's extremely unfortunate that the comedy troupe that mastered the art of the non sequitur has had some of their finest work relegated to the knee jerk, socially awkward response of far too many of our kin.

There are a handful of words that you can throw into any nerd gathering, and if you get caught in the blast, you'll be stuck listening to a chorus dudes trying to one up each other with a better word for word rendition of the entirety of Holy Grail, including the beginning and end credits.

This is not a healthy thing.

While an unfortunate situation - truly, right up their with socially awkward gamer explaining the exploits of his fighter-wizard-cleric-paladin-assassin who was allowed to break alignment restrictions because... blah blah blah... ... *anyways* it is not the fault of Monty Python for such, but bad timing.

Humor has two main components - cleverness and timing. A well timed in-joke can be put to amazing effect I find at focusing a group. But yes, a poorly timed one can very easily derail an entire carefully plotted mood.

And... swinging back to the topic at hand...

Timing and cleverness are exactly the things that I find lacking when I have issue with MMO terms brought into my games. Sometimes they slip by (good timing), but most of the time, they don't. They feel forced, and require me to pause - if only for a split second - as I recognize the incongruity of the term. Hence, the annoyance.