D&D General Jaquaying the dungeon - a term to avoid

[Ancalagon]

"Megadungeon" can be parsed instantly. It's a mega-sized dungeon -- an enormous dungeon. That's not opaque jargon.

"Xandering" sounds like it means "creepy 'nice guy' who hangs around the Slayer waiting for her to have sex with him."

To be fair, Jayquaying wasn't instantly parseable either...

 

[Clint_L]

I’m sure there must be some people whose parents actually put Xander on their birth certificate, but typically it’s short for Alexander, which is a fairly common name. Though it’s much more commonly shortened to Alex.

I have a co-worker named Xander and have taught several. It's become a lot more common over the past few decades. In the time I've been teaching, it seems like names have become a lot less homogenous. I think it's because of the internet.

As for the OP: she doesn't want her name used? Okay, that's pretty much all I need to know. Consent, y'all.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I refuse to believe anybody has ever read the blog at the beginning of recipes

I have a hate-reading issue.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

To be fair, Jayquaying wasn't instantly parseable either...

Yeah, I'm not defending that term. Opaque jargon doesn't spread practices -- it turns it into a secret handshake for people in the know to use with one another. If the point is to spread this good design practice, it shouldn't have an opaque term associated with it at all.

 

[ReshiIRE]

Here's a term I have thought of: 'Metroiding' the dungeon, or 'a Metroidvania dungeon'.

Essentially, a dungeon similar to a region in Metroid - with multiple pathways around the dungeon or area; some of which may require effort or upgrades from the user.

 

[Older Beholder]

Non-linear?

 

[ReshiIRE]

Non-linear?

That's probably the clearest term yeah.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Non-linear?

Immediately clear to everyone. Perfect.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Hmm… On a closer read, he may actually be implying that people were being attacked for using the term without the s, by people who thought they were defending Jennell by doing so. Which if true is quite a different situation than I initially thought was being described.

Yes that was what I got from his post.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

If it helps, you now officially know a Xandra, though to be fair that wasn't the name my parents put on my birth certificate.

The correct short form of Alexander is Sandy. Alexander is my dad's middle name. He hated it when his school friends found out and took to calling him Sandy!

Anyway, you could call this set of rules axioms. So I would like to propose: Axiomatic dungeon design.