Dragon's Tail Cut?

[heirodule]

And even by now, Open Up A Can of Whoopass is dated.

Crits in Unknown Armies were called that. Failures were more crudely named.

 

[heirodule]

This is really, really terrible. I don't want WotC changing decisions because someone spends 30 seconds typing an ill-thought out opinion on the interweb.

We have heard your complaint, sir, and will never do this again!

 

[D.Shaffer]

Wulf backs this up with a very good description of exactly what they're not getting, from the perspective of a professional technical writer. I don't agree that this is just a matter of opinion. It is a critique of WotC's design strategy with regards to naming conventions.

First of all, I wasnt singling him out directly. I've seen it in other threads. Granted, more recently in this one by that individual.

Second, his first posting in this thread DIDN'T start out that way. It was only later that he actually added detail. It is the first kind of posting that I'm being snippy about.

In capoeira, this move (crouching down and sweeping at an opponent's legs -- in this case with your own leg) is called Stingray's Tail ("Rabo-de-Arraia"). So colorful names do exist in Western tradition.

This, combined with the one poster's translation of Dragon Tail Cut into German, cements an opinions I've long had. Colorful move names only sound stupid when translated into English. When they're in a DIFFERENT language, they sound damn skippy.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

First of all, I wasnt singling him out directly. I've seen it in other threads. Granted, more recently in this one by that individual.

Second, his first posting in this thread DID start out that way. It was only later that he actually added detail. It is the first kind of posting that I'm being snippy about.

Fair enough-- I won't hold you responsible for reading all of my other posts on this topic that predate my comment and put it in context; and you don't hold me responsible for knowing how many other random people may have overused a phrase to the point of annoying you.

 

[TerraDave]

Man, Rich Baker sure seems to be getting a lot of crap.

I am starting to feel bad for him...I mean, I couldn't stand the name...but still.

 

[overelemental]

Why not just "Knockdown" ?

WotC should definately try to hire you. Excellent suggestion.

 

[BadMojo]

Crits in Unknown Armies were called that. Failures were more crudely named.

I forgot about that! Possibly the best name for a "fumble" I've ever heard. Of course, it works well in the genre of Tim Powers + Quentin Tarantino Modern Day Occult RPG's. Probably not so well with a fantasy RPG.

I still think there should be a power called "Give 'em the Business". I think it was Conan of Cimmeria who once said, "I'm in the business of givin' people the business and business is good."

 

[Shortman McLeod]

"Fear does not exist in this dojo!"

"Strike first, strike hard, no mercy, sir!"

 

[lukelightning]

When naming anything, you should always say it aloud several times before deciding. For me, "Dragon's tail cut" sounds more like "dragon stale cut" which is what you get from a crummy fantasy deli.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

This, combined with the one poster's translation of Dragon Tail Cut into German, cements an opinions I've long had. Colorful move names only sound stupid when translated into English. When they're in a DIFFERENT language, they sound damn skippy.

I beg to differ:
Any colorful name translated to your native language sounds stupid. (Because the German names for the ability I suggested sounded pretty stupid to me! But German is my native language...)

Maybe it's a general thing. Your own language can never be as cool as a foreign one.
Another example: Accents and Regional Dialects - In English, they sound interesting, cool, unique, flavourful. In German, it just hurts hearing a Bavarian or someone from Dresden speak his dialect. (I can live with Plattdeutsch, but I grew up with that, and I take pride in knowing that it's not a dialect, but its own language )