Gaming and proficiency with language

[howandwhy99]

Role playing without language is basically miming. And really, who wants that?

I prefer playing in my native tongue. My own game is designed for it. Players need to be at least orally literate with a common language. I've found it adds a lot.

 

[S'mon]

OR-5 = <no British rank>, US Army Sergeant, USMC Sergeant
OR-4 = British Corporal, US Army Corporal or Spec 4, USMC Corporal

Seems maybe a bit misleading to me since the section/squad-leader in the British system is a Corporal, whereas a US OR-4 would not normally command a squad, that would normally be a Sergeant role.

I expect they have some good reason for it though.

 

[nedjer]

Between gestures and expressions, assumptions, paper and markers, fancy dice and some figures I could have got by with less spoken word over the years. Especially during some of the epic descriptions, character background recitals and in-game feuds that have popped-up now and again.

 

[Oryan77]

You guys have given me something to think about that has never crossed my mind. It's interesting to hear about a group of people with different native languages switching to English in order to communicate. I've never thought about that before. That's pretty cool.

 

[haakon1]

Seems maybe a bit misleading to me since the section/squad-leader in the British system is a Corporal, whereas a US OR-4 would not normally command a squad, that would normally be a Sergeant role.

I expect they have some good reason for it though.

The "no British equivalent" for OR-5 does indicate a bit of complexity in there.

I would "generally" say a Sergeant (E-5) is supposed to command a squad, which is traditionally 10 men in the US Army, 12 men in the Marines, IIRC. But in wartime practice, organization within a platoon can be ad hoc and doesn't necessarily fit the organization tables (very true in Vietnam), as it gets adapted to the available people and the mission needs.

The Marines talk about fireteams, I believe 3-4 men, being led by a Corporal, again IIRC.

Of course, a Ranger LRRP team in Vietnam was typically 6 people, and could have 2-3 Sergeants with the rest Spec 4's, because they were a select elite -- that's what I'm used to role playing, about 20 years ago running RECON.

 

[Celebrim]

Naw, I didn't know Corporals actually existed in the US Army system, every other time I've seen the US Army rank listings it goes from Spec-4 to Sergeant, I had no idea Corporal was a designation for an E-4 in a command role. See how bad I am?

See, if you hadn't have admitted that I would have thought you were making a subtle insider joke about the up or out policy.

 

[RedTonic]

When I started gaming online, I learned that many of the people I played with didn't speak/write English natively. It was also a pretty awesome way to get to know about many countries I never dreamed of visiting in reality. I still keep up with many of those people, even though we don't play much these days. Those memories of early gaming are among my favorite reminiscences.

Table-top, I've never actually gotten to play in another language, though those of us who were taking German during high school often switched to German conversationally during the games. Later in college, playing a game I later learned was in the Rokugan setting, several of us taking Japanese classes would stretch our pretty pathetic vocabularies while playing. That's about as close as I've gotten to a multilingual table.

When I played in Germany, oddly enough, there weren't any Germans at the table. It was just me (an Army brat) and a bunch of enlisted men and women.

 

[S'mon]

See, if you hadn't have admitted that I would have thought you were making a subtle insider joke about the up or out policy.

I thought that only applied to officers?
Doesn't exist in the British Army AFAIK; when I was in the TA our Captain must have been in his '50s.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

I've also noticed that grammar-nazism and linguist perfectionism are both traits of many roleplayers.

Actually that should be "grammar-Nazism".

 

[ACreepierFolklaw]

How about severe cross-cultural gaming? Where i live in china, I've given up trying to play with locals who consistently say things like
"I'll just wait here until someone comes to help me" (in the first room of a dungeon)
or
"I will not accept this quest as i just want a peaceful life" (and thus a boring game- lol)