PbP Games and Spell-Checkers

[Aeolius]

Perhaps I am overly judgmental, when searching for new recruits for my message-based game. However, in a gaming format predominantly structured by writing, one would hope for somewhat literate participants. In lieu of that, I expect players to at least be familiar with a spell-checker.

In a post on another message-board, a potential player is searching for a game. In his post of 237 words, there were seven misspellings. Would you contact such an individual, for your game?

 

[Umbran]

In a post on another message-board, a potential player is searching for a game. In his post of 237 words, there were seven misspellings. Would you contact such an individual, for your game?

That would depend on the misspellings involved, for me. There are some forms of misspelling that I forgive (partly because I make such errors myself). I forgive transposition of letters - "teh" for "the", "fo" for "of" - and the "meant to hit one letter but caught the key next to it" misspellings. Basically, I give allowances for typographical errors more than I do for outright not knowing how ot spell the word. Typographical errors indicate a clumsiness of the hands, but not of the mind.

 

[Berandor]

(somehow my edited post showed up below)

 

[Berandor]

I agree. What kind or errors were this? If they were simply caused by quick typeing or smalll misspellings, then it'd be passable to admit these guy to you'r campaign. How ever, in th eend you must discide weather the arrows bug you to much.

It's also a point of vocabulary. If the poster in question chose to elevate his post by seemingly superfluous yet somehow fitting grandstanding vocabulary, errors are on the one hand more common due to the heightened difficulty of spelling involved, on the other hand they should be rarer because the person using these words should also know how to spell them and, by extension, less difficult and more common words.

It's also a case of laziness in the face of one's mother tongue. I try to write flawless english on this and other boards, partly because I like a well-written post (you wouldn't guess from my other posts, would you), but also because it is a secondary language to me. When I post on German boards, I do not apply the same attention to detail and frequently sport a word with a small error (letters switch places, etc.)

So, if the post in question was written in acceptlable manner, and thze only errors from not looking over the post or starting a spekll-checker, then it'd be o.K. for me.
YMMV, of cours.e

EDITED due to spelling errors, of all things
TWICE!!

 

[reapersaurus]

If the poster in question chose to elevate his post by seemingly superflous yet somehow fitting grandstanding vocabulary,

Of all the ironic things to misspell, SUPERFLUOUS has to be the funniest.

 

[Berandor]

Of all the ironic things to misspell, SUPERFLUOUS has to be the funniest.

AAAAAAAAaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh!!!!!!

Serves me right, arrogant bastard that I purportedly am.

 

[cptg1481]

Did you undersatand what he wrote for you?

I for one apply the army writing standard to everything (which is good because I have been programmed to do so for the last 18 years) I write and read on these boards.

The definition of good army writing is...able to be understood in one quick reading and generally free of errors in grammar and spelling. The key words here are "understood and "generally". I'd say the emphasis is on "understood
While I'm sure there are a whole mess of field grade officers out there who will disagree with me, I feel it is unnecessary to ensure that what you write is 100% perfect. The time wasted on the editing and rewriting of something that can be understood as written the first time is a waste. That time could instead be spent actually doing what you wrote that you were going to do correctly and/or completing your mission which for most is not presenting perfect correspondence. In the cases where it must be perfect there is someone whose job it is to make it so.

With regard to the original question and the standards above I’d apply them in the following way: Generally is subjective I know and the standard set is I’d say up to the person who either rates or approves the correspondence. Understanding that everything one sends out is a reflection of the organization.

However, in the case of say notes written between peers, which unless I missed something here is the tone of the boards, I’d go with this; as long as it’s legible and understandable, it’s fine for me. I’d try and not be too judgmental.

So I say to you....think about this....Did you understand what the person was trying to relay to you? If so then I see no problem with it. If it was unintelligible then there is a problem but otherwise I say you might just be a little elitist. That’s just an opinion BTW only you know the truth, look to why you are really considering excluding this person. Perhaps there is another reason and poor spelling is an excuse.

 

[Aeolius]

At the risk of sounding defamatory (it is the misspellings I have an issue with, NOT the prospective player), the ones I had trouble with were "addiment" (adamant) and "suphisticated" (sophisticated). Some others, including "playeer", "fasination", "fastasy", and "friendsly", may simply be cases of "fumble fingers", which I suffer from as well. The case of "teh" instead of "the" is most likely the once from which I suffer most.

If you recognize these misspellings as belonging to a post you may have recently written, rest assured I am still considering sending a recruiting notice. After all, a simple spell-checker would have pointed all of these misspellings out.

 

[Aeolius]

Did you understand what the person was trying to relay to you? If so then I see no problem with it.

For that matter, I can envision what a post might resemble, if written originally in Portuguese, thrown through a translation program, and then posted in the resulting broken English. Yes, I would most likely understand the intent.

 

[Piratecat]

Hmmm. Was he a native English speaker? I have nothing but respect for people who post here in their non-native tongues. Heck, you aren't going to see me posting on Psionicist's boards in Swedish.

I agree, though, that in a PbP game clarity of communication is important and adds to the enjoyment of the game.