UAiSL annoy me!

[Duncan Haldane]

UAiSL - Unexplained Abbreviations in Subject Lines annoy me.

Lately this has been happening more often than it used to, it seems to me. For instance, the other day (maybe last week) I saw a topic that mentioned BoEMII being out. I couldn't recall what BoEMII was, and read the thread. But in the thread it wasn't named either, nor the Author, or anything other give-away detail. It wasn't until I saw a mention on the main page that Book of Eldritch Magic II was out that it clicked.

Now, I read this website almost daily, and have done so for a long time. I own the Book of Eldritch Magic, and want a copy of the sequel when it gets printed. The abbreviation just didn't mean anything to me.

When there are abbreviations like that in topic lines the site starts to feel Cliquey. If the reader doesn't know what the third IR is, if the reader doesn't know whether LotR refers to Lord of the Rings or the new Babylon 5 (potential) series Legends of the Rangers, or if the reader doesn't know what BoEMII is, it can make this site inaccessible to new readers, and sometimes drive them away.

Please make an effort to put the full name in the title of a topic, rather than an abbreviation.

(Note: the best way to explain an abbreviation in context is like so: The Book of Eldritch Magic II (BoEMII) is now available from Monte's website).

Thanks for reading

Duncan

 

[Someguy]

We should create a faq...( we did have one one time, on the newer old boards...) and list common abbrieviations

 

[Duncan Haldane]

We should create a faq...( we did have one one time, on the newer old boards...) and list common abbrieviations

Perhaps, but it doesn't take much effort to type out, just the once, for the heading.

Another example - MotW - does it stand for "Masters of the Wild" or "Monster of the Week" (Moster of the Week is a column on the WotC website, and have sometimes been referenced here as worth viewing, full of mistakes, or both). You can usually only tell which it applies to by reading the attached thread, which you might not bother reading if you knew which one it meant *without* opening the thread.

 

[reapersaurus]

Lately this has been happening more often than it used to, it seems to me

Welcome to the internet.
I agree, this is happening WAY too often, and all it would take is the person to ask themselves "Gee, does the reader know about this subject as much as I do?"

But that would require objectivity, which most people (especially internet communication) does not have.

Good thread name, BTW.

 

[Duncan Haldane]

Re: Re: UAiSL annoy me!

Good thread name, BTW.

Thanks - I hoped it would make my point

 

[Piratecat]

MTiGD annoy me!

That would be "Meta threads in General Discussion".

I'll slide this over to the Meta Forum.

- PCat

 

[SpikeyFreak]

http://boards.wizards.com/rpg/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=135&t=006969

Thats a pretty long abbrevation FAQ.

--Helpful Spikey