What reading level are most games written for?

[Altalazar]

What the heck does reading level mean, anyway? I mean, when I write something, I try to write it clear, concise, and communicate my point. What level is that? What if it would be inappropriate to use any big words because your point doesn't require it? What reading level is that? How the heck can someone consciously write to a given "reading level"? Isn't it, to some degree, meaningless? Aren't many concepts basically the same no matter what "reading level" you use? I'm sorry - I guess I see this as a circular exercise. Or something.

 

[Altalazar]

Egads! I wish this thread never existed! Just when this thing (Word) got me spelling better (I use flagged mistakes rather than auto-correct for self-improvement purposes and its worked rather well), now it's making me feel inadequate again.

Like I wasn't already over-critical of my own writing to begin with, now I'm going to be re-writing everything because of this!

Damndamndamndamndamn....

The word grammar checker is nortorious for being wrong about a lot of things. I've had the (mis)fortune of being forced to learn the EXACT proper grammar and word-use for English as part of my legal education. Multi-billion dollar lawsuits have literally hinged on the proper meaning of a comma in a certain context, so this is somewhat important to know. Word seems to get proper grammer wrong about 50% of the time or more - especially with the rules in the margins, so-to-speak, that most people are blissfully unaware of.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

If the language gets to complex, the rules become obscure.

Actually, it's the opposite: The more complex the language, the more specific the meaning.

It's in not understanding the complex that gives rise to obscurity.

The word grammar checker is nortorious for being wrong about a lot of things.

Which is why I don't use grammer check. Spell check, on the other hand, is a great tool for the self-treatment of dyslexia.

I've had the (mis)fortune of being forced to learn the EXACT proper grammar and word-use for English as part of my legal education. Multi-billion dollar lawsuits have literally hinged on the proper meaning of a comma in a certain context, so this is somewhat important to know.

Yeah, but it doesn't seem to clear up disagreements on the OGL and d20STL mail lists.

It is both needed and necessary.

That's a wonderful quote... Scary, really, when you consider the continual decline of our public school system here in America (which, consequently, is why I home educate).

 

[SpiderMonkey]

The topic of readability was just discussed in one of my education courses; I don't have my materials handy, but I think I'll apply the Frye test to the 3.5 PHB. It involves taking 3 random selections of 100 word passages from the beginning, middle, and end of the text. You take a selection, count the number of sentences and the number of syllables in the 100 words, and plot them against a Frye graph. This will provide you a rough estimate of the reading level. For text books, the ideal situation is that the middle passage will prove slightly more difficult than the beginning, and the end moreso than the middle. I don't think this applies to RPG books, though.

This is a test commonly used as a quantitative means for school boards to assess potential textbooks to integrate into their curriculum. Is it fool proof? Well, no, but a handy tool nonetheless. I'll post my results when I get ahold of the book.

 

[Roman]

The word grammar checker is nortorious for being wrong about a lot of things. I've had the (mis)fortune of being forced to learn the EXACT proper grammar and word-use for English as part of my legal education. Multi-billion dollar lawsuits have literally hinged on the proper meaning of a comma in a certain context, so this is somewhat important to know. Word seems to get proper grammer wrong about 50% of the time or more - especially with the rules in the margins, so-to-speak, that most people are blissfully unaware of.

Is there any free online or downloadable resource that provides a comprehensive description of English grammer? That would be something I would find extremely useful, especially the placement of commas, but other things too.

 

[johnsemlak]

Is there any free online or downloadable resource that provides a comprehensive description of English grammer?

http://www.bartleby.com/141/

 

[Roman]

Thanks! I will look through it.

 

[Zappo]

I've run the adventure linked in my signature through the blasted thing (for some reason, I find it fairly irritating). It said 1 word, 4 letters, 1 paragraph, zero everything else. Friggin' Microsoft buggy stuff.

 

[MerakSpielman]

What the heck does reading level mean, anyway?

It means that people who have completed that level of schooling should be able to understand what was written. 9th grade level means high school freshmen should understand it, but 8th graders would have difficulty. It assumes that the more you use big words the better educated your readers need to be to understand what you're saying. Obviously it's more of a novelty than an exact science.

Just for giggles, I copied and pasted the text from this very page into Word. Apparently, we're collectively writing at a grade level of 7.7.

 

[woodelf]

I think it varies depending on the game, and the reading ability of the person. I know I work with some adults who would not "get" the D&D books. Likewise, there are some 7th graders who would not have a hard time with it at all.

I know I had friends who played when they were 5th grade, maybe even younger.

The kids in question have nothing to do with it--reading level is about a semi-arbitrary standard, which doesn't necessarily correspond to any particular person. So there is such a thing as "6th-grade reading level", it just so happens that some people who read at the 6th-grade level are 4th-graders, and some are 30-yr-olds. If they don't adjust the standards periodically, i'd bet that most 6th-graders are below the 6th-grade level these days.

Anyway, the official reading level of newspapers and newsmagazines is usually 6th-grade level. Based on comparisons to texts back when i was in highschool, i'd put the 3E books at around 8th- or 9th-grade level, and the 1st ed books at around 12th-grade level, or probably higher (after all, they have words in them that don't even appear in a "collegiate" dictionary).