WOTC is hiring a new Game Designer for D&D

[Mouseferatu]

as if the English language and the rules that govern it were codified in stone and handed to Grammar Moses for all of us to keep in perpetuity.

Well, most of them were not.

The difference between "less" vs. "fewer," the Oxford comma, and the fact that it's not just wrong but actively immoral to use "of" after should, could, or would, however? Those absolutely were handed down by the divine, and people who violate those rules should face a new Holy Inquisition.

 

[bedir than]

How many have switched between style guides? I regularly write in AP Style, but haven't used Chicago Manual for a couple decades. I know Oxford comma and citations are the two biggest differences. What else?

 

[DEFCON 1]

I personally use the Joey Styles Guide myself.

OH MY GAWWWWDDDD!!!

 

[Gradine]

How many have switched between style guides? I regularly write in AP Style, but haven't used Chicago Manual for a couple decades. I know Oxford comma and citations are the two biggest differences. What else?

I have (or am currently pursuing) degrees in four different disciplines, each of which use a different style guide (Chicago, MLA, ASA, and APA, respectively). I also used to conduct format reviews of Master's theses across all disciplines, so I saw a lot of these styles and more (APSA, CSE, ACS...) it's a lot.

Most style guides are not as prescriptive as EoS mostly because they use that extra space to provide (a) clearer directions and (b) account for contextual differences (also (c) all of those citation rules, which have everything to do with properly attributing intellectual work and nothing to do with grammar or style). Most style guides provide basic generic grammar advice as well as discipline specific writing styles (from industry academic writing standards down to how to outline a paper; IIRC ASA says to never organize content that you need 4 distinct styles of headings (so only sub-sub-headings, at the deepest)). Few are unnecessarily prescriptive over long-debated grammar "rules", and the ones that do are uniformly awful (EoS, but APA kind of does this also; they recently reversed a recent change and now once again recommend adding two spaces after a period, which is an old typesetting habit that has more recently been proven to make writing more difficult to read for people with dyslexia).

Mostly there are few categories of people I disdain more than self-described "grammar nazis"; people who would ruin such a beautiful, evocative, fluid language by hammering it into an unnecessarily rigid structure, with a primary motivation to gatekeep intellectual and cultural status. Elements of Style is this particular false religion's most sacred text.

 

[Slit518]

How do we know if we won?
I want to know if I won.

Did you get a phone call? No.
Well did you get an email? No.
Then you didn't win.

Are you even qualified? I onno.
Then chances are you probably aren't qualified.

 

[MichaelArkAngel]

Love D&D, but I would never work for the "dumpster fire" of a company in WOTC. Waaaay too many politics, and agendas being pushed for my tastes. Odds are if you're a "white dude" your chances of getting hired over anyone else are slim to none as well...

 

[Sacrosanct]

Love D&D, but I would never work for the "dumpster fire" of a company in WOTC. Waaaay too many politics, and agendas being pushed for my tastes. Odds are if you're a "white dude" your chances of getting hired over anyone else are slim to none as well...

Yep. Totally no white dudes working there. Mearls, Crawford, Perkins, and Wyatt and 90% of the current staff just can't seem to get a job at WoTC...Or only the most important jobs there...

But hey, thanks for representing one of the worst aspects of our community.

 

[André Soares]

Sacrosanct, didn't you know they hired GIRLS to design D&D???? I bet they didn't even ask them how long they play, or what's the backstory of Raistlin... Damn those snowflakes.

 

[Henry]

By the very same argument, so is CMoS, because anything in there can be looked up online as well. The issue isn't actually about the form factor, but about the scope - a source with a large scope is very difficult to search, especially if you don't know the exact name for what you are looking for. The limited scope of Elements of Style makes it very easy to use for the most general of writing tasks.

Of course, this critique also assumes that you trust the internet to answer your questions, which is... perhaps not the wisest assumption to make. I suggest that the value in these things comes from their accepted authority, which "the internet" doesn't have.

The job posting also calls for "familiarity" with CmoS, which is a whole different thing from "Google the answer." I have at various times been in positions to hire people who completely understand various compliance guides common to my industry. I want to be sure that the people in question are not just Google-masters, but that they have actually READ these guides almost cover-to-cover and have implemented them multiple times. They don't have to be able to quote verbatim, but knowing 70% or so of answers to questions, from memory, is the kind of familiarity I look for - and if you use such a guide daily or regularly, you'll have that level of recall, most likely.

 

[Morrus]

Love D&D, but I would never work for the "dumpster fire" of a company in WOTC. Waaaay too many politics, and agendas being pushed for my tastes. Odds are if you're a "white dude" your chances of getting hired over anyone else are slim to none as well...

I warned you just a couple of weeks ago about a similar post. You appear to be not only ignoring me, but that also is all you appear to post about. Take some time off the forums and review the forum rules.