![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sobrique(EVE online post. Plonked here, in case my thread gets locked again :))
One of the tragedies of the modern world, is that too many good ideas are lost, simply because the person with the idea, was not able to communicate it to the rest of the world.
Sadly, EVE is one of the places that has a problem. English teachers nag and moan about grammar and punctuation. I used to hate that. However, having read numerous online forums, I've come to realise this: They've got a point.
You see, if you want me to read your wonderful thoughts on whatever, then it's going to have to be well written.
I loath 'txt spk' and 'l33t'. I think these are not new and wonderful things, but more a reflection of the sloppy mind of the person using them. There's a strong link between a well phrased point of view, and the likelyhood of people agreeing with it. Because very simply, if I have to work hard to understand what you just wrote, I'm already prejudiced against what you're going to say.
So please, stop for a moment, and consider all those funny little symbols on your keyboard. They do make a difference to the meaning of a sentence.
And please, use paragraphs. It's so much easier to read than jammed up blobs of text.
Now you may ask why this should apply to you? After all, are you not the l33test out there, and all should hear your mighty words and despair? Well, think on this. If you take the time to post something on a forum, if it's not read by anyone, then that time is wasted. If it's well written, then many people will have a look, read, understand and either agree, or disagree.
I will not accept the excuse that 'you were too busy' to do it right. I'll accept that on in game channels, because you may not have time to re-read and correct the 'kill the armageddon over there, because my shield is failing'. But on the forum, or in a channel where you do have the time, a sloppily written bit of text just reflects badly on the person writing it.
Oh, I'm not saying that perfect spelling is required, and neither is a full and precise understanding of where and when to use a semi-colon.
I'm well aware there are people out there who are genuinely illiterate, or are dyslexic. But there's _lots_ more who are just lazy. In my arrogance, and the absence of further information, I'm going to be assuming the latter I'm afraid.
And for those who ask "why does this matter to me, I don't care if you can't be bothered to read my post". Yes. You're quite right. My reading your post or not, probably will have no impact on your life. But I can absolutely guarantee that I'm not the only one who feels this way. You may be too busy to write a coherent post, but there's definitely people (Developers included :)) who are too busy to try and puzzle out the mess you've just splurged onto the page.
(First person to post a 'U SUK!!!1111one' gets a little gold star, and a tube of smarties)*
*actually, I lied about that bit.
One of the tragedies of the modern world, is that too many good ideas are lost, simply because the person with the idea, was not able to communicate it to the rest of the world.
Sadly, EVE is one of the places that has a problem. English teachers nag and moan about grammar and punctuation. I used to hate that. However, having read numerous online forums, I've come to realise this: They've got a point.
You see, if you want me to read your wonderful thoughts on whatever, then it's going to have to be well written.
I loath 'txt spk' and 'l33t'. I think these are not new and wonderful things, but more a reflection of the sloppy mind of the person using them. There's a strong link between a well phrased point of view, and the likelyhood of people agreeing with it. Because very simply, if I have to work hard to understand what you just wrote, I'm already prejudiced against what you're going to say.
So please, stop for a moment, and consider all those funny little symbols on your keyboard. They do make a difference to the meaning of a sentence.
And please, use paragraphs. It's so much easier to read than jammed up blobs of text.
Now you may ask why this should apply to you? After all, are you not the l33test out there, and all should hear your mighty words and despair? Well, think on this. If you take the time to post something on a forum, if it's not read by anyone, then that time is wasted. If it's well written, then many people will have a look, read, understand and either agree, or disagree.
I will not accept the excuse that 'you were too busy' to do it right. I'll accept that on in game channels, because you may not have time to re-read and correct the 'kill the armageddon over there, because my shield is failing'. But on the forum, or in a channel where you do have the time, a sloppily written bit of text just reflects badly on the person writing it.
Oh, I'm not saying that perfect spelling is required, and neither is a full and precise understanding of where and when to use a semi-colon.
I'm well aware there are people out there who are genuinely illiterate, or are dyslexic. But there's _lots_ more who are just lazy. In my arrogance, and the absence of further information, I'm going to be assuming the latter I'm afraid.
And for those who ask "why does this matter to me, I don't care if you can't be bothered to read my post". Yes. You're quite right. My reading your post or not, probably will have no impact on your life. But I can absolutely guarantee that I'm not the only one who feels this way. You may be too busy to write a coherent post, but there's definitely people (Developers included :)) who are too busy to try and puzzle out the mess you've just splurged onto the page.
(First person to post a 'U SUK!!!1111one' gets a little gold star, and a tube of smarties)*
*actually, I lied about that bit.
