Tuesday, October 13, 2009

OMG lrn2spl

I wanted to write about something delicious today, but I have to get some pictures to make it work. Instead I'm going to take a brief moment to beat other Paladins (and pretty much anyone else) about the head. Preferably with something large and heavy.

Here's my question and/or beef. When did spelling and writing go out of style? I'm no literary genius, hell I didn't even graduate college. I've got a fist full of technical certificates and a Certificate of Attendance from Joe's Tire College. I lean heavily on tools like spell-checker, and consult those that are English majors when I need to publish something technical. I do however take pride in not abusing the English language too often in my day to day writing.

Now you may be wondering where this tirade is coming from, or what incident finally pushed me over the edge. It wasn't a guild application (though those are likely culprits) as Parabola isn't recruiting, and we don't take applications. Unless Jesus Christ himself shows up (and he better be riding a raptor), our guild is stable and doesn't need any more idiots. We have one Canadian already (and he reeks of maple syrup).

I'm sorry to say that this current ranting was sparked by nothing more than a comment/answer left on the site EpicAdvice.com.

I'm sure it all started off innocently. Someone had a typo, and overnight Beacon of Light became Bacon of Light. Really? One letter? I can understand using abbreviations, especially when you're writing content aimed at a specific group of people. I would expect that any Paladin player reading this blog knows what JoL/JoW is, the difference between SoV and SoC, and what the recent changes to DS/DG mean for us. I expect that they know that BoL and SS should be on your tank at all times.

But BACON? I love bacon - with my pancakes (or a BLT - mmm). Do the folks that write this giggle when they do it? Tee-hee - I said Bacon of Light. AHAHAHA. Is that one extra keystroke saving them from a terminal case of carpal tunnel syndrome? "Leetspeak" has gotten out of control. If we keep dropping letters from our vocabulary we're going to eventually just type the letter A and have to decipher it.

Acceptable:
LF DPS H OK - Have Tank and Heals - fine, anyone who's been playing for a while can figure out that this person is Looking For DPS for Heroic Old Kingdom, and that they have a tank and healer already.

Unacceptable
LF DPS H OK - hv tnk/hlz - what the deuce is that?

It's gotten so bad my own mother sends texts that say "Hp ur doin wel - luv mom".

It makes a guy want to stab something.

7 comments:

  1. People say Bacon of Light because they think it is funny, not to save typing.

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  2. I say it because of that old commercial for dog treats where the dog would say "MORE BACON!!!!" It does make me smile.

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  3. It makes me think the poster is 5....

    BACON!!! Give me more BACON!!!

    /wrists

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  4. I believe it started when Ghostcrawler, the lead system designer, typed Bacon of Light (an honest typo) into one of his blue posts on the official forums.

    People picked up on that and thought it was funny so it's carried on ever since.

    Since I know where it came from it doesn't bother me. It's still better than "ur" "u" and "pl0x" (that last one makes me shudder).

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  5. "pl0x" makes me want my own server with just my guildmates. Not that I even like the guys in my guild, I just know they aren't stupid enough to ever type pl0x.

    "u" and "ur" make me want to slap someone in the face with a shovel.....to death.

    I can honestly say I hate 99% of the people that I come in contact with that play this game and wish they would stop breathing in thier sleep. 10,000,000 fewer idiots on the planet would help with global warming, job creation and make the line shorter at the DMV.

    In fact, the more I think about it, Cataclysm should add a "death touch" button that shoots a lazer from space and slaughters anyone that refuses to type like a graduate of 5th grade. I'm far from perfect, but I'm light years from Legolëss in trade channel with his constant "omg gaiz ur so stoopid kek noob pl0x" or whatever the hell it is.

    Now please excuse me, I need to go yell at the kids who walked on my lawn and take a nap. Matlock is on at 8, I need to be fresh for it.

    ReplyDelete

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