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Valg · 08-18-2004, 03:27 PM

Disclaimer: This probably only matters for roleplaying games where most/all communication is IC.

We've always had a number of players for whom English is not their primary language. Several of them have played 'big impact' characters on Carrion Fields, and it's always been our philosophy to try to judge people by their actions/ideas and not nitpick them over the idiosyncrasies of English grammar.

We do, however, require that all in-game communication is done in English. This is largely a matter of practicality- the staff needs to be able to make sure the rules are being followed, and there needs to be IC continuity regarding that communication- if one elf is speaking Russian, and another elf is speaking Spanish, how do you explain that ICly?

Now, there are extreme cases. Sometimes, we get a player who can't communicate effectively at all, at which point we try to recommend a game in their native language, or just point out that if you don't understand English at all, playing English-based text games is probably not the hobby of choice for you.

But most of the people from other countries that find us speak English well enough to get by. They can read a room description or helpfile and figure out what is going on. They can keep up a conversation, even if they're sometimes a little harder to understand. However, while it can be challenging to hold a conversation in a secondary language, it's much harder to do it while you're trying to assume a role other than "yourself". It's much like humor- people who are learning a language have a really hard time telling jokes (especially spontaneous ones) in it- the timing and word choice doesn't come easily.

Now, let's say you're holding an IC contest involving storytelling. Style and delivery obviously matter as much as content, particularly if the chosen genre is more about entertainment than information. Do you "round in favor" of obviously foreign players? Do you just accept that this isn't an aspect of the game they aren't going to excel at?

How do your games handle these issues?

08-18-2004, 03:27 PM	#1
Valg Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Home MUD: Carrion Fields Posts: 643	Disclaimer: This probably only matters for roleplaying games where most/all communication is IC. We've always had a number of players for whom English is not their primary language. Several of them have played 'big impact' characters on Carrion Fields, and it's always been our philosophy to try to judge people by their actions/ideas and not nitpick them over the idiosyncrasies of English grammar. We do, however, require that all in-game communication is done in English. This is largely a matter of practicality- the staff needs to be able to make sure the rules are being followed, and there needs to be IC continuity regarding that communication- if one elf is speaking Russian, and another elf is speaking Spanish, how do you explain that ICly? Now, there are extreme cases. Sometimes, we get a player who can't communicate effectively at all, at which point we try to recommend a game in their native language, or just point out that if you don't understand English at all, playing English-based text games is probably not the hobby of choice for you. But most of the people from other countries that find us speak English well enough to get by. They can read a room description or helpfile and figure out what is going on. They can keep up a conversation, even if they're sometimes a little harder to understand. However, while it can be challenging to hold a conversation in a secondary language, it's much harder to do it while you're trying to assume a role other than "yourself". It's much like humor- people who are learning a language have a really hard time telling jokes (especially spontaneous ones) in it- the timing and word choice doesn't come easily. Now, let's say you're holding an IC contest involving storytelling. Style and delivery obviously matter as much as content, particularly if the chosen genre is more about entertainment than information. Do you "round in favor" of obviously foreign players? Do you just accept that this isn't an aspect of the game they aren't going to excel at? How do your games handle these issues?