Curse

isamu kurosawa · Dec 01, 2006, 03:04 PM // 15:04

MoP - mark of protection or mark of pain?

KvanCetre · Dec 01, 2006, 03:12 PM // 15:12

The irony here is the the submitters name is an acronym.

Made In Ascalon · Dec 01, 2006, 03:27 PM // 15:27

Unless the acronyms are cool ones like "FTW" or "WTF" (hey, they have the same letters :O), I hate it when people use them. Not everyone knows what the acronym stands for, and some people need to learn how to type instead of shortcut everything.

I love it when I see someone say "LFG 4/8, need monk" because then I know the group has a dumb leader, though.

[DE] · Dec 01, 2006, 03:32 PM // 15:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by logan90

What about the whole UW abbreviation?

Person 1: "Im going to the UW, anyone want to come?"
Person 2: "Sure, ill meet you in ToA D1"
Person 1: "I mean the new UW"

UW for the Underworld, and UW for the other Underworld within tombs (which should really be referred to as tombs. Its stupid to call it the UW when its clearly not the UW.)

Actually everyone refers to the new UW as ToPK (tomb of primeval kings).

Airbag · Dec 01, 2006, 03:38 PM // 15:38

I actually like this topic, I just found out the meaning of most acronyms I didn't know yet by reading the replies

Inde · Dec 01, 2006, 03:47 PM // 15:47

Besides all the Off-Topic and silliness/irony in this thread

... it's an interesting topic really. The acronyms you see are going to be adjusted, added, modified, and adapted for all MMOG's. It's actually one of the great barriers that can stop a new player from coming in and being able to enjoy and play a game. The overwhelming amount of acronyms created by now, after this game has been out for 1 1/2 years, is not something that a brand new player is going to be able to catch up with anytime soon.

Brag moment, I actually talked about this very thing in an interview with Custom PC Magazine (UK).

Skuld · Dec 01, 2006, 03:49 PM // 15:49

Sooo a random rant with no suggestions for a change, or even clarity on why :s

Str0b0 · Dec 01, 2006, 03:56 PM // 15:56

How do you people not get the abbreviations? Show a little situational awareness. If you are sitting in The Deep and someone says "Need SS then we go" Then they obviously need Spinal shivers and Spiteful spirit. You know they do or you wouldn't be there. The same goes for 90% of the skill and location abbreviations in this game. If you can't be bothered to keep up with where you are and what is needed for the missions, quests and runs in the area you are in then you deserve to be confused by something so simple.

lyra_song · Dec 01, 2006, 04:01 PM // 16:01

"Remember when you could B/P at ToPK with MOP without activating the AOE?"
"Ya...but now you can use a Mot P/W with AoF or BF and add a Crit A/R to add bleeding."
"Ya...times change."

Inde · Dec 01, 2006, 04:02 PM // 16:02

You are speaking as an experienced player Str0b0, telling a new player that you can't be bothered to help them because they should have an ability to have "situational awareness" when we are speaking of acronyms that are not even official in the game, talked about in any manual or referred to on the official site. These are player driven acronyms that can change, that some people might use differently and more.

We have people from different countries with different language displays that just may have a different letter in that acronym then you. There are so many variables to an acronym that is in no way official and just typed as a whim by any player. They do not "deserve" anything when even an experienced GW player may not know any of the hundreds of acronyms that any player in the game can create on the spot.

Str0b0 · Dec 01, 2006, 04:58 PM // 16:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inde

You are speaking as an experienced player Str0b0, telling a new player that you can't be bothered to help them because they should have an ability to have "situational awareness" when we are speaking of acronyms that are not even official in the game, talked about in any manual or referred to on the official site. These are player driven acronyms that can change, that some people might use differently and more.

We have people from different countries with different language displays that just may have a different letter in that acronym then you. There are so many variables to an acronym that is in no way official and just typed as a whim by any player. They do not "deserve" anything when even an experienced GW player may not know any of the hundreds of acronyms that any player in the game can create on the spot.

Ok Granted to a new player it might be confusing, however for seasoned players these things should almost be second nature. I have no problem helping new players out, in any capacity, including explaining some of the acronyms and showing them around the game. In fact I was doing that last night. Still a call to stop using the abbreviations just won't happen. We have a far too limiting character cap in chat to use the proper spelling of many things.

*Darcy* · Dec 01, 2006, 05:20 PM // 17:20

I was new to GW once. I remember watching the chat window and wondering what half the people were talking about. Between the abbreviations and the unknown builds, I was often totally confused.

So I asked. I asked on chat. I asked my guildmate. I checked on guildwiki.
Questions on chat usually drew a lot of "noob" remarks, but someone would always answer truthfully. And so I learned. And I learned to use the chat language because, as it is intended, it is easier to type fast with it. Nothing like typing a two line sentence only to find the person logged out or the message ran out of space.

WTS milius' pillar(ele earth) +15e 10/20all hp+30

takes less time than the following and is completely understandable to anyone interested in buying it.

Selling an elementalist unique staff named Milius's Pillar with the following statistics -adds 15 energy, has a 10% chance of halving casting time of all spells, has a 20% chance of halving recharge time of all spells, adds 30 health points. It has a use requirement of 9 points in earth attribute for maximum modification benefits.

Clone · Dec 01, 2006, 05:42 PM // 17:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by N E D M

Clarity FTW

This is a joke topic, right?

Jijimuge · Dec 01, 2006, 06:08 PM // 18:08

The context of the acronym can indeed often allow one to determine what it means.

In some cases, however, the use of the acronym introduces additional ambiguity that cannot be removed by an awareness of context.

For example, someone (apparently frustrated) utters "SF is just awful". Are they annoyed because they just got wiped out by a Searing Flames Team? Or are they claiming that Sorrow's Furnace is too hard (or similar gripes about the Furnace)?

Certainly the context of the utterance would supply the meaning in many cases, but not in all e.g. someone is venting a bit on Guild Chat or the like, and that "SF is just awful" is the first message.

Using acronyms does serve a purpose (most obviously, it's fast), but this comes at at a cost - namely that what one says can be made less comprehensible. Certainly some of that lack of clarity can be overcome by experience and an awareness of context. However, the the meaning of an acronym may still be unclear when the context provides no information to allow one to decide which interpretation of an acronym is correct (e.g. the case above).

Maybe, rather than asking others not to use acronyms (which I imagine would be pretty much fruitless anyhow), perhaps there could be some way of directing people to a list of acronyms, such as that maintained on guildwiki?

Swinging Fists · Dec 01, 2006, 06:44 PM // 18:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darcy

It has a use requirement of 9 points in earth attribute for maximum modification benefits.

Off topic, but this might help you, judging by your post. When weapons have requirements, such as req. 9 earth magic in the above weapon, the req only applies to the line it is on, in this case the damage from attacks. The req doesn't provide "maximum modification benefits" - you will get them even without meeting the req, since they don't have the req on the same line. Just an FYI. BTW, if you already knew this, then my apologies, and you can ignore.

c_ras · Dec 01, 2006, 07:11 PM // 19:11

I'm going along with everyone else here and saying that you should be intelligent enough to know what people are talking about. If you know the surroundings, what is going on, understand the context of the discussion/sentence of the people you are interacting with, and have a little GW knowledge, then you won't have any problems. Yes...there are acronyms that stand for more than one thing in GW...oh wait....I mean Guild Wars, but its the same as in real life. You won't know what they are referring to unless you either ask or pick up clues. If you are unsure, you should ask. If you have some GW knowledge....use it.

Scenario 1 (Guild Hall)
Person 1: Hey...wanna go do UW?
Person 2: Underworld or Urgoz's Warren?
Person 1: Underworld
Person 2: Yeah sure. Let me change characters and then we can go.
Person 1: Ok

See....by knowing the different meanings it shows you know things in the GW world. Person 2 didn't know if it was Underworld or Urgoz's but by asking using his GW knowledge, he got the answer and now knows. As the GI Joe TV show use to say "And now you know....and knowing is half the battle".
Abandoning acronyms isn't going to happen. If you do that, you might as well start a protest in real life to get rid of the million more acronyms as well.

The Ernada · Dec 01, 2006, 07:19 PM // 19:19

There's a limit on what can be acronyms or shortened to abbreviations. When either of those causes more confusion and wastes more time than actually saving typing time then what's the point?

Also, it's not just Guild Wars terminology. Lazy and illiterate people have started putting short phrases into acronyms (I dont know = idk) Pretty soon we'll all talk in sentences with chunks of 3 letter acronyms.

It's no wonder most people I see on the forums can't spell "loser"

My Sweet Revenga · Dec 01, 2006, 07:46 PM // 19:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Former Ruling

WTS r8 15^50 FDS S/B100k+XX OBO

>_>

<_<

Yea, they do sort of collide from time to time when certian things have the same starting letters, but I've been able to keep up

Want to sell req 8 added 15%damage above 50% health fiery dragon sword starting bid 100k plus ectos..... or best offer.....

Cmon how hard was that to figure out folks?

(well if you didn't know what it meant, you do now)

And I don't think it's all about people manipulating language or whatever to look cool. It's all about laziness, pure and simple.

c_ras · Dec 01, 2006, 07:51 PM // 19:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Ernada

Also, it's not just Guild Wars terminology. Lazy and illiterate people have started putting short phrases into acronyms (I dont know = idk) Pretty soon we'll all talk in sentences with chunks of 3 letter acronyms.

I'm pretty sure it is not too far off. You are already starting to see stuff like that showing up in the school systems. Here is a CNN article that I read that you should too. It says that students in New Zealand will be able to use "text speak" (text message type language) in NATIONAL exams! You only wonder what is next!!!

CNN Article

Kityn · Dec 01, 2006, 07:57 PM // 19:57

I have been playing for a year and a half and I still come across some I have never seen before. If you do not know then ask