Curse

007Bistromath · Jan 24, 2006, 05:18 PM // 17:18

Necromancers summon minions, the general term for all of their undead thralls. They can also summon Bone Minions, a particular type of said thralls.

A region can have The Favor of the Gods. A monk can have Divine Favor. I guess that one never really confuses anybody, probably not even newbs, but it's still annoying.

Elementalists have Glyph of Sacrifice, which has nothing to do with sacrificing health. Yeah, I guess I'm probably the only person bothered by this. Isn't it more like maybe a Glyph of Urgency or something anyway? (For god's sake, don't tell me why they called it that, I'm not illiterate.)

Mesmers have Channeling. Ritualists have Channeling Magic.

None of these hold a candle to the worst offenders, though: assassins. They have a bunch of skills which cause you to Shadow Step to a target, meaning that you teleport next to them. They also have a skill called Shadow Step, which makes you run faster. Poor newbies.

Then, of course, there's Factions*, the new expansion which is all about two warring factions on some other continent. This is completely distinct from Faction*, which is a stat you grind to unlock more skills for your character, and never you mind that the organization you are nominally gaining a reputation with could not in any reasonable sense of the word be called a faction, given that they are not, to my knowledge, pitted against any other organization in particular.

I know that there are other unfortunate confusions like this, but I can't remember them at the moment. Anyway, the main point is that we should all gung-ho and buy those guys a bigger working vocabulary. kthxbai

*Not Fraction(s). Just as Anet needs to get acquainted with Roget, some of you all need to meet my main man Webster.

striderkaaru · Jan 24, 2006, 05:33 PM // 17:33

you forgot about the most blatant of them all: the fact that some skills are skills and some are not...

Blair46 · Jan 24, 2006, 05:37 PM // 17:37

They're all called minions, and that particular skill says Bone Minions because it is more than 1 minion, and more than 1 horror. There would've been confusion if there was a Bone Horror skill and a Bone Horrors skill. The way it stands, it's pretty obvious what everything means.

Out of all the ones you've outlined, the only annoying one is the Factions and Faction one, because a LOT of people have thought the sequel was Guild Wars: Faction, and they all think this means it's only just orientated around PvP because that's where you get Faction.

None of the confusion should be Anet's fault, as I never seem to get confused in this game, same with a bunch of my friends. The fault here is just that there are so many idiots in online communities.

/not signed

007Bistromath · Jan 24, 2006, 05:52 PM // 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blair46

They're all called minions, and that particular skill says Bone Minions because it is more than 1 minion, and more than 1 horror. There would've been confusion if there was a Bone Horror skill and a Bone Horrors skill. The way it stands, it's pretty obvious what everything means.

Why leave any possibility for confusion? Precision is a good thing, unless you just have no respect for the written word.

Quote:

Out of all the ones you've outlined, the only annoying one

Well, excuse me, but I think I am the Grand High Supreme Judge of That, not you. So there.

Quote:

blahblahblah

None of the confusion should be Anet's fault, as I never seem to get confused in this game, same with a bunch of my friends.

1. Think of the newbies. For the love of god, why can't anybody think of the children, I mean newbies?

2. See previous point about the value of precision. One of us did not take and/or pass English 101, I suppose.

Vilaptca · Jan 24, 2006, 06:20 PM // 18:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blair46

Out of all the ones you've outlined, the only annoying one is the Factions and Faction one, because a LOT of people have thought the sequel was Guild Wars: Faction, and they all think this means it's only just orientated around PvP because that's where you get Faction.

Actually...more people are calling it Fractions and think its a math game than Faction and thinking its a PvP game. LOL, I think humanity suffers everytime someone calls this game Fractions, and asks what the two fractions are, and then ask what to buy with faction. Like...they can get one right, but not the other two...

neoteo · Jan 24, 2006, 07:10 PM // 19:10

English is not my main language , so for me most of those names are meaningless. The icon and the explanation is what counts , anyway you have a point. My mother would agree with you 100%.Language History , Culture Background is a must for the new places where kids aquire knolage. Is what makes it good or bad IMMO ( in my mother opinion ).

IMO Guildwars is by far a good place for kids comparing to other games.

Argen · Jan 24, 2006, 09:26 PM // 21:26

Egads!!! Is this really necessary...

ANet's lack of an expanded vocabulary is in someways attributed the fact that this game is multi-lingual. Not sure here, just a theory. I do agree that I try not to write any for of official documentation or even unofficial jotted down notes that way, but oh well. Everyone does have their own styles and Guild Wars is a bit more published than my works.

As for attack other posters on their spelling, sentence structure, limited vocabulary, or any other grammar related errors seems like a good way to accomplish nothing. I read and write a couple of foreign languages, but English (American), is my primary language. Lately, as a spend a bit more time in German class, I find myself making mistakes when communicating in English, sometimes using the wrong tenses or sentence structure.

If the only defense you have for your idea is that the other guy made a spelling error... I don't know what to tell you.

{integral} · Jan 24, 2006, 09:49 PM // 21:49

Argen, as ArenaNet's head office is in America, I think I can safely say that its primary language is American English. Therefore, I expect some effort to be put into naming aspects of the game so that they are appropriate and do not clash with other aspects of the game. It is the job of the translator to translate the names into other languages. Surely if two things are named similarly in English, and are translated accurately, they will be named similarly in the language into which they have been translated. Surely if something is named inappropriately in English, and is translated accurately, it will be named inappropriately in the language into which it has been translated.

Shoujo · Jan 24, 2006, 10:36 PM // 22:36

I think you're overestimating the average GW player. I doubt most players, including myself, pay enough attention to the in-game text to notice or even care about what you've pointed out.

Long as the skill descriptions aren't confusing, the game is fun, and I can turn off local chat, I'm happy

awesome sauce · Jan 25, 2006, 01:14 AM // 01:14

You are forgetting another one. There's guild rank, and then there's personal rank. Thats the one that makes people the most confused.

Whenever I say "what rank is your guild" they say " oh we're r3+", when really I meant what was their place on the ladder.

007Bistromath · Jan 25, 2006, 02:14 AM // 02:14

Oh yeah. Ha. That one bit me once. Here follows a conversation involving me, my girlfriend, and another of my guildies.

(As the scene opens, GUILDMATE, hereafter referred to as GU, is playing in the tombs.)

GU: Uh oh. These guys are rank 80.
Me: WTF?!?!?
GF: Uhh, you mean guild rank 80, right [GU]?
GU: Yeah, guild rank.
GF: Yeah, we were picturing some guy emoting like a three-headed dragon tiger wearing cool sunglasses...
Me: ...ON A BATTLESHIP!

Smasher/Devourer · Jan 25, 2006, 03:35 AM // 03:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by striderkaaru

you forgot about the most blatant of them all: the fact that some skills are skills and some are not...

Actually, they're all skills. Those labeled "skill" are simply those for which no more specific label applies. A square is still a rectangle even though we call it a square, and a spell is still a skill even though we call it a spell.

I agree that Shadow Step is an odd name for that skill given the use of the phrase in other skill descriptions, but I think the rest are pretty trivial if not outright silly.

Ultimate_Gaara · Jan 25, 2006, 04:20 AM // 04:20

Suggestion: Change your language... if you can't stand the one your looking at then change it to something you can not read, then maybe you will not notice such a small and insignificant matter such as this.

Perhaps it is you who needs a thesaurus, I you said "Have" and awful lot in that post, try changing it up every now and again. Try to use words like "obtain" or "possess."

Thank you, have a nice day.

NatalieD · Jan 25, 2006, 07:02 AM // 07:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ultimate_Gaara

It is afterall intended for ages young to old so they have to make the language somewhat understandable for everyone.

But doesn't it make things less understandable when they use the same word for two different things?

{integral} · Jan 25, 2006, 08:33 AM // 08:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by 007Bistromath

*In a world where names are, for one reason or another, often intentionally not capitalized, universally capitalizing the beginning of a sentence is both lossy and unaesthetic.

If you don't like it, go and learn Latin.

M3lk0r · Jan 25, 2006, 12:46 PM // 12:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smasher/Devourer

Actually, they're all skills. Those labeled "skill" are simply those for which no more specific label applies. A square is still a rectangle even though we call it a square, and a spell is still a skill even though we call it a spell.

I agree that Shadow Step is an odd name for that skill given the use of the phrase in other skill descriptions, but I think the rest are pretty trivial if not outright silly.

Actually, if you have ever played a Ranger, you would know how hard it is to find out at first whether a given "skill" is affected by Expertise or not. I have played a good number of hours on my ranger (~500) and I only found out last month that the Monk "attack skill" Smite IS affected by expertise.

Eder · Jan 25, 2006, 01:05 PM // 13:05

Ok, sure, this isn't such a big deal as a number of people have felt the need to point out. No doubt about that. However, the possibility of causing confusion, particularly among new players, does exist. I wouldn't mind if ANet fixed this eventually, though I'd say it's far from being a priority.

Well, maybe apart from some key game concepts which I do agree should be renamed ASAP - like "Faction - Balthazar" vs "Factions" and "Rank" vs (guild) "Rank."

I mean, what were they thinking in those two cases? Rank? You just don't give the exact same name to two different game concepts. And on "Factions" - if there's one thing you don't want to confuse people about, that's your next product, the original game's sequel. Under no circumstances should you risk confusing your customers before they give you money.

Blair46 · Jan 25, 2006, 06:53 PM // 18:53

Here's the question of the day. In the online world where a heavily butchered English language exists, why the RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO does it matter?

{integral} · Jan 25, 2006, 07:08 PM // 19:08

Simple - because the game's language is not heavily butchered, we expect it to have a broad vocabulary.

007Bistromath · Jan 25, 2006, 07:15 PM // 19:15

Furthermore, making the language in the game more precise in the first place will result in this forum being less burdened with posts such as...

Quote:

zomg i dotn undrstand wut is fractions i not by ekspanshun(sp?) but it tell me i haev 1k fraction with balatzhar nd i get reward dose it men eksp is free f u palay teh game alotz??? plz dont delete if wrong forum kthxxxx

Obviously, this is a good thing.