The Post Quality Thread.

[ShadowTiger]

... Hm. Before I even begin typing, I can tell that this thread is going to deal with a significant amount of topics.


Lately, I've found that quite a few issues are snowballing together. It started slowly. A few spelling errors in quests here, ... an accidental typo there, ... a slip of the finger in your signature, ...

Then it got worse. It got so bad, that I felt virtually ensorcelled to make This Thread (http://www.purezc.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21629&st=0) criticizing the level of attentive quality in quests that has been steadily declining for some time.

Then new members are joining, and they're not very ... "attentive" towards their actions. Without naming names, allow me to provide an anonymous exhibition:
"Like one of yall sead. I like it with the meat cooked in it. Sents I read that I'm hungry I might just go get me some. lol :laughing: " "do u like sonic i dont no the ancer to that but i do like mario and sonic the hedgehog but if u wont to now about that stuff my friend mit no he has the guide. Believe me, I wish I were kidding. So very, very badly. It's discouraging, really. I mean, think about it. How is it possible that a conscious human being can make such obvious spelling errors? No, I'm serious! I'm actually asking. All things considered, how does a person figure out the process of registering on a forum, finding out how to make a new thread, but can't place their topic in the right forum, and then can't spell the word "since" or "answer?" If this person was mentally challenged, I would seriously be returning to the question of how he found his way onto the forum in the first place.


Rather than ship this off to GB where it probably should belong, (... Sorry about that. :sweat: ... ) I'll get to my intended topic of conversation.

If somebody spotted a spelling error in your signature or in a document, would you point it out? If so, why? How? If not, why?

Would you feel better knowing that they've not been shamed by having such a thing in their signature, or would you rest easy knowing that if they knew about it, they'd correct it, so since they don't know about it, it's not an embarrassment for them.

Personally, I'd rather be PM'd about it. I'd still suffer one point of embarassment damage, °_° though I have a natural AC against such a thing. (I've built up an endurance over the years.)

[Archibaldo]

I agree somewhat. I find it hard to read a post when the spelling is so bad it gives me a headache. Using slang words so that you don't have to type as much, i.e "U" instead of "you", is one thing, but changing "said" to
"saed" is just plain retarded.

It's ok if it's a word that has some difficulty to spell, but when it's as easy as "since" I mean, come on. It's not that hard.

Perosnally, I re-read all of my posts to correct all the spelling, sure I might miss one or two mistakes every couple of posts, but if I see them after I hit the submit button, I use the Edit button. It's very simple.

[SomaLlama]

You should make it your personal mission to go through and fix all of these spelling mistakes. For the good of humanity.

[firefly]

Yeah, you're right in some cases. I can't understand why a human being can make such obvious spelling errors...

For example, me, I was just another member, another idiot here, I mean, um... My username, "firefly" instead of "Firefly", most of the posts I made here are just like 2 or 3 sentences long, I never used capitalization, now, I preview my posts before posting, and I painfully see my previous posts, "Was I that stupid?"...

But you may be wrong...
This is my first forum ever, I was 13 or 12 when I joined, I thought I was posting just like the others, I wanted to ask a question, it was about the 'Tiered Secrets', I obviously just threw out a 2 sentenced low-quality post without even thinking about it, I got obscessed (sp?) and started to post like crazy.
These kind of people are often focused on getting a high post count and not focused on a high post quality.

BUT:

There are some others who are 16+ and just pull out a question:
"hwo do i mak chiukens move i wnat o mak chikens like teh other zleda gmaes!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :confused: :confused: :confused: :shakeno: :shakeno: :shakeno: :googly: :scared: :mad:
plz hlp thx"

Now those are the ones who really should improve, they and those who confuse 'you're' with 'your' and vice-versa.
This is what I found in a walkthrough for Resident Evil Ø:

Once your back in control of rebecca head up the stairs.
if a zombie falls down they sometimes grab you're legs and have a bite out of them.
easily killable by the knife if there are only 1 or 2 around, otherwise use you're gun.

And in some quests:

hyrule feild
forsaken frotress

The sad truth is:
Most of the people isn't accustomed to use good spelling and capitalization, specially (sp? again?) if it comes down to "internet".

Sorry for the long post.

[/rant].

Oh no! I will be banned for flaming!... Myself?

[punkonjunk1024]

Alright ST... I know what you're saying, but to a point, it doesn't matter.
I like to know when I make a stupid spelling mistake, and I check some of my stuff. I never use the right weather. Whether. Whatever.

Small mistakes don't matter.
But people using LOLZ or other typist chat just plain need to fucking die.
*shrug* it's not hard to learn to type quickly.

[Lutraphobiac]

I think everytime I have come back I have seen a thread complaining about something along the lines of activity/members.

[Darth Marsden]

For the most part, I think the threads here are fairly high quality... But that's just 'cause we don't really tolerate smacktards here. There are exceptions of course. I don't visit the Zelda Classic sections, but I'd imagine that's where most of the problems you mention would come from.

There is, however, a reason why we don't tolerate that sort of thing in General Discussion - we're harsh. Or, rather, YOU'RE harsh. You tell people what they've done wrong. If they've made a lot of typos, you point it out in your post. If they've insulted people, you warn them. I think places like ZC need someone to do that to really help eliminate the problems you're talking about.

[koopa]

How is it possible that a conscious human being can make such obvious spelling errors?

I suppose because they think it's "in". If you go to a chatroom and everybody speaks like that, most people would adapt soon enough. I suppose it counts as cool among some groups to make sure you don't spell a word correctly. Or spelling "u", "i" and so on is a new way of rebelling against the establishment. Rebelling though misspelling.

One reason why this might happen is when you're typing fast in chat you're bound to make slips or typoes. While you can - snd should! - read all forum posts through before you click the post button, and correct the inevitable errors, chat's sometimes too fast - read through, and someone's pressed enter before you ruining your punchline. It's no excuse, but it's an attempt to explain it. (I once made the rather stupid mistake of leaving Numlock on on my laptop while I had a chat window open. The numbers share the right half of the keyboard, so 0y ty*5ng ca0e 64t a33 352e th5s ... (my typing came out all like this).

I think there's only one way to stop it, and that's to have staff that tell people who post like that "That's not how it's done here". (Or something to that effect)
Anyone can help in the quest for spelling by obeying the golden rule: read your post through before you submit. If that fails, there's always the edit button. (The number of times I've corrected a [qoute] I typed ... )


Whether to point out small spelling errors is a really hard one. If it's obvious it's a typo (like, in a post from someone who can spell) then I'd say no. I find that as soon as you make your posts a certain length you're almost sure to have a tiny mistake somewhere (in your post, embarrassment should have two r; in my post, I'm almost sure I've made at least one - it always happens). But that's something I can live with and not really worth mentioning.

In a signature ... I think if it's nothing major I'd rather not risk appearing rude. Or, if at all, a PM. No need to make it public. If someone makes a post that's plainly wrong from start to finish, I'll usually try and include a P.S. at the end of my reply. Seeing what's been going on at PureZC lately, I can not only imagine precisely how Wildbill felt when he made his bot, I also am starting to wish WBB patrolled the forums too. Mind you, the staff - you included - have clearly begun to deal with it.

The other question is how far normal members can go without it being rent-a-modding. If you're staff, on the other hand, it's quite ok (in my opinion) to point out these things.

[Eckels]

The quality of this thread is sub-par.

[Aegix Drakan]

ST and koopa are right...AGAIN.

To the people who are part of the problem: this isn't MSN. It's a message board. there is no need for extreme abbreviations like "You" to "U".

I can accept typos, just so long as they are not super rampant all the time. example: I might miss a key, or put a "space" in the wrong place, but I try to avoid them. if a few pop up, I don't consider it a huge problem.

also, you should take into account the length of the post. If a person has, let's say, 5 typos in a HUGE paragraph, then it's within acceptable limits, but if the guy misspells every other word in a 2 line post, then there is a major problem.

Here's a quote I found that fits this situation quite nicely.


I'm the english language! Stop raping me please!

and the internet is where this happens most.

[algam86]

Ugh, that post makes me want school to start as soon as possible. (not that it won't be in less than a week...)

This is crazy. Most of there people are probably native English-speakers typing like this. Either they're stupid or they're thinking forums are another way to spell 'chat room'. And that spelling's bad for even THOSE.

And speaking of quality, I've probably missed out on hundreds of posts because I didn't feel like it had anything useful in it, and I usually go a pretty good job of correcting spelling and grammar (though I am just human, there are a few mistakes). I can handle a typo or three in a post, especially if I don't know how to spell the word (very few of those...) but reading something like in that first post just gives me a headache.

P.S. It's also not Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, or any other messaging programs like this. Learn to spell. (not directed at anybody in here, by the way)

[Sam Atoms]

What? You mean I'm going to have to stop using words like pwn4g3, r0xx0r, sux0r, 1337 h@x0r, ZOMG, w00t and j00? Rats.

[goKi]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2002/20021011h.gif
http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2004/20041103h.jpg

[Archibaldo]

I think that comic has pretty much every thing that this thread needs. 10/10

[erm2003]

goKi, that comic is great! It may be funny, but it brings home a good point. Please check your posts! If you think it's wrong, there is a good chance it is. You can always go to www.dictonary.com for a quick check on words you are typing. Yes, it takes a whole two seconds to do, and it definately improves the quality of your post.

[Dechipher]

I think everytime I have come back I have seen a thread complaining about something along the lines of activity/members.
Then stop leaving.



goKi. Good choice of comic.



ST- nothing you can do. You can go with it or not. It's a lot easier the first way. Yeah, misspellings (different from typos) and general laziness are obnoxious, but if the message is understandable then it doesn't matter and if it's not than it probably wasn't too intelligent of a thought anyway.

[koopa]

goKi, you rock. One of the best posts I've seen on that topic in a very long time.

[punkonjunk1024]

Thats freaking hysterical. :)

[{DSG}DarkRaven]

GoKi beat me to it, but in the spirit of jumping on the bandwagon, I think this one explains the phenomenon of netspeak more deeply.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2002/20020130h.gif

[rocksfan13]

goKi, you so totally rule. The funniest shit I have seen in the like of these threads.

{DSG}DarkRaven, that one was pretty good too.

I think the gang here can handle what is wrong and what is right.

[{DSG}DarkRaven]

I don't visit the Zelda Classic sections, but I'd imagine that's where most of the problems you mention would come from.


A lot of people who post in the ZC sections are brand new forum users, under the age of fifteen, who are so full of hormones (most likely testosterone) that they cannot contain their joy when they discover that ZC exists. They probably think that no one else on earth even remembers what the original Zelda was, and as far as the ZC suggestions board goes, that no one has ever heard of the other dozen Zelda games as well, and consequently nobody has thought of all the marvelous ideas that could be added to the game, such as the Roc's Feather, which as we all know, is the son of God, who died for our sins. Some day, the Feather will return to rapture us up into the clouds, where we will sit with him at the Father's right hand forever and ever. Amen.


Ahem. I myself was originally a member only for the ZC forums, and after a few months, or a year, or whatever, I moved into the other areas. I caused some trouble, learned to hate Breaker, and then left for a while. Having learned my lesson, I came back and all has been well ever since.

Of course, I never, ever spelled anything like the newbies do these days. The general consensus is and always will be that a few mistakes are tolerable, but outright devastation of the english language is not tolerated. Am I wrong?

[erm2003]

A lot of people who post in the ZC sections are brand new forum users, under the age of fifteen, who are so full of hormones (most likely testosterone) that they cannot contain their joy when they discover that ZC exists. They probably think that no one else on earth even remembers what the original Zelda was, and as far as the ZC suggestions board goes, that no one has ever heard of the other dozen Zelda games as well, and consequently nobody has thought of all the marvelous ideas that could be added to the game, such as the Roc's Feather, which as we all know, is the son of God, who died for our sins. Some day, the Feather will return to rapture us up into the clouds, where we will sit with him at the Father's right hand forever and ever. Amen.

Haha. This is great. This is exactly how I have been feeling about this whole Roc's Feather issue. Nice way to put it in perspective.


Of course, I never, ever spelled anything like the newbies do these days. The general consensus is and always will be that a few mistakes are tolerable, but outright devastation of the english language is not tolerated. Am I wrong?

It's very annoying to see the frequent mistakes. My favorite is when people spell key words wrong that are spelled correctly in the title of the thread they are posting in. That's right, the correct word is just inches from where they are typing. I guess I am wrong in thinking that having the correct spelling and grammar makes you look like a more intelligent poster.

[ShadowTiger]

Again, the reason I started this thread was to analyze the very extremes of the situation. Everything else has reasons behind it, as were mentioned before, particularly in DSG's latest post (http://www.armageddongames.net/showpost.php?p=1085709&postcount=21). If you're new to ZC, you're bound not to have read the rules. Nobody reads the rules. Nobody reads pinned threads. People just assume that they know the content just as they would assume that they think they're going to be okay when taking a final exam, having some ounce of common sense in their heads. It's not always the case, but at LEAST we know what the situation is!

When dealing with people who can't even spell the word "does," ... you have to admit, that's pretty extreme. Yes, people have problems with "you're" and "your" but there are 16+-year-olds out there who still have this issue. Don't they take exams in school? Do they take as care on their exams as they do on the forums? If yes, then, okay. We know it's a lazyness issue. I'm fine with that. It grants a state of resolution.

It's a mystery. It's a problem, like world hunger. You look at it, and if you actually care, you become depressed over the relative state of education. Questions arise: "Is this what the world's citizens care to show people about themselves?" Your post content determines what others think of you, and I for one would rather have people think well of me than not, and I don't have much to determine that other than my post quality. (As an example.)


So it's "annoying" to see because it's concerning. What possible cause could there be when a person writes "whay pettle" instead of "what palette?" If there is a reason, .. it's not an obvious one. If there is one, I'd love to hear it. o.O' I'll bet it'd surprise me, if it wasn't just laziness.

[erm2003]

Again, the reason I started this thread was to analyze the very extremes of the situation. Everything else has reasons behind it, as were mentioned before, particularly in DSG's latest post (http://www.armageddongames.net/showpost.php?p=1085709&postcount=21). If you're new to ZC, you're bound not to have read the rules. Nobody reads the rules. Nobody reads pinned threads. People just assume that they know the content just as they would assume that they think they're going to be okay when taking a final exam, having some ounce of common sense in their heads. It's not always the case, but at LEAST we know what the situation is!

When dealing with people who can't even spell the word "does," ... you have to admit, that's pretty extreme. Yes, people have problems with "you're" and "your" but there are 16+-year-olds out there who still have this issue. Don't they take exams in school? Do they take as care on their exams as they do on the forums? If yes, then, okay. We know it's a lazyness issue. I'm fine with that. It grants a state of resolution.

It's a mystery. It's a problem, like world hunger. You look at it, and if you actually care, you become depressed over the relative state of education. Questions arise: "Is this what the world's citizens care to show people about themselves?" Your post content determines what others think of you, and I for one would rather have people think well of me than not, and I don't have much to determine that other than my post quality. (As an example.)


So it's "annoying" to see because it's concerning. What possible cause could there be when a person writes "whay pettle" instead of "what palette?" If there is a reason, .. it's not an obvious one. If there is one, I'd love to hear it. o.O' I'll bet it'd surprise me, if it wasn't just laziness.

Friends of mine who are English teachers have told me that the quality of written English has gone down over the past several years. Part of that to blame may be on the use of "Internet English," for lack of a better term. How horrible would it be for you to read a written paper for school and find the term "LOL" or "BRB" in it? It happens though because the language that people use online to chat on AIM is what has started to become the norm when they can't distinguish between formal English and the "Internet English."

Unfortunately, a forum such as this one is also something that exists on the internet so many people who don't read the rules and know what the guidelines are also think that this type of language is appropriate. It's really a sad situation to see our language deteriorate so much.

ST is right when he said "your post content determines what others think of you." I try to post on here using proper English so that everyone can understand my points or whatever help I may be offering. I wish more people would do the same.

Thank you to those of you who do.

[DarkDragoonX]

... Using slang words so that you don't have to type as much, i.e "U" instead of "you"...

Using the letter "u" instead of typing "you" instantly puts the user on my List of Dumbasses. Seriously, it's absolutely retarded, and is probably the single most irritating internet slang word out there. Makes me want to stab somebody in the eye every time I see it.

[Tygore]

The problem is AOL. I'm serious, whenever I see examples of chatspeak being promoted, it's always put out by America Online. The big problem is that people begin to think chatspeak is simply how people communicate on the internet. Now, while I'm not too fond of chatspeak, I tolerate it to an extent in a live chat setting, because you're trying to keep up with the conversation and some shortcuts can be useful. However, on a forum/message board, you are posting ideas and discussion, the likes of which is taken much more seriously if you appear to have passed the third grade.

[Darth Marsden]

Friends of mine who are English teachers have told me that the quality of written English has gone down over the past several years. Part of that to blame may be on the use of "Internet English," for lack of a better term. How horrible would it be for you to read a written paper for school and find the term "LOL" or "BRB" in it? It happens though because the language that people use online to chat on AIM is what has started to become the norm when they can't distinguish between formal English and the "Internet English."
...
ST is right when he said "your post content determines what others think of you." I try to post on here using proper English so that everyone can understand my points or whatever help I may be offering. I wish more people would do the same.

Thank you to those of you who do.
You're welcome. I do the same, and you wouldn't believe how much more people in other forums respect me for it. They treat me like a human being! Amazing, it really is. And when I get into full-blown conversations about topics (such as this one, for example) it really is a pleasure to read the well-written and properly spelt responses. Nearly everyone just ignores the ones that aren't.

As for the standard of English... we've had that here in England in recent years. We've had kids leaving school not being able to read or write properly. We've had problems with teachers making simple spelling errors. We've can't disipline pupils for fear of being sued for impreaching their human rights. We're fucked up and we know it. Dear god, help us! Why do we keep voting for people who keep screwing this country over? Augh!