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DIALOG AND GRAMMAR
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fredo
170
fredo
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CloseI always wonder how to handle grammar when writing dialog for a game.
A lot of the time, people in real life speak in grammatically incorrect ways. Occasionally, writing for your characters that way makes them sound less stilted and more conversational - more like human beings.
But then again, sometimes as a player you read something and you just sort of sigh at the awful grammar. Some people get really annoyed with certain grammatical errors. I know that sometimes, no matter how conversational something sounds, I just sort of want to email the game maker and tell him to brush up on his grammar.
I'm not a grammar nazi by any means. I make my own fair share of mistakes. I feel like most people will agree that a video game does not require 100% impeccable grammar to be enjoyable. But then, what's the percentage that's acceptable?
So my question is, is sacrificing grammar for the sake of more conversational dialog ok? If so, when? How often? What types of errors will you forgive, and what types make you cringe?
A lot of the time, people in real life speak in grammatically incorrect ways. Occasionally, writing for your characters that way makes them sound less stilted and more conversational - more like human beings.
But then again, sometimes as a player you read something and you just sort of sigh at the awful grammar. Some people get really annoyed with certain grammatical errors. I know that sometimes, no matter how conversational something sounds, I just sort of want to email the game maker and tell him to brush up on his grammar.
I'm not a grammar nazi by any means. I make my own fair share of mistakes. I feel like most people will agree that a video game does not require 100% impeccable grammar to be enjoyable. But then, what's the percentage that's acceptable?
So my question is, is sacrificing grammar for the sake of more conversational dialog ok? If so, when? How often? What types of errors will you forgive, and what types make you cringe?
cho
0
i think it's pretty obvious when errors are made intentionally or not, and as long as they're contributing to better dialogue and characterization, they're A-OK
I'd recommend you find a mid term. You can use occasional grammar mistakes, but maybe it is better to make it a little more formal than conventional everyday conversation.
Just never use "U R CRAZY" or any kind of spelling mistakes. People don't mispell things on conversations. It's not realistic, it's just wrong and ugly.
Just never use "U R CRAZY" or any kind of spelling mistakes. People don't mispell things on conversations. It's not realistic, it's just wrong and ugly.
Miracle
1044
author=InfectionFiles
A type that makes me cringe is seeing modern day speech in a fantasy based setting.
Uh-oh, there goes 80% of my dialog! D;
Mostly dialog that makes me cringe is gratuitous swearing, mainly because it sounds stupid, but there have been one or two instances where the game had pulled it off >>b
author=Miracleauthor=InfectionFilesUh-oh, there goes 80% of my dialog! D;
A type that makes me cringe is seeing modern day speech in a fantasy based setting.
Mostly dialog that makes me cringe is gratuitous swearing, mainly because it sounds stupid, but there have been one or two instances where the game had pulled it off >>b
Hmm, I guess I meant modern day speech as swearing and like calunio mentioned, seeing horrible txt talk.
I wouldn't expect fantasy games to all be "where thou shalt blahblah" but at the same time keeping the modernized dialog to an acceptable minimum, if that makes sense.
cho
0
author=caluniohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_dialect
Just never use "U R CRAZY" or any kind of spelling mistakes. People don't mispell things on conversations. It's not realistic, it's just wrong and ugly.
cho has it completely right. If your intentional mistakes are for dialog effect, then it is not only acceptable but also a merit to your game's writing. If your mistakes are like typing "u r crazy" or "4" instead of "four" (where possible), it is egregious.
calunio's suggestion that "people don't misspell in conversations" is quite ridiculous. People mispronounce in conversations all the time, and you almost never even notice because you know what they're saying anyway. Look at a literal, verbal transcript of any conversation and it is unintelligible because of how people really talk. We stop in mid-sentence, we jump thoughts, we slur words, we skip words in lieu of hand motions. The best you can do to fix this is have a speech pre-written out for you and practice delivering it, pausing and emphasizing where appropriate. Equate this dialog in games; You could have a jumbled mess of lazy 1337sp33k but you need to depict different styles of speech and accents, so doing your best means you only use mistakes on purpose and where appropriate.
calunio's suggestion that "people don't misspell in conversations" is quite ridiculous. People mispronounce in conversations all the time, and you almost never even notice because you know what they're saying anyway. Look at a literal, verbal transcript of any conversation and it is unintelligible because of how people really talk. We stop in mid-sentence, we jump thoughts, we slur words, we skip words in lieu of hand motions. The best you can do to fix this is have a speech pre-written out for you and practice delivering it, pausing and emphasizing where appropriate. Equate this dialog in games; You could have a jumbled mess of lazy 1337sp33k but you need to depict different styles of speech and accents, so doing your best means you only use mistakes on purpose and where appropriate.
Shinan
4314
As a non-native English speaker grammar has never been a major concern for me. Of course obvious errors are bad but the kinds of errors you see in what I write right now (the kinds of errors that give me away as a non-native speaker). I don't really mind those.
And stuff like misplaced ","s and other minor punctuation errors. You know the usual stuff.
Misspelling however is generally really annoying. It sticks out like a sore thumb whenever I notice (even in my own text). Ranging from the occasional yuo and their, they're, there mistake to mispell.
Not to forget the hard words like bureaucracy (I always have to look that word up before I write it).
BUT in the end one or two errors won't break a game. They happen in commercial games as well (and stick out just as badly there). But too much of any bad thing is too much of any bad thing.
And the second BUT. I rather like it when they go all the weird way with the talking like in the eye dialect thingie link. But remember if you don't use "'" for missin' letters it'll come up as misspellin' on my radar. (and no, cho U R is NOT "eye dialect")
Kva jär e'te me' tåkå!
And stuff like misplaced ","s and other minor punctuation errors. You know the usual stuff.
Misspelling however is generally really annoying. It sticks out like a sore thumb whenever I notice (even in my own text). Ranging from the occasional yuo and their, they're, there mistake to mispell.
Not to forget the hard words like bureaucracy (I always have to look that word up before I write it).
BUT in the end one or two errors won't break a game. They happen in commercial games as well (and stick out just as badly there). But too much of any bad thing is too much of any bad thing.
And the second BUT. I rather like it when they go all the weird way with the talking like in the eye dialect thingie link. But remember if you don't use "'" for missin' letters it'll come up as misspellin' on my radar. (and no, cho U R is NOT "eye dialect")
Kva jär e'te me' tåkå!
Grammar mistakes are fine as long as they're made by the characters and not the creator. The two are usually easy to distinguish, as misuse of homophones almost always indicates the latter.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Personally, I cannot tolerate grammatical mistakes by authors. I won't immediately stop reading or watching or playing whatever it is that has grammatical mistakes, but I will immediately stop enjoying it. It's not because I'm just that much of a perfectionist, it's because it is one of the things that utterly breaks immersion for me.
fredo
170
author=Versalia
calunio's suggestion that "people don't misspell in conversations" is quite ridiculous. People mispronounce in conversations all the time, and you almost never even notice because you know what they're saying anyway. Look at a literal, verbal transcript of any conversation and it is unintelligible because of how people really talk. We stop in mid-sentence, we jump thoughts, we slur words, we skip words in lieu of hand motions.
I agree with this 100%. I have to read deposition transcripts all the time (for those of you who don't know, depositions are essentially interviews for lawsuits where the discussion is transcribed by a court reporter) and even the most eloquent of speakers' speech looks like a mess when reading a literal one-for-one transcript of a conversation.
Frankly, I think part of what always gives me pause is the use of wrong words. Characters with bad (or incorrect) vocabulary add a lot to spoken media. I always wonder about written though. Sometimes what you intend as an intentional error by the character comes as an error by the creator. When I play rpgmaker games, I wonder a lot whether word choice errors are fun, quaint character traits or the author's ignorance.
LightningLord2
230
Word/Grammar mistakes are acceptable if they are consistent to the characters - if one character keeps mistaking "Angel" and "Angle", you notice it as a character flaw. If it comes up on random places, you see it as a creator's mistake.
cho
0
author=Shinanwow i had no idea!!!
(and no, cho U R is NOT "eye dialect")
if you actually think a real human being was trying to justify using "U R" in dialogue then wow
author=LockeZIMMERSION: everyone speaks with 100% grammatical correctness all of the time
Personally, I cannot tolerate grammatical mistakes by authors ... because it is one of the things that utterly breaks immersion for me.
Shinan
4314
author=choYou obviously did so it was fortunate that I corrected you.author=Shinanwow i had no idea!!!
(and no, cho U R is NOT "eye dialect")
if you actually think a real human being was trying to justify using "U R" in dialogue then wow
Written dialogue shouldn't follow spoken word except in very specific instances. (and those instances are well-covered here). Usually you can show someone speaking "badly" just by using one or two obvious quirks. Bad grammar breaks immersion because it breaks the flow of reading. Native speakers expect a certain kind of writing and when suddenly there's a huge break in that it takes them out of what they're reading.
Multiple grammar errors also make stuff hard to read. Which is also why when you represent someone speaking "badly" you limit it to one or two very simple quirks (such as the character using "I has" instead of "I have" or the occasional "yer" instead of "your") so you don't overwhelm the reader with bad grammar. It also helps non-natives who may have no idea what's going on. (The Nac Mac Feegles' speech is really difficult to understand for a non-native. And probably pretty difficult for a native as well)
What I mean is even if you're trying to represent somenoe speaking an almost unintelligible dialect and you want the reader to understand what they're saying. Don't write it as it really is.
No manner of Google translate can translate "Kva jär e'te me' tåkå" no matter how hard you try.
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