is it just me...

[meow]

wow jdapple wow

[Red_Star]

I really liked jdapple's post, and I agree with her point. I don't particularly care for the text speak, but to say it disrespects the forum seems absurd to me. This is a Tetris forum. As much as I love Tetris I don't consider it serious enough to get upset over how people type. I really don't see why people care. It is not like there is all that brilliant of discussion going on in the General forum anyways, so having someone type in an "unconventional" way doesn't detract from anything. A good deal of posters here don't bother capitalizing the first letter in their sentences, or even using punctuations to any degree.

[meow]

jdapple is a she!

[Red_Star]

jdapple is a she!

Of course she is, why else would I edit my post.

[Rosti_LFC]

jdapple, spelling and grammar on a forum is similar to politeness in everyday speech. Ultimately words like "please" and "thank you" are completely superfluous and unnecessary for conveying ideas and the like. But the fact is that if you don't use them most people will find you to be rude. Proper spelling and grammar is the same, but with the added bite that you can't just forget to write in proper English in the same way you could forget please and thank you. It just reflects badly on you as a person more than anyone else for writing like that.

There are plenty of other ways you can add colour and personality to your posts without typing like a pre-schooler.

It is not like there is all that brilliant of discussion going on in the General forum anyways, so having someone type in an "unconventional" way doesn't detract from anything. A good deal of posters here don't bother capitalizing the first letter in their sentences, or even using punctuations to any degree.

What you've basically said in your post is "this forum isn't serious and the discussion is shit so why bother posting properly?". Which is my exact point. This forum isn't aspiring to be some sort of completely serious business forum where jokes are banned, but at the same time it is aspiring to have decent Tetris discussion. In choosing to not write correctly you're lowering the tone of the place and effectively saying, through the use of txt speek, that you don't hold the discussion in high opinion. Which is insulting to the forum.

If you're not saying something worth typing out in proper English, then you shouldn't be saying anything to start with. Either you're making a valid contribution with your post, or you're not and it's spam and you might as well not post. Not saying anything worthwhile anyway is not a valid defence for making your posts look like crap.

And just because a lot of people do it doesn't mean it should be considered acceptable forum etiquette. The fact that so many people treat this forum like garbage in terms of grammar and spelling is the whole reason I made that post.

If people want to spell like idiots, then at the very least do it only in the general discussion board, because the quality of the English is the least of my concerns on that board. Posts on the Tetris boards, however, should be in proper English because I'm trying at least to keep this board clean of rubbish threads and idiocy.
I seriously don't think that asking people to write properly is too large a request.

[jujube]

A good deal of posters here don't bother capitalizing the first letter in their sentences, or even using punctuations to any degree.

i really like not using capital letters to start sentences. it's not from laziness; when you do capitalize a word it stands out more, which is part of the point of capitalization. every once in a while you run into little problems though, like how that "etc." looks like what is it is it is or is it ain't the end of that sentence?

the only thing i don't like is a long post with lots of obscure abbreviations or run-on sentences. those kinds of things slow me down. it would have to be well thought out and thought provoking for me to want to read the whole thing.

[clincher]

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]If you believe that all forum text should be written in Proper English, great. I also don't read posts that are unreadable for me, like the post that Monte put up in this forum. However, it's not about saving time either, on the reader or the writer's part. I feel that people should be allowed to write however they want, especially in a friendly community like Hard Drop. I didn't have to ask anyone to know that "r" stands for "are" and that "nao" means "now," and I'm sure other people wouldn't have difficulty figuring out either. In fact, papirus probably didn't even use "nao" for the reason that it was more convenient to type than "now." His post was interesting (and funny when I reread it) because I can tell more of what kind of person he was through his writing. If all the sentences of HD (Hard Drop) posts were to start with capital letters, end with periods, and lack any abbreviations or smiley faces (not even talking about different-sized smiley faces anymore), there would be a lack of expression and connection between the few people left typing. If I were to respond to a really serious post about Tetris or another serious matter, I can write in proper English, and that would be an appropriate time for me to write like that. I can also just as well write every post grammatically (thanks, spell-check) correct but have convoluted sentences that would put people to sleep. I respect the "txt speak" posts that splutter out of someone's mind in its pure form in five seconds just as much as the formal essays that some people might have an easier time writing than others. It's not embarrassing for us if we don't care; we understand that some posts are not appealing for everyone.

* - Please don't be afraid to comment stuff like "tl dr"! ;P (which, in this post, was on purpose) - it's nice to hear your thoughts! [/quote]
Even though I like to type this way
I loved your post.

[jdapple]

lol!  me too!  it's like how I learned that using contractions are sometimes more appropriate than not using them, because they can change the tone of your writing!  (when we were younger, teachers would tell us not to use contractions in "formal" essays) unfortunately, i do ramble when i write, but i don't expect people to read everything anyways!   i also don't like to always end with periods.  i don't like the feeling it gives off, especially when it's used alot in aim or something!  it's just a personal thing tho - other people don't understand lol, and i'm bad at explaining!  some people also think that i "laugh out loud" everytime i write "lol," but I just use it for the sound/balance of my sentences! :D  yea noone understands that tho, but watever!

[clincher]

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]lol! me too! it's like how I learned that using contractions are sometimes more appropriate than not using them, because they can change the tone of your writing! (when we were younger, teachers would tell us not to use contractions in "formal" essays) unfortunately, i do ramble when i write, but i don't expect people to read everything anyways!  i also don't like to always end with periods. i don't like the feeling it gives off, especially when it's used alot in aim or something! it's just a personal thing tho - other people don't understand lol, and i'm bad at explaining! some people also think that i "laugh out loud" everytime i write "lol," but I just use it for the sound/balance of my sentences!  yea noone understands that tho, but watever! [/quote]
I think not a single person here laughs out loud every time they write "lol" I write it a loot on the BB chat and in the shoutbox and I'm not even smiling  
When something really cracks me up I write "LMAO"