I’m never going to accuse someone of being overly verbose for saying ‘belligerent,’ I don’t think there’s anything particularly ornate about that.
Just use whichever words are most conductive to describing the subject. Calling someone’s eyes ‘orbs’ tells me nothing about what I should actually be picturing, it just reads stiltedly.
This sums it up for me, and also how I write.
My Night Elf, who’s old-enough but also post Third War spent time bopping back and forth between different Alliance locations and military units, and has always been considered a bit of a maverick, has picked up a more informal way of speaking. She’ll throw in phrases she’s picked up elsewhere (though will usually mention they’re ‘foreign’ as such)
My Blood Elf, in contrast, is actually younger, but was raised in a prim and proper family, did not Get Out Enough before BFA in the timeline, and is a massive introvert, bookworm and a nerd. She doesn’t use contractions (i.e. no don’t, shouldn’t, etc) and has a very different feel/read to her.
It very much depends for me. It does stand out alot when someone uses more complicated words and spelling, especially if they are playing a character that suits it.
But I’ve also found that some people use waaaay to many synonyms and flowery words. Eventually it just reads like an AI quoting thesaurus. And I do not like that.
Moderation is key!
I rather enjoy people switching out ways of saying things. Especially when it might be racially appropriate to do so. Not everyone’s going to use simple phrases like “Fingers crossed” or “Water under the bridge”, as I feel like those are very Human sayings.
I’ve often had Bo here use similar phrasing, but with a Draconic spin on things, instead; “Fingers crossed” becomes “Talons crossed”, “Water under the bridge” becomes “Turbulence under the wings” and so on. It carries the same meaning, but like I said, it’s appropriate for a Dracthyr (or any Draconic being) to use similar.
As for how formal or informal things are, I think that also depends on a per-character basis; A character who might appear formal and strict among large groups, may become rather informal and relaxed around smaller numbers. That might be more common among members of a Military Unit, but it could also be remnants of a poorer character, finding themselves suddenly around people of Nobility.
Honestly, I just enjoy these sorts of questions! It gets the brain juices flowing!
Depends very much on the char and their background for me.
My bard main is the fancy one. I’m not much for the piping-prose-through-a-thesaurus maneuver though. Proper use of flowery language isn’t just a substitution game, it’s about expressing the core of what you are saying in a way that makes you think, or that sounds nice, or that says something about how your character thinks. I peeked through my chat logs for some examples to quote. I like writing for her when I’m in a focused kind of mood.
[Winterspring] is quite different. Frozen in time. In Ashenvale, the land changes dress each night – the bustle and growth paints over the old. Like home, like woman, I suppose.
We are a patient people. With luck, time’s arrow shall strike truest.
If I had a copper for every Sentinel who had pressed upon her own heart 'til it turned solid quartz - I could happily purchase Kalimdor and let all rest easy.
I think the thing to mind with any sort of colorful prose is not to forget its purpose. You are writing to be understood. If it’s too vague, make your point twice: first flowery and vague, then simple and clear. E.g. someone asking her why she’s relearning how to fight – rather than just going “a pretty poem won’t save you in a fistfight”:
The way of an artist has a rare power in the grand scheme, but little in each moment. Borders have been redrawn over a single song, but in the heat of battle, a note is blunter than a club. A true leader must master both song and glaive alike.
Pretentious speech for a slightly pretentious character; you don’t need to read her TRP to know she’s a little haughty, flamboyant, and full of herself. She’s often more mellow, because I’d rather have her speak a little duller than take five minutes to write a message. The fact that I also write a lot of IC material like letters, journal entries, songs, and keepsake notes has really helped me find her diction and to get comfortable enough to write it on the fly.
My alts speak normal prose appropriate to a fantasy setting. My emotes also tend not to have these flourishes. I write deliberately and do my best to have it sound alright, but I do not fret my verbiage (sorry the rp is affecting how I write ooc again). Given the choice, I’m sure folks would rather have my emotes sooner than slightly better.
Speaking of short emotes, I always prefer short messages. Even if I have something long to say, I will split it across five messages as I type, rather than put it in one paragraph. Cadence and back-and-forth is so important imo. It’s ideal to me: others get to start reading sooner which keeps them from getting distracted, and they can interject in the middle or react – much like one would in a real spoken conversation.
Edit: To answer the question more directly, it does depend on what you want to say about the character speaking:
It’s fine to use flowery words IC until the cows come home. That’s your character and they speak how you want them to speak.
Emotes however are entirely contextual. Sometimes i’ll subconsciously adapt my emote language to fit the mood of the character.
If you hold up a group event for 19 minutes per emote because youre giving a thesaurus friction burns then I should legally be allowed to throw the book at you.
If you’re able to use the ‘alternate words’ properly and you aren’t obviously searching up what they mean thus prolonging the writing time, they are fine. Even if you RP a thug, the emotes and whatnot can still be flowery and fine.
The problem mostly comes from people who think they sound smarter than they are, and the alternate words don’t always make sense in the context, or are simply awkwardly forced (like the cerulean orbs example above).
Sometimes, the alternate words can even shorten what you’re writing, so they’re not always bad!
Stares at you with my carnelian orbs of observation.
But actually in some cases I don’t mind orbs as a term as long as it’s used sparingly. It fits with the luminous eyes that elves have, it’s just one of those things that’s become a meme on AD because of how overused it’s been and we cringe away from it on instinct now.
The best is the descriptions that uses “orbs” for more than just eyes. While also referring to the eyes as orbs too. Very confusing.
Fleshy orbs.
got my orb on your orbs
On a more serious note, I tend to prefer when people keep it short and simple, especially if there’s lots of people around. In a group setting, I consider it common courtesy to try and keep a post under five hundred characters. Simple language is an important part of this, in order to make sure that posts are legible and easily understood by everyone.
More complicated language and longer posts are best used in more personal scenes, with small groups of players who are familiar with each other. They’re more likely to respect each other, actually read each other’s posts and appreciate the content of those posts.
I’ve learned from experience and plenty of my own mistakes that brevity beats verbosity and that padding out posts with fancy synonyms and unnecessary detail and plenty of repetition can often backfire and make the poster look amateurish. Case in point:
http://www.elfonlyinn.net/comics/eoi20040813.gif
when two pairs of orbs make contact that’s when the magic happens
If the orbs touch when three or magi are involved, then it’s permissable. It’s okay, if it’s in a three-way.
And that’s what the arcane Rule Of Thirds™ truly means.
I’ve reached a point where I prefer the individuals I interact with to strike a healthy balance between sticking to established stereotypes whilst putting forth a compelling character.
I’m not at all interested in subversion, as it’s become far too common in many forms of media over the last decade or so. Elves that loathe their own kind and who speak like they grew up in one of Stormwind’s back alleys just make me yawn with boredom.
I don’t really care if someone puts out purple prose. It’s much more important to me for a character to be plausible and fairly well-aligned with the established lore.
I always cringe when I see people using overly complicated phrases with overly complicated fancy words to express simple things. Some can really over do it and it’s really really silly. I prefer the normal expressions since I haven’t seen anything ingame to even talk like that.
I think when you do it, you have to take some things into account:
When talking, what sort of character are you playing. ( I do my utmost best to have Des talk like I think a paladin would, but sometimes he does sound a bit more modern than I’d like, but overall, goes well).
When emoting, in what kind of company are you? If you are with many people and/or amongst , generally its better to stick to short and concise emotes. Nobody wants to sit around waiting for you to write your attempt at overthrowing Tolkien on the spot. Keep the large and more detailed emotes for occasions when it matters, or if you are allowed to deliver the finishing blow to the big bad or something.
both going basic and near-illiterate and writing like a tortured 1800s poet read the same so try to be normal and have fun
English is not my native language. Luckily I’ve got two monitors.
If a word is unfamiliar to me. I look it up. That does happen quite often with people who play “posh” characters.
I myself, tend to stick to the words I know or learned trough roleplay. Because honestly you learn a lot from those around you!
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