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Elaborative RP guide.
https://www.amiaworld.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=38411
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Author:  Lascivar [ Sat, May 30 2009, 0:20 AM ]
Post subject:  Elaborative RP guide.

Since I've some time to spare and it's 8am, and I also haven't slept yet, I thought I'd write a little guide on how to improve your RP, for those that're faster typers and find themself possibly wanting to give more detail to what they do.

I'll start with a basic sentence and throw in a few additional details:

*He walks towards her, giving a smile as he looks into her eyes.*

(Yes, this looks like the start of ERP, but it's not.. Just the first thing I could come up with.)

Anyway, the basis of elaborating on your RP comes from your character's senses: Taste, Smell, Sound, Sight and Feeling (touch).

Prior to these though, is your vocabulary. Expand your sentences but don't go into the range that people need to search for a dictionary, keep it simple but attractive to read, and slip adjectives into your actions.

Is your smile devilish? Is it wicked? Pleased? Warming?

Vocabulary

*Slowly approaching her, his lips curl into a delighted smile as his gaze settling upon her own alluring eyes.*

Smell

*Slowly approaching her, his lips curling into a delighted smile as her intoxicating, luscious aroma is drawn in. His gaze settling directly upon her own alluring eyes.*

Sight

*Slowly approaching her, his lips curling into a delighted smile as his eyes swiftly traverse every inch of her curvaceous frame, before meeting her eyes in a longing gaze.*

-- More to come after I've had some sleep, and if it seems worthwhile. lol --

Author:  TormakSaber [ Sat, May 30 2009, 0:22 AM ]
Post subject: 

You don't know me, you don't know me, I emote what I want.

*snap snap snap*

Author:  Jan [ Sat, May 30 2009, 0:31 AM ]
Post subject: 

Great, so let him give his advice to those who aren't as perfect as you.

Personally I'm not a fan of waiting for huge ass emotes which can be made in a third of their length to maintain a realistic flow of action.

Author:  Gunz [ Sat, May 30 2009, 1:16 AM ]
Post subject: 

Long emotes are cool in certain situations. But it's best kept reasonable for the most part. I personally don't like reading walls of text that are just emotes every five minutes.

Author:  CookieMonster [ Sat, May 30 2009, 2:24 AM ]
Post subject:  Re: Elaborative RP guide.

Lascivar wrote:
Since I've some time to spare and it's 8am, and I also haven't slept yet, I thought I'd write a little guide on how to improve your RP, for those that're faster typers and find themself possibly wanting to give more detail to what they do.

I'll start with a basic sentence and throw in a few additional details:

*He walks towards her, giving a smile as he looks into her eyes.*

(Yes, this looks like the start of ERP, but it's not.. Just the first thing I could come up with.)

Anyway, the basis of elaborating on your RP comes from your character's senses: Taste, Smell, Sound, Sight and Feeling (touch).

Prior to these though, is your vocabulary. Expand your sentences but don't go into the range that people need to search for a dictionary, keep it simple but attractive to read, and slip adjectives into your actions.

Is your smile devilish? Is it wicked? Pleased? Warming?

Vocabulary

*Slowly approaching her, his lips curl into a delighted smile as his gaze settling upon her own alluring eyes.*

Smell

*Slowly approaching her, his lips curling into a delighted smile as her intoxicating, luscious aroma is drawn in. His gaze settling directly upon her own alluring eyes.*

Sight

*Slowly approaching her, his lips curling into a delighted smile as his eyes swiftly traverse every inch of her curvaceous frame, before meeting her eyes in a longing gaze.*

-- More to come after I've had some sleep, and if it seems worthwhile. lol --


While these emotes are good I cannot help but comment the way they press RP upon another person. How do you know how she smells? Did she tell you? How do you know she has a curvaceous frame?

I find it better, and admit easily that my emotes are imperfect by focusing on only my character. Here is an example:

*Halts her casual stride and turns on her heel, directing her attention upon you. Looking both ways of the street she then steps in closer to speak in a hushed tone.*

See, this way you do not tell people what their characters are and maintain a good emote. In a way, using emotes - you can have a character that says everything while saying nothing.

An example:

*At those words her lips curl in distaste as she lowers her eyes in thought. Lacing her fingers at her waist after a couple moments she raises a harsh gaze back up to you, licking her lips before she speaks* You are wise beyond your years.

It is important to remember that when you're emoting not to insult the other player and keep respectful of them by not assuming... anything.

Emotes like: *Ignores the stupid dumbass git* don't fly well with me - nor do *Looks over the ugly woman and chuckles as she thinks about taking a knife to her neck*

When did I become psychic? How are we (the readers) supposed to know what your character is thinking word for word? You can give a glimpse through descriptive emoting while maintaining a respectful dialogue.

Instead of *ignores the dumbass git* we have:

*At those words her lips curl in distaste as she lowers her eyes in thought. Lacing her fingers at her waist after a couple moments she raises a harsh gaze back up to you, licking her lips before she speaks* You are wise beyond your years.

Though I am not telling you how to RP, at all. Everyone has their own style - we all have our preferences. My grammar is horrible while another's is awesome and hates me for my horrible grammar.

We all RP in our own way - as long as it's respectful of the player OOCly, I do not care how you do it. This is simply me saying what I prefer in emotes.

Author:  Moridan_X [ Sat, May 30 2009, 2:38 AM ]
Post subject: 

i personally like long emotes/text because it brings an obvious flavor to the characters.

it shows skill and dedication to the game which is always fun IMO.

unfortunately i've only seen 2 people use detail in their characters during my time on amia.

Author:  Xavier [ Sat, May 30 2009, 2:52 AM ]
Post subject: 

I nearly never actually read those long flowery walls of text, I skim it for something related to me or my character and that's it.

So to me it's basically like:

*Blah blah blah Her lips are as red as a rash on the inner thighs of a man prone to peeing himself blah blah blah her fingers are delicate like twigs blah blah blah she kicks the annoying thing's head in with her beautiful angelic feet as pale and flawless as if they were carved from the ivory of a still living oliphant*

Author:  CookieMonster [ Sat, May 30 2009, 2:57 AM ]
Post subject: 

Xavier wrote:
I nearly never actually read those long flowery walls of text, I skim it for something related to me or my character and that's it.

So to me it's basically like:

*Blah blah blah Her lips are as red as a rash on the inner thighs of a man prone to peeing himself blah blah blah her fingers are delicate like twigs blah blah blah she kicks the annoying thing's head in with her beautiful angelic feet as pale and flawless as if they were carved from the ivory of a still living oliphant*


You can be descriptive without being longwinded - I agree. Quickslotting 8 paragraph emotes is a downer as well.

Author:  Herr Delta Houdini [ Sat, May 30 2009, 3:11 AM ]
Post subject: 

o0GuNz_N_RoSeZ0o wrote:
Long emotes are cool in certain situations. But it's best kept reasonable for the most part. I personally don't like reading walls of text that are just emotes every five minutes.


Yeah, I avoid writing out long emotes, I tend to read a few words of long ones and then get bored, though I try to finish reading it incase it has somethign relevent for me to react to.

I've seen many people who write long emotes where it doesn't really have anything meaningful or anything you can give much of a reaction to if any is possible at all.

Moridan_X wrote:
unfortunately i've only seen 2 people use detail in their characters during my time on amia.


I see many people start a charatcer, make quite detailed emotes, then after so long, they seem to get bored and go from..

*Walks out from the Temple, dripping wet, his/her clothes soaked right through from top to bottom, their lip curling under and arms folded to try keep themselves warm from their cold and damp clothing, shamefully looking to the people around before hanging their head. Slowly walking off avoiding eye contact with anyone as they gently rubbed both arms with each hand their toes curling under their feet as they walked and the breeeze of the cold wind blowing their hair in their face and behind, the wet parts sticking to them, gritting teeth lightly with sad-puppy eyes that could melt a Devils heart at the same time as looking like a drowned Rat.*

To...

*Walks out dripping wet, hanging head in shame as they tried to avoid eye contact walking on through the street toward the Inn to get dry*

The first is actually quite useful and can cause quite a few reactions to what they are doing and how they are appearing, though can put other RP'ers off from reading it. The second, isn't as descriptive, but is easy to read not to mention gives enough detail for reaction.


The ones I think people dislike most are when people constantly write large emotes, when not really needed, explaining every single little tiny detail right down to a grain of rice stuck in a crack in the floor near themselves.

Another reason why I think people dislike it is because some do it while DM's are around (So I've read in other threads, and possibly witnessed once or twice myself), and the person knows they are there, whether they are Player or DM side.

Author:  BlackDahlya [ Sat, May 30 2009, 3:12 AM ]
Post subject: 

Use s/he/his/her or [Name of Character] instead of "you" or "I".

Instead of:


*I look at you, eyes seething with rage*

Emote something like:

*S/he looks at him/her, eyes seething with rage*
or
*Danna looks at John, eyes seething with rage*

That's just creepy to me. You are talking to my character, showing things to my character, touching my character, beating up my character... your pick.

Just don't say "you". When people say "you", it completely ruins my immersion. Might be I am the only one that have this problem, though.

It's just... odd.

Author:  CookieMonster [ Sat, May 30 2009, 3:13 AM ]
Post subject: 

I use the second one as a rule. It's just better. Though I believe anything in the world is better than the dreaded *g*

Author:  CookieMonster [ Sat, May 30 2009, 3:14 AM ]
Post subject: 

BlackDahlya wrote:
Use s/he/his/her or [Name of Character] instead of "you" or "I".

Instead of:


*I look at you, eyes seething with rage*

Emote something like:

*S/he looks at him/her, eyes seething with rage*
or
*Danna looks at John, eyes seething with rage*

That's just creepy to me. You are talking to my character, showing things to my character, touching my character, beating up my character... your pick.

Just don't say "you". When people say "you", it completely ruins my immersion. Might be I am the only one that have this problem, though.

It's just... odd.


I do - I just used You in the example but this is a valid rule I should have skimmed over.

Author:  Yurell [ Sat, May 30 2009, 4:30 AM ]
Post subject: 

BlackDahlya wrote:
Use s/he/his/her or [Name of Character] instead of "you" or "I".

Instead of:


*I look at you, eyes seething with rage*

Emote something like:

*S/he looks at him/her, eyes seething with rage*
or
*Danna looks at John, eyes seething with rage*

That's just creepy to me. You are talking to my character, showing things to my character, touching my character, beating up my character... your pick.

Just don't say "you". When people say "you", it completely ruins my immersion. Might be I am the only one that have this problem, though.

It's just... odd.


I have nothing against it - it is personal style whether you play 1st or 3rd person and whether you treat other people as 2nd or 3rd.

Author:  Gunz [ Sat, May 30 2009, 5:09 AM ]
Post subject: 

I use names to refer to people when there's more than one other person there. I rarely start with a personal pronoun or the characters name to refer to my character too often.

It's always: "::smiles::" and "::grins at ____'s words::"
Not: "::I smile::" or "::she smiles::" and "::I grin at ___'s words::" or "::she grins at ___'s words::"

But I do do this: "::grins at ___'s words. He's/She's obviously happy at his/her response::"

I do go on to add one, I just don't start with one. There's no real reason, it's just my style I guess.

I never use my characters name in an emote and I never use "I". When I use "I", I feel like I'm talking about myself and not the character I'm playing. I feel a disconnect. So I don't use it.

The only time I emote with a direct name is if I'm emoting my characters familiar or summon.:

"::Din Dae wags her tail at ____, with a floppy tongue wolf grin::"

Author:  Yurell [ Sat, May 30 2009, 5:12 AM ]
Post subject: 

I usually use third person for my char, and third person for theirs.
That said, as a habit gained from forum RP, in tender, close RP I'll tend to accidentally slip into referring to the other person in second person.

Author:  colanah [ Sat, May 30 2009, 7:12 AM ]
Post subject: 

*feels just a little sad that some people will skim over the juicier emotes for the relevant bits pertaining to them*

....this is why people fussed about the Prayer from Preacher job taking a whole, whopping two minutes.

It's something the other person took time to write out. Some can be chunked up for speed yes but patience is a virtue still.

Author:  Uncle-Opustus [ Sat, May 30 2009, 7:24 AM ]
Post subject: 

Jan wrote:
Personally I'm not a fan of waiting for huge ass emotes which can be made in a third of their length to maintain a realistic flow of action.


My opinion is pretty much the same about this. There are people like Kjetta (slurp lick) and Dwagin who use a lot of lengthy emotes, but still are able to keep those emotes awesome.

Author:  IronAngel [ Sat, May 30 2009, 9:09 AM ]
Post subject: 

It's all about the context, what kind of text you're writing. It's a stylistic decision to be minimalistic or go into detail, and both can work very well. It is common in fantasy literature to use a lot of descriptive text and adjectives. But then, dynamic storytelling can happen solely through dialogue, too.

If I were to give advice on RP style, it would be "Anything goes, as long as it's good."

Author:  Jan [ Sat, May 30 2009, 9:12 AM ]
Post subject: 

Can we at least agree on using the same symbols for emotes? ::blah:: and -blah- appear to be everywhere all of sudden.

Author:  IronAngel [ Sat, May 30 2009, 9:25 AM ]
Post subject: 

The most confusing style is using no markers for emotes, instead seperating dialogue with "these symbols." It's technically more correct than anything else, but it's confusing!

Author:  TormakSaber [ Sat, May 30 2009, 9:47 AM ]
Post subject: 

Jan wrote:
Can we at least agree on using the same symbols for emotes? ::blah:: and -blah- appear to be everywhere all of sudden.


Bah, I'm not going to nanny anyone's emote system. Speaking purely from a story telling point of view, passive narrative 3rd person is most preferential, doing exactly what Iron said above: Nonmarked 'emote dialog' with your character's speech set in quotes.

I really don't think we need to worry about what people use to set apart their emotes.

Author:  Uncle-Opustus [ Sat, May 30 2009, 10:43 AM ]
Post subject: 

Different kinds of marks to signify an emote have never bothered nor confused me.

Author:  Xaviera [ Sat, May 30 2009, 10:43 AM ]
Post subject: 

The 1st/3rd (I/you) or 3rd/3rd (he/she) style without names is okay in a one-on-one situation, but can get confusing when there's a crowd. IMO, it's generally best to at least name the target (as in, "she draws back her foot and applies a swift kick to Elmo's backside") so there's at least some clue who is talking or being talked about. A screen full of "he/she" tends to cause people to respond to things happening half-way across the area.

Author:  Jan [ Sat, May 30 2009, 10:49 AM ]
Post subject: 

TormakSaber wrote:
I really don't think we need to worry about what people use to set apart their emotes.

I'd agree but what about the new guys? As a n00b I couldn't tell the difference between *blah* and .o(blah) till I asked, adding even more symbols to the fry won't make it easier.

Author:  Yurell [ Sat, May 30 2009, 10:59 AM ]
Post subject: 

Xaviera wrote:
The 1st/3rd (I/you)


That's 1st / 2nd.
1st / 3rd is I / she

As for the symbols used I find it's pretty obvious, although I didn't realise that .oO() meant thought bubble until way later ... I just thought it was some weird symbol for OOC.

Author:  Gunz [ Sat, May 30 2009, 11:36 AM ]
Post subject: 

I've been using the "::" for as long as I've been playing on Amia. I ain't about to change it for no one.

Author:  IronAngel [ Sat, May 30 2009, 12:02 PM ]
Post subject: 

Jan's right, though: it would be nice if we all agreed to use the same symbols. That's just an observation, not a suggestion for rules enforcement about the matter or somesuch. I think most everyone agrees, and it stands to reason, that a common standard would be ideal. It's really a non-issue for me (and apparently for most), but it could be better in a dream world.

Author:  Delarwyn [ Sat, May 30 2009, 12:07 PM ]
Post subject: 

I dont care how you emote, but long emotes sometimes confuses me. Is he/she silent? afk? what is going on? and katapum, loads of things to read before I emote. I like more dynamic rp. But, that is me.

Author:  Pony [ Sat, May 30 2009, 12:08 PM ]
Post subject: 

---

Author:  Lascivar [ Sat, May 30 2009, 12:21 PM ]
Post subject: 

Thread got butchered and thrown on a random tangent, so I won't bother touching up the original post.

Anyway.

Asterisks (*) are used globally (in other games) for actions, not ::, but it's entirely personal preference to use :: if you like.

// I've only seen in Amia as an OOC statement, since NWN is one of the few games that starting with / doesn't force a console command, generally it's (( <message> )) for MMOs and a large handful of RPGs.

I don't do thought bubbles because I consider them useless, so use whatever parenthesis you'd like around them.

Delarwyn wrote:
I dont care how you emote, but long emotes sometimes confuses me. Is he/she silent? afk? what is going on? and katapum, loads of things to read before I emote. I like more dynamic rp. But, that is me.


As for that, it's why I noted at the top of the original post that it should be for the faster typers only, nothing hurts making your sentences a little more appealing when you know you have the time to do so.

Author:  Yurell [ Sat, May 30 2009, 12:59 PM ]
Post subject: 

IronAngel wrote:
Jan's right, though: it would be nice if we all agreed to use the same symbols. That's just an observation, not a suggestion for rules enforcement about the matter or somesuch. I think most everyone agrees, and it stands to reason, that a common standard would be ideal. It's really a non-issue for me (and apparently for most), but it could be better in a dream world.


That, but this:

Lascivar wrote:
Thread got butchered and thrown on a random tangent, so I won't bother touching up the original post.

Anyway.

Asterisks (*) are used globally (in other games) for actions, not ::, but it's entirely personal preference to use :: if you like.

// I've only seen in Amia as an OOC statement, since NWN is one of the few games that starting with / doesn't force a console command, generally it's (( <message> )) for MMOs and a large handful of RPGs.

I don't do thought bubbles because I consider them useless, so use whatever parenthesis you'd like around them.

Author:  AlphaWaves [ Sat, May 30 2009, 13:04 PM ]
Post subject: 

In amia's "Rules & Lore" section:

Quote:
This really shouldn’t need saying, but it seems like one of the more common problems: Stay In Character (IC) at all times. Do not drop Out Of Character (OOC) on the Talk channel unless absolutely, and mark your OOC comment like ((this)) or //this. Use OOC discussion on the Party channel in moderation.


I remember looking on the rules when I first joined Amia and seeing something about useing " * " as a standard for emotes.. But having trouble finding it.

But I'm certain they are standard and documented.

Edit:

Darn it. The rules & lore section is all updated massively since I started. Couldn't find a rule saying you have to use " * " as standard etiquette. I'm sure I saw it, though. Maybe it's changed? Who knows?

Author:  Selmak [ Sat, May 30 2009, 14:13 PM ]
Post subject: 

To be honest anyone expecting short and minimalist emotes all the time, with the tendency to run off if someone is silent for two minutes, needs to learn a little patience.

Short and minimalist is effective, but when you've got someone's attention you should be able to ramp up the word count. A few well-placed adjectives and some description will pre-empt a *looks at Bob curiously* emote and potentially convey more information than emotes that lack length.

For a simple example, you wouldn't do:

*His boots are black*
*His boots are shiny*

when you can do:

*His boots are black and shiny*

Author:  IronAngel [ Sat, May 30 2009, 14:18 PM ]
Post subject: 

You could just do *Boots: black, shiny*!

Author:  Herr Delta Houdini [ Sat, May 30 2009, 14:22 PM ]
Post subject: 

Jan wrote:
Can we at least agree on using the same symbols for emotes? ::blah:: and -blah- appear to be everywhere all of sudden.


I don't mind the :: so much, but the -Blah-, I always recognised the hyphen when at the start and end of a word(s) as emphasis on it.

E.g.

-Don't- do -that-.

or

I -hate- you.

Author:  blackvswhite [ Sat, May 30 2009, 14:33 PM ]
Post subject: 

2k8ste wrote:
Jan wrote:
Can we at least agree on using the same symbols for emotes? ::blah:: and -blah- appear to be everywhere all of sudden.


I don't mind the :: so much, but the -Blah-, I always recognised the hyphen when at the start and end of a word(s) as emphasis on it.

E.g.

-Don't- do -that-.

or

I -hate- you.


this is what -I- do. I've never seen it for emotes, but that would probably bother me. I usually use - - for "I" because its already capitalized, so epic capitalization doesn't work for emphasis (and epic capitalization is ugly).

Author:  Yurell [ Sat, May 30 2009, 14:39 PM ]
Post subject: 

I always use tilda (or however it's spelled) to place ~emphasis~ on a word, since NWN so helpfully aligns it centrally on the vertical axis.

Author:  AlphaWaves [ Sat, May 30 2009, 14:45 PM ]
Post subject: 

I personally don't mind people with alternate emote indicators. Adds spice to life.

But providing they're consistant.

I've seen one person write all emotes as plain text and spoken word in speech marks.

As long as you know what's going on, and can intelligently work out what's being written, I personally have no trouble with others being creative.

I've seen braces (either parentheses or square braces) used as emotes. Seen ::, -, *, and even nothing at all (as above).

One problem though is when things clash.

Here's the most general one's I've seen and their uses. (Though I'm not saying anyone SHOULD or SHOULD NOT do it this way) These are based on my own observations. Not on my own usage.

Plain text: for speech. e.g. Hello, how's it going?

*: for emotes. e.g. *He watches the lady's hips move as she walks away.*

- -: For word emphasis. e.g. I don't care what those witches say. I -will- go to the ball.

[ ]: for language indicator. e.g. [Elven] Gosh, can any of you stand these Cordorians any longer?


I'm not saying that these are standard. Just mostly used. So be warned that you may cause confusion if you use those symbols for any other purpose. It wil cause ambiguity.

Author:  QPR [ Sat, May 30 2009, 14:46 PM ]
Post subject: 

For me it has never been a problem with different symbols indicating emotes, as the text in itself usually is enough for me to figure out if wether it is an emote or speach. I sometimes use two different emote symbols myself; * is my usual, lazy mood emote, but if I feel to make it more fancy I use [] brackets. looks nicer to me.

Also for lenght of emotes, its depends on the situation. If I am in a lenghty RP situation with one or two other characters I will put more effort into being more detailed, but if I am out with a hunting party, I keep it rather short for the sake of effectiveness and fast pace.

Author:  Moridan_X [ Sat, May 30 2009, 15:44 PM ]
Post subject: 

BlackDahlya wrote:
Use s/he/his/her or [Name of Character] instead of "you" or "I".

Instead of:


*I look at you, eyes seething with rage*

Emote something like:

*S/he looks at him/her, eyes seething with rage*
or
*Danna looks at John, eyes seething with rage*

That's just creepy to me. You are talking to my character, showing things to my character, touching my character, beating up my character... your pick.

Just don't say "you". When people say "you", it completely ruins my immersion. Might be I am the only one that have this problem, though.

It's just... odd.


i agree with this.

Author:  Gunz [ Sat, May 30 2009, 18:12 PM ]
Post subject: 

I see no reason why people should conform to "*" or "::" or even quotes alone. Who cares? We all know what they are, right? I just see no good reason for it. At all. Let people express their emotes the way they do, within reason. I know a player that emotes with no indicators and talking -in- quotes. Like this: He smiles at Willow and nods in greeting "Hello Willow! How are you this day?" Even that never bothered me none. A bit extreme? Yeah, I'll agree. But even still, I didn't care and never said anything about it. I understand his system and it's easy enough to follow. It's also never confused me once, so why would I care?

Besides, it's pretty damn clear that "*" is the, de facto, standard. 80%+ of the server uses the "*".

Author:  Herr Delta Houdini [ Sat, May 30 2009, 18:43 PM ]
Post subject: 

I'm not too bothered about what people use, the "-" for emotes does get me mixed up sometimes when I've thought it's for emphasis, though I don't expect them to change the fact they use it for their emotes, since it is their choice.

Author:  Estara [ Sat, May 30 2009, 21:16 PM ]
Post subject: 

I really liked what Yossarin was talking about one post where he said he doesn't like to emote, especially descriptively, because people will take what they will from his speech and the context to create something in their minds of their characters, something more natural and unbiased from Yoss's point of view.

Now, I still emote things, because it's your character, and they obviously move. But I've consciously tried to stop using, "wicked" smirk or "playful" grin, because he has a great point... they should be able to read the context and hopefully understand what kind of grin or smirk it is. If they can't, they and their character don't know you well enough or all of the context well enough; just like in the real world when you've seen someone grin at you the first time you meet them and you think they're hitting on you when you just have something stuck in your teeth or something.

Anyway, that was some of the best RP advice I've ever gotten.

Author:  Yossarin [ Sat, May 30 2009, 22:04 PM ]
Post subject: 

I considered finding that post I made in whatever other thread it was and copy/pasting it here, but I was too lazy. Good to know somebody remembered, though!

Author:  Ts_ [ Sun, May 31 2009, 0:15 AM ]
Post subject: 

SephiraAndy wrote:
- -: For word emphasis.

Those symbols do have typographic meaning - pauses in the sentence, for example. They could also be - you might have seen that - used to insert entire sentences or whatnot. Too late to tell you what these things are called. (The symbols I mentioned really should have slightly different lengths than a hyphen, but oh well ...)

I've also seen -random guy types emotes like this- and it does look nicely, but the * is just easier to catch and more common.

I like _underlining_ as a natural and graphically unobstrusive way to put emphasis on stuff. Haven't seen it on Amia, though.

Regards, Ts

Author:  Herr Delta Houdini [ Sun, May 31 2009, 0:18 AM ]
Post subject: 

I can tell what you mean apart easier anyway, the majority of people do this for Emphasis
-In-, where as for what you mean I usually see people leaving a space between the word that is before the hyphen and a space after too. Also some people do double hyphens for that sometimes.

Author:  Ts_ [ Sun, May 31 2009, 0:25 AM ]
Post subject: 

Hello - insertion - world.
Something -- but something else.

Yep, that is "more correct", I believe. I just don't trust people to put spaces around punctuation in the proper way. ;)

Regards, Ts

Author:  AlphaWaves [ Sun, May 31 2009, 1:08 AM ]
Post subject: 

Ts_ wrote:
I like _underlining_ as a natural and graphically unobstrusive way to put emphasis on stuff. Haven't seen it on Amia, though.


I've seen it on amia quite frequently.

The underlining on each end is a tag that makes text into italics on certain programmes/sites.

Author:  Yurell [ Sun, May 31 2009, 1:11 AM ]
Post subject: 

Since everything else is roughly centralised, I find underscores distract the eye's movement when reading across the page.

Author:  AlphaWaves [ Sun, May 31 2009, 1:19 AM ]
Post subject: 

Yurell wrote:
Since everything else is roughly centralised, I find underscores distract the eye's movement when reading across the page.


Yea, that's how I feel too. And also after dealing a lot with coding. Underscores are permanantly associated with variables and machinery for me.. Kinda ruins it.

But yes, keeping it central is aestheticly pleasing, like dashes and tilde.

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