SE: Please tone it down a hair

[Maxwell]

... a 5 pages soliloquies about the nothingness of still could be happenings of what was once never there.

Amen! Limsa's pirate talk and SE's fixation on apostrophes would be a prime candidates for a little tone down. Splitting a word randomly in 2 to insert an apostrophe does not make it fancy and mysterious.

[Eagleheart]

There seems to be a great deal of misinterpretation in this thread. (Or purposeful over exaggeration to swing favor but still) I suppose this could have been prevented with a more direct opening statement.

No one is suggested we downgrade writing style and lexicon to under achieving 7th grade level essay assignments. Only that they reel in the AMOUNT of text each NPC seems just so eager to spew forth any time someone happens to give them the least bit of attention.

Length =/= Quality

We can keep all the great (terrible) puns, the accents, and the unique FFXIV flavor that is ever present in the conversations with the soulless digital automations. We just don't need a 13 page sermon on why we should be doing something as mundane as collecting some coral from the beach.

I applaud your writers and their use of every single page of the Infinity Flux Time Extensive Thesaurus of large words and fancy idioms but I'm begging you.

Please stop.

Pretty much every encounter with the Empire is a pretty good example of over doing it. Cloud an NPC's words in mystery and perhaps some foreshadowing riddles but not a 5 pages soliloquies about the nothingness of still could be happenings of what was once never there. I fancy myself an intelligent creature but trying to decipher every single sentence because it is so overladen with foreign Yoda speak is bringing down my self worth as a thinking man with every syllable.

purposeful over exaggeration to swing favor

Edit: Forgot to mention your little poll about XI vs. XIV.

[Lux_Rayna]

I get that you're trying to show how smart you are throughout this topic, but really for someone who's accusing others of having poor reading skills you're clearly not even trying to understand the complaints.

People understand the concept of "flavor text," "immersion," or whatever else you want to call the way the NPCs talk. The problems are that a) it is over the top, and b) it is entirely too much. I don't have a problem with the pirates in Limsa talking like pirates. I do have a problem with it being so over the top that it comes off more as corny or silly than interesting. This also makes it hard to get interested in the story line.

As for the second problem, it goes on too long. This is a problem because it makes people lose interest in what's going on. Since you turned this into a "westernerz iz dumb" thing, I will use FFXI as an example. I enjoyed going around the cities and talking to the different NPCs and getting a feel for where I was and the different environments. In XIV I don't. I would like to, but I don't because I know I will end up trapped in text about someone's lost cat or practical joke addiction.

Skillfull writting isn't just about trying to make use of extremely complicated sentence structure or use of words that may impress some readers. It is also important to make them care and keep them interested. This game doesn't do that for most people. Sure some great novels are increadibly difficult to read, but there are others that are just as good with extremely basic writting... one example that comes to mind is Ernest Hemingway.

tl;dr - I agree with topic and I think most players would. Elexia is just being snooty.

Most of your points are subjective. The dialogue is written and translated in dialect, and if you've ever read "Huckleberry Finn," or "To Kill a Mockingbird," it is a common and even celebrated writing style. Dialect is one of those things though where some ppl love it, and some ppl hate it. If the story is good enough, as in the novels I just mentioned, most will excuse it. There is no such thing as over-the-top when you are writing in dialect...it is an "anything goes" style as long as it is clear what dialect you are trying to portray, and that you portray it "accurately" and successfully. There is nothing in the pirate talk that is incomprehensible. Yes you have to read it slower because of how it is written, but the same is true for any novel you read that is written that way. Its used to make accents and voices pop out of a text as the writer wants them to be heard. This is established literary practice.

As far as the "too much" thing is concerned, I think the internet in general has absolutely destroyed anyone's willingness to read anything beyond a 5 sentence paragraph. Tis true. A single player rpg has far more text than FFXIV ever will, yet no one complains about that. There's something about being "online" that gives ppl an intolerance for exposition. I find it sad, but to each their own. As for my personal opinion, I quite enjoy all the text I get to read. As the officer in Maelstrom headquarters told me, "Eorzeans are a terribly longwinded lot." It characterizes the people around us, and the nature of the world we play in. Eorzeans are long-winded, and I really appreciate that fact. Its very well written, so I don't see why ppl hate all the paragraphs. There's thought behind it, I find it fun to read personally, and its not like you really have to be anywhere in a hurry. If you'll mine for 5 hours, grind levels for 8 hours, or turn in supplies for 16 hours, I think you can stomach reading for all of 2 mins...if that. Just my take.

[Eagleheart]

If you'll mine for 5 hours, grind levels for 8 hours, or turn in supplies for 16 hours, I think you can stomach reading for all of 2 mins...if that. Just my take.

Now that's perspective, and it reminds me of something that I ought to have posted before now:

Quote from OP's last thread:

~A return to longer EXP requirements. (3+ months per Job at the low end)

[Zaaku]

Now that's perspective, and it reminds me of something that I ought to have posted before now:

Quote from OP's last thread:

And that has what exactly to do with over bloated dialogue?

A little off topic, yes I would LOVE for the GAME to be longer. I do not advocate making the script overly wordy for the purpose to making it seem like the NPC's have a lot to say when really they are just talking in circles half the time. The other half they could have said what needed to be said in a much shorter variation which would stick in player's minds more vividly because they actually READ what was being said instead of skipping the next 14 pages of wall'o'text.

[HiirNoivl]

Shakespeare, Charles Dickens... Paradise Lost, To Kill a Mockingbird, Huckleberry Finn...

The great writers are rolling in their graves.

FFXIV doesn't even begin to approach such examples. It reads like FF fanfiction at times. Yoshi is starting to clean it up. I can't wait for 2.0 so they can start editing out the beginning quests of needless words.

[Rydin]

Now that's perspective, and it reminds me of something that I ought to have posted before now:

Quote from OP's last thread:

Leveling is a completely different beast though...

Story text is definitely NOT something you should make longer just for the sake of taking up time...

Leveling is a type of time sink... I KNOW you are not suggesting the dialogue in the game be a time sink... Even YOU can't be that silly...

A better example would be how SE lowers the drop rates so we have to spam content over and over and over... so a 25 minute dungeon can last for 100+ hours of gameplay...

And in some of the dialogue... you have to spam chat boxes because the point has such a low drop rate

[Eagleheart]

And that has what exactly to do with over bloated dialogue?

A little off topic, yes I would LOVE for the GAME to be longer. I do not advocate making the script overly wordy for the purpose to making it seem like the NPC's have a lot to say when really they are just talking in circles half the time. The other half they could have said what needed to be said in a much shorter variation which would stick in player's minds more vividly because they actually READ what was being said instead of skipping the next 14 pages of wall'o'text.

You wheedle for bloated, inflated gameplay times, then whine incessantly about less than a minute worth of reading, that's what.

This isn't texting or IMing. People do have long conversations in reality, and in storybooks. The Lord of the Rings was perhaps one of the most verbose novels ever, and it is well-loved for it. You're simply impatient about all the wrong things.

[Eagleheart]

Leveling is a completely different beast though...

Story text is definitely NOT something you should make longer just for the sake of taking up time...

Leveling is a type of time sink... I KNOW you are not suggesting the dialogue in the game be a time sink... Even YOU can't be that silly...

At some point in the thread, I would appreciate you moving beyond making false arguments and actually leveling a rational counterpoint, without resorting to putting words in other's mouths.

And taking the time to read all of ten sentences is not a timesink, nor do I know of anyone with a reading level low enough to think such a thing.

Edit: Until now.

Edit 2: I hate to break into the much-maligned Shakespeare here, but certainly, at some point, you've got to realize this is all much ado about nothing. <.<

[Rydin]

At some point in the thread, I would appreciate you moving beyond making false arguments and actually leveling a rational counterpoint, without resorting to putting words in other's mouths.

And taking the time to read all of ten sentences is not a timesink, nor do I know of anyone with a reading level low enough to think such a thing.

Edit: Until now.

Well when you compare it to what the OP said about making leveling longer... that is what you're saying