[MUD-Dev2] The Merits of Text Chat (Was: Importance of emoting)

[Michael Hartman]

John Buehler wrote:
> Though I have actually heard people in voice chat say "see-see"
> instead of "crowd control", which floored me.

(To use another gaming term that warps the language => )

OH NOES!!!!!!!!!

What a horrible disaster! And what if people started calling television
"tee-vee" instead. I think our civilization would crumble. Wait...


> We need to get rid of text chat - and fast.

Isn't it kinda late for that? I mean, after 30+ years of text chat,
hasn't the opportunity to "get rid of text chat - and fast" long since
come and gone?

>  We're going to end up further corrupting the language as a result of
> typed shortcuts.

Evolution is not automatically corruption. Language evolves because it
is a tool for efficient communication. Language is a means to an end.
Even in areas "uncorrupted" by text chat we frequently invent shortcuts
and they become ubiquitous elements of our language. These "shortcuts"
are not only valid but positive and efficient. Do you really decry the
existence of terms such as: car, tv, phone, kleenex, scuba, radar, etc?

I can understand your frustration with "leet speak", but I think you are
letting that color your opinion of a proven, effective, efficient, and
in some situations superior mode of communication.