On Abbreviations and Accessibility, or Won't Someone Think of the Newbies?

So I have a dislike of jargon that makes communication inaccessible to people who are inexperienced in the relevant area. It makes a barrier that new people have to work hard to overcome in order to be able to become properly involved in an activity, and definitely risks alienating and discouraging people who might then give up on something they'd ultimately enjoy a lot.

(It's important to note here that as a musician and a scientist, I know that technical terms are necessary and important and we shoouldn't discourage their use, but if you're wanting to explain something to a non-scientist or non-musician you have to think about the words you choose. I wouldn't use "ATP" or "adenosine triphosphate" with someone who hasn't studied biology (I'd say something about "cell energy" maybe) because they wouldn't understand and would perhaps switch off.)

And the point I'm making is, we all use abbreviations on here far more than I think we should. Sure, a lot of forumites are extremely knowledgable about the game and the card names/effects, but there are definitely some people out there who think, "WTM? WTF?" and it concerns me that this kind of thing makes us incomprehensible to the new people that we should be encouraging - more SotM obsessives is better, right?

Disclosure: I have a medical condition (fibromyalgia) which causes me cognitive difficulties - imagine being really tired a lot of the time and finding it difficult to think, kind of like you'd feel if you had proper 'flu and someone asked you to solve even relatively easy algebra questions when you're finding it hard to even keep your eyes open. And personally, even with my greater-than-average familiarity with and knowledge of the cards, I often have trouble knowing what people are talking about just because they've made up some cute nickname or are using initial letters or something. An fairly obvious name, like Akash or Gloomy or Grandpa Legacy or similar would definitely be preferable.

Now I'm not telling people what to do or trying to impose my will on the forum or anything, just asking that people think about it a little, and consider typing a few more letters to confuse new people a bit less (and make my life a bit easier as well).

I try to only use an abreviation of a card after that card has already been heavily discussed in the same thread ot I use its name in the same post.

Yeah, that's helpful. Thanks.

I will try to remember to be careful with the abbreviations.  I know I do a ton of them.

Very good points Silverleaf

If I had any ambition myself, I would have already made this topic.

The whole reason why abbreviations exist is that people have limited time and need to take shortcuts.  Going to extra effort on other people's behalf is a luxury they may not be able to afford.

Making yourself clearly understood is not a luxury. Too often you end up wasting more time re-explaining yourself so that they do understand your intent.

And the prize for most predictable response to my post goes to... the person who apparently has no consideration for other people at all.

Is it me? I sure hope it was me. What's the prize? Is it a life time supply of cows waiting to get grilled into delicious cheese burgers?

Yes.

Well since you hadn't previously replied, you can't win that particular prize. But I'll send you a consolation prize of a lifetime supply of cows waiting to get grilled into delicious cheese burgers. I'll pop them in the mail in the morning.

If that is the consolation prize, then the Grand Prize is even better than that. Nooo!! Why couldn't I have posted sooner!? I bet the Grand prize is spending the rest of one's days on a island of beautiful, blue women that are there solely to feed the winner an endless supply of cheese burgers and pizza. All while spiders are making silk footie pajamas with a butt flap! There's probably also a chocolate river, with butterscotch ducks floating around.

Oh the sadness I am feeling now!

blinks a few times

Just wanted to make sure I read that correctly.  

 There. I went out of my way, on your behalf, to fix this for you.

I think I know what you're talking about with confusing abbreviations, but what abbreviations cause you trouble?  I'm just curious about a few examples is all!

TtE, RC, SHD, EoD

I can think of quite a few common abbreviations we use on a daily basis that many non-forumites may not immediatly get. I can see that being fusterating when trying to search for something on the forum or not being able to participate in a discussion.

Edit: In order - Twist the Ether, Rook City, Super Human Durability, End of Days.

The whole reason why abbreviations exist is that people have limited time and need to take shortcuts.  Going to extra effort on other people's behalf is a luxury they may not be able to afford.

Oy, man.  I'm running out of patience with this.

Y'know, it's so obvious now that I'm a bit ashamed that I even asked…

That being said, thank you for the examples!

Yeah. All of those give me trouble, so I usually have to stop and think for a second or two and/or read for context. RC is especially bad because it already means Radio Controlled, and SHD gets me every time for some reason.

An glossary might not be a bad idea though, so at least confused people can look stuff up if necessary. I'm happy to put one together if people will help me out with examples.

A completely irrelevant example here, but it illustrates the difficulty I have. I once (for no particular reason other than boredom) found myself on a forum for people who are trying to conceive a child. These places are chock-full of acronyms and infantilisms and it's almost like every third word is in a foreign language. It took me ages to work out what the hell they were talking about, and really I only stayed there as long as I did because I was determined to "beat" the language problems. Here's a few I remember, which are so unintuitive as to be completely unintelligable.

AF = Aunt Flo = menstrual period

BFZ = Big Fat Zero = negative pregnancy test result

BFP = Big Fat Positive = positive preganancy test result

BD = Baby Dust = "good luck in conceiving" wishes

TTC = Trying to conceive

So you get things like, "Me and DH have been TTC for 4 months and keep getting BFNs. Then AF was 2 days late and then a BFP! So excited! Thanks for the BD everyone, here's hoping it's DD2!"

And a good proportion of the threads started with someone saying, "what on earth does AF mean"?

Its a fair point that using abbreviations can lead to confusion.  I know that I'm guilty of it from time to time, especially when talking about promo cards, where "Engine of War" can become "EoW" without warning, or the various Legacies can be described in all sorts of ways, or "area of effect damage" can become AoE damage (that one has nothing to do with promo cards, but I use it often).  

 I'll try to avoid that in the future.

TWR why abb. ex is that phLT, and need to take SC's.  gtee on OPB is a ltmnbata.

I am sorry, as this joke is pretty bad.

If only we had a filter for that.

coincicdentally, boredom's  one of the main causes for conception…

I'd better find something to do then, quickly! I have no desire to spawn, so you can all keep your BD to yourselves.

BABY DUST BABY DUST. THROW BABY DUST AT SILVERLEAF.

Anyway, that gives me an idea...

The Totally Legitimate Sentinels of the Multiverse Glossary (TTLSotMG)

AA - Alcoholics Anonymous

AZ - Arizona

BB - Breaking Bad

CR - Credit rating

EoD - Electric organ discharge

EoW - Eva Organisation for Women

GWV - Global Wine Veentures, Ltd.

IL - Illinois

IR - Infrared

OX - This isn't actually an acronym. We here on the Sentinels forums just really like oxen.

PR - Public relations

RC - Radio-controlled

SHD - Service Historique de la Défense

SotM - Someome once told me (or the Sermon on the Mount; depends largely on context)

TtE - Transthoracic Echocardiography

WtM - Whatever that means

When it comes to Sentinels abbreviations, I'm in pretty much the same place as Matchstickman - I generally only use them if said thing has already been discussed a lot in the same thread, or if it's something I need to mention a lot in one post in which case I'll call it by its full name once or twice at the start, by which time the reader has hopefully "got the idea" and will understand what I'm talking about when I abbreviate it for the rest of the post :).

Otherwise I'll semi-abbreviate something but only to make it faster to type and still giving enough of the thing that it's obvious what I'm talking about, eg "Ab'Zero", "Omni-10", "Rat".

Yeah, that works. Like when you use Latin names for organisms such as Tyrannosaurus rex, which you subsequently shorten to T. rex. I can deal with that as long as it's made clear at the beginning.

Wiki'd.

Earlier today I played against Advanced BB, using Wraith, Ra, and Haka. The location was in RC, which can get pretty nasty. I totally took at the MDP without much problem, but the LFF and TBA really put a number on the heroes. Wraith was never able to draw a GH, even though 2 TF and 3 I2I were played.  She was also the only one racking up damage, thanks to RO and MTC. Haka killed some random mooks, SM was next to useless. Would of only did 3 points of damage. BS came into play, which really was dangerous as BB decided to play his HD chain shortly after.

If I read this next week, I will actually have to put some thought into what some of these mean.

I'm still not getting a few of those.

slightly related, if there were some sort of community accepted acronyms you could implement it so the forum recognizes it and shows a tooltip or something of the like. The guys over Summoner Wars forum has something similar, where it automatically creates a links to official card page. Dunno of the effort it takes to do that in this forum-thingy (and effort available for some admins) but it could be a bridge for ultra-involved people like playtesters and newcomers.

I would be immensely in favor of such a thing.  Not only would it fix the abbreviations problem without me having to alter how I post, but it would stimulate the economy by creating more jobs for the programmers necessary to implement such complex code!  It's good for America!

(I can't even tell whether I'm being sarcastic or not…)

[/quote]

Sure, that would be cool. I'm not sure this forum has the capacity to do that, but it's certainly a good idea. The trouble is that the execution of such a system would require a lot of resources in terms of coding and constant updating and entering the thousands of cards that are already in the game and adding new ones, and people would have to make sure to only use the "accepted" acronyms - TtE rather than TTE or Twist, for example - otherwise it wouldn't work properly.

Probably more effort than it's worth. You know that old story about the Americans and the Russians needing a writing implement that would work in low/zero gravity in space? (It's an urban legend, apparently.) The Americans spent a lot of time and money doing research and created a special pen that worked upside down and in zero gravity. The Russians used a pencil.

The pencil here is a few more keystrokes and a little more effort.

As I said before, the extra effort would have the advantage of creating jobs.  My attitude is that anyone who is rich has a responsibility to enrich others at their own expense, whether the riches are literal or metaphorical.  Basically, I'm a utopian socialist.  So if life can be made easier for the poor by requiring the rich to do stuff...well, that's the price the rich are expected to pay for having been rich in the first place.  I firmly believe that if I were among the plutocrats of our society, I would live up to my own principles and give a huge percentage of my gains to improve the lives of the less fortunate.  (Though I would have the right to decide exactly who I regard as most deserving of such aid, within certain parameters.)

So…those lacking in resources should sit around waiting for those with resources to hand some out, rather than actually getting up off their arses and trying to earn/create their own?

A couple of things here.

1. So who exactly is going to shell out cold hard cash just because a very small bunch of people on a forum about a couple of very specific niche games in a very specific niche hobby want some clever bit of coding done because they can't be bothered to type a few more characters to avoid alienating new members and confusing some old ones? Call me weird, but if a rich person wanted to donate out of the goodness of their hearts I'd rather them donate to cancer research, or pay for a child in a developing country's education.

2. I'm finding it hard to gel the attitudes of "I'm not going to make an effort to do things in a way that other people have expressed very clearly makes things easier for them" and "I view social interactions in terms of what net benefit I get out of them" with "I'd give a lot of my money to other people". What benefit are you getting from your charity, exactly, since you obviously seem inclined to consider things exclusively in terms of yourself?

Giving money away if you have a lot of it? Easy. Anyone could do that (and many people do). It's ones who make real sacrifices for other people that impress me.

The old saying "you have to have money to make money" is often very meaningful.  "Getting up off your arse" doesn't magically solve all your problems; no amount of effort will accomplish a futile task.  But I wasn't advocating "sitting around waiting for the resourceful to hand out", so much as "getting together into a united front and FORCING the resourceful to hand out".  Not a military solution, mind, but more like a massive act of passive resistance.  I want to see millions of people stop scrabbling for scraps in our plutocratic society, and start making it not a plutocracy anymore.  Refusing to work for pennies, refusing to sit quietly and tolerate government corruption and corporate takeover - I want to see something like the creation of unions to force concessions from management, but on a nationwide scale if not a global one.

So you want the world to magically give you everything you want without you having to actually do anything?

I was reading recently about the story of the little red hen. You've probably heard it - the hen finds an ear of wheat and asks the other animals to help her sow, weed, harvest, thresh, grind and bake the wheat into bread. The animals refuse, but all are willing to help eat the loaf. The hen declines to share, and instead she and her chicks eat it. Capitalist propaganda, but there you go. Personally I'd share with animals who were genuinely unable to help rather than just unwilling.

But there's another verion of the story where the hen is forced to share her bread with the animals that didn't want to make effort for it. And as a result, she stops working too - why should she work her butt off just to get the majority of it taken away, leaving her with a few crumbs?

Here is a picture of an adorable raptor

900×680 77.9 KB

(I was looking for a kitten but I figured Raptors where more appropriate here)

I like seals more.

Thanks. I will disengage, and will try very hard not to respond in future.

So yeah. Those pesky abbreviations, huh?

Sentiment accepted. This has ceased to be a useful conversation on abbreviations. Please return to the topic at hand or cease activity here.

WTF?!?

Apologies. Sometimes I find it very difficult to just let things go past.

I'm working on it, honestly.

You know that old story about the Americans and the Russians needing a writing implement that would work in low/zero gravity in space? (It's an urban legend, apparently.) The Americans spent a lot of time and money doing research and created a special pen that worked upside down and in zero gravity. The Russians used a pencil.

The pencil here is a few more keystrokes and a little more effort.

I own a Zero Gravity pen that writes upside down, got it at the Science center.

Not that it has anything to do with that particular tale, but I like my fancy pen.

The old saying "you have to have money to make money" is often very meaningful.  "Getting up off your arse" doesn't magically solve all your problems; no amount of effort will accomplish a futile task.  But I wasn't advocating "sitting around waiting for the resourceful to hand out", so much as "getting together into a united front and FORCING the resourceful to hand out".  Not a military solution, mind, but more like a massive act of passive resistance.  I want to see millions of people stop scrabbling for scraps in our plutocratic society, and start making it not a plutocracy anymore.  Refusing to work for pennies, refusing to sit quietly and tolerate government corruption and corporate takeover - I want to see something like the creation of unions to force concessions from management, but on a nationwide scale if not a global one.

The problem is when you apply that thinking in situations where you don't need to fight to get fair treatment.

It is also easy to fall into the trap of viewing yourself as powerless and others as powerful.  Everyone can make a difference, in fact it is often the least powerful who make the greatest differences.  The rich and powerful throw money at problems, but it is up to others to see that money = progress, not by yelling and campaigning, but by being the hands that do the work.  One of the reasons we are in the boat we are in nationally is because we have become a nation of people willing to let those in power solve our problems for us

In this forums you have created (unwittingly or not) an impression that you want us all to do things your way, and don't really give a hoot about what anyone else wants.  That may be a false impression but it exists.  If that is not the impression you are trying to give, then you might want to start actively changing it..  

There are only 5 things I dislike more than unnecessary abbreviations.

1. Non-Ronway things
2. That all other languages were made solely to say bad things sbout the way of the Ronway
3. The death of Freddie Mercury, before I could attend a Queen concert.
4. Fruits and Vegetables
5. Taco Tuesday is only on Tuesdays

1. You like SotM though, right? That's a non-Ronway thing, and it's awesome.
2. La façon de Ronway sent comme le fromage et les vieux slip.
3. The Queen is still alive. Come to England and you might see her, but I don't think she's doing concerts anymore.
4. That's cool. I'll eat your fruits and veggies. Enjoy the fun scurvy.
5. Fight the system! Eat tacos on Thursdays as well!

I agree that the Taco Tuesday problem is a serious issue plaguing our world that requires immediate attention. What should be the acronym we use to describe the group fighting for this glorious cause. Would Tacos everyday for all, or T.E.F.A suffice?

There's a great taco joint down the street from my work called Taco Tuesday. I can go there any day of the week.        

CATTOBOT.

Citizens Against Taco Tuesday Only Being On Tuesdays.

Ronway is in SotM, so how Is that not a Ronway thing?

Send a memo to Christopher.

Unity is needed at once.

CATTOBOT must exist, card art must be drawn, the people must be saved.

Also perhaps a Freddie Mercury Bot, cause I'm with Ronway on that one as well.

Ronway Allies Fighting Taco Supressors

Edit: To toss in, Non-Ronway things is anything that doesn't get an imaginary Ronway seal of Approval on it. Which Sentinels of the Multiverse totally has.

Not just me, I want this for everyone, or at least everyone who wants it.  Other than that, pretty much yes.  To my way of thinking, life is an inconvenience compared to nonexistence, and inherently undesireable unless it is entirely spent enjoying ourselves.  I take games with extreme seriousness, as you've probably noticed, because to me they are little short of a sacrament - every moment we live without being happily preoccupied, we would have been better off not existing, and thus games and similar entertainments justify our lives.  I don't believe we need to earn happiness, I don't believe we have some higher purpose which is worth making sacrifices for, and I don't believe people have the right to succeed at other people's expense, even if the alternative is that nobody ever succeeds at all.  I would be quite satisfied with the entire world agreeing to maintain a happy medium, with everyone just sort of basically content in a very small way.  Injustices of any variety instantly distemper me, so I would single-handedly cure them if I possessed the power to, and lacking that power, I'd rather never hear of their existences.  When I am the "victim" of them, the latter is obviously impossible, and so my only strategy to date has been to b***h at the top of my lungs about it, hoping someone else might be motivated to fix the problem for me, so I can go back to my comfortable little rut without further interruption.

Wow. Umm...

LOOK! KITTEN!


Is that your kitten, Meerkat?

Everyday is Taco Day.

As an aside, I'm actually a huge fan of the abbreviations. On that note though, I am personally willing to spell things out. Not really that big of an effort. Would a sticky post with a list/glossary of abbreviations be useful? :O

cute seal! cute kitty! want to stroke his belly now, awwww

(the kitty's, not the seal. I'm not a seal-belly scratchy person)

I wish that was my kitten...

The Totally Genunely Legitimate Sentinels of the Multiverse Glossary (TTGLSotMG)

AA - Argent Adept

AB - Akash'Bhuta

AoE - Area of Effect, refers to damaging effects that hit many targets

AZ - Absolute Zero

BB - Baron Blade

CR - Chrono-Ranger (Also Chrono and Chrono-Trgiger [owing to unforutante synapse confusion])

EoD - End of Days (Fanatic)

EoW - Engine of War (Bunker: Engine of War variant, also Engine Bunker)

GWV - Grand Warlord Voss (more commonly Voss)

IL - Iron Legacy

IR - Infernal Relics expansion

OX - Omnitron-X (Also Omnitron-10, Omnix, Omnitronks)

PR - Plague Rat (more commonly the Rat)

RC - Rook City expanssion

SHD - Super-Human Durability (Legacy)

ST - Shattered Timelines expansion

SotM - Sentinels of the Multiverse

TLT - Team Leader Tachyon (Tachyon Team Leader variant)

TtE - Twist the Ether (Visionary)

WtM - Wrest the Mind (Visionary)

That card - Devastating Aurora (Citizen Card)

Golem Unity - Unity (Unity: Golem Spawn variant)

Grandapa Legacy (Legacy: Greatest Legacy variant)

Mister Chomps - Raptor Bot (Unity)

Plink - Deal exactly 1 damage

Any other acronyms or jargons that need defining for newbies?

Yes, I know, dragging things back on topic. *hangs head in shame*

*HHIS* - *hangs head in shame*

NMKK = Not MeerKat's Kitten.

Awesome, thank you. How about I start a fresh new thread for the glossary and keep editing it as we find new ones?

Hell, why am I asking permission? I'm going to do it anyway, like the rebel I am.

MKK - MeerKat's Kitten. Doesn't exist yet, but one day...

IWaKBMRWPP.

(I want a kitten but my rabbit would probably protest.)

IWACBIHAMITK

(I want a cat because I have a mouse in the kitchen)

TTHGOOCWAMPSTI

This Thread Has Gotten Out Of Control Won't A Mod Please Stop This Insanity.

ISWFMT- I'm Still Waiting For My Taco.

PN(BWLSOB)

Probably Not (Because We're Lazy, Silly, Obnoxious, and Braindead)

(In all sincerity, the thread is about acronyms. And I think the forum can use some levity… )

Is that anything like "reverse gravity"?

TIaRL(L?L?)FABIHOLNHA

[This Is a Ridiculously Levitous (Levityful? Levitory?) Forum Already, But Increased Levity Never Hurt Anyone]

OUCH!

YPDTIOOTFTJIFATIICTEITS

(Yeah, please don't turn into one of those forums that just insta-freezes a thread if it changes topics even in the slightest.)

YG!

(You guys)

IWOTTOKITAOAFFIADAFDAITBIWTNIT.

(If we're on the topic of kittens, I totally adopted one a friend found in a dumpster a few days ago. It's the best. I wanted to name it Tachyon.)

WDYNITTIAGNFAKITNAKTIFIGTSTNICIEGAK

(Why didn't you name it Tachyon? Tachyon is a great name for a kitten. I'd totally name a kitten Tachyon. In fact, I'm going to steal that name in case I ever get a kitten.)

TKBTMAMRSSIDHFSITMWHTMAAOANHNINDICHD.

(The kitten belongs to me and my roommate, so sadly I didn't have final say in the matter. We had to make an agreement on a name. His name is now Doc. I call him Doctor.)

AIABSICNIAAG

(Also, it's a boy, so I couln't name it after a girl!)

ODWALAYOESDITEWAPSIIEOSIDOYGSHLTKMUIOM.

(Okay, Doctor works. As long as you only ever say "Doc-TER!" in the exact way Amy Pond says it in every other sentence.

I disappprove of your gender stereotyping however. Let the kitten make up its own mind.)

IHAY-OCIFITB.IW3-WOWIFARI(MHBAC).IWTTTWTST.IGWDGSEFLSOIT.AINHD.MPAWINHDACTOAPR.TFTHWTTTVTVA"DYNHDBHG?"Y!IDKWNOEGT,EAEITT.

WRAAMBWAFWHK.HA8MON.HWONB,BIASLMKWCHB,SHBRTB.(Y,TCFTTVSB.)

WAUTHAB/WDNC,ATCFTTVSC.IWM,BTKWGFIATICWTOATAO"O".

(I have a year-old cat I found in the bushes.  It was 3-weeks old when I found and rescued it (mom hit by a car).  It was the tiniest thing with the shortest tail.  It's grey with darker grey stripes except for leopard spotting on it's tummy.  Anyway, I named him Dorian.  Most people ask why I named him Dorian and can't think of any possible reason.  The first time he was taken to the vet the vet asked "Did you name him Dorian because he's grey?"  YES!  I don't know why no one else gets this, even after explaining it to them.

We recently adopted a mostly black with a few white highlights kitten.  He's about 8 months old now.  He was originally named Booker, but it always seemed like my kids were calling him Bogger, so he's been renamed to Booth. (Yes, the character from the tv show Bones.)

We also used to have a black/white dog named Castle, after the character from the tv show Castle.  I wanted Mal, but the kids wouldn't go for it and they insisted Castle was the only alternative they'd accept over "Oreo".)

DSIP?

Doctor Stinson I Presume.

JCHTBAYIATGWICTDW

Jamie Crimmon Had The Better Accent (Yes I am that guy when it comes to Doctor Who)

WIWTNHGBHBGAW.

(Well I wanted to name him Gandalf, because he is both grey and white.

Oh hush.  I would have named him Tachyon if I could have. 

TILSOROMLOFCNBTW(AIWTBTT;IDSI)

Tachyon is like second or third on my list of future cat names, by the way (and it was there before this thread; I didn't steal it).

...F.I.L.T.E.R.

And, eventually, K.N.Y.F.E.

+1.

@McBehrer

Don't worry, we won't. In the rare cases in which we have locked a topic, that has never been the reason.

Do you distinguish between "locking a topic" and "having a moderator tell people to stop posting in that topic"?  Personally, I really don't.  They both prevent communication, and that is a huge no-no in my little world.

Dude, you are like the main reason for pretty much all of the topic shutdowns we've had lately, because pretty much every time you've started unnecessary fights with inflamatory comments and aggressive mannerisms. If you want to discuss their policies on thread locking, take it up with them in a private message; don't make all of us suffer for it too by bringing it up in a thread that it doesn't belong in (i.e. this one).

If someone causes my thread to get locked, I won’t be happy.

Behold ! Hulk dog!

Pfft, please. SKELETAL HORSE!

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/1383779_687960771224937_1207090019_n.jpg

My old boss posted that pic on FB, so I've already seen it. Pretty cool, though.

That is a pretty cool horse.