No RL Language area? Make up our own?

[Revanael]

I know that. That's why I used it. I love the word Oograh!

But it probably can't be used in game, because it exists elsewhere.

[Sniper]

Only problem I can see is, you'd have to spend more time if you weren't well acquainted with the many methods of cheating the time limit, ..................

Call me unaquainted, but interested. Seems like I always need more time.

[Revanael]

Well, the staff don't seem to be paying attention...

OI! STAFF!

And only experienced (ish) players should be in the no language area; starting players would mess it up I expect.

[swymir]

That's not very fair as there are some experienced RPs that come to Cantr. I myself was playing cantr for almost a year before I had to restart. Should it be that just because my account is new I can't try my luck.

On the other hand I'm sure there are plenty of people who have had their account longer than I have who couldn'r RP their way out of a paperbag. I think an application process is the best for anything like this.

[Meh]

Would you have to agree what language *actions* are in or something?

[The Hunter]

Yeah, like *********** instead of :Farm for carrots.
*********** Build stone building
*********** attack on you by fellow player.



Just as primitive as it can get. Let the players decide. Dynamic naming, even for actions, to be renamed by the player as asoon as some words have been agreed at.

[Revanael]

I didn't mean that only players with older accounts should apply, but it wouldnt be ideal for new starting players who aren't used to the game,

The interface should probably be just the english one. Per player dynamic naming would be good, but then they have to remember what the language means... I think I would have to have a note for reference!

Though I dont think the dynamic naming is possible yet, is it?

[Meh]

Why have words at all. Just tapping.

-... ..- - / -.-. --- ..- -. - / -- . / --- ..- -

[Queen Ehlana]

There was a Chinese emperor who left 12 kids isolated in a house of mutes. Of course, they turned out to only use signs to communicate.

If you have notes to communicate, then you have written language. So it's not just sign language.

[Revanael]

We don't all talk morse code, Meh.

Can we get this implemented? It would be fun to try as an experiment, at least.

I'd be willing to help as necessary.

[trage]

Problem is this is porbably going to ge rejected unless there is some major arguements here that is what happened with some others.

[AmateurHistorian]

-... ..- - / -.-. --- ..- -. - / -- . / --- ..- -

.-- .... -.-- --..-- / -- . .... ..--.. / .-.-.- / -. --- - / -.-- --- ..- .-. / -.-. ..- .--. / --- ..-. / - . .- ..--.. /

I was going to post in this topic just so I could get notified about further posts. But I couldn't resist replying to Meh.

[Revanael]

Well, you could translate for the rest of us. I really should learn Morse, but I haven't yet, so translate for us, would you?

Oh, and no morse in the "no language" area!

Well, has anyopne got any major problems with the idea?

[AmateurHistorian]

Well, you could translate for the rest of us. I really should learn Morse, but I haven't yet, so translate for us, would you?

Oh, and no morse in the "no language" area!

Meh said, "But count me out." And I replied, "Why, Meh? Not your cup of tea?"

Well, has anyopne got any major problems with the idea?

No major problems, no. It's an intriguing idea and if the staff decides to give it a go, I'll participate.

I'm not optimistic, though, because using language in Cantr suffers from three huge limitations. First, the natural language learning process is far more sensory and experiential than intellectual. Babies and children learn their first language(s) by hearing spoken words repeatedly, putting them into the context of what they see, hear, smell, taste, and feel at the time, and then trying them out and discovering whether they guessed the meaning correctly. (Adults do the same thing, although of course they have far better developed intellect, plus a large existing base of language to draw on.)

Adults who acquire a new language nearly always start by translating from a language that they already know to the new language, and that is exclusively an intellectual process. But once the learner acquires a basic framework in the new language, learning the new language also becomes progressively less intellectual and more sensory.

The Cantr world, of course, is almost entirely non-sensory: no sound, smell, feel, or taste at all -- except for whatever we choose to narrate -- and almost no sight. That means that creating, learning, and teaching this new language will have to be done almost entirely intellectually. The suggested picture dictionary will surely help -- indeed, it may be the only thing that will enable this to work at all. But because Cantr is mostly a non-sensory world, language within Cantr is deprived of its best tools.

Second, Cantr is an extremely limited world, in the sense that the only objects and actions that exist in Cantr are those that have been explicitly created. Language thrives on richness and complexity, and I´m not sure that Cantr provides enough of that to underpin a new language.

Finally, learning a language requires a lot of time and interaction. Cantr is, by design, a slow-paced game, and I'm dubious about whether users will be able to spend enough time to make a new language flourish.

And yet ...

Having gotten all that out of my system, I still vote to give this a try. People are endlessly creative, and who knows how they'd deal with these limitations? And what kind of society could result from the attempt?

[Revanael]

I had realised most of those limitations, but I still think it would be worth a try as an experiment, and fun as well!