Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr

[Alladinsane]

Pass notes. It might circumvent the annoyances and embarrassments.

In the bigger cities where there are so many actions, talking and whispers, you might miss something said or done in the huge mass of text you have to read. But that note is always in your pocket. Though I have also seen places where the leader forbids passing of notes... usually by prisoners or something.

They are never overheard or read unless you are killed or in NDS... erase the embarrassing ones early if you fear for life maybe?

I wish you could whisper to more than one person at a time... sort of like a 'huddle'... but that needs to go to suggestions if it is not already there.

Be well

[Estaar]

What has bothered me is when people who are not supposed to be able to talk and generally communicate by holding up notes all of a sudden start having a whispered conversation with someone.

[Cdls]

I have noticed that only happens when people start seeing notes that weren't directed at them.

[Estaar]

I have noticed that only happens when people start seeing notes that weren't directed at them.

Not quite sure what you mean here ...

I was referring to mutes who suddenly have whispered conversations with someone. How should one interpret this as an onlooker? They have regained their ability to speak, but can only do so in whispers? They are in fact not 'whispering' but emoting things only that particular person is supposed to see? They are passing notes in whispers? Why not actually pass notes instead of 'whispering' them?

[computaertist]

What has bothered me is when people who are not supposed to be able to talk and generally communicate by holding up notes all of a sudden start having a whispered conversation with someone.

I think the idea is the mute has built up a sort of vocabulary through signs and whatnot with the person they're communicating with, and so the player feels free to communicate freely with those characters and let the signs and such (which is all apparently sufficiently small and out-of-context-meaningless to not mean anything at all to onlookers) be more vaguely imagined and assumed.

Of course that breaks down when someone who shouldn't be that easy to communicate with yet overhears the plain English.

Still, when a mute's player gets tired of having to sign everything, the choice does seem to come down to take shortcuts or kill the mute off, and they might not want that drastic step yet.

[kicking jay]

How do you know it's not OOC discussion? I do that with my mute.

[ColormeGreen]

This is kind of off topic, but after creating a mute character myself, I've wondered why a mute (in real life ) can't whisper. Well.. I don't know any mutes, but there's a reason for sign language and what not, so I assume they don't. I haven't had my cantr mute whisper, but I have been very curious as to why they might not. I mean... it's just their voice boxes that don't work, right? Maybe I need to do some research...

[Melodianme13]

It is usually a pretty good idea to do research on an ailment or disability before trying to use it in your writing...

As for mutes, I have two and I rarely use the whisper with them. At first I did if someone whispered to them and actions were used, I felt pressured into rping the actions in return but then stopped because I thought it was a bit silly. But on that same note, I don't see why it is fair that characters with voices should be allowed to whisper actions but mutes can't.

[ObsessedWithCats]

@ColormeGreen I had a weird fascination with muteness (especially aphasia) as a kid. I can't guarantee everything I say on the topic is perfectly correct but as far as I know the following is accurate enough to hopefully answer your question:

It depends on the cause of the muteness - physical brain damage, vocal cord damage or psychological trauma would probably be the top three reasons.

The first case (aphasia I think, though it's possible aphasia is just a subtype of this) might range from complete inability to speak or whisper to being able to get out a few of words from each sentence out - whispering wouldn't change anything compared to talking. But their vocal cords would work fine - they would scream if you stabbed them, they could probably laugh normally. In some cases things learned by rote can still be said so if they learned a song by heart before the brain damage they might still be able to sing it.

You still need your vocal cords to whisper, so probably someone with the second kind of muteness couldn't whisper, but if it's only slight damage whispering might be possible like when you lose your voice temporarily to overuse or illness.

Muteness caused by psychological trauma might allow for whispering because some people with this kind of muteness are able to speak in situations where they feel safe or with people they trust, so they might be able to whisper to someone they trust but not speak out loud if there are scarier people about.

I think we could do with a bit of in-game variation on the causes and presentations of muteness :3 I've not found that all the mute characters annoy me like some people seem to find though, perhaps because the ones I've met all used different methods to communicate so it stayed interesting.

[ColormeGreen]

It is usually a pretty good idea to do research on an ailment or disability before trying to use it in your writing...

I actually have several characters with disabilities of some sort... all well researched. I just never considered a mute whispering until recently, is all. XD

ObsessedwithCats: Wow.. thank you very much! I knew that psychological causes were possible, but didn't know much about the physical aspects. It's very fascinating indeed. As for my own mute.. she actually does have a unique trait, though I won't say what in fear of giving her away. I kind of felt like there were too many mutes, but wanted to play one myself.. hence the unique trait that I'm not mentioning. xD

[SumBum]

Still, when a mute's player gets tired of having to sign everything, the choice does seem to come down to take shortcuts or kill the mute off, and they might not want that drastic step yet.

My answer to that remains the same: find a cure.

If you realize you can't play out some physical restriction that you placed on your char then don't make others suffer the bad/lazy RP that's sure to happen. This is Cantr - eating an onion instantly heals a crossbow bolt to the face, so surely there's something that would give your char their voice/sight/whatever. It could even spark some very interesting RP as you go about searching for something to heal the ailment.

I get annoyed when a mute char points at a note or writes in the sand and expects everyone in the entire town to be able to read it, no matter where they are located within the town. My char might be in a building, working on some intricate task, and the mute gets irritated when mine doesn't notice them silently playing in the dirt. Or what if not everyone in town is able to read?

I'll admit I get lazy sometimes and emote things that aren't so subtle in whispers, and sometimes it's just too awkward to break the flow by emoting aloud then continuing the whispered words. I do try to put noticeable things outside of whispers when I can, though.

[Estaar]

As for mutes, I have two and I rarely use the whisper with them. At first I did if someone whispered to them and actions were used, I felt pressured into rping the actions in return but then stopped because I thought it was a bit silly. But on that same note, I don't see why it is fair that characters with voices should be allowed to whisper actions but mutes can't.

That is the only time my mute whispers: to emote something only the person it's being done to could see (a light squeeze while you're holding them by the arm, for example, or a wink at someone while your back is turned to the window and you're alone in the room with the person you're winking at, but the window is open).

[Cdls]

I have noticed that only happens when people start seeing notes that weren't directed at them.

Not quite sure what you mean here ...

I was referring to mutes who suddenly have whispered conversations with someone. How should one interpret this as an onlooker? They have regained their ability to speak, but can only do so in whispers? They are in fact not 'whispering' but emoting things only that particular person is supposed to see? They are passing notes in whispers? Why not actually pass notes instead of 'whispering' them?

I think it was pretty self explanatory, unless by whispering you actually mean they are using their voice. I have had characters around quite a few mutes and the only times I have seen whispers among them were when:
1) As SumBum alluded to, but in the opposite direction, a mute writes something on the ground, or signs something that only a single other character -should- be able to see, and people in buildings or wherever seem to 'see' it as well, and act upon it, even.

2) Something needed to be stated OOCly.


Now to answer your questions:

How should one interpret this as an onlooker?

Considering Cantr's event screen is prefixed with character actions starting with "<Character name> says:"
how is one supposed to interpret an emote that was actually something that was supposed to be spoken?

They have regained their ability to speak, but can only do so in whispers?

Did you witness them actually speak, or are you assuming they are because they used the whisper feature? If it is the latter, see response above for absurdity of making such a complaint.

They are in fact not 'whispering' but emoting things only that particular person is supposed to see?

As I mentioned above, I have been around quite a few mutes in my Cantr playing experience and this is almost always the case. The other being something needing to be stated OOCly.

They are passing notes in whispers? Why not actually pass notes instead of 'whispering' them?

Because maybe some people don't want to deal with all the extra steps that are required in doing so. There are quite a few people using Cantr from a mobile device and it is a lot easier to just do it that way.

[ColormeGreen]

They are passing notes in whispers? Why not actually pass notes instead of 'whispering' them?

Because maybe some people don't want to deal with all the extra steps that are required in doing so. There are quite a few people using Cantr from a mobile device and it is a lot easier to just do it that way.

I can concur to this. My mute has a unique way of communicating, but when I've had limited time on a mobile (only once or twice), I whispered a quick interpretation to the other player, who was understanding the communication anyways. If the other character had not been understanding, I wouldn't have felt right about it, since it wouldn't make sense for the other character to suddenly understand. To be more clear, I might have posted something like this:

*she continues with the same kinds of gestures/communication, signaling/writing out the following message: bla bla bla *

[hyrle]

My mute has a temporary cure. so when I want him to talk, he just sips some medicine (apothecary healing liquids - which he thinks tastes varying degrees of horrible) and speaks. It wears off after a few hours though, and because he doesn't like the taste, he'll revert to his mute state often. (This probably is giving away one of my characters, but everyone he knows seems to like him so whatever. )