Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
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- *Wiro
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
Do new players get to pick their own username? That's so cool.
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- Axiom
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
What, you couldn't pick your username before?
- Wolfsong
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- *Wiro
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
Seko just told me that I can change it apparently. Wow. I won't. I can't.
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- Snowdrop
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
Wouldn't a 'loud' smile be someone grinning from ear to ear with their bright, freshly brushed teeth dazzling you? 

- sanchez
- Administrator Emeritus
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
I agree with Axiom. ‘Soft smiles’ give me the heebee jeebees. It brings a vision of limp lips, and it’s difficult for my chars to trust those who appear like this, akin to a weak, clammy handshake, or some potentially contagious affliction.
- Wolfsong
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
Soft smile makes perfect sense, IMO, but then I'm a native English speaker? It might seem weird to ESL folk. People can smile brightly, or radiantly, so why not softly? It's just another quality of light - radiant and bright vs. soft and muted or subdued. The others don't make much sense, though, or could be better conveyed (such as an annoying smile) with more detail in an emote.

- Snowdrop
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
I think "smiles annoyingly" would be along the lines of a smug smile - kind of like the sort of smile I could imagine a certain pirate giving upon snatching your raker full of goods... 

- Wolfsong
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- Snowdrop
- Posts: 473
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
Actually, ya know, I think Axiom was just making a list of smiles specifically for that certain pirate...

Axiom wrote:*smiles loudly* This is just the 'everyday' smile for the character
*smiles musically while obnoxiously singing*
*smiles violently, shooting a bolt through his shoulder*
*smiles annoyingly, waving as they sail away in the stolen ship*
*smiles silently, spotting a potential new victim in the distance*
*smiles catastrophically, having finally run out of luck and getting a taste of their own bloody medicine* - maybe, eventually, one day, ya know...

- computaertist
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
Every one of these brings a vivid picture to my mind and I welcome seeing them in game.Axiom wrote:*smiles softly*
*smiles loudly*
*smiles musically*
*smiles violently*
*smiles annoyingly*
*smiles silently*
*smiles catastrophically*
That strikes me as a perfect in-character reaction; go with it (or continue to if you already do).sanchez wrote:I agree with Axiom. ‘Soft smiles’ give me the heebee jeebees. It brings a vision of limp lips, and it’s difficult for my chars to trust those who appear like this, akin to a weak, clammy handshake, or some potentially contagious affliction.
Mark Twain wrote:Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.
- Axiom
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
Wolfsong wrote:Soft smile makes perfect sense, IMO, but then I'm a native English speaker? It might seem weird to ESL folk. People can smile brightly, or radiantly, so why not softly? It's just another quality of light - radiant and bright vs. soft and muted or subdued. The others don't make much sense, though, or could be better conveyed (such as an annoying smile) with more detail in an emote.
I'm also a native English speaker, and I think it's weird. Although the intended meaning is clear, soft carries nuances that aren't appropriate to smiling. It's not a big deal if it's occasional, but when I see it all the time in tons of different towns, it irritates me.
computaertist wrote:Every one of these brings a vivid picture to my mind and I welcome seeing them in game.Axiom wrote:*smiles softly*
*smiles loudly*
*smiles musically*
*smiles violently*
*smiles annoyingly*
*smiles silently*
*smiles catastrophically*
I'll spare you the writer's rant about adverbs, especially inappropriate ones. I guess it's different in a game like this anyway. But all of those are weird and I wouldn't use them unless I were being sarcastic or annoying...which, to be fair, is a thing I do a lot...so who knows, maybe you'll see me going around smiling in odd ways. But take the example of smiling violently. The meaning is clear, but you can't actually smile violently, because doing something violently implies that you're performing violence of some sort, which you cannot do while smiling. Smiling sadistically or evilly or cruelly or sinisterly would be fine, however.
sanchez wrote:I agree with Axiom. ‘Soft smiles’ give me the heebee jeebees. It brings a vision of limp lips, and it’s difficult for my chars to trust those who appear like this, akin to a weak, clammy handshake, or some potentially contagious affliction.
Yes, a voice of reason!

Snowdrop wrote:Actually, ya know, I think Axiom was just making a list of smiles specifically for that certain pirate...Axiom wrote:*smiles loudly* This is just the 'everyday' smile for the character
*smiles musically while obnoxiously singing*
*smiles violently, shooting a bolt through his shoulder*
*smiles annoyingly, waving as they sail away in the stolen ship*
*smiles silently, spotting a potential new victim in the distance*
*smiles catastrophically, having finally run out of luck and getting a taste of their own bloody medicine* - maybe, eventually, one day, ya know...


- Moonflame
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
Wolfsong wrote:Soft smile makes perfect sense, IMO, but then I'm a native English speaker? It might seem weird to ESL folk. People can smile brightly, or radiantly, so why not softly? It's just another quality of light - radiant and bright vs. soft and muted or subdued. The others don't make much sense, though, or could be better conveyed (such as an annoying smile) with more detail in an emote.
I've got to agree with this. Some of my characters occasionally smile softly, it's the default one I use for a tender or gentle affectionate smile without making it seem romantic or requiring of a response.
"There are precious few at ease
with moral ambiguities
and so we act as though they don't exist"
with moral ambiguities
and so we act as though they don't exist"
- Axiom
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Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
Moonflame wrote:Wolfsong wrote:Soft smile makes perfect sense, IMO, but then I'm a native English speaker? It might seem weird to ESL folk. People can smile brightly, or radiantly, so why not softly? It's just another quality of light - radiant and bright vs. soft and muted or subdued. The others don't make much sense, though, or could be better conveyed (such as an annoying smile) with more detail in an emote.
I've got to agree with this. Some of my characters occasionally smile softly, it's the default one I use for a tender or gentle affectionate smile without making it seem romantic or requiring of a response.
Then why not smile tenderly or gently or affectionately or faintly or whatever? Why does it have to be softly?
I think people just do it at this point because it's a thing, but WE CAN DO BETTER!! An era of change is upon us! Let's introduce a new memetic overused emote that actually makes some kind of grammatical sense!
- sanchez
- Administrator Emeritus
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- Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2006 6:37 pm
Re: Things that annoy or puzzle you about Cantr
Axiom wrote:Then why not smile tenderly or gently or affectionately or faintly or whatever? Why does it have to be softly?
Yes. I am also a native speaker, and this would avoid the creepy ambiguity between flaccid lips and tender heart.
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