Strafing

[Mochan]

So how many airplanes did you see in Doom or Wolf 3D? Is anyone alarmed or at least mildly annoyed that the word "strafe" to the youth of today now means to "sidestep" rather than its actual meaning?

[moya]

In fact, according to the OED, it's originally derived from a German phrase 'Gott strafe England', meaning 'God punish England' which was popular in the first world war. It was picked up on by British soldiers in the war and used to mean generally punish, or do damage to, or attack fiercely. It was only later that it came to be used to describe bombing runs or machine gun fire from low-flying aircraft.

[Mochan]

I guess usage really does change over time, but don't you find it funny that in this case, that which prompted this evolution in language was a computer game which really just didn't know better?

And how come the Diablo II usage never quite caught on... a usage which was more correct since strafing had also come to be known as firing an assault rifle in an arc.

[moya]

I know what you mean, and there are certainly things that get me hot under the collar about language change (like the recent americanised spelling of 'than' as 'then' in phrases like 'more then', 'better then', etc.). But generally I just try and stay relaxed about this sort of thing.

Words, especially slang or specialised usage words like this, just are going to change meanings over time. There's nothing anyone can do to stop it. Notions like 'correctness' start to lose meaning when you consider things from a historical perspective.

[Aku]

I know what you mean, and there are certainly things that get me hot under the collar about language change (like the recent americanised spelling of 'than' as 'then' in phrases like 'more then', 'better then', etc.).

I've never heard of that one.

[Mochan]

(like the recent americanised spelling of 'than' as 'then' in phrases like 'more then', 'better then', etc.

Is that official? I think that's just bad grammar, anyone in a decent university would flunk if he wrote an essay like that. I also find it hard to stomach that there are those who say "could of" when they meant "could've."

[mandark]

Is that official? I think that's just bad grammar, anyone in a decent university would flunk if he wrote an essay like that. I also find it hard to stomach that there are those who say "could of" when they meant "could've."

I ain't one to brag but I could of been good at wat you'se are sayin'. Yo, get my drift, yo. But its aiight cuz everythang is cool and I'm doin' good strafin suckas at CounterStrike. :D

[moya]

Oops! When I said 'americanised spelling' I didn't mean it was official or anything. Sorry for the misunderstanding (entirely my fault)! What I meant was that the 'than' > 'then' thing most likely arose because the pronunciation of 'than' in many US accents is close to 'then'. I've mainly encountered it on internet forums and the like. I've not done a survey or anything, but at a guess, I'd say that it's mainly used by American forumites (though certainly not exclusively).

What's more, it seems to occur too regularly and frequently to be just a typo. And you even get the metathesised form 'less tehn' (metathesis si wehn adjacent lettres aer swapped ronud), which further suggests it's taken root in speakers' lexicons.

The 'could have' > 'could of' thing is also annoying, and that's used just as much by speakers of British English. You're right to say that in formal or official writing things like this would get you a slap across the wrist, but it's nonetheless very prevalent in casual writing, even from people whose writing is otherwise close to 'perfect'.

[Mochan]

That means the language is evolving, I guess, and its taken its first baby step to becoming a different language!

[E.T.]

I guess usage really does change over time, but don't you find it funny that in this case, that which prompted this evolution in language was a computer game which really just didn't know better?

Computer games seems to have evovled [or focused] the term "roleplaying' to a specific genre, when it seems that in nearly all PC game genres gamers play a role of some sort.

AoW:SM is a strategy game, in which I play a Wizard.

HL is a FPS in which I play a scientist.

Dune is RTS in which I play the role of General.

Are not all PC games roleplaying?

[BaneNWN]

Computer games seems to have evovled [or focused] the term "roleplaying' to a specific genre, when it seems that in nearly all PC game genres gamers play a role of some sort.

AoW:SM is a strategy game, in which I play a Wizard.

HL is a FPS in which I play a scientist.

Dune is RTS in which I play the role of General.

Are not all PC games roleplaying?

It depends on how you look at things.Are you really playing the role of a charecter when there are no decisions or alternative paths to undertake??IMO no you are playing exactly what the developers set out for you to play.You could make a case for strategy games but in HL 2 i do not cnsider that roleplaying in the least.To me roleplaying is playing a charecter how you want to play them not a linear game like HL 2 where there are no deceisions to be made what have you.

If you look at it from table top dnd roleplaying. the dungeon master for the most part is not telling you what you have to do mostley only the consequences of your actions and to me thats roleplaying.It would not be roleplaying if your charecter had to do everything your DM told you.Same thing with pc games.I never heard of table top dnd where everyone had to do what the dm told them to because it simply isnt roleplaying.

[Mochan]

The term role playing didn't start in computer games, though. It's just a term that was applied to certain kinds of games because they are derivatives of the paper role-playing variant. And that itself was likely taken from acting classes or something. I think the RPG word usage example isn't that analogous with the strafe example since the evolution of both words is a quite different (RPG follows the same overall meaning and spirit of it but the strafe thing is just plain wrong) but I see your point.

As for tabletop RPGs you may find it funny that I once had a DM who made adventurers fashioned after the Final Fantasy style, he had a lot of "scripted events" and although we could do lots of crap and he would improvise based on our actions, overall he would guide our adventure down a certain path to fit in with the story he had written. He actually has very enjoyable campaigns because the story element as a lot stronger than what you'd probably get if your DM were Ed Greenwood or Gary Gygax, for example. (I imagine their DMing is very bland, if the novels they write are any indication).

I actually did enjoy this DM a lot compared to some other DMs I had for his plots though I had a lot of other DMs who did some really convincing situations.

[E.T.]

Re: roleplaying, my response was to the statement "... that which prompted this evolution in language was a computer game which really just didn't know better..."

My focus was on the more widely accepted definition of roleplaying "as acting a particular role".

Now about RPG's......anyone try out Restricted Area yet?

[Mochan]

Oh yeah, there was a game by that name, wasn't there? Haven't heard any feedback on it yet from here. I'll stick to Kult first until someone gives me feedback on it.

[moya]

Restricted Area review:

http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=2993

*heh heh heh*

[Suicides-by-Steve]

Computer games seems to have evovled [or focused] the term "roleplaying' to a specific genre, when it seems that in nearly all PC game genres gamers play a role of some sort.

AoW:SM is a strategy game, in which I play a Wizard.

HL is a FPS in which I play a scientist.

Dune is RTS in which I play the role of General.

Are not all PC games roleplaying?

Above = AVATARS, not role-playing.