When is cute behavior childish?

lispia · June 2010

Hi there,

nano and I always play as a team and we're known to over use smilies/emoctions when and where we feel is appropriate. As twins our thinking patterns are almost always identical. By smilies/emoctions we mean the cute one,

kitty smile, then ^^, and often ^^' when situation calls for it. Current faction mates are all fine with it and many of them do go overboard with xD's and

ones. All nice.

Then comes cute behaviors, by behaviors I mean saying totally harmless non-serious things like randomly:

1) "The ground is starting to feel comfy" *sleeps* - when dead, which elicited a laugh or two from faction mates and friends.

2) "aww the lava looks lovely" *wants to swim* - in a random drake chain run.

3) "aww what a cute kitty" *hugs*

The examples could go on an on. None of these are pre-planed or reused, but rather just come out at the roll of the tongue...er keyboard. Anyway, usually its just us being us. However, some rare times we get strange comments from players that haven't played much with us. Some of the following were said over a time by different players.

1) "You two girls use a lot of those faces don't you... creepy"

2) "are you just acting or are really 12 year olds? I mean I'm 21 too..." says the person who runs into aoe mobs, takes wrong turns, and dies just as easily. Even worse demands to remake squad for each boss in BH39.

Anyway the point being, our play style is very solid. We play and behave very professionally on things we have experience with. We don't just simply level up, but rather take it slow and enjoy the quests, gain spirit points to keep our skills up, keep up to date with gears and weapon. We often challenge ourselves with higher mobs, try out different techniques and gameplay, explore a lot, and seek tips from experienced friends and faction mates on how best to handle a situation. In BH runs we don't go randomly running around or die much either. Our gameplay isn't immature or flawed. However, our typing style and the things we say may not always be serious.

As 21 year old girls we have lot of pressure in the real life with college and more. We play the game for enjoyment and fun. However, a lot of fun it is if we have to watch every word we type. We can be very serious, or very friendly and nice - by nature we rather be friendly and nice in game.

Well the point is... does everyone find expressively cute style of speaking annoying? or was it the only select few that we had encountered over a time?

Sacredxstar - Heavens Tear · June 2010

Maybe it's just me, but being 20 myself, I don't usually use smilies/emotes too much. I do find it annoying when it gets overused in almost every line because I believe it's just the person (or people) trying too hard to be cute. I don't mind it too much since in my faction, there are one or two people who abuse their boutique tiger or monkey smilies/emotes. But usually after the 10th time of the spam, I tend to turn off my faction chat.

Longknife - Harshlands · June 2010

I wanna punch you in the effing face sooooo hard right now.

Iribehir - Dreamweaver · June 2010

Longknife - Harshlands wrote: »

I wanna punch you in the effing face sooooo hard right now.

Go for it, brother!

Vitenka - Dreamweaver · June 2010

You mean I'm not the only one who puts on a bikini and sues the 'lie down' emote to go lava-bathing?

Good stuff. Carry on.

WarrenWolfy - Sanctuary · June 2010

Eh... *shrugs*

Most people go through a phase when anything "childish" really offends them. I figure it's because they're not-quite-fully-mature people trying to prove to the world that they're all grown-up now.

Michael_Dark - Lost City · June 2010

You sound far more mature than MagicHamsta. Hmm... where is he when you... wait, I'm not finishing that sentence.

b:bye

Iribehir - Dreamweaver · June 2010

WarrenWolfy - Sanctuary wrote: »

Eh... *shrugs*

Most people go through a phase when anything "childish" really offends them. I figure it's because they're not-quite-fully-mature people trying to prove to the world that they're all grown-up now.

I'd say it is, where I live at least, too many that used to be "normal" suddenly wanted to be something else and everyone else and their mother followed their tracks. It's just too much, really. Although that hamster-guy is kinda cool. b:victory

Longknife - Harshlands · June 2010

Iribehir - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Go for it, brother!

Hehehe.

As a more serious attempt to answer your question....

You have to realize, everyone knows you're just a normal person.
And ta-da. There you have your problem. Everyone who's annoyed by it is basically thinking "wtf is this person's problem and why are they trying to act out a bad anime?" I mean, you are not cute. I don't mean like...I don't know what you look like or anything, nor do I have to. What I mean is, the normal you doesn't act like this in real life (and if you do, then yes I am going to punch you in the effing face), so in that sense, you are not cute. So, why the hell do you do it in game? Those of us who are annoyed by comments like this are puzzled by this exact question.
The entire act, in that sense, seems...delusional and escapist somehow. I mean, I personally could never roleplay a character, because no matter how hard I try, I WANT to be a smartass. It's who I am. You could tell me to roleplay a cold, ruthless **** who kills anyone that annoys him, but the moment a player spams me with their guild invite, I'm naturally gonna say "sure, spam the hell out of it and annoy me. That'll convince me to join your guild" instead of killing him, almost as if it were a reaction. The fact that you're putting on a cutesy face instead of just giving your full opinion seems fake, and why would I wanna talk to someone who's fake? When someone tries to roleplay as some adorable cutesy character, to me it seems sorta like a Peter Pan syndrome. Acting like a cutesy character should have nothing to do with a person's maturity, and yet I always find myself wanting to tell these people to grow up. You are who you are; accept it and just don't put up an act. I have nothing against roleplayers, but something about the cutesy act is different...And if cutesy is truly who you are, then you and I would never get along.

Second thing is, it seems attention-seeking. From a third-person perspective, when you try to come up with a logical reason for all the cutesy comments, what comes to mind is "it's for attention." Last MMO I played I knew a girl who ALWAYS act cutesy. She'd log into vent and talk like a baby, and it annoyed the ever-living **** out of me. She was literally forcing her dominance in on the conversation. She logs in, talks cutesy, every girl goes "AAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW~," some of the guys who dig that $h!7 start hitting on her, and anyone who dares say "oh c'mon wtf this is bull****" gets called out by her. Not directly called out like "awww hell naw u ****," but she'd say "you don't like me?? T3T" in her sad cutesy voice, and suddenly everyone would slam whoever dared not play along with her cutesy game, calling the person an *******. The result was that I had to bite my tongue everytime she came in (and for the record, no I never called her out and called the act stupid).
What's worse was that yes, she DEMANDED dominance. Every time she'd say something, she'd expect an "AAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWW~" or some form of positive attention, or she'd go into that sad cutesy voice, basically making people feel like they were required to support her. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I tried to have a conversation with someone, A MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION, and then the convo was shattered to bits because that stupid bish wanted to tell us how bad she wants cookies.

And that brings me to my last point: it's so stupid. Not stupid in the sense of my disapproval for it, but stupid in the sense that if you've seen one cutesy convo, you've seen them all.

What do cutesy people do:

1) Say "hawwo"
2) Talk about cookies
3) Talk about love
4) Talk about aminals
5) Talk about snuggling
6) Repeat steps 2-5
7) Get horny for a moment, act like your oblivious to the subject of sex while discussing it with someone
8) Cyber sex
9) Repeat steps 2-5
10) Say "bai baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiii~"

It's stupid. It's not even creative cause it's always the same damn, meaningless bull****. The comments cutesy people make, as I've mentioned above with that cutesy ventrilo person, even insist on a certain answer from others, so it's not even like I'm allowed to mix the conversation up a bit. Why the HELL would I enjoy talking to you if every conversation with you is gonna be meaningless, not at all thought-provoking, boring and predictable?

Having said that, I'd like to hear you give me one reason why anyone would find cutesy bullcrap interesting. I also wanna know why, despite absolutely despising the cutesy bullcrap teens, they always seem drawn towards me. Just go 'tf away, "Longie long/Knifey" doesn't like you.

Anyways, hope this has been helpful.

XylolyX - Heavens Tear · June 2010

It's your life, your gameplay and your keyboard; do what you want.

If I get sick of it, I'll block you or log into another toon. The bottom line is: you only live once, be the best you that you can be and enjoy it.

LeLelle - Sanctuary · June 2010

Live life correctly and maybe the smileys will stay with you a long time.

The two of you are very lucky to have each other.

Malei - Sanctuary · June 2010

Eh, the difference is what Longknife says.

If you're doing it because that is just your gamestyle, to be adorable cute venos that run around, kick awesome ****, know their class, and loves to be sassy, sexy, and adorable while doing it, then yeah. More power to you. As long as you know when it is appropriate or when it is not.

But if you're doing it to be an attention hoe, then just leave people be with that. I hated it when some random bish in Vent decides to try and snatch the attention from everyone. If I need to ask a question about a boss, I don't need you to suddenly start squealing about how you're very hungwy and desire some damn cookies in the middle for my search of infov.v

I just usually change vent channels then. But those types are more than likely to start all sorts of drama within the guild that has absolutely nothing do with the game period.

Estuary - Heavens Tear · June 2010

XylolyX - Heavens Tear wrote: »

It's your life, your gameplay and your keyboard; do what you want.

If I get sick of it, I'll block you or log into another toon. The bottom line is: you only live once, be the best you that you can be and enjoy it.

I agree with this. I am one who will use lol, xD, ^^ and =D alot. But I am also a person who is really smiling or laughing a lot. Like a lot. It tends to make others happy too. Life is too short to not be happy.

ThanosQRt - Dreamweaver · June 2010

as long it doesnt cause problems (eg "awww what a cute puppy" *runs to him* while killing dismal shade) i dont mind
if it is forced I dont think it is very nice
but anyway, do as you wish
who am I to judge, after all i'm in a faction named :3b:cute

Telarith - Sanctuary · June 2010

Not a fan of over-use of the special smilies, usually just

is good enough to let people know if i'm joking or not.

That said, I absolutely can not stand worthless morons who get on vent, talk like a baby, and try to get everyone to idiot down to their level. There are actuall 30 year old women out there, who do that ****. One person on our Vent server, I just had to flat out mute. Luckily even the other women in our faction couldn't stand her, so most just mute or avoid her.

Course, I also think people who treat in game marriage like real, and cry about divorces, are also sad and pathetic. Collectively, these people really need to be fixed. By a Vet.

lispia · June 2010

Longknife b:chuckle *chomps cookies* ...maybe not. >.>

I thank you for the elaborate post. Good one, but so true as well. That explains a typical girl/guy acting like one with an artificial personality seeking attention. However, nano and I do not fall in to that category. Because we know how to make and hold a intelligent conversation and not go on about us all the time. The main difference is this: we don't seek attention, we don't like much attention anyway. That said we would hardly be compelled to seek attention in a game.

Our posts in these forums itself gives an idea what we talk like in game. The random statements happen only well, randomly, and far and few in between serious stuff. I do understand this a lot better now. People might assume we always talk like that even if we indulge in cuteness once during a squad. Well, not much we can help. Its not forced or anything.

Thanks for your input, everyone feel free to continue. We'd love to read more opinions.

Waterfal - Sanctuary · June 2010

hehe :P I have no problems with it as long as it's someone's style

I agree with Malei, if someone is just seeking attention it's really annoying ^^'
I myself tend yo use quite some smiley's on my talking too. But ah well. It's just how I am xD
Most of the time I only chat with my friends anyway, and I rarely talk in faction/squad chat when my friends aren't on/they're not in the same squad.
I don't talk much anyway untill I know people

and btw lispia

I love your siggy ^^

Telarith - Sanctuary · June 2010

lispia wrote: »

Longknife b:chuckle *chomps cookies* ...maybe not. >.>

I thank you for the elaborate post. Good one, but so true as well. That explains a typical girl/guy acting like one with an artificial personality seeking attention. However, nano and I do not fall in to that category. Because we know how to make and hold a intelligent conversation and not go on about us all the time. The main difference is this: we don't seek attention, we don't like much attention anyway. That said we would hardly be compelled to seek attention in a game.

Our posts in these forums itself gives an idea what we talk like in game. The random statements happen only well, randomly, and far and few in between serious stuff. I do understand this a lot better now. People might assume we always talk like that even if we indulge in cuteness once during a squad. Well, not much we can help. Its not forced or anything.

Thanks for your input, everyone feel free to continue. We'd love to read more opinions.

Yeah, we're not against smilies or goofing around, most people we know do that. It's mostly levels of things that can be annoying and moving towards must 'end their genetic line'. Smilies are fine in moderation, or attaching to a few sentences when doing some jokes or goofing around. Using multiple smilies in repeated lines is where most people start thinking someone is "special", and that they prolly also scratch their screen to see if the pretty stickers have a scent. Not that bad, but someone to avoid being around if possible.

The bad ones are the ones who do the above, make everything about them, get on vent and baby talk, and generally prove breeding should not be a right, but a privilege. I avoided saying anything, simply because I remembered it was possible to mute individuals. And since they really added nothing before the mute, it's gonna be permanent. Might annoy them, but who cares.

Longknife - Harshlands · June 2010

lispia wrote: »

Because we know how to make and hold a intelligent conversation and not go on about us all the time.

Ja that's why I answered you instead of just my initial post.

The typical BS I'm talking about...that kind of person would've been like "Why do those meany heads always have to pick on me?? b:cry" in their post.

Then I would've punched them in the effing face.

Tidalira - Archosaur · June 2010

You know when a customer in a store is upset and a worker stands there and smile and act all cute? That's annoying.

Two sins have insulted me and they friggin spam ^.^

:P at the ending of their sentences, thinking it's soooo adorable.

No.

ThanosQRt - Dreamweaver · June 2010

Tidalira - Archosaur wrote: »

You know when a customer in a store is upset and a worker stands there and smile and act all cute? That's annoying.

Two sins have insulted me and they friggin spam ^.^ :P at the ending of their sentences, thinking it's soooo adorable.

No.

actually, i think that perhaps they did this to annoy you even more xD

you are so stupid

see, personally i think it's waay more annoying than

you are so stupid

BeingHope - Raging Tide · June 2010

b:surrender I don't try to be cute or anything, I just post or write however I feel like. I use xD,

, >___<, <__<, >:, etc. And smilies too.

Its stupid, I'm 14. I should still have my childhood to grow up with but everybody keeps on criticizing me about my voice and how I act and how I should be more mature. I thought I was mature for my age already? I'm 14, how else should I be acting like, 80?

I get how you feel. b:sweat

Sacredxstar - Heavens Tear · June 2010

BeingHope - Raging Tide wrote: »

Its stupid, I'm 14. I should still have my childhood to grow up with but everybody keeps on criticizing me about my voice and how I act and how I should be more mature. I thought I was mature for my age already? I'm 14, how else should I be acting like, 80?

I get how you feel. b:sweat

There is a difference Ms.Hope. The OP is 21, you are still 14, so you can have your childhood and be childish because you're still "young" in comparison to the OP whom is already in college and in their 20s and should be considered an "adult".

Cannibuss - Heavens Tear · June 2010

im a little dysfunctional dontcha ya know....

BeingHope - Raging Tide · June 2010

Sacredxstar - Heavens Tear wrote: »

There is a difference Ms.Hope. The OP is 21, you are still 14, so you can have your childhood and be childish because you're still "young" in comparison to the OP whom is already in college and in their 20s and should be considered an "adult".

I'm called a troll for acting the way I act and I'm sick of it! b:cry People should just let other people be! b:sad

CreditToTeam - Raging Tide · June 2010

BeingHope - Raging Tide wrote: »

I'm called a troll for acting the way I act and I'm sick of it! b:cry People should just let other people be! b:sad

Not because of smilies (although you do abuse them) but as I said before, because you don't comprehend basic humor or sarcasm and act ditsy. It's not cute.

This thread actually made me think of BeingHope when I saw it, funny she posted here.

Asperitas - Lost City · June 2010

I think it's annoying. Maybe it's because when I read those types of messages, they come in as girly girl tones in my mind >_>

But each to their own I suppose.

BeingHope - Raging Tide · June 2010

CreditToTeam - Raging Tide wrote: »

Not because of smilies (although you do abuse them) but as I said before, because you don't comprehend basic humor or sarcasm and act ditsy. It's not cute.

This thread actually made me think of BeingHope when I saw it, funny she posted here.

Uhh its in the general section and I happened to read it? b:question

and bleh, I know I can't understand humor and sarcasm already .___. and as i said before, I'm not trying to be cute! Its just who I am! b:cry

What am I suppose to do, skip 20 years of my life into the future and just be all grown up?

XHappyBunnyx - Sanctuary · June 2010

lance armstrong says you shouldnt use emotes after age 30. so i think 20 is safe.

Lesthar - Heavens Tear · June 2010

An interesting thread.

Well, I would say that you are free to do it as long as long as it's not irritating and that you do not flood the chatbox or begin to act cute in a serious context (like tanking a boss).

Personally, I do not like when people use inappropriate emotes in world chat, it makes me blacklist them. An example? Okay:

'WTS __________, plz plz, thanks! b:kiss b:sad'
What are you supposed to interpret it here? You are sad because it does not sell, or you want to entice people to buy your stuff? It really makes me not want to buy it.

I am not fond of in-game love either, you know, the very naive and childish talk, that is shown to all.

As for the rest, talking randomly is fine as long as it has some good sense of humor and at little doses.
We all need to get rid of pressure by acting odd sometimes.

So no worries.

Oh and...
*Gives some tranquilizers to the angry tideborn there.*

P.S.: If a girl (a real one, mind me) wanted to flirt with yours truly in a super childish tone to sound cute and this all the time, I'd run for the hills and never return.
b:laugh

losstarot · June 2010

I tend to act real cutesy a lot and use

, ~ and Shift-JIS (such as （・д・）).

Of course, all I seem to talk about is complaining about other players, talking about the market, and asking to do stuff with the faction; also, I'm in my mid-20s.

When is cute behavior childish?

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