Question Regarding NPC Grammar.

theboxisred

I hope a dev will answer this one.

Is it worth my time and effort to report (as a bug) when an NPC's use of language is poor or just plain wrong before an update reaches the Holodeck Server?

I know such things do not fall into the "Game Breaking" category, but "On" and "Off" do not mean the same thing.

For example in the new Undine Space Battlezone, during the interaction with the U.S.S. Cheron in the Battlezone Rewards dialog, the NPC incorrectly states that the rewards are "based off of..." rather than "based on..." or "based upon..."

Another example poor/uncharacteristic language use is already on Holodeck wherein a Starfleet NPC says, "do a scan..." as opposed to , "conduct a scan..."

I know I'm being pedantic, but I would prefer that STO doesn't seem unprofessional. That's not intended as an insult. I'm honestly trying to be helpful.

So should I even bother?

Thanks in advance.

jeffel82

In my opinion, it's absolutely important to point out mistakes with grammar and spelling - it's the sort of thing that can make new content look unfinished and rough around the edges.

That said, the content on Tribble is unquestionably unfinished and rough around the edges.

I popped into the Undine zone in the Dyson Sphere for a few minutes last night, and there were enough errors in the text that I'm pretty confident it's all placeholder text, meant to give the gist of what's going on, and it will be placed with better, more accurate text before S9 launch.

But it's probably still best to point it out.

tacofangs

Absolutely worth bringing up.

In general, just as we rough in geometry, and then refine it later, text goes through the same process.

A Designer will write the basic text necessary to tell you what's going on, but it may have spelling/grammar errors, or not be very well worded. Our writer, Christine, then goes through that text, editing and punching it up a bit. Generally that process happens toward the end, just before release. But it's certainly worth mentioning grammar/spelling/etc. mistakes you may find. Plenty of them slip through to live.

drogyn1701

This is something that came up in Foundry mission discussion a while back and I made the point that when you're doing dialogue, sometimes people don't speak with perfect grammar. Highly educated Starfleet officers are probably more likely to speak with very good grammar, but not likely 100 percent perfect. I'm sure there are numerous examples from the shows if one were inclined to look.

Spelling, obviously, should be as good as it can be, but does grammar? Not necessarily.

theboxisred

Thanks, everyone, for the replies.

While I know, intellectually, that I am not the only person with this particular focus it is good to know that others care as well.

Jeffel82,

I'm with you on Tribble being an area of unfinished work and, as such, I wanted to make certain that I wasn't overstepping by reporting such matters. Thanks for the commiseration.

Tacofangs,

Thanks for the information.
Since matters of grammar and the like are not really game breakers I will either restrict my comments in that area to the feedback threads or start a new thread if I don't see an appropriate place in which to post. I find STO to be a diamond in the proverbial MMO dust and I look forward to helping the STO diamond to shine more brightly.

Drogyn1701,

Thanks for an excellent observation.
I'm one of those that you mention that doesn't always speak as properly as I believe I should. This is especially true when I'm flustered, angry, or just plain tired. Because of this I understand the importance of context, which I think applies in the case of an MMO. If an NPC is in a tight spot it makes sense to me that they would communicating as quickly as possible and thus the grammar in question should be shown more leniency.

Once again, thanks everyone. I have found your input to be quite valuable.

drogyn1701

No worries theboxisred, I don't always speak with perfect grammar either, as anyone who listens to my podcast probably knows (actually my main problem is jumping ahead of myself). But I'm a print journalist in real life so grammar is a large part of my daily life. I always point to a case where I had a quote from a state senator that sounded quite rustic, but I kept it in because he really said it exactly that way.

If you want to really twist your mind around something, consider this: we know that universal translators are, well, universal, in Star Trek, so we know not everyone is really speaking English. So does a universal translator provide a direct 1=1 translation, with exact sentence structure? Or does it rearrange and interpret things to make it sound like correct English. Honestly I don't know. It is a fictional device, so I suppose it would do whatever the plot requires it to do

frtoaster

I have reported many spelling errors and typos, though I don't hold hope that they will be fixed anytime soon. I don't think, however, that the examples you give are actually grammatical errors. They seem more like matters of style.

theboxisred wrote: »

I know such things do not fall into the "Game Breaking" category, but "On" and "Off" do not mean the same thing.

For example in the new Undine Space Battlezone, during the interaction with the U.S.S. Cheron in the Battlezone Rewards dialog, the NPC incorrectly states that the rewards are "based off of..." rather than "based on..." or "based upon..."

While "turn on" and "turn off" clearly mean different things, I'm not sure "based off of" means something different from "based on" and "based upon". Perhaps, "based off of" is more colloquial. I have also heard "based off" with the same meaning. If someone said "based off" or "based off of" in conservation, it would probably pass without my notice, though perhaps those phrases are less common in formal writing.

theboxisred wrote: »

Another example poor/uncharacteristic language use is already on Holodeck wherein a Starfleet NPC says, "do a scan..." as opposed to , "conduct a scan..."

The phrase "do a scan" strikes me as colloquial and very informal, but not grammatically wrong.

commanderander

Hi, the boxisred,

No bug is too small to talk about. If you think it isn't right, then tell us about it. It's usually the things that aren't game breaking that slowly chip away at the quality of content.

zeuxidemus001

commanderander wrote: »

Hi, the boxisred,

No bug is too small to talk about. If you think it isn't right, then tell us about it. It's usually the things that aren't game breaking that slowly chip away at the quality of content.

Kinda like the way the science ground was originally designed where anesthizing gas was the glue to the debuff table. Yet its been bugged/broken code for years and yet even doffs are made to improve the skill but yet because of the broken code the doff is useless? Yeah I agree with you completely on the chipping away at the quality of content.

kirksplat

There is a part in the second half of the tutorial prior to esd when a character says collaborating the results, which I think should be corroborating.