betty's oldies
Forum Expert
The title says above. This suggestion aims to further Europeanise the server by encouraging non-European players to follow European English and how the server can be different than the others, in particular different from the American ones. It bugs many because players cannot communicate with others well just because of one or two conflicting conventions in American and European English.
Suggestion
1. A handbook to convert from American English (or non-European English) to European English.
We need a handbook to teach our non-European players how to write according to the European convention. This handbook consists of a list of European terms used in place of American ones, notation (time/date), grammar, and other conventions. The handbook shall be accessed by typing in /handbook.
Vocabulary examples:
a. The European term for "cookies" would be "biscuits". A more detailed list shall be provided.
b. The European term for "counterclockwise" would be "anticlockwise". For example, "We take turns counterclockwise" in American English should be "We take turns anticlockwise" in European English.
The handbook shall also briefly review European grammar and conventions such as metric units like metres and grams instead of American units such as inches and pounds. The following are examples to illustrate how the handbook can teach American players how to properly write according to European convention. Again, a more detailed page should be linked to teach non-European players how to use the conventional spelling of words.
In American English, for example, the period would go inside the quotation marks as shown in this sentence. Also, the date is written as month/day/year. By European convention, these styles are incorrect.
"On 12/11/17, I will eat biscuits." (This means I will eat biscuits on November 12, 2017 when written in European convention. Since that date has passed, this would present confusion as 12/11/17 in American English refers to December 11, 2017.)
In European English, the date is written as day/month/year and the sentence above should be corrected to:
"On 11/12/17, I will eat biscuits". (This avoids confusion when talking about the time and date if both parties use the same system. Here, this means I will eat biscuits on December 11, 2017.)
Applying this information to the game, instead of using blocks as the measurement for distance, metres (not meters due to spelling) must be used in place. To say that a player is "4 blocks away" is incorrect and should be changed to "4 metres away". Also, a cookie obtained as a food item must be named "biscuit" instead.
2. Renaming the kits and terms used in the server.
Some of the names sound too "American". For example, the pirate ability or pirate map should be renamed to "corsair ability" or "corsair map" respectively. It is also worth noting that many of the minigames we have follow the same name as other servers. For this reason, the names of a few games should be changed. The following are a few examples.
SkyWars -> Wars in Mid-air
EggWars -> HumptyDumptyWars
BlockWars -> CastleWars
Survival Games -> Food Foragers
PvP -> Arena
Meteor shower potion (tower defence potion) -> Meteorite hail potion
Prison (SkyWars map) -> Dungeon (SkyWars map)
Pirate (kit) -> Corsair (kit)
The death message should be changed from "You're out of the game! Type /lobby..." should be changed to "If you want to leave, type /lobby. If you want to stay, stay.".
3. Adding a /clock command.
This is to allow players to access the time. The time shall be structured like this upon entering the command. The following is a sample time and date displayed after entering the command. It should not display on the scoreboard.
SERVER TIME
11 December 2017
20:31
4. Adjusting the multi-account rule.
Instead of having it say "...to gain an advantage in a game...fill enemy teams with useless players, farming kills on an alt in games like FFA, Assassins, etc...", it should be changed to "Alts are prohibited upon logging them into the same game as the one your main is in.".
Why? By prohibiting alts altogether in the game, we make it more difficult for cheaters to sneak alts into the game. It is already difficult for a random player to catch alts since they usually do not notice the same usernames repeatedly. Taking that into consideration, that makes it much harder to gather evidence and enforce the multi-account unless it is a hacking alt. The only way currently is to have an IP check on both the main and alt from the provided evidence, and even then that evidence must include both the main and the suspected alt.
Reasoning
This suggestion will also help our non-English players learn basic English to communicate with most of our players. Communication is very important, and without this our players would not be able to understand each other. We eliminate any confusion between players when they all follow the same English convention, i.e. European convention. We also make the server more unique since the names will be different than what most use.
TL;DR
Make the server even better than it currently is by catering better to our intended audience.
References
CubeCraft server (kit/item names and rules)
Date and time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_and_time_notation_in_the_United_Kingdom
European English spelling/vocabulary: http://www.stevenroyedwards.com/euroenglishspelling
Suggestion
1. A handbook to convert from American English (or non-European English) to European English.
We need a handbook to teach our non-European players how to write according to the European convention. This handbook consists of a list of European terms used in place of American ones, notation (time/date), grammar, and other conventions. The handbook shall be accessed by typing in /handbook.
Vocabulary examples:
a. The European term for "cookies" would be "biscuits". A more detailed list shall be provided.
b. The European term for "counterclockwise" would be "anticlockwise". For example, "We take turns counterclockwise" in American English should be "We take turns anticlockwise" in European English.
The handbook shall also briefly review European grammar and conventions such as metric units like metres and grams instead of American units such as inches and pounds. The following are examples to illustrate how the handbook can teach American players how to properly write according to European convention. Again, a more detailed page should be linked to teach non-European players how to use the conventional spelling of words.
In American English, for example, the period would go inside the quotation marks as shown in this sentence. Also, the date is written as month/day/year. By European convention, these styles are incorrect.
"On 12/11/17, I will eat biscuits." (This means I will eat biscuits on November 12, 2017 when written in European convention. Since that date has passed, this would present confusion as 12/11/17 in American English refers to December 11, 2017.)
In European English, the date is written as day/month/year and the sentence above should be corrected to:
"On 11/12/17, I will eat biscuits". (This avoids confusion when talking about the time and date if both parties use the same system. Here, this means I will eat biscuits on December 11, 2017.)
Applying this information to the game, instead of using blocks as the measurement for distance, metres (not meters due to spelling) must be used in place. To say that a player is "4 blocks away" is incorrect and should be changed to "4 metres away". Also, a cookie obtained as a food item must be named "biscuit" instead.
2. Renaming the kits and terms used in the server.
Some of the names sound too "American". For example, the pirate ability or pirate map should be renamed to "corsair ability" or "corsair map" respectively. It is also worth noting that many of the minigames we have follow the same name as other servers. For this reason, the names of a few games should be changed. The following are a few examples.
SkyWars -> Wars in Mid-air
EggWars -> HumptyDumptyWars
BlockWars -> CastleWars
Survival Games -> Food Foragers
PvP -> Arena
Meteor shower potion (tower defence potion) -> Meteorite hail potion
Prison (SkyWars map) -> Dungeon (SkyWars map)
Pirate (kit) -> Corsair (kit)
The death message should be changed from "You're out of the game! Type /lobby..." should be changed to "If you want to leave, type /lobby. If you want to stay, stay.".
3. Adding a /clock command.
This is to allow players to access the time. The time shall be structured like this upon entering the command. The following is a sample time and date displayed after entering the command. It should not display on the scoreboard.
SERVER TIME
11 December 2017
20:31
4. Adjusting the multi-account rule.
Instead of having it say "...to gain an advantage in a game...fill enemy teams with useless players, farming kills on an alt in games like FFA, Assassins, etc...", it should be changed to "Alts are prohibited upon logging them into the same game as the one your main is in.".
Why? By prohibiting alts altogether in the game, we make it more difficult for cheaters to sneak alts into the game. It is already difficult for a random player to catch alts since they usually do not notice the same usernames repeatedly. Taking that into consideration, that makes it much harder to gather evidence and enforce the multi-account unless it is a hacking alt. The only way currently is to have an IP check on both the main and alt from the provided evidence, and even then that evidence must include both the main and the suspected alt.
Reasoning
This suggestion will also help our non-English players learn basic English to communicate with most of our players. Communication is very important, and without this our players would not be able to understand each other. We eliminate any confusion between players when they all follow the same English convention, i.e. European convention. We also make the server more unique since the names will be different than what most use.
TL;DR
Make the server even better than it currently is by catering better to our intended audience.
References
CubeCraft server (kit/item names and rules)
Date and time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_and_time_notation_in_the_United_Kingdom
European English spelling/vocabulary: http://www.stevenroyedwards.com/euroenglishspelling
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