Language code and numbers

[spawnloser]

Just a remind for everyone first, using numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 69, 1337, etc) in says/tells/etc bypasses language code.  They do not get scrambled, and thus, you should not use them.  Type out one, two, three, four, sixty-nine, one-thousand three-hundred thirty-seven.

Now, what I bring this post to, after that reminder, do people think that the mud's code should scramble numbers as it does letters?  Should the code change these numbers into letters just so that the language code isn't bypassed?

(Yes, I know that they don't really know what you're talking about when you use the numbers, but it is at least a suggestion of something...and is more information than people should have that don't speak your language.)

[Cale_Knight]

Translating numbers into letters would be great. Simply scrambling the numbers into other numbers wouldn't really work.

[Flaming Ocotillo]

Just a remind for everyone first, using numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 69, 1337, etc) in says/tells/etc bypasses language code.  They do not get scrambled, and thus, you should not use them.  Type out one, two, three, four, sixty-nine, one-thousand three-hundred thirty-seven.

Anything else we should know, about what we shouldn't be doing in the game?

[spawnloser]

Anything else we should know, about what we shouldn't be doing in the game?

Yep, anything that bypasses code restrictions and things that are not realistic for your character to do.

[Esquillax]

Using numbers bypasses language code.  Emoting words your character is saying bypasses language code.  The language code is there for a reason, and it would be really cool if it could scramble number characters the way it scrambles letter characters.

Please note: There is slang in the game for numbers when it comes to money, which makes it somewhat shorter than typing out things like one thousand three hundred thirty seven.  If you don't know what it is, listen to your local traders or merchants talk about money.

[jhunter]

Besides the fact that it bypasses the language code, I believe when putting speech down in text it is improper to use the number instead of typing out the word anyway.

Incorrect:
"There's 2 more of them in here."

Correct:
"There's two more of them in here."

Anyone know if that is right for certain?

[Tarx]

Besides the fact that it bypasses the language code, I believe when putting speech down in text it is improper to use the number instead of typing out the word anyway.

All of my college english stuff was so.  Only time you would include numbers instead of the written out version was for years (1932)...

[Shalooonsh]

Yep.  Grammatically illegal, -and- twink-esque.

The frenchman has a point.  Don't do it, folks!

[Cale_Knight]

Besides the fact that it bypasses the language code, I believe when putting speech down in text it is improper to use the number instead of typing out the word anyway.

Incorrect:
"There's 2 more of them in here."

Correct:
"There's two more of them in here."

Anyone know if that is right for certain?

The rule is that for numbers 0-9 (zero through nine), you spell it out. 10 and up should use the numerals. So you might actually end up writing this:

"I imagine there were somewhere between nine and 10 puppies in that blender."

That's AP style, anyway. Some styles might tell you that in any sentence that contains a number greater than 10, use numerals for all numbers. So you'd end up with:

"I imagine there were somewhere between 9 and 10 puppies in that blender."

[Zalanthan]

What should be the convention for numbers through the Way?  From what I understand in other posts, the Way is often used to bypass the coded language barriers (I've seen it done in the game as well).  Since more than just language can be communicated across the Way, I assume using numerals would be fine?

[Marauder Moe]

It doesn't bother me much when other people use numerals, but I type out all numbers in both speech or telepathy.  Numbers certainly wouldn't be abuseable over the Way, but stylistically it'd be nicer if you spell them out.

[Gimfalisette]

I still type out numbers over the Way, just because that's my habit. Trying to remember to do it by one method in the Way and another method in speech would likely overload my brain. But you could use numerals in Way if you wanted, since there's no language code being bypasssed, as you've noted.

Sometimes when I'm dealing with people in trades or whever, I'll just round up and down in my numbers to make it easier using Zalanthan slang. So instead of selling something for forty-five coins..."half a small." Or instead of "one thousand two hundred thirty-four coins"..."a large and two small." Being less precise and more flexible feels more Zalanthan to me.

[jstorrie]

I wouldn't mind seeing an addition to the language code that at least scrambles numerals into other numerals.

Scrambling the grammar of statements a little would be neat, too, even if it just came down to turning some 'says' into 'asks' and vice versa.

[spawnloser]

I wouldn't mind seeing an addition to the language code that at least scrambles numerals into other numerals.

You know, I'd rather numerals NOT be scrambled into numerals, but letters.  The reason is that people will still know that you're using a number there instead of a word, but the number, as spoken, is a word.  I would prefer it MUCH more if people would type out numbers as words, as that is how they are spoken...and since the language code is all about what people are saying, you would see the correct amount of words used to represent those numbers instead of one word simply scrambled...or a number scrambled into another number.