Elves and Accents.

[musashi]

I feel like desert elves should have some kind of accent out of chargen the way everyone else does. Be it tribal, or perhaps a new one like "elven" or some such, or maybe give the 'pah its own accent for tribes that start there ... some such but ... mainly I'd just like for them to have one.

My reasoning being, the way the code works now when you're speaking the same accent as someone else they just hear that you spoke to them in <language>, they only hear <accent> <language> when you're speaking a different accent from the one they currently have set.

But since delves have no accent, they only ever display <language> so I feel like it could create the illusion that they're speaking the same accent as whoever they're talking to, when they perhaps shouldn't be able to.

... ... Or am I thinking too much?

[tortall]

I really like this, and have often wonder why delves didn't have their own accent.

[mansa]

ooo.

A racial accent, in addition to a location based accent.

I like.

This look too "busy", though:

the dwarf says, in northern dwarvish sirihish:
  "blah blah blah, blah blah blah."

What if racial took over first, and then if you have the racial accent in your skill list, the location based accent took over second?

[musashi]

I think I'd rather just keep it regional. Seeing The <race> says in <racially accented> <language> over and over again would be a bit much for me I think.

But a region accent added for the 'pah would be lovely. Or just give them tribal accents ... I mean, they are tribals right?

[X-D]

Desert elves do have an accent, It is called Perfect Allundean.

The actual problem with them is the fact that if they pick up an accent, they are stuck with it because there is nothing in the code for a player to set accent nul, assuming that had it.

That annoys the hell out of me. I have seen entire tribes (PC wise) Tainted with rinthi accent because 1 tribe member picked the accent up first, could not turn it off so of course his tribe mates eventually got it and could not turn it off.

It happened to one of mine once, I was rather upset and asked for the accent to be removed, instead I was given tribal....which was just as annoying since I still cannot figure out why my elf would be speaking with bendune accent.

I just wish Morg or Xygax would put in a Nul accent.

[AmandaGreathouse]

I would have to give them thier own accents or keep it how it is, without any. Unless you want to give them bendune. Because one of the things that goes hand in hand with a tribal accent is bendune. Human tribals speak in bendune, with tribal accents, because having bendune as a native language tends to affect how you speak. Perhaps the reason why the desert elves don't have accents is because their primary language is allundean, and since allundean wouldn't give a distinct accent unless you came from one of the cities, in which case, the accent would be from having sirihish in that city. Although, if that's the case, it would be neat if accents were automatically turned off by speaking in allundean. Or if d-elves who pick up sirihish from one primarily-accented source gained that particular accent, but only when not speaking allundean.

Seeing X-D's post: Couldn't agree with you more.

[musashi]

Meh, I don't buy into the "they speak perfect allundean" thing. There is no such thing. Why don't dwarves speak perfect mirkirum then? Why don't tribals speak perfect bendune? Why don't humans all speak perfect sirihish? Everyone has an accent.

I'm all for elves having their own "not humanly tribal but elvishly tribal" accent, but I still feel like they should have one. Or on the flip side ... when someone speaks the same accent as you it should still register as them speaking <accent> <language> that way you will know if the person talking to you is talking in an accent you're familiar with, or in no accent at all.

I'd rather the first option though because ... as I said ... I think everyone has an accent.

The most obvious way I can think of for this lack of an accent to play into a delf's favor unfairly is say ... the delf is hidden, shouting from another room, invisible, or in some other way not able to be codedly "looked" at or assessed to determine that he's an elf.

Later on when the other player is recounting the experience (perhaps to law enforcement) they might mistake the cloaked figure or disembodied voice that accosted them as being from their own geographic region, when by all rights, they should have been able to hear that the person clearly wasn't.

Delves currently get this advantage right off the bat for no reason at all beyond what is apparently an oversight. Other folks have to actually put the effort into learning an accent before they can pull such a con. I'm all for the con just, I think delves should have to earn the ability to do it the same way everyone else does.

[X-D]

Um, because dwarves live in cities?

Other races that used to be playable also spoke a perfect version of the language BTW.

[mansa]

I think I'd rather just keep it regional. Seeing The <race> says in <racially accented> <language> over and over again would be a bit much for me I think.

But a region accent added for the 'pah would be lovely. Or just give them tribal accents ... I mean, they are tribals right?

There's a difference between "in elvish sirihish" and "in northern sirihish" ?

[musashi]

Was editing to add more when the replies came in. Please go back up and read.

And yeah, there would/should be a difference imo between a city elf speaking northern sirihish/allundean, and a desert elf speaking 'pahi sirihish/allundean.

[Twilight]

I imagine it was an oversight, much like all the other characters I have had, human and otherwise, that have lacked an accent since it went in.

My prediction is:  Tribal, an accent coming to a D-elf near you!

[RogueGunslinger]

Um, because dwarves live in cities?

Other races that used to be playable also spoke a perfect version of the language BTW.

Yeah, d-elves speak perfect allundean. As told to me numerous times while playing them.

[brytta.leofa]

Sometimes perfect Allundean requires th' use've th' bigg'st lot've 'postrophes yeh could ever fig're.  I always wanted desert elves' speech to be rendered in overly-precise English.
The claw-marked elf says, in allundean,
  "I see you, Cut Rock. May you find shade and water this day."

[AmandaGreathouse]

Sometimes perfect Allundean requires th' use've th' bigg'st lot've 'postrophes yeh could ever fig're.  I always wanted desert elves' speech to be rendered in overly-precise English.
The claw-marked elf says, in allundean,
  "I see you, Cut Rock. May you find shade and water this day."

Yes.

If the idea behind this is 'perfect allundean', your pc should not be speaking like they're chewing on a box of rocks. Perhaps a lisp, but not that gapped up, jacked-up apostrophe-riddled guessing game of a so-called accent. For the love of god, please.

[spawnloser]

No, elves do not have 'perfect allundean' because as soon as they learn an accent (which is very possible and I've seen it happen) they lose their 'perfect allundean' as you describe it, X-D.  Then this elf that has learned an accent and suddenly can't help him/herself from speaking it... they gradually end up teaching it to the rest of their tribe and then all the PCs in some elven tribe are speaking in northern accents.  Where's their 'perfect allundean' now?  They should have an accent.

[X-D]

Code wise, yes, they should have an accent, but that accent should be Nul, something you can actually toggle.

Also

Yes.

If the idea behind this is 'perfect allundean', your pc should not be speaking like they're chewing on a box of rocks. Perhaps a lisp, but not that gapped up, jacked-up apostrophe-riddled guessing game of a so-called accent. For the love of god, please.

QMFT

I sit there and go...Where the fuck did he learn to speak like that? None of the other elves do, Maybe he is not really of our tribe, IMPOSTER!

No really, it is a large peeve of mine with anybody that does it with any race. We have coded accents, Stop making them up. They are hard to read and understand and I myself will stop playing around somebody if I, the player cannot understand the PC. Even if they are in the same tribe, I will simply ignore them.

TWITCH

[musashi]

If the game accents are supposed to only be for sirihish, then the code should be changed to make accents disappear all together when speaking any other language but sirihish, and this "nul" accent you're talking about should be plainly visible for PC's to see and realize, from it, that they are talking to an elf or someone trying to sound like one. They should not be tricked into believing the elf was speaking the same accent as every single one of them simultaniously.

If that were the case I'd be happy enough with it, despite the fact that I think accents should apply to every language because ... I have heard an american speak japanese with a new york accent ... I've heard a japanese person speak japanese with a kansai accent, a kanto accent, an okinawan accent ... accents develop anywhere cultures are even semi isolated from one another.

In a perfect world, I'd love it if all the tribes and settlements had their own unique accents.

[IAmJacksOpinion]

For what it's worth, I can remember playing in a d-elf tribe not a real long time ago where first 1 PC picked up tribal, then all of us did. I always assumed it was the imms doing it, since it spread very quickly, and the tribe was reclusive enough that it didn't make sense that  we would've all learned it so quickly. (Unless you learn very rapidly at nul accent.)

In any case, I agree that there should be a new accent for D-elves. Or, if a new accent isn't an option, at least they should be tribal-accented by default. I disagree that a tribal accent HAS to be for only bendune speaking humans. Tribal is a broad interpretation. (And I see no document to state otherwise.)

As I see it, the difference between a human 'Nakki speaking sirihish in a Southern accent and a human 'Seik speaking sirihish in a tribal accent is, apples to apples, the same as a city elf speaking Allundean in a Southern accent, and a desert elf speaking allundean in a tribal (nomadic, non-urban) accent.

Desert elves do have an accent, It is called Perfect Allundean.

Not true at all. Accents are specific to region, not to language. You bet'cha dat da yoopers ain't gonna speak French no better than day speak English, aye. Same holds true for a southern drawl, or any other regionally characteristic accent.

For lack of a better reference; Inglorious Basterds uses accents and languages as a key component of the plot. For example, though a British man spoke fluent and flawless German, he was still British, and thus he still spoke like someone from a particular region, regardless of the language he used. (And, of course, we can't forget Aldo's deep southern Italian accent. "Arrivederci.")


So, IMO, giving D-elves Tribal accent would suffice. However, for what it's worth, I think  a Tablelands accent (Western accent?) would be really, really cool too for the tribes located there.

[Gimfalisette]

Accents should always flavor the speaking of the language, for every PC. Every humanoid has an accent. Linguistically speaking, there is no such thing as "perfect" language.

DEs should have an accent for their allundean, and for their sirihish and whatever other languages they may speak.

[Winterless]

If the game accents are supposed to only be for sirihish, then the code should be changed to make accents disappear all together when speaking any other language but sirihish, and this "nul" accent you're talking about should be plainly visible for PC's to see and realize, from it, that they are talking to an elf or someone trying to sound like one. They should not be tricked into believing the elf was speaking the same accent as every single one of them simultaniously.

this

[Chettaman]

I was thinking the same thing man
Soh lana kah-ish
Red fang-ish
Sun runner-ish

but how would that work?
Just thought about the solution

The tall, thin elf says to you in elven-tribal accented allundean:
"You think it's hot out here? I think it's hot out here."

aw
then people could learn to speak in perfect sirihish
maybe make it unlearnable?

[Khorm]

I'm all for giving Desert Elves their own coded accent. I don't really feel like it's necessary, but what the hell - it wouldn't hurt. I guess it would get rid of the previously mentioned problem of getting stuck with something like a 'rinthi accent.

There would probably have to be several different sorts, as you have desert elves living in the north, desert elves living in the "middle" and desert elves living in the south. All of those tribes are likely going to have developed slightly different variations on the language.

No really, it is a large peeve of mine with anybody that does it with any race. We have coded accents, Stop making them up. They are hard to read and understand and I myself will stop playing around somebody if I, the player cannot understand the PC. Even if they are in the same tribe, I will simply ignore them.

TWITCH

I encourage players to make up accents, and especially ones that are impossibly difficult to read. If my PC is hard to understand.. awesome. If it helps me avoid interaction with the sort of player that has a hard time reading - that's a huge fucking plus in my book.

I don't know that I've come across a single person that speaks English perfectly.. why the fuck should any drugged out alcoholic do it differently on Zalanthas.

[Chettaman]

talk Maybe give a certain tribe the vrun-driath accented allundean and another... yeah
the region thing sounds better

[Rhyden]

Maybe d-elves should just start out with tribal accent.

Problem solved.

[Shalooonsh]

Tribal accent is for bendune.  Desert elves do not speak bendune by default.