change accent <region>

[slipshod]

I can see this ability being very useful, and making great sense for some of the subguilds (linguists, con men, bards, to name a few).  What do the rest of you think?  Now, I'd hate to see it be overused or commonplace... so I'm thinking maybe it should not be a starting ability... maybe even something that has to be added to your skill list later by an imm... after you've at least taken a trip to the side of the world where the accent you are trying to imitate is from.  But as things stand now, even a great actor who is trying to blend in to a foreign culture can do everything right and be spotted.  He can change his dress, mannerisms, use regional colloquialisms.. but it's all for nothing if his speech is prefaced with an obviously foreign accent.  

If I'm mistaken, and there already is a way to change or cover-up one's accent... nevermind.  Otherwise, discuss.

[The Lonely Hunter]

This has come up several times and each time I think it generally gets more support. Maybe accents would be like learning a language itself, you have to hear it to eventually learn it.

Anyway, run a search. Prolly find a few posts about it.

A short story...

My mom was born and raised in Boston, Mass. And after 28 or so years there eventually had me and my siblings and then migrated west to California. Over her time in Boston she accumulated an accent, which many are familiar with, and despite 18 years of living here in California, still calls the car the 'cah', among many other still accented words and phrases. While she can manage half a sentence or so without her accent, its still heavily there, despite having no other bostonian accent-speakers around.

I don't  think its possible to merely 'turn off' your accent. Most people don't even know they have one. They think OTHER people have an accent, but usually are hard-pressed to admit they have one.

I will concede, partially because of my own story, that accents still would be neat to learn. But I would like them to have a very rigorous learning curve. Where people, even after 10 years of summersion in another region would still haveh occassional mishap in their accent.

That's all.

[Delirium]

I would have to disagree. Even the more subtle accent nuances are able to be picked up on if you are actively paying attention and trying.  I spent 2 weeks in Canada and was able to pick up on as well as imitate many of the nuances and different pronunciations after the first week. Give me a year there and I could probably pass for a native easy.

I think it all depends on how much you're trying and on how 'strong' the accent is that you're trying to pick up.

For example, a 'rinth rat trying to speak proper southern-accented sirihish probably shouldn't have to struggle for more than a year or two, and vice versa - while a northerner trying to make the transition between their accent and southerner-speak would have a much more difficult time of it.

[Ueda]

In responce to deliriums post

I would disagree, you say you where in Canada a week and learned a to speak like them. Right?

I think it would take a lot longer than a week to kick your old habit (Old Accent) and learn a new one, but I could see it being done. The other thing I see about this though would be that you couldn't just go back to your old accent, like it was an everyday thing. It would take relearning of the old accent. You might ketch on extra quick this time though since you have already gotten use to it before. I would be for the code change if it resembled what was in my post.

[Delirium]

I didn't say I could speak -exactly- like them, I just said I picked up on a lot of the nuances and phrases and could imitate those that I'd learned. If you'll notice I said 'give me a year' before I'd actually try to pass myself off as a native. :)

Some people have an easier time of it than others, as well. For all intents and purposes ICly, trying to learn an accent should not be a reliable thing until you have spent upwards of an ingame year doing so.

The main point that I was trying to make is that some accents are much easier to pick up on than others.. but for the most part, it can be done. I doubt I'd have had as much success with, say, an Australian accent. Them Canucks don't speak all that differently, though it does vary from province to province as well.

[Tamarin]

I don't think the point is to -replace- your accent with a new one.  I think it is instead to temporarily force yourself to speak in a certain way.  Military intelligence types have to do it all the time, and in different languages, even.  

On this game everyone is speaking sirihish, so I think the obvious differences in inflection would be well known.  In fact, RPwise, people from nak probably ridicule Tuluki accents in some sort of burlesque way, and visa versa.  

I don't think it is that ridiculous for someone to temporarily change their accents.  I do, however, believe it should be a skill, since it is a conscious move made by your character, and its something that has to be practiced.

[slipshod]

Uberjazz is right in line with the spirit of my suggestion.  I'm not talking about slowly acclamating and phasing out one accent in favor of another.  I'm talking about intentionally changing it to mislead.  I've spent a lot of time studying theatre and drama, and it -is- something a person can just turn on and off.  You might be surprised how many British actors portray Americans in our media, and no one is the wiser.  They mask their accent and assume one of ours.  I don't think it should be a starting skill that anyone can do anytime with no chance of failure.  It should be reserved for experienced characters... who have a bonafide use for it.

Here's another thought.. along the same vein, but somewhat removed.  IRL, I think some of the most severe and noticable accents are not associated with the same language spoken in different regions, but where someone is speaking an entirely different language from their 'first'.  In game terms, this would mean that a dwarf, speaking any other language, would do so with a Mirukkim accent.  I'm mentioning this even though I don't personally see the use in having accents associated with the racial languages... it would be a little overkill.. since anyone can see that a dwarf is a dwarf.. and doesn't need to be reminded when they speak.  But it could be interesting when, say, an Anyali tribal is speaking sirihish with an anyar accent.

[Rindan]

I wouldn't mind it if an accent was something you could learn.  I had a southern character that stayed in the North for a relativly long time.  I imagine my character could have managed a northern accent if he tried.  My big mean warrior might not have been able to do it for a long period of time, but I imagine he could have faked it in a pinch.

If you could learn to pick it up by learning, I would probably limit it so that it is like listen.  You turn on your new accent, and after a while it turns off.  Let some guilds, namely assassins and other shady folks be able to keep it on for as long as they want perhaps.

It isn't a big deal in my mind.  It would be a nice feature, but I am not exactly drooling at the prospect.

[Malifaxis]

Accents are extremely easy to mimic, imnsho.  I also have taken a modicum of theatre and drama classes, did the school play thing, took a few college level... and all during this, I had no problem changing how I spoke to the region I was in.

Granted, this *may* be because, as a child, I moved all the bloody fuck over the country.  As part of my environment it was necessary for me to change my accent.  However, one thing I never had to deal with was the fear that I would get absolutely maniacally fucking slaughtered when I moved from, say, Washington to Utah.

When I joined the army, I had never before had to acclimate/mimic a southern accent.  I joined up, went to Fort Sill (the ass pit of the universe)
and did my best.  Within I'd say two hours of listenin, I had a solid southern accenc.  Within a week, I spoke like a southerner.

I think change accent is an extremely good idea, especially when there is a fear that your throat will be removed if your tongue fucks up.  The people of Zalanthas are extremely survival oriented, and if I can go from a minnesotan to a southern accent in two hours/1 week, I see no reason (oh, and here's the buzz word) realistically that a Zalanthan couldn't do the same.

[Carnage]

Yeah, accents -are- easy to mimic since you're actively thinking about it. Hell, sometimes you just pick up on words or you'll slip. When I was in Ireland for a week I was starting to slip up and say 'Aye' with that accent. I never say aye, usually it'd be a 'yeah'. While it only happened once or twice, it just goes to show you that when you're in a culture things from there start to slip in. If I spent more time there I think I could have been able to fake the accent.

[Jorlain]

I would have to agree with Malifaxis on this one. While I've never spent any time in the south, I have spent a lot of time with people -from- the south. That said, I never picked up a full accent, since I wasn't around these people all of the time. But just hanging around with a couple of guys that were from Louisiana gave me a slight accent. And I just worked with them. I saw them on a day to day basis, yes. But I only spoke with them for maybe an hour a day, tops. It started as a few words here and there, and then eventually turned into full accented (Though still noticed by the southerners as not authentic) sentence structure.

A room mate of mine is from Louisiana. He moved up here (Minnesota) in January, and now has no southern accent at all. We lose and gain accents all the time. From mimicing our favorite english comedians all the way to hanging out with a bunch of folk not from your particular area.

[Mr.Camel]

I can mimic almost half the arabic accents, I wouldn't be as good with it as a native of said accents but I am good enough to pass as one, and I can talk my old accent as good as anyone.
Not trying to show off or anything... Just showing the point that accents can be picked up, voluntarily or involuntarily, but if you used your native accent enough, you never lose it.

[Northlander]

Right.. And let's not forget that the suggestion is not to allow everyone to do this, but rather only the con artists and the masters of language.

The idea has the Royal Seal of Approval.

[creeper386]

Then there are also the problems of different languages. I'm pretty sure those are still accented.

Personally, the accent is only tagged onto speaking but I personally think it's more then just an accent. It includes mannerisms and other things picked up in that area, smell and such. Probably even their look to a degree.

It's kind of like identifying someone by their description when they have a hood up. Yes, OOCily your using their description or sdesc. ICily your using everything from the stain on their tunic from that wine they spilt the night before and the smell common to where ever they hang out. Bleh bleh bleh. ICily it's alot of non coded things.

With northern-southern accents OOCily it's an accent tag, ICily it could be all sorts of things. Otherwise I really don't see how it works. IMO the world is so small, and for the most part everyone has similar ancestral backage the accents would be more race and city vs desert then distinct regional accents. Not so much what or how you say something, and more how your voice sounds. If they really do talk differently... It should probably be more distinct. Even in the North, 'nakis and people from the outpost weren't too uncommon, but they all sound the same, and if a native from RS comes up they sound the same too. I'd think most northerners would have at least SOME interaction with a 'naki or an outposter to know that a RSer ISN'T one of them. Bleh bleh bleh.

I don't know. I personally think the accents are really kind of messed up. Either need a revamp or need to be removed, either way ... I still think it'd be unlikely to easiely pick up an accent. Well maybe you could imitate another accent fairly well, but would be harder to pick up and decently imitate another dialect.

Creeper
-Who thinks you poorly of you silly easterners and your accents.

[sacac]

well... let's see in Tuluk I saw a bunch of  "Skeletal looking blah"
in 'Nak I see a bunch of "Slim blah blah"
Just my dagger talking.