In-House Preview Online: Part 4

[MarkG]

Originally posted by billybaruch1
Any writing or speaking or net messaging must first consider how the information will be received

communication is a two-way street. shouldnt the reader also first consider the intention of the author before making a final judgement?

[Lizard Wizard]

Originally posted by Sirian
"i" has other meanings in English. One of those is mathematical, a symbol for an irrational number.

Actually, i is a symbol for an imaginary number. Irrational numbers are a subset of real numbers and i is not a real number.

For the curious:
Imaginary numbers are numbers than include an even root of a negative number. Since any real number multiplied by itself an even number of times is positive, the solution to sqrt(-1) is not a real number. i is the symbol for sqrt(-1), which can be factored out of imaginary numbers so that they are in the form a*i. Numbers of the form a*i+b, where b is a real number, are called complex numbers.

Irrational numbers are numbers that cannot be expressed as the ratio of two integers. Irrational numbers usually have infinitely many digits to the right of the decimal that do not form any pattern. The most common irrational numbers are pi, e, and the square root of any positive integer that is not a perfect square. 3.333333333333333333. . . is not an irrational number; although it has infinitely many digits to the right of the decimal, they follow a pattern. That number can be expressed as 10/3.

I know this is a minor issue, but your post was so great that I couldn't let that small mistake go uncorrected.

[patrickjb53]

Originally posted by Possibility
I am sorry I cant say anything nice about these reviews. They have got to be the most painfull crap I have ever read. These reviews are turning people away from the game and making them gouge out thier eyes so they dont read another word.

Dan Q's english and grammer are so damn horrible, and the fact that hey says the stupidest things in the most painfully long winded way possible makes me want to buy hooked a phonics and send it to him and then kill myself.

Possibility

There's no need for this kind of language from anyone. If you don't like the preview, give you opinions on why. Many people have said they didn't like Dans writing style, but they did it in an objective way. I found the preview informative.

[billybaruch1]

as for the rest: no i cant and wont respond to specific comments on this or that part of the preview except thanking them whenever possible(and i hope i'm not asked to go into "customer support" mode and thank every single person who posts something so that it is shown that we do accept feedback instead of ignoring it). i've not written it and therefore am not in the position to explain it properly

The point you missed was: no one was asking for a *show* of accepting feedback instead of ignoring it; we wanted you to *actually* accept feedback instead of ignoring it.

i'm though in the position to deal with the flames, only to show their idiocy. and that after "leting it be" for a month now

up until i responded on IG, i hadnt noticed any actual opposition to all this "fun"... that seems to have changed a bit

You created the opposition.

communication is a two-way street.

No problem there. In my country, every street is two-way, unless it's designated one-way.

shouldnt the reader also first consider the intention of the author before making a final judgement?

r u talkin 2me? im thru talkin 2u if u cant type like yur not retarded.

Thank you for sharing. You're asking me? No, I don't think so. This is because what's the difference what the reader should or should not do? This thread has been about the writing. Now you're putting demands on your readers, is that it? You vill do this and you vill like it! Nazi.

What is your intention? Do you expect us to know it? Are we supposed to guess at Dan's purpose and motivation? Why should we care? Who are you?

Can you give one example of a reader making a final judgment? Isn't that something a Higher Power might do? Aren't we all just looking for more information? Even after someone dies, there are still things that can be learned about that person. Where did this final judgment "bs" come from?

That reminds me... you made a big deal about the so-called "death threats" on DanQ. I saw them as "figures of speech." Perhaps inflammatory, maybe even "fighting words." But there's no way in the world you could convince a jury that Dan Quick's life was endangered by any of the keyboard typing on the IG forums. Lighten up, take a load off, fanny.

You are on your high horse and the habits you develop now will last you a lifetime.

But you can change the road you're on (to borrow a phrase from Led Zeppelin). The imaginary Meklars (machine lifeforms) may always carry out their programming, but humans make misteaks. I hate to have tell you this, but you know as well as we do, that you and Dan are not perfect. It's a very small man who will not take responsibility for his own.

Until we meet again, happy trails.

[campfreddie]

The lower case usage debate makes me think of the current vogue for companies (especially large ones) to use lower case in their company titles and logos.

It's a (not so) cunning ploy by the PR departments to make the company seem passive, friendly and less intimidating. I hope that this fad doesn't last, since more and more people are seeing it as the cynical ploy that it is.

The problem with all writing styles is that if they cause the writing to be more difficult to understand, they will come across as conceited. I guess that's why Dan has got so much criticism.

I don't particularly mind people who don't capitalise I's - it's a bit lazy and looks unproffesional but it doesn't really affect the easy of reading.

Not capitalising the beginning of sentences is worse, since it gives no clear indication of sentence breaks. A full stop (or period for you yanks) looks much like a comma, especially on a computer screen. Mark's sentences look like one big one to me and I have to conciously parse the sentences.

Anyway, before I disappear up my own arse I shall stop being so petty!

On the original thread topic - this was by far the best part of the preview, since there was a bit more than just descriptions of the menus. However, the error in page six about the Hithoru was very poor. Since it was used as a teaser in earlier pages, I would expect the information to be checked for accuracy.

I see the error is still there

On page 4, for instance, I mentioned the Hithoru. They are not a playable race

ATTN: MARK - could you remove this error, since it gives a false impression of an important gameplay element. There are in fact no unplayable AI 'empires' except the New Orions. The Hithoru is just the name of a Sakkran empire.

[von Clausewitz]

What has happened to this forum?

Seems like everyone banned from the IG forum has come here to troll under a new alias. People, there's no one holding a gun to your face and making you read DanQs previews. SO if you don't like 'em - don't read 'em. It's so simple.

And try to understand that this is independent forum. MarkG and DanQ are just two guys liking computer games and dedicating great share of their spare time to keep this site up. Sure Dan is no pulitzer winner, but he doesn't have to be, because he does this for free

[Grumbold]

I enjoyed part 4 because it actually described events that occurred during the game rather than just listing all possible occurrences. I hope this trend will continue.

I'm intrigued by the number of worlds these races have. It seems that the start of the game has been considerably shortened from the previous games in the series. I seem to remember playing a lot of games of MoO for more than 80 turns before establishing my second colony or meeting the first alien race. Looks like a council member is in the thick of it from the start.

[gunnergoz]

I've been trying to read the Apolyton previews but have found the work involved in wading through the prose to be onerous, to the point where I skip through the article, probably missing some "meat" because I gag on all the "fat."

I wish it were not so, but this is my honest reaction. I am a great MOO3 enthusiast and eagerly await any news about the game, especially from those who have actually gotten their hands on it. So, the previews have been disappointing in this one area, sort of like the delicious-looking food you see in the more exotic restaurant windows, dishes that turn out to be made of inedible wax!

I don't present myself as a master of the language, but I do have to use it professionally at my place of work, where precise communications are valued. So, I tend to react poorly to certains kind of written expression. I guess I've been spoiled...

Regardless, I appreciate that this site (Apolyton) and its contributors are giving me something for free. Thank you all for your labors and I celebrate our common interests.

[13Matt13]

Seems like everyone banned from the IG forum has come here to troll under a new alias. People, there's no one holding a gun to your face and making you read DanQs previews. SO if you don't like 'em - don't read 'em. It's so simple

What about me? I kept the same name.

And Im not "trolling". After my suggestions on the first preview were thrown back at me, I quit trying.

[viciouscycle]

@von Clausewitz: The whole point of this thread is feedback. Feedback comes in three flavors: positive, negative, and twist. If Apolyton didn't want any feedback on the MOO3 preview then they wouldn't have started this thread.

[Simplicity]

I read the preview, and I found it informative.
When I say informative, I mean that it does
indeed contain some new information.

The problem I have is that each six page preview
only contains enough information for about a 2-3
page preview. The prose is overly wordy. The writer
attempts to be humorous, and falls horribly flat...
Partly because the reader winds up being the butt
of his jokes (This is the first sentence... this is the second sentence... hahaha... I just made you read crap).

The people who are complaining are doing it with quite
a lot of vitrol, but they are absolutely correct. The
previews are so bloated that (as someone else already mentioned) it's like getting a game preview from Mojo Jojo... except it's not all that funny when it's six pages long.

"This is the fourth part of my preview. I have given you three parts before this one. This fourth preview will further the preview, to which there are three previous chapters, by one more part. You are reading this part before the game comes out, which makes it a preview. And this is the fourth part of it."

Okay, that was my annoyed side peeping out. I understand that you guys are just a fansite, and you
do this stuff because you are fans. If I don't like the previews, I don't have to read them. Fine.

I read the previews, and I withstand the maple-syrup-like trickle of information that comes out through the long winded prose.

The only reason I'm complaining is because the
owners of the site deflect all of the criticism of
the previews as not representative of the majority
of readers. I think you're wrong. Please add one
more person in the "I can't stand the writing" column.

And that's all you'll hear from this lurker/complainer...

[Jack Frost]

and in 20 posts this thread degenerates into an absurd debate where neglecting to capitalize I is blamed for global warming, the middle east crisis, and N'Sync.

[viciouscycle]

Originally posted by Jack Frost
and in 20 posts this thread degenerates into an absurd debate where neglecting to capitalize I is blamed for global warming, the middle east crisis, and N'Sync.

ROTFLMAO!

[MarkG]

Originally posted by Jack Frost
and in 20 posts this thread degenerates into an absurd debate where neglecting to capitalize I is blamed for global warming, the middle east crisis, and N'Sync.

i take responsibility for the first two, but not the last one!!!!

[Jamski]

Sorry, N'Sync was my fault, but I just blamed Mark to get him in the newspapers.

-Jam