Literacies

[unnbrellas]

Ok. We all know Un-Literate/Illiterate, Semi-Literate, And Literate. They are pretty established ways of judging someone's ropeplaying skills. But I've been noticing groups saying they are literate to strictly literate. Strictly Literate? I assume these are the people who have multi-post rps. Has anyone else noticed this?

[Wizardmymom]

Why yes, I have noticed that.
And these are for one reason, and I am quoteing RIGHT from my FH BFF:
"We don't want any illiterates to ruin our RP"

'Strictly literate' is that term that means:
"GO AWAY ILLITERATES! We no love you. Same to you, semi literates! You're retarded. LITERATES ONLY!!!"
Normally they have RP samples, which can't have any spelling errors, grammatical errors, and be at least 2 posts. :/
Now, the term normally gets on my nerves, seeing as how they want the "perfect people" for their "perfect RP"

Yes, people have said that to me through whisper because I misspelled the word "swimming" because I accidentally forgot an 'M' even though I corrected myself.
I feel those people need to realize that not everyone is "perfect".
Anyways, back on topic.

Strictly literate means that they want NO short posts, almost no grammar errors, and NO spelling errors.
These RPs tend to go downhill quickly.

Anyways, rant over.~

[peete]

I always wondered why after a two sentence post people would put "(short)" in the post after. I met a strictly literate person while joining a group, and he was talking about something like "You have to be above 13 and have a college reading level." I left because I didn't know what he was talking about. Turns out a couple minutes later I came back and found out that everyone who wanted to join rejected him.

Now I see why..

Yes, people have said that to me through whisper because I misspelled the word "swimming" because I accidentally forgot an 'M' even though I corrected myself.
I feel those people need to realize that not everyone is "perfect".

Having people correct you because of misspelling... It's not like your rp is going to be printed out and sent to the president ._.

[Silhouette]

I have seen this before and let me tell you, it bugs me. Now, you would think, by staying away from those types of RPs that it wouldn't have an impact on people but I know that they do. Let me explain,

I'm more of a non-group RPing person, so I often just ask around or advertise using the movie chat saying I'd like to RP with one or two other people, and that's it. I don't specify literacy in these advertisements anymore. At this point, I'll RP with anyone who RP's fair. Now, that said....

In the process of doing this I have met a variety of different people and do you know what a LOT of them do (the ones most people refer to as "illiterate") when they find out that I am mostly a reasonably well-written paragraph RPer? They freak out a little bit and they start apologizing over and over for every little error they make and I think it is because they're scared that I will refuse to RP with them or block them. And that's very sad because I don't care so long as I understand what's going on. And I tell them that but its almost like some of them are a little apprehensive or paranoid and some of them continue to apologize. A missing letter is not going to make the world end. I'm starting to think some of the more snobbish "strictly literate" groups have a lot of people terrified to make mistakes anymore.

And college reading level? What does THAT have to do with anything? I'm a college student. We don't do "reading levels" here. You take the level of English class according to what degree you're trying to get and what your general education classes (classes EVERYONE regardless of degree must take) require. If you need a remedial class, then you take it and you pass and you're back on track toward your degree. It just goes to show that the people who make that kind of stuff up are probably children who don't know what they're talking about.

[WhiteLightHeart]

Arr... Agreed with many of you guys.

Granted, I'm normally a paragraph RPer, but that's because I like to create a story and feel to my posts, and I do enjoy roleplaying with "literate" roleplayers.
But, that's not to say I judge someone's intelligence by the length or style of their roleplay, either. I often find myself having very fun random roleplays with those who use a semi-lit style or even beginning roleplayers.

Although, it does disappoint me when I see users getting terrified of making a single error in their post, or making a two-line post a putting a "-sssssss-" (meaning 'short' or 'short-post' apologetically) because they feel they're inadequate if they don't make their posts 4 or 5 paragraphs long. It's ridiculous, and a result of some floofs being too judgmental with what they consider to be appropriate.
After all, there is always something to be said about a concise (not 'short) post, especially when the RP becomes fast-paced and you don't want to have enough time to go outside, get lunch, and also stop for a haircut before your friend finishes replying.

This said, I agree with you. If someone wants a 'strictly literate' RP, then that's fine, and chances are those who join will be very skilled in their style. But, seeing anyone who does something different as unintelligent or inadequate is really quite misguided and creates the opposite of a happy roleplay environment.

[unnbrellas]

O.o People actually posted
 I came by a group of these strictly literates, and it was kinda horrible.
The group was like of 4 players. They started aruguing or a comma. A COMMA.

[WhiteLightHeart]

They started aruguing or a comma. A COMMA.

I don't understand it. If it were obnoxious,ly placed, like, this, and stuff, I could understand, but a single grammatical "error" isn't all that necessary in my eyes.
Why not just enjoy creating a story alongside your fellow roleplayers? Arguing over subjective and minute grammar "issues," if they may be dubbed so, doesn't let that happen.
It even seems like it would be a point of grammar grand-standing, rather than appreciating the story of your character and those around you.

[darkknight]

They started aruguing or a comma. A COMMA.

I don't understand it. If it were obnoxious,ly placed, like, this, and stuff, I could understand, but a single grammatical "error" isn't all that necessary in my eyes.
Why not just enjoy creating a story alongside your fellow roleplayers? Arguing over subjective and minute grammar "issues," if they may be dubbed so, doesn't let that happen.
It even seems like it would be a point of grammar grand-standing, rather than appreciating the story of your character and those around you.

This kind thing does bother and make me think about how people approach "mistakes." If I see a completely notable mistake from someone, I don't moan about it, I simply continue. If you are really wanted to correct someone, use constructive criticism. Lashing at someone for missing one "e" is not needed or any lashing for that. We're not computers, we all make that little mistake or two, even larger ones. I will never proclaim I know everything, I don't, I have flaws and even do things without thinking it through enough. Correct ourselves and move on, one post is not ALL you are going to do, more than likely. If these kinds of people really wanted to be "strict literates," I challenge them to participate in T-0 or T-1 role-plays, not... easy.

Aside from that, you cannot really be strictly literate, to me, how can it exist? There is illiterate and literate, ability to read well and not read well. Whether you know the difference between you're and your or you don't. So, if I'm "strictly literate," does that mean I read and write ... with literacy? When you think about it, doesn't make sense.

And college reading level? What does THAT have to do with anything? I'm a college student. We don't do "reading levels" here. You take the level of English class according to what degree you're trying to get and what your general education classes (classes EVERYONE regardless of degree must take) require. If you need a remedial class, then you take it and you pass and you're back on track toward your degree. It just goes to show that the people who make that kind of stuff up are probably children who don't know what they're talking about.

I agree, this simply seems unrealistic to me. It's like saying I cannot join an elementary art club unless I can paint with the skill of a Renassiance artist while standing on one leg, blindfolded. This, to me, is basically what this person is asking. Again, just seems so out of place.

To the ones that deem themselves as perfect, why aim for solely for "perfection" anyway? Nothing we do or should be perfect that's what makes us human and continue to learn as we do. Make mistakes, improve, and go about your day.

[Fallenleaf]

I completely understand all of this. Personnally, I used to freak out when asked to write a RP sample; I felt like I was in an exam (even though I would've no problem joining back then).

Now, I don't join Mapped RPs and mainly RP as non-grouped characters. Yes, I put -s- after my posts sometimes because they're shorter than the usual, but seriously, there's days I just post a dialogue with a smiley like 'c:'

Now the typos. I consider myself as a grammar Nazi when it comes to very badly spelled words, but I don't fuss about it in the chatbox. I also correct myself after posting because there's always a mkment I type 'to' instead of 'the' or even pumpkin instead of carrot xD

And everyone needs to chill. Me and my friends would pretend to be unrealistically illiterate people just for the laughs.
I also don't mind the level of literacy until it turns out the person is a powerplayer and/or auto-hitter.
I'm so fed up with these two. ono