3rd October 2016 - 14th November 2016
The language of gaming.
This will be the analysis of a forum post on Frontier's website, where people can complain about the difficulty of finding "the elusive Datamined Wake":
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/276997-Any-tips-on-finding-the-elusive-Datamined-Wake
This particular forum includes; fairly everyday language, consciousness when spelling (With only one typo - which unfortunately has been corrected so I can't quote), and words which haven't been shortened to 'barely understandable' status. But this does include plenty of specific lexis (specific to Elite dangerous) and pragmatics, and some informal slang, "dunno". The correction of misspelled words in the Frontier forums is voluntary, but normally the system will auto-correct spelling mistakes, unless totally wrong - e.g "dunno"
In the world of the forums everybody expects you to know what they are on about. I imagine "Datamined Wake" means literally nothing outside of Elite Dangerous - my area of study.
The use of language in this forum post includes:
Purpose - Answer the questions of the community
Subject - The elusive datamined wake
Side note: Remember Foxtype.com a website that breaks down a sentence into it's components.
A creative fake forum post on the frontier forum pages.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ThisIsMe: Posted a question
Anyone know how to get Yttrium? i need it to upgrade my vulture
ThatGuy: Posted
It can only be mined on planets, I find it more common in metallic meteorites and mesodrites
ThisIsMe: Posted
Thanks
ThenHim: Posted
I found it in an astroid belt
ThatGuy: Posted
Really? where?
HiThere: Posted
Planets. Look for planets with a high percentage. Yttrium is rare, you'll only find 2-3% on a good planet. I tend to go to Deciat 3 A. That has 2.3%
ThatGuy: Posted
Yeah you can hardly break a rock without finding it
WhyMe: Posted
I've found all mine on Timbalderis 5 A C
ThisIsMe: Posted
Thanks for the replies, will go out there now.
HowAreYou: Posted
dunno
RandomPerson: Posted
Try Deciat, I heard it was common there
TheOneOverThere: Posted
What do u need it for? FSD upgrade?
IKnowWhereULive: Posted
Ask someone who has it nicely?
WhyMe: Posted
I have 54, I could be persuaded.
RandomPerson: Posted
Dear WhyMe, I do request 5 of your finest Yttrium to upgrade the shields on my Courier. Could you provide?
HowAreYou: Posted
lol
It is clear on any forum page you visit that capital letters are unnecessary and punctuation is optional, giving an informal register that has been replicated in my response. People do this to get the word across quickly, since the post only requires enough care to be understandable, not perfect. Similarly; shortened words, text language, and slang are all present on the frontier forums. Text language being the universal language of teenagers and shortened words being a characteristic of teenagers - laziness. I have somewhat represented this with "u" and "lol". Taking ideas from the page ("dunno" - Slang "'Conda" - Shortened words) and putting similar words in my response.
On the forum pages, specific lexis and pragmatics is what is done best. If you ask a game specific question, you'll get a game specific answer, using all of the words that mean nothing outside of the game (FSD, Mesodrites, Deciat or in this case, Yttrium). I have included pragmatics in my fake forum page. I have also gone far enough to replicate the discourse structure of the forum page (to the best of my ability), where replies shifted (indented) to the right of the post being replied to.
On the forums, People often use simple, declarative sentences, these are short and concise - brevity. Similarly Interrogative sentences followed by imperative sentences are another common find. e.g "Anyone know how to get Yttrium?" "Look for planets with a high percentage". Also, conversations can end abruptly and will likely be abandoned since one of members has lost the will to open the page, or have simply forgotten.
The names of the users ('RandomPerson', 'ThatGuy') are based off of names I've heard on similar forum posts, and, with over a million players of Elite Dangerous, It is likely some of these names are indeed used by real people.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/276997-Any-tips-on-finding-the-elusive-Datamined-Wake
This particular forum includes; fairly everyday language, consciousness when spelling (With only one typo - which unfortunately has been corrected so I can't quote), and words which haven't been shortened to 'barely understandable' status. But this does include plenty of specific lexis (specific to Elite dangerous) and pragmatics, and some informal slang, "dunno". The correction of misspelled words in the Frontier forums is voluntary, but normally the system will auto-correct spelling mistakes, unless totally wrong - e.g "dunno"
In the world of the forums everybody expects you to know what they are on about. I imagine "Datamined Wake" means literally nothing outside of Elite Dangerous - my area of study.
The use of language in this forum post includes:
- Specific lexis "Datamined Wake"
- Mostly concrete nouns "'Conda" - A shorter version of Anaconda (A vehicle in the game)
- Some use of slang to shorten words. "dunno"
- Informal language - capital letters and punctuation unimportant e.g. the lack of full stops.
- Written by a collection of people (script-like), sophisticated vocabulary can be found "elusive"
In terms of GRAMPS
Genre - Conversation, script-like.
Register - Informal
Audience - Elite Dangerous enthusiasts
Mode - TranscriptPurpose - Answer the questions of the community
Subject - The elusive datamined wake
Side note: Remember Foxtype.com a website that breaks down a sentence into it's components.
A creative fake forum post on the frontier forum pages.
The subject of Yttrium:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ThisIsMe: Posted a question
Anyone know how to get Yttrium? i need it to upgrade my vulture
ThatGuy: Posted
It can only be mined on planets, I find it more common in metallic meteorites and mesodrites
ThisIsMe: Posted
Thanks
ThenHim: Posted
I found it in an astroid belt
ThatGuy: Posted
Really? where?
HiThere: Posted
Planets. Look for planets with a high percentage. Yttrium is rare, you'll only find 2-3% on a good planet. I tend to go to Deciat 3 A. That has 2.3%
ThatGuy: Posted
Yeah you can hardly break a rock without finding it
WhyMe: Posted
I've found all mine on Timbalderis 5 A C
ThisIsMe: Posted
Thanks for the replies, will go out there now.
HowAreYou: Posted
dunno
RandomPerson: Posted
Try Deciat, I heard it was common there
TheOneOverThere: Posted
What do u need it for? FSD upgrade?
IKnowWhereULive: Posted
Ask someone who has it nicely?
WhyMe: Posted
I have 54, I could be persuaded.
RandomPerson: Posted
Dear WhyMe, I do request 5 of your finest Yttrium to upgrade the shields on my Courier. Could you provide?
HowAreYou: Posted
lol
Commentary:
When browsing the frontier forum pages, often simple answer questions that can be answered by 2 minutes of googling are asked. The question I chose 'where to find Yttrium' has an answer that can be found on the Elite Wikipedia. Despite this people feel the need to broadcast their problems to the world to receive some answers of varying value. Some answers may be unrelated to the question, avoiding the subject of discussion. For example, HowAreYou's posts ("dunno... lol"), on my fake forum page.It is clear on any forum page you visit that capital letters are unnecessary and punctuation is optional, giving an informal register that has been replicated in my response. People do this to get the word across quickly, since the post only requires enough care to be understandable, not perfect. Similarly; shortened words, text language, and slang are all present on the frontier forums. Text language being the universal language of teenagers and shortened words being a characteristic of teenagers - laziness. I have somewhat represented this with "u" and "lol". Taking ideas from the page ("dunno" - Slang "'Conda" - Shortened words) and putting similar words in my response.
On the forum pages, specific lexis and pragmatics is what is done best. If you ask a game specific question, you'll get a game specific answer, using all of the words that mean nothing outside of the game (FSD, Mesodrites, Deciat or in this case, Yttrium). I have included pragmatics in my fake forum page. I have also gone far enough to replicate the discourse structure of the forum page (to the best of my ability), where replies shifted (indented) to the right of the post being replied to.
On the forums, People often use simple, declarative sentences, these are short and concise - brevity. Similarly Interrogative sentences followed by imperative sentences are another common find. e.g "Anyone know how to get Yttrium?" "Look for planets with a high percentage". Also, conversations can end abruptly and will likely be abandoned since one of members has lost the will to open the page, or have simply forgotten.
The names of the users ('RandomPerson', 'ThatGuy') are based off of names I've heard on similar forum posts, and, with over a million players of Elite Dangerous, It is likely some of these names are indeed used by real people.
