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Re: CHAT: World of Warcraft Conlangs?

From:Mia Soderquist <yondergreen@...>
Date:Monday, April 25, 2005, 21:44
I play WoW. I assume there's some sort of random mechanism involved, but
when you "hear" (actually read) people using languages you don't know,
there's definitely a different "feel" to the different "languages". I kind
of assume that it is just inserting random text from a set of pre-generated
words or word-parts. I am not sure if the ability to learn langauges is
fully implemented, either. I generally just stick to talking to other Horde
players that I understand, so I haven't really gone searching for language
skills yet. Some NPCs speak languages I don't know ("Gutterspeak" in
Undercity, the undead home city, for example), but I don't know how to learn
them, and I don't know if they are a conlang or just random.

Whatever they are doing to show unknown languages, it is a step up from
EverQuest, where languages you don't understand are rendered in random
letters substituted for the correct ones. The higher your skill in a
language, the closer it looks to what the person was actually typing. Being
able to speak languages in EQ was way underutilized, and mainly a fluff skill.

Of course, I am just the kind of geek that actually went out and learned
languages in the game, including the exotic ones like Elder Dragon and
Gnoll. And I even used languages for roleplaying purposes, or just for fun.
(Mirin shouts in Dark Speech, "If you're evil and you know it, clap your
hands!")  It's a quick way to sort out who else has too much time on their
hands, if nothing else.

Adding a CHAT to this, since I didn't really have anything constructive to
say. And if anyone is looking for me in WoW, I play on Perenolde. Look for
Janna or Zeysha.

Mia.