Would you roleplay with a character whose dialogue is in Elizabethan english? That is, the type of language you'd see in Romeo and Juliet? I joined a rp on another site and my character uses Old English. Now I'm not the best, but I'm practicing - like all language, you can only get good with practice, yes? Unfortunately the admin doesn't like the idea of my character using such speech

 

So just curious, is it really THAT confusing? I'm not even a natural yet so what my character says shoud at least be somewhat comprehensible. He's a nice person and everyone on there is so sweet, so I offered to just write translations. But I STILL really want to use Elizabethan, so...

 

Would you rp with someone doing so, or would you find it too confusing?

 

Just aksing a question, thank you.

Would you roleplay with a character whose dialogue is in Elizabethan english? That is, the type of language you'd see in Romeo and Juliet? I joined a rp on another site and my character uses Old English. Now I'm not the best, but I'm practicing - like all language, you can only get good with practice, yes? Unfortunately the admin doesn't like the idea of my character using such speech

 

So just curious, is it really THAT confusing? I'm not even a natural yet so what my character says shoud at least be somewhat comprehensible. He's a nice person and everyone on there is so sweet, so I offered to just write translations. But I STILL really want to use Elizabethan, so...

 

Would you rp with someone doing so, or would you find it too confusing?

 

Just aksing a question, thank you.

 

Guess it would all just depend. Some people are more inclined to roleplay where things are easy to understand...but I would think that there are some who would really like to try and use dialog in that way.

I like the Old English kind of speech. 

It depends what you mean by that. If it's the kind of "Elizabethan English" that most people online use, it's not accurate and it's easy to understand, but kind of annoying. However, if it's really accurate, that's also pretty annoying. I don't want to be RP'ing and stumble across lines like "look thou be true; do not give dalliance. too...much the rein: the strongest oaths are straw. To the fire i' the blood: be more abstemious, or else good night your vow!" (actual Shakespeare line) because I'd be like jesus christ get over yourself. So I mean personally I'd find it annoying either way, but I've never seen an RP like that, so I guess maybe it practice it wouldn't be? 

It depends what you mean by that. If it's the kind of "Elizabethan English" that most people online use, it's not accurate and it's easy to understand, but kind of annoying. However, if it's really accurate, that's also pretty annoying. I don't want to be RP'ing and stumble across lines like "look thou be true; do not give dalliance. too...much the rein: the strongest oaths are straw. To the fire i' the blood: be more abstemious, or else good night your vow!" (actual Shakespeare line) because I'd be like jesus christ get over yourself. So I mean personally I'd find it annoying either way, but I've never seen an RP like that, so I guess maybe it practice it wouldn't be? 

Ah, I just like the speech, haha. And no, not adding -st and -th to every thing willy nilly, but I've been doing actual research, reading, and (trying) to practice. They COULD always just skip it and read my simplified translations, I suppose. It's not like I want to come off as pretentious or anything, but for the video game I'm rping, characters do use Old English and I guess I was just trying to be accurate. That and, I enjoy it, but it doesn't seem like they do :c

Ah, I just like the speech, haha. And no, not adding -st and -th to every thing willy nilly, but I've been doing actual research, reading, and (trying) to practice. They COULD always just skip it and read my simplified translations, I suppose. It's not like I want to come off as pretentious or anything, but for the video game I'm rping, characters do use Old English and I guess I was just trying to be accurate. That and, I enjoy it, but it doesn't seem like they do :c

Well good on you for doing research! I mean I'd talk to the other players if I were you. If they're willing to put up with it then by all means continue, but if they're annoyed then you should probably stop. 

I'd be cool with it, I love Shakespeare so I'd be good!

Well good on you for doing research! I mean I'd talk to the other players if I were you. If they're willing to put up with it then by all means continue, but if they're annoyed then you should probably stop. 

I appreciate the input! Yeah, if they don't like it then I'll just leave. Shame, but I'm too stubborn to do something I don't enjoy  

 

Thanks everyone!

I would definitely as well. I lovveee old English!

If you provide a simple translation...there honestly should be no problem.

If you provide a simple translation...there honestly should be no problem.

Yeah, that's my thinking, I just hope they feel the same way.

A lot of it boils down to personal preference, and judging by what that admin told you, I get the idea something like that wouldn't be up to a lot of people's taste, including my own.  I don't think that language is pretentious or anything--I just think it's hard to understand.  Look at it from the other players' point of view: when they're spending extra effort just to decipher what it is you're trying to say, it sort of makes the experience harder than it needs to be.  Even if you provide translations, people might just skip straight to them, eliminating the point of typing Shakespeare-y at all.

 

Is it possible to compromise?  I mean, are you so dead-set on having your character talk that way that you're willing to abandon the entire RP just because no one likes that speech style?

A lot of it boils down to personal preference, and judging by what that admin told you, I get the idea something like that wouldn't be up to a lot of people's taste, including my own.  I don't think that language is pretentious or anything--I just think it's hard to understand.  Look at it from the other players' point of view: when they're spending extra effort just to decipher what it is you're trying to say, it sort of makes the experience harder than it needs to be.  Even if you provide translations, people might just skip straight to them, eliminating the point of typing Shakespeare-y at all.

 

Is it possible to compromise?  I mean, are you so dead-set on having your character talk that way that you're willing to abandon the entire RP just because no one likes that speech style?

I don't care if they skip the speech and go straight to the translation (I was expecting they probably would anyways) in truth? It's just for my own practice and, that I like it. That's pretty much the only point, so it's for my own benefit. It's just that Old English would be accurate, and I like accuracy - I don't mind going the extra mile even if noen of them would care to read it.

 

Also, I'll present this idea to them: What if my character speaking near incomprehensibly is part of a running gag? LOike the other characters have a hard time understanding her or something.

Update:

 

Proposed my idea with the admin, and he likes the idea of my character being hard to understand, since it could "lighten up the place" and "get a few good laughs." EVERYBODY WINS