bleh someone told me to come here =w=

[akumabito]

..I wish this thread would just go away. It pains me to know it's here, and from this point on, I will blame any instance of lag, any forum glitch and any outage solely on the existence of this thread.

[Flynn MacCallister]

I don't want to be rude here...well..I'm really trying not to be... but could you please stop using these...things in all your posts

=w=  ._.   x-x  >x<  :3  o.o


They don't mean anything..are completely pointless and make you posts look childish and I personally find them extremely irritating and I'm sure many others probably do too.

Oi! Some of those are perfectly valid! Give me a "western" smiley that expresses what O.o does.


Toxickun: the atmosphere of this forum is very, very different to, say, Gaia Online. The average age here, when you total it up, is more likely somewhere between 25 and 30, rather than 12 to 16. You are going to continue to get a very negative reception if you persist with your cutesy style. Being a "Japan Fan" of some form or other is fine, but to get along with the majority of the membership here, you really need to do it in a more calm, refined style.

For instance, adding (bows low) just comes across as obnoxious and fake in this context. "Oh, I see, I'm sorry about that." is more than sufficient instead. Post-actions of any sort are almost never used. Smileys are used very, very sparingly.

Here, another example. You said:

"oh since you put it that way ok owo where do i get them?

 [lol...flameing boat =w= intresting..]"

Which is fine on many fora. Here, though, it would have been better expressed as something more like:

"Oh! That makes sense. Sure. Do you know where I can get some?

Hahaha, the irony of a burning boat is wonderful."


Just as you wouldn't write a paper for school the way you write a text message, the way you write on one forum is not always appropriate for another.

Also, if you ever use Tl;dr, the members will do their level best to make you wish you'd never heard of this place.

[Reverend Panic]

Steampunk is about more than brass nicknacks and steam. There's an importance on manners and etiquette. Show us respect and manners by typing in English. If all this is to you is toys and Anime, I'd reconcider posting here. I'd lurk a lot more, read, learn who you're talking to.

[jringling]

wait... so there are forums that the OP's posts would make sense? There is actual meaning behind the odd special character use? Wow, you learn something new every day...

and the [bows low] thing is used on a regular basis?

weird... just weird.

[Narsil]

The internet can be a strange and terrifying place....

[Angus A Fitziron]

Okay, so we are halfway through the second page and nobody has welcomed Toxickun to the forum yet. Allow me to correct that:-

Toxickun, welcome to the Steampunk Forum, from what I have read so far you will have fun here if you stick at it. I am guessing you were advised to have a look at the forum by folk who recognised Steampunk in you - so have a good look around and ease yourself in to probably the most interesting and inspiring forum on the internet!

Fellow posters, I have an overwhelming urge to write of stones and glasshouses ...

[Flynn MacCallister]

wait... so there are forums that the OP's posts would make sense? There is actual meaning behind the odd special character use? Wow, you learn something new every day...

and the [bows low] thing is used on a regular basis?

weird... just weird.

The bowing thing is a "Japan-Fan" affectation most of the time. It's also something I do, completely unconsciously. (Most of my school friends were Korean. It happens. I try not to, because it has connotations of ignorance and resultant "accidental" racism.)

Yes, there are fora where Toxickun's posts make perfect sense. Many of them. Those strings of triple symbols are a pastiche on the smiley commonly used in many Asian countries -- most especially Japan. I rather like some of them -- particularly O.o and >_o . Unlike ; ) , etc, they are not read as sideways.


If the only fora you normally move in are of that sort -- and that writing style is perfectly acceptable and normal in most teenager-populated ones -- it'd be very easy not to realise that it's not going to go down well everywhere.

[Sir A Poiselamppe]

Goes to show... you can learn something new every day...

[Capt. Dirigible]

If the only fora you normally move in are of that sort -- and that writing style is perfectly acceptable and normal in most teenager-populated ones -- it'd be very easy not to realise that it's not going to go down well everywhere.

But surely if someone comes to a forum like this and reads through at least one or two threads before posting they would see that nobody here...and I do mean nobody...uses that style of 'speaking' or peppers their messages with emoticons/smileys (Asian or Western). You may well understand them, Ms Macallister..as will other 'Japan fans' but the majority of us (probably) don't.

I'm all for 'new blood' on the forum. The more the merrier. But I feel that toxickun's posts come across as immature and confusing to those of us not into the 'Japan' thing. We've all commented at length elsewhere that 'teen text-speak' like LOL, L8, B4, KEWL etc is unacceptable. We prefer good grammer, well chosen words and proper spelling. It's not too much to ask, is it?

[Flynn MacCallister]

If the only fora you normally move in are of that sort -- and that writing style is perfectly acceptable and normal in most teenager-populated ones -- it'd be very easy not to realise that it's not going to go down well everywhere.

But surely if someone comes to a forum like this and reads through at least one or two threads before posting they would see that nobody here...and I do mean nobody...uses that style of 'speaking' or peppers their messages with emoticons/smileys (Asian or Western). You may well understand them, Ms Macallister..as will other 'Japan fans' but the majority of us (probably) don't.

I'm all for 'new blood' on the forum. The more the merrier. But I feel that toxickun's posts come across as immature and confusing to those of us not into the 'Japan' thing. We've all commented at length elsewhere that 'teen text-speak' like LOL, L8, B4, KEWL etc is unacceptable. We prefer good grammer, well chosen words and proper spelling. It's not too much to ask, is it?

Haha, and here's the other problem. If you've only even been on Gaia and it's ilk, read-then-post doesn't make any sense. You just can't do it on the really big fora.

As for being understood or not, old people don't know about the internet, there's none of them on here. We're all under twenty here! Didn't you know? >_o

(Incidentally, I'm actually older than twenty. Just for the record.)

Yes, yes we all do prefer good grammar (and spelling), well-constructed sentences, and verbal rather than symbolic communication. I think that this may be a genuine case of misunderstanding, though, rather than anything particularly obnoxious, and we should at least hold off the harshness until direct explanations of the nature of this forum have been given and received.

[Fyral]

what is this blasphemy, there are no adults on the intertubez just like there are no wimminz everyone knows that kk. l2interweb nubzorz.

yay for self inflicted pain. remind me to never try and write like that again.

[Danbury Shakes]

wait... so there are forums that the OP's posts would make sense? There is actual meaning behind the odd special character use? Wow, you learn something new every day...

and the [bows low] thing is used on a regular basis?

weird... just weird.

I had though that Dragon naturally Speaking was being used by a Tourette's syndrome sufferer.

[JingleJoe]

wait... so there are forums that the OP's posts would make sense? There is actual meaning behind the odd special character use? Wow, you learn something new every day...

and the [bows low] thing is used on a regular basis?

weird... just weird.

I used to hang around places where this was the common tongue and I still understand it, but it embarases me now and I have come to one main conclusion from this thread:


If you want to be more like a steampunk Toxickun, start with your written word.

[Sgt.Major Thistlewaite]

Well, it's more than likely a moot point, since you've probably scared him off by now, ...but in all fairness, he likely did not know any better. I am 55. I dislike almost all things relating to Japanese modern culture...Pokemons, Japanimation, anime, etc. I freely admit that I find most teenagers annoying and vapid-but- when I think back to 1972, I probably find teenagers a whole lot less annoying now than a typical 55 year old WWII veteran considered me to be at the time, with my hair halfway down my back and my "Make Love Not War" ideology. 

~T

[Tajhan]

First of all, welcome to the boards Toxickun. A little culture shock isn't all that suprising really but I hope you can adjust and can find your own niche here

As for everyone else, don't mean to ridicule, you all make a valid point but perhaps more preperation is needed on First Contact in these cases?

I view myself as in the transition from the Anime community towards the Steampunk community though my position this year has ment I have had little activity in both I hope to be able to enjoy both groups. But, I don't know how it is in the US but the exposure Steampunk is getting at events like the MCM expo is going to draw in more anime fans, many of whom I am sure will fit right in, others though may need some time to adjust and I can see situations like this becoming more frequent in the year(s) to come.

[jringling]

I feel no regrets... this was the 3rd or 4th thread started by the OP... in one of the other threads he wanted to know what an exploding boiler looked like... Most of us are more concerned about a boiler NOT exploding...

If the OP was 12 or 13, I think the behavior would be acceptable, but 18? Boy are we in trouble...

[Flynn MacCallister]

I feel no regrets... this was the 3rd or 4th thread started by the OP... in one of the other threads he wanted to know what an exploding boiler looked like... Most of us are more concerned about a boiler NOT exploding...

If the OP was 12 or 13, I think the behavior would be acceptable, but 18? Boy are we in trouble...

Adding between 4 and 6 years onto your age is pretty standard, too. They may well be 13 or 14. Most people, by 18, have become concerned that they might be being culturally insensitive, and tone it down a tad.

[Stella Gaslight]

I know that Toxickun's mode of speech isn't what we are used to and rather baffling but we should be just as nice to him as any other newcomer.

[Kelley]

While modern admiration of Japanese culture and exports is different today than in the past due to new technologies and modes of creation - it might be interesting to remember that the Victorians themselves had a soft spot for Japan.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Monet, 1875 - his wife in "Japanese costume"

Many Western artists were inspired by Japanese art and culture - and this was, I take it, on a rather large scale - my fashion plate book had a women's dress that was a kimono, though heavily altered to fit the tastes of the Gay Nineties. I would post a picture, but I lent out the book and I haven't gotten it back (interestingly, I recognised at least one dress in the new "Phantom of the Opera" movie as directly taken from one of the fashion plates included in the book).


As well, modern Japan is, and has produced things that are "Steampunk".

For example :

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

An image from the Japanese Role Playing Game for the PlayStation One, "Final Fantasy IX". Other games in the series have used such imagery. I remember playing this game as a child - and although it's not steampunk in the "Victorian England" sense - it's a fantastic example of a fantasy world with beautiful steam-type technology.




I try to give everyone a chance on-line - since the strangest things are simply people being genuine. However, I am also wary - I have learned that even the smallest and most obscure forums get trolled.

Dear toxickun, in the event that you are being genuine, and you haven't been scared away - may I urge you to explore the area of language to greater appreciation. Language is beautiful and wonderful and powerful and so utterly human.

If you're interested, I highly recommend This Book. I got it as a Christmas present when I was fourteen, and I'm fairly certain that the section on puns actually changed my life in a profound way.

[toxickun]

. . . i overslept for a few hours and then i check back here and found all this...
im sorry if im alll...childish with my spelling. . . i just kind of got used to talking like this since i ever roleplayed on a chat room
... ill try to be mature as possible but i wont guarantee that ill be like an adult
ive been a anime fan for like....what. 9 years? and im still into that today. . .
...and idk if you knew this but i discovered steampunk from the anime expo 2009 in los angles... so...ya...

...but ya.. i wont be scared...ill try my best to get along...
and im sorry for my childish behavior.
[...all the years of sleep made my mind stay in  16 year old era...but my body says 18 so im kind of screwed.....]
(not to mention im on special ed)

...and thank you for those that greeted me/talked about my speech. its like you know exactly how i am
....[this is gonna be hard without typeing the faces]

[Flynn MacCallister]

. . . i overslept for a few hours and then i check back here and found all this...
im sorry if im alll...childish with my spelling. . . i just kind of got used to talking like this since i ever roleplayed on a chat room
... ill try to be mature as possible but i wont guarantee that ill be like an adult
[...all the years of sleep made my mind stay in  16 year old era...but my body says 18 so im kind of screwed.....]
(not to mention im on special ed)

...and thank you for those that greeted me/talked about my speech. its like you know exactly how i am
....[this is gonna be hard without typeing the faces]

A neat trick for getting your spelling and grammar "up to scratch" without trying is to type your posts in Microsoft Word first, as well as you can, and use its spellchecking and grammar-checking tools.

I know what you mean with just getting used to falling into that sort of typing voice. One of the biggest problems with using it on a forum like this one is that most people quite simply don't understand you. (Just imagine: at least one person was looking at owo, going "what on Earth does 'oh-woe' mean?) We have a very wide age range -- very wide, from about 12 years old to... I think there's at least one gent over 60, and everything in between. We also have people from all over the world, so English is definitely not everyone's first language.

You'll get used to it quickly enough, particularly as everyone else writes the same way here.

So, then, I'm glad you didn't get scared off. Welcome, and have fun!

[toxickun]

thank you overlord i relly hope i wont get banned or anything cause of my grammer/spelling ...
[dose my face thing includes the rp forums?]

[Flynn MacCallister]

thank you overlord i relly hope i wont get banned or anything cause of my grammer/spelling ...
[dose my face thing includes the rp forums?]

Oooh-kay. The RP forum. Uhm. While you can play in whatever style you want in the RPs you start yourself, you want to very carefully study the style used in existing roleplays before joining any others. In general, the style preferred on here is more narrative-like than the conventional forum roleplaying style. More like writing a book. I can see players getting a little... perturbed, if you will, if someone leaped in to their "serious" game writing in a conventional forum RP style.

Short answer: in your own games, do what you like. In someone else's... yes. Definitely.

In the general fora, using emotes/faces is fine, but it helps to stick to the obvious ones, and to use them sparingly, rather than after every sentence.

Also, Flynn's fine (even Flynn-chan if you really want. >_o   ) Overlord just means I've been on the forum for a long time.

Annoying some old fogeys (joking, gents, joking) isn't going to get you banned, so don't worry.

[SillyLilPuppet]

The face thing isn't an all-out ban on emoticons (goodness knows I use them too much), its just that more than one in a post is kind of overusing them.
Just remember, this isn't like a chat room where you have to get your message typed as quick as possible.  You have plenty of time, you *can* stop and look it over to make sure grammar and punctuation are there before hitting the post button.  

[toxickun]

that's what i have been doing ._. ...right now..
[checking my spelling and fixing the word with the red line under it] and they still complain