Aunty Alianore's Corner, Volume I, Issue 3: Cultural Bridges & Language

Now the challenge is to learn how to saying these greetings properly...

As with many online games, MilMo attracts players from around the world leading to a incredibly cool international community.  A great part of my personality loves this aspect of gaming in general because I am perennially curious.  I love to learn about other's cultures, traditional foods, and if I am very lucky...someone will teach me a new phrase in a language I do not speak.  When I first began to play the game, most of the players used English, and over the past year more and more foreign languages are seen in game.  For me, this is very cool because I have studied many languages (many solely for reading comprehension purposes related to my studies) and I like to see how much I can reason out of what is being discussed in the game chat.***  Of course, not everyone who plays feels the same way as I do and that has sometimes caused conflict among players.

Dear, old Aunty A will probably post a great deal in the future about good gamesmanship...but for now I want to talk about languages and their use in the game.


Our language that we use is a very special thing and is as much a part of our identity and national affiliation as our history and culture.  When I was doing my undergraduate studies I took a course on linguistics and one of the many things that I learned that has forever stayed with me is that--other than being a means which humans can communicate with each other--language is used as means for both inclusion and exclusion.  And it is this later aspect that fuels this editorial installment.


Our language of choice that we use in the game is probably most influenced by the ease in which we are able to best communicate with others.  And frankly there is nothing wrong with that, especially if you have game friends that you are chatting with who share your language.  But I think it is best that in the spirit of good gamesmanship and overall camaraderie that we all express a sensitivity to all players who speak a different language.  Too often I have witnessed disdain from players against other players who do not speak their native tongue.  From my perspective, insulting another player simply because you do not understand them or they do not understand you is never acceptable.  Personally, I feel that such insults should be report-able offenses.  No one wants to be insulted for attempting to try to communicate, and insulting another widens cultural bridges rather than narrowing them.  So here are a few pointers/ideas that I have regarding language in-game:

• Respect differences:  Another player not speaking your native language is not a failing of that player, it is a unique difference between you.
• Translating:  Despite its failings, Google Translator is the best we have to attempt to decipher each other...do not mock another who is TRYING to figure out what you are saying and the translation machine gives you an incorrect response.  Take pleasure in the fact someone cares enough to attempt to communicate with you in your vernacular.
• Misbegotten assumptions:  Do not assume that because a player does not speak you language that they can not get a general idea of what you are saying.  Whether they use the translator or have some knowledge of your language, smart people play this game and they may not necessarily share that they understand you.  Anything you communicate in chat is public, and being offensive or insulting may result in you being reported.
• Exclusion is not always successful:  There is always going to be sometime in the future when you might need to ask for help or information in the game.  If you have a past history of being exclusive and disdainful of others, you might not have very good luck in someone wanting to help you.
• Teach Others:  If you have the time and patience, open yourself up to helping a player using a different language to learn a few basic phrases.
• Learn Something:  Take it upon yourself to learn a few basic words, phrases, or greetings in the languages seen most commonly in the game.    Or even better yet, find a helpful player who would like to help you learn.  And you never know, someday you might be in Poland and have the need to ask someone "What is the best way to kill a Malicious Weed?"

***As a side note, I am a true American mutt...my ancestry is exclusively European and Scandinavian.  My love of language has also been inspired by the fact that on my mother's side of the family I heard a lot of Norwegian, and on my father's side of the family a lot of German while I was growing up. I did not necessarily grow up multi-lingual, but I certainly had to learn to comprehend enough of both languages so I could figure out what was being said around me.