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#69 STARTING FROM SCRATCH "Or how game designers can avoid failure", says Gregor #70 THE CIV3 DEMO: LOOKING AHEAD Here's a certain someone who is unquestionably anti-demo. #71 FIRST DAY PRE-PLAYING REPORT Imran reports his first impressions before playing SMAC-X #72 FIRST SMAC-X MULTIPLAYER GAME One game later, XZealot is an SMAC-X multiplayer junkie. #73 IT'S ALL A GAME DomK wants to see Apolyton OT as more of a game, not a life. COLUMN ARCHIVE

First of all, I'd like to thank the members of this community for extending and enhancing my enjoyment of Civ2. The discussions on these pages have given me new ways to play the game, and rekindled my interest in it.

That said, I am frustrated sometimes by the lack of clarity, bad grammar, or poor spelling in some of the posts I read. I am not perfect, but consider myself a good writer. Based on that slender authority, I present the following suggestions to posters:

1) Readers' opinions of you will be based solely on the content of your posts. Proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation count for a lot. I know this is tough on non-native English speakers, but that's the way it is. Besides, some of the most articulate people on this site are from non-English speaking countries (from My Fair Lady: "'Her English is too good,' he said, 'which clearly indicates that she is foreign'").

2) Bearing in mind that some of the readers on this site have a limited English vocabulary, it's courteous to stick to commonly used words. Try not to send people trotting off to their dictionary of English words or slang phrases. There's a fine balance here with "dumbing down" your writing. I, personally, probably err on the side of a too-large vocabulary. But I'm trying to do better.

3) Speaking of slang, "u" instead of "you" makes me grind my teeth. I've seen this inexplicable usage in some otherwise well-written posts whose authors obviously have the typing skill to include a couple more letters.

4) My Dad always used to tell me that profanity is a sign of a limited vocabulary. Now that I'm a Dad, I agree with him. There is always another way to convey your point, without the risk of offending anyone.

5) Have a point in mind when you make a post, and make it. There have been times when I realized I had nothing to say, and just hit the "Back" button instead of posting some inane drivel. "Brevity is the soul of wit" - if you can say your piece in fewer words, you're saving your readers time (and, in some cases, money).

6) Think before you post! At least scroll back up and proofread your text before you press the "submit" button. I'll edit something I've already posted if it contains some significant error, but it's far better to catch an error before posting.

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About the author: DaveV is grateful to the nuns who taught him English.

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