Language Issue

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Stuffit
Stuffit Posts: 5
edited February 2017 in MtGPQ Suggestions & Feedback
This is probably into nit-pick territory but here goes.

The game seems to consistently use the words less/fewer incorrectly (I've not done an exhaustive study, but I don't recall them ever using the correct one). As a rough rule, "less" should only be used for uncountable things, "fewer" for anything that's countable. Given the context of the game and it almost always being countable items, a find-replace is unlikely to miss on any cards.

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  • mort47
    mort47 Posts: 2 Just Dropped In
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    It never seems to contain the word "fewer". It's not just a stylistic choice, D3, it's outright wrong to put "less" when you mean "fewer". One of the things many of us love about MTG is the precision of the language. Even if you don't care about this sort of thing, your target market really does. It annoys me no end.

    Although that's not quite as bad as always assuming players are male.
  • Delnai
    Delnai Posts: 187 Tile Toppler
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    Another common error is writing "it's" instead of "its". I mean, even the spellcheck on my iPhone usually gets this one right. This should be easy.

    I agree that one of the best things about MtG is the clarity of language and precision of its rules. Honestly, though, MtG is so far above average on this that it's hard for me to expect other games to have comparable production quality, even those leaning on the brand.
  • Furks
    Furks Posts: 149 Tile Toppler
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    Also, when referring to the opponent 'their' should be used. I've seen 'his' and 'its' used inconsistently instead.

    Example: if your opponent has 5 or fewer creatures in their hand.

    Instead of: if your opponent has 5 or fewer creatures in his/its hand.
  • Delnai
    Delnai Posts: 187 Tile Toppler
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    Another common mistake is writing "amount" instead of "number".

    Since the original post of this thread we've seen a new set release and it continues to have all the usual English errors. There's really no reason for this. The language could be improved even by doing something as simple as a find&replace for:

    -- "it's"-->"its" since the meaning "it is" occurs less in card text than the phrase "its controller" or "its owner" (for example, in Shadows over Innistrad card text the word "it's" appears 6 times, of which 5 should be "its")

    -- "amount"-->"number" since, as the OP notes, almost everything in this game is countable, (in SOI both instances of the word "amount" are incorrect)

    -- "less"-->"fewer" for the same reason as above, with the big exception that "less" is often used to refer to power or toughness, where it is correct. (In SOI, only 3 out of 7 instances of the word "less" are incorrect.)

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