Text errors and suggestions

[Greenhorn]

1 hour ago, Andrea C. said:

His motto doesn't seem to make a ton of sense, though?

Oh, he probably got little defensive and didn't wished to look like idler. 

But seriously, he just told that he is Guardian of Helm and then summarized  Helmite clergy dogma. I really don't want to sound condescending but what is here so hard to understand? 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Greenhorn

[The_Baffled_King]

20 minutes ago, Salk said:

Perhaps, @The_Baffled_Kingcan give us his royal opinion? 

Hah! I can't be 100% that you're not having a little fun with me but, even if you are, I thought it was pretty funny anyway

As you're the OP for the query, and I didn't edit away my offer on page 2 (although I have now)... hearken unto mine royal wisdom, o lowly subject!

1 hour ago, Greenhorn said:

Introduction. Followed by Helm's motto. 

Greenhorn has nailed it already. Perhaps he should be king, now? Umm, I don't know any of Helm's mottos or dogmas, but I know he's also referred to as The Watcher, so I'm sure that this is a saying of Helm's worshippers and followers used in the Forgotten Realms. But... I'll go out in style, with a little more detail for y'all.

2 hours ago, Salk said:

There is a string which I cannot really understand

The archaic phrasing of the string is the kind of English that can potentially put anyone off, but it's undoubtedly more difficult for non-native speakers. So... if you aren't a native English speaker (and I see your location) then you have a good excuse; if you are a native English speaker then you still have an excuse anyway

It means this: If a person stands, waits, and watches carefully, then they are also serving a purpose. As the saying is Helmite, and Helm is The Watcher, the purpose being served is Helm's purpose. Helm is known for being an impartial god of protection, so the unspoken part of the motto is that by waiting and watching carefully, Helmites will intervene only when appropriate, and their intervention will serve what is lawful and just. So, a town guard observing this motto will step in at exactly the right time: not too soon, which might be abusing their authority; not too late, because if the guard always waits until the law is broken, then somebody will already have been hurt.

And... there's also a second bonus part of my answer. The D&D designers who created Helm almost certainly adapted the motto from the famous final line of a sonnet by John Milton, a seventeenth-century poet (I've read some Milton a long time ago, but I don't mind admitting that I had to resort to the internet to check this).

Alright! Out on a high note.

[The_Baffled_King]

12 minutes ago, Greenhorn said:

I really don't want to sound condescending

Then don't.

[Greenhorn]

10 minutes ago, The_Baffled_King said:

Then don't.

As opposed to you?  

[The_Baffled_King]

17 minutes ago, Greenhorn said:

As opposed to you?  

This is not a zero-sum game. If you are in fact right that I'm condescending, then that doesn't mean that your post was not. If you want to shoot the messenger, then you are welcome to do so (I'm not going to argue with you about me, or about my post), but even dead messengers sometimes carry worthwhile messages.

[Andrea C.]

Thanks, @The_Baffled_King.

What threw me off was the "also" at the beginning of the motto in absence of a specification of what else was being done on top of serving. I also assumed, apparently incorrectly, that the rest of the motto referred to Helm (i.e. Helm is He who stands, waits, and watches carefully.)

It is clear now, following your explanation.

Edited May 30, 2022 by Andrea C.

[The_Baffled_King]

6 minutes ago, Andrea C. said:

Thanks, @The_Baffled_King.

You're welcome! I'm glad my post was useful to you, and thank you for saying that it was.

I mean, let's be honest, if it's taken from a seventeenth-century poet then it's gonna sound a bit weird...

[Greenhorn]

2 hours ago, The_Baffled_King said:

This is not a zero-sum game. If you are in fact right that I'm condescending, then that doesn't mean that your post was not. If you want to shoot the messenger, then you are welcome to do so (I'm not going to argue with you about me, or about my post), but even dead messengers sometimes carry worthwhile messages.

No, I'm not a king nor I wish to be, I'm republican in my outlook you see, as my reply to Andrea was not meant to be insulting in any way ( which was clearly marked out). If I spiced it with little humor my intention was not to be insulting in any way. Being offended on others behalf, seeing insult where there is none, calling others out of the blue and intentionally condescending is yours, now already well known royal prerogative. 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Greenhorn

[Salk]

I am especially grateful for the spot-on (I hope I was right to hyphenate that! ) clarification!

I truly enjoyed reading through it.

And my summoning was just a little tongue-in-cheek with no malicious intent at all. I remember some other topics you participated in, The_Baffled_King, and read your post about being available to help here in case someone needed to pick your brain.

I suppose the string does not need any kind of change then. 

I still find it hard to grasp, even after the accurate background check, but I am most definitely a non native speaker who is probably biting more than he can chew.

Cheers! 

[The_Baffled_King]

3 minutes ago, Salk said:

I am especially grateful for the spot-on (I hope I was right to hyphenate that! ) clarification!

You're very welcome, and thank you also for posting to say that you enjoyed it.

I expressed my views on non-native English speakers on this board in a post last year; this was the relevant part:

On 4/8/2021 at 11:36 PM, The_Baffled_King said:

Your English is absolutely fine. And I am willing to bet that your language skills overall, taking into account other languages, are far superior to a very substantial majority of native English speakers, most of whom know English and nothing more. It's the native English speakers who should feel lucky that you've put the effort in so they can understand you!

So... if you want to cover yourself, you could always say that you're not a native English speaker. Or whatever - you do you. But I always hate the thought that people who have made the effort to communicate in my native language genuinely feel bad about, or feel they have to apologise for, any mistakes they might make.

As for the summoning, don't worry - nobody could reasonably read any malice into it at all, only the possibility of a little teasing. It was funny if you were being tongue-in-cheek, and funny if you were also teasing me a bit too. I mean... you stuck a smiley on it, so if I read malice into it, it was totally my fault!

Honestly, if you hadn't made me laugh with the summoning, I might have just edited away my offer and politely declined to have a go at the query.

3 minutes ago, Salk said:

I am most definitely a non native speaker who is probably biting more than he can chew.

It's definitely healthier to bite off too much sometimes than to stop eating for fear of having too much in your mouth! Anyway, if you post about a string where Bioware/Beamdog have made a mistake, then that's great; if you post about a string and there's no mistake, then... where's the harm? 

[The_Baffled_King]

There was another relevant post that I found in that thread from last year, while scrolling down to mine. My feelings about this EEFP thread remain entirely unchanged, but perhaps Greenhorn will appreciate it if I also quote his post from last year's thread:

On 3/22/2021 at 4:38 PM, Greenhorn said:

You are quite gifted at this. Thanks for your effort ( as I imagine it can't be easy to write all of this on your third language ) and interesting and enjoyable end result. 

[Greenhorn]

38 minutes ago, The_Baffled_King said:

There was another relevant post that I found in that thread from last year, while scrolling down to mine. My feelings about this EEFP thread remain entirely unchanged, but perhaps Greenhorn will appreciate it if I also quote his post from last year's thread:

It is not that I don't appreciate fine irony, especially as it perfectly highlights what self-assertive smart-ass you are and reinforces what I wrote in my previous post. 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Greenhorn

[The_Baffled_King]

Just now, Greenhorn said:

It is not that I don't appreciate fine irony, especially as it perfectly highlights what self assertive smart ass you are and reinforces what I wrote in my previous post. 

If that's how you wish to respond then, having deliberately been vague to spare your blushes, I'll instead say what I could've said when I quoted your post from last year:

"Perhaps Greenhorn will appreciate me posting his quote from the earlier thread, as it will suggest to other posters that he is not likely to be deliberately condescending, especially if he knows he is commenting about the meaning of the English language in conversation with a non-native English speaker. While I never suggested that he is a condescending person, or even that he was being deliberately condescending in the context of that post, I remain certain that a reasonable person, acting reasonably, could find that his post was condescending, and there is absolutely nothing for me to apologise to him for.".

With that out of the way, I'm returning to my stated position of not arguing with you about me, or about my post.

[Greenhorn]

17 minutes ago, The_Baffled_King said:

With that out of the way, I'm returning to my stated position of not arguing with you about me, or about my post.and there is absolutely nothing for me to apologise to him for.".

That's it! Sword or a pistol?  Oh, your concern for my delicate feelings is quite touching. But I will respect your wish, I guess we already said our pieces. 

[Andrea C.]

The game text sometimes makes use of the expression "from whence [subject] came". In some cases, this is voiced and I suggest leaving those untouched. In unvoiced lines, however, I would correct it to just "whence [subject] came" since "whence" already means "from where."