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A random question for you gamers out there. (Patreon)

Published:
2020-09-01 12:25:16
Imported:
2026-06

Content

When you're playing a game and get a temporary status buff/effect, do you prefer that condition to have a stylistic/thematic name or one that's purely informative? For example, 'Haste' versus 'Speed Up' or  'Bravery'  versus  'Attack Up'.  

Comments

MinionOfGruumsh

I prefer a completely informative, but brief name. The provided example is a case where the thematic one is more informative than the "pure information" one. "Haste" conveys a sense of moving faster, trying to get more done, doing more in less time, so it conveys the idea of more run speed, getting more attacks in, finishing tasks quicker, etc. "Speed Up" is more vague, leaving the reader to guess what it does; is it just run speed? To this end, "Mage Armor" is better than "Bless". And "Damage Boost" is better than "Divine Favor". And "Shield of Faith" would be better than "Deflection Boost" I don't know how to answer the poll...

saburox
>>43236734

To give another example "Bravery" would be stylistic, while ""Attack Up". would be informative.

MinionOfGruumsh
>>43236734

Sorry, I hate to be like this, but it depends on what is intended, right? If they both equate to the same buff, then Attack Up is better because it implies what it actually is. If, however, these are two different things and Bravery is a resistance to fear or intimidation or whatever, then Bravery is better because it conveys the effect better than Attack Up, since how is attack upped? Is it a damage raise? Does it raise my chance to hit? Does it do both? But I think I'm getting to hung up on the examples... Would it be fair to say that you're polling the following: "*All other things being equal*, and conveying the same amount of information, do you prefer buffs/debuffs to be flavorful or purely mechanical in their naming?"

saburox
>>43236734

They'd both have the same function and description in game. But I think the fact that you're asking that means your vote is likely for 'Informative'.

Ornithorhynchidae

Stylistic is preferred, but only if there's a tooltip that explains precisely what it does mechanically. If there's no such tooltip, then informative is better. But really, there should be a tooltip

Just Some Guy

Ideal situation is a stylistic name with a clear, keyworded description somewhere, ideally a tooltip or something similar. So, something like "Haste" with a tooltip of "ATB speed +25%". If that's not possible, then I'd prefer an informative name so I don't have to guess.

Azul

Speed Up will always remind me of Gradius. Really it depends. I'm a fan of going all in with stylistic names if there is a tool-tip that shows what the spell or effect does (like when selecting it on the menu).

CappuccinoSquid

As long as you have tools to teach, an in-canon thematic/stylistic name for applying the condition and something informative/intuitive for the definition to remind you what it means at a glance could work, either through tooltip or token e.g. "All-Out Assault" - Haste, Brave, Steeled, Berserk. Single word, one to two syllables, but "Brave" could be confusing, for instance, like "does it mean attack up or resistance to mental status ailments?"