Quotation marks in /Say

[Maril]

I've been ponder-wondering for a while now, about the use of " " in front of your text in /say.

 

I noticed it with myself, that I have started adapting the use of " ", because at some point I realized I was the only one -not- doing it in a particular situation. But then when I'm around someone that doesn't do it, I stop again. And when equal amounts of people who do and do not use it, I become a rather inconsistent mess. Maybe I am just thinking too much about it? 

 

So anyways I figured I'd make a poll about it to see what people prefer. So what do you guys think about it? Something you noticed? Does it change anything for you? Force of habit?

[C'kayah Polaali]

I used to treat /say differently from /em. I'd quote speech in /em because I wanted to distinguish it from the actions, and I wouldn't quote speech in /say. But lately I treat /say as just a general purpose blob of text, and mix speech and actions in there just the same:

 

/say His eyes flicked from one figure to the other, mentally calculating his odds of getting out of this. He smirked, shaking his head. "It looks like we're not going to be able to talk this out, will we, boys?"

[Kage]

I've been using " " in /say to denote dialogue.

 

/say "Miss Grimsong, pray tell me you will be alright."

 

Kage Kiryuu: "Miss Grimsong, pray tell me you will be alright."

 

When I use a mix, it depends on whether or not I go to straight dialogue or use /em to decide.

 

/say "What would you have me do?" the Lalafell asked, his movements jerking harshly. The feather of his white beret moved sharply.

 

Kage Kiryuu: "What would you have me do?" the Lalafell asked, his movements jerking harshly. The feather of his white beret moved sharply.

 

When I want to use action and dialogue mixed in...

 

/em threw himself to the ground, rolling to break his fall. As soon as he was on his feet he spun around, smashing his axe down at his pursuer's feet before crying to his companion, "Run! Run and I'll keep 'im here!"

 

 Kage Kiryuu threw thimself to the ground, rolling to break his fall. As soon as he was on his feet he spun around, smashing his axe down at his pursuer's feet before crying to his companion, "Run! Run and I'll keep 'im here!"

 

Edit: In regards to my character quoting something, I typically use the " ' ' " format that I've seen used in literary works I used to read.

/say "Who is this so-called 'Little Wolf' that you speak of?"

Kage Kiryuu: "Who is this so-called 'Little Wolf' that you speak of?"

[Nebbs]

I have adopted the "" for speach in any ic channel. Also a *to denote an action.

 

I use emote to combine actions then add speach to the same line with "" and sometimes I add more actions after it.

 

I also voice npcs using say and so have to treat this the same.eg..

 

[Gard1] the gard notes your approach and taking up his spear from the wall it was resting on steps into your path, "Here now, where you thinking the likes of you is going", and he turns to his fellow gards with a proud smile as if to comment on the cheek of these travelers.

[Aaron]

I only use quotations if im putting an action before the dialogue.

 

I always put an action before i dialogue for some reason. I never put dialogue first and then a action. It seems weird to me.

[Gegenji]

I'm kinda in the same boat, Nailah. I used to just do straight say as conversation. Quotation marks only in emotes where I have some talking mixed in. However, I've found myself adopting it into say as well - and I think it helps give the same utility as it does in emotes. Now if I want to say something, have my guy do something, and then say something else... I can have it all in one action rather than split it up into two or even three.

 

... Then again I still do stuff like that anyway, but it's nice to have the option available. :blush:

[Judielle Farendaire]

I used to be a firm believer in not using quotations with /say.  If it was clear my character was speaking, I saw no reason to leave another indication!  Yet overtime I found that their use allows me a lot more flexibility when it comes to emoting with /say, whereas before I would awkwardly use asterisks, most of the time.

[Dante Abigor]

I usually only bother saying things in /say specifically so I do not waste time trying to get my point across. I tend to type fast enough so I usually can emote an action then say something or vice versa.

 

If I have reason to believe someone could type a response before I finish however is when I would bother using quotations, so I can separate actions from text. I dont really have to do that often though as my character's demeanor and mannerisms are usually projected through words or actions alone. Its not often necessary for me to mix the two to get my point across, and I enjoy keeping things simplistic--mainly to avoid influencing another character with too much or somewhat forceful information.

[Warren Castille]

I used to be a firm believer in not using quotations with /say.  If it was clear my character was speaking, I saw no reason to leave another indication!  Yet overtime I found that their use allows me a lot more flexibility when it comes to emoting with /say, whereas before I would awkwardly use asterisks, most of the time.

 

Basically this. I use quotations just to be consistent with my writing.

 

Warren Castille: Otherwise you get weird things like this.

Warren Castille demonstrates in text. "Sometimes you have them, sometimes you don't."

Warren Castille: And that just looks sloppy to my eyes.

[Aris]

Similarly I never used to, but have adopted it at it seems to be the more common now, in the same way of Kage's post.

 

It doesn't bother me either way, but I like the use of quotation marks as I feel more comfortable adding actions in without having to use /em all the time.

 

I adapt to whoever I'm RPing with, which isn't very consistent, but nevermind.

[Kellach Woods]

It's more obvious if you have word balloons, but yeah, I treat /say as text intrinsically between quote marks. The reason why there's quote marks while emoting is because you can emote without speaking, and thus adding quote marks while emoting separates text from emote.

 

What I'd do in other games but decided against in this one was add quotation marks to any action that started out with speech but ended with an action. Instead, I just quickly type out the emote in FFXIV. I feel it looks better that way.

 

But you do you.

[Coatleque]

I use quotations in say to denote that it's an in-character message. If I'm standing around the mist talking to someone in my FC, I'll forego the quotes.

[Berrod Armstrong]

I used to do it without quotation marks (I also used to post in present tense), then I changed my style a bit. I started posting using quotation marks so I could start with speech and interrupt it with some sort of description or note. 

 

 

Before-

Berrod Armstrong: I don't know what caused this. Thaumaturgy, maybe?

Berrod Amstrong kneels to examine the burn marks.

 

 

Now-

Berrod Armstrong: "I don't know what caused this," The Highlander murmured quietly, "Thaumaturgy, maybe?"

Berrod Armstrong knelt down to examine the burn marks.

[Brynhilde]

I've always used quotation marks. Not only because it just looks 'proper' to my eye as a reader and amateur writer, but because it clearly denotes to the reader that I am RPing.

[Ignacius]

Not in /s, it's been implied by the format that you're saying something.

 

Then again, I almost always emote, so that people have some flavor to the dialogue.

[Kage]

I use quotations in say to denote that it's an in-character message.  If I'm standing around the mist talking to someone in my FC, I'll forego the quotes.

Also, this.

 

I also have a lot of friends who do not roleplay or there are times I will speak with friends who do roleplay but we want to speak as players, not characters.

[Martiallais]

All quotations, all the time here. 8-)

[Steel Wolf]

I've begun adopting the regular use of quotation marks as well, but then I RP with someone who doesn't and I slip on a response with no quotes around it and I sorta feel a bit jarred by it visually when it shouldn't matter and I begun this torturous, downward spiral where grammar has hooked chains snagged in to its flesh and pulled apart like a scene out of Hellraiser.

[FreelanceWizard]

I don't use them unless I'm narrating. In that case, I preface /say with ¶, as in:

 

L'yhta Mahre: ¶ The guard narrowed his eyes, staring daggers at the lalafell in front of him. "Y'sure y'want t'do this, popoto?"

 

The ¶ mark indicates that the text that follows is narration of NPCs, the scene, and so on.

 

In normal RP, I use quotation marks in /em, but not /say. If I need to break some speech up with actions, I'll use /em for it, as in:

 

L'yhta Mahre runs a hand through her hair. "Ah... that's complicated, you know?" Her ears droop a little along with the tip of her tail. "I don't think I really have an answer for that..."

 

If I want to talk to someone OOC, I religiously use the double-parentheses unless the discussion is clearly OOC, as it would be in a PUG or over tell without some other context.

[Caspar]

I habitually abuse custom emote, so I need to use "". However, when I use say, I use quotes for consistency's sake. Since the vast majority of my character's dialogue is in /em and has quotes, it just feels weird not to do it in /say as well.

 

Officially according to my profile on here, /say without quotes is OOC, but since people use brackets to denote that, l rarely deviate unnecessarily from that standard, given that it seems readily understood.

[Gegenji]

I don't use them unless I'm narrating. In that case, I preface /say with ¶, as in:

 

L'yhta Mahre: ¶ The guard narrowed his eyes, staring daggers at the lalafell in front of him. "Y'sure y'want t'do this, popoto?"

 

The ¶ mark indicates that the text that follows is narration of NPCs, the scene, and so on.

 

In that sort of case, if I'm opening with an emote, I tend to do an /em followed immediately by a | to imply that this is separate from what my character himself is doing. You'll see this most often when I'm talking about what Gran's doing.

 

* Chachanji Gegenji | Gran snuffles at the stranger, his glittering black eyes sizing the fellow up. Who was he and what was he doing here? And, most importantly, did he have something to eat?

 

If I'm opening an NPC's actions with words, I'll usually have some manner of identifier in /say to show that it's him like your ¶, but usually involving the character's name or handle.

 

Chachanji Gegenji: (Zozonji Gegenji) "... Do what you want," the older Lalafell said gruffly, dismissively, before trudging his way back into the smoke of the smithy.

[Caspar]

If I'm running a scene and it's something my character doesn't have anything to do with I uh... I do that thing from certain games where you put > in front of the narration... ^_^"

[Hali]

I used to be a firm believer in not using quotations with /say.  If it was clear my character was speaking, I saw no reason to leave another indication!  Yet overtime I found that their use allows me a lot more flexibility when it comes to emoting with /say, whereas before I would awkwardly use asterisks, most of the time.

 

Basically this. I use quotations just to be consistent with my writing.

 

Warren Castille: Otherwise you get weird things like this.

Warren Castille demonstrates in text. "Sometimes you have them, sometimes you don't."

Warren Castille: And that just looks sloppy to my eyes.

 

This. I used to just do without the quotes and do it just as Warren demonstrated, but it started to look unrefined and irritating to me. I also like that it opens up the ability to continue writing some given emote after without having to break it up.

[Telluride]

I much prefer the use of quotes. As others have pointed out, it clarifies which parts are spoken, and allows emoting to precede the quote, follow it, or both. It also helps to break up long exchanges and permit changes of mood and tone to have a visual appearance.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

I'll always use quotes when speaking IC diaglogue. Always.

 

It was how the people I first RPed with did it, and it made sense to me.

 

I don't really distinguish between /say and /emote because I'll mix and match them depending on how I want my sentence to start. I find it against my writing style to Do any type of Narration first sentence unless it's starting with Franz. For exceptions to that, I'll use /em and a bar ( | ) to denote that this isn't an action Franz is doing, and he isn't saying it.

 

 "This would be something Franz said". And then maybe he would walk away.

 

 /em would way away, perhaps mumbling "this is something I said".

 

I do break a "rule" of English grammar in all of this though. Putting the punctuation inside the quotes. Hate it. Perhaps that's the computer science influence, but it just seems so silly to do it within RP because I'm effectively just using the quote marks to denote spoken text. They're self-contained.