Coming Across Approachably

• DON'T SHOUT
• Don't sound frantic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DON'T SHOUT

Typically you do not have the option of using bold, underline, or italics online and on MU*s. Therefore various other ways of emphasizing words have been devised. Marking a word with unusual puncutation, for example asterisks or underscores, gives it emphasis (to be read louder or more strongly).

For example: The dog ate my homework!

The *dog* ate my homework!
The dog ate _my_ homework!
The dog >ate< my homework!

Another obvious way to emphasize a word is to put it in all caps. You can easily imagine someone shouting,

"THE DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK!"

Now imagine someone who always talked that way...

"HI GUYS! HOW ARE YOU? I'M DOING GREAT. WHAT ARE WE DOING TONIGHT? ANYTHING FUN?"

On a MU* this kind of writing is used almost exclusively to indicate high volume. Speaking like this regularly will make your companions want to hold their ears. To come across politely on MUDs, reserve writing in all caps for times when you really mean to be yelling or shouting.

Don't Sound Frantic.

Punctuation is plainly an important part of communicating in a text-based medium. How you weild a question mark or exclamation point has a great deal to do with how you come across, in both obvious and more subtle ways.

For example:
So, what's going on?

This question sounds ordinary: pretty laid-back and calm. But if the person carelessly leaves their finger on the question mark key too long, they'll very likely produce this:
So, what's going on?????????????

Now they sound like they're shouting, frantic, panicked. To come across politely on MU*s, don't overdo your punctuation. An occasional startled "What?!" is okay, but refrain from producing frantic text ("What?!?!?!?!") unless you really, really mean it. This amounts to being careful, essentially. Watch what you're typing, and correct mistakes and typos if you make them.

Go On to Page 2 (Being Clear & Communicating Effectively)