Tweet
Greetings, all.
Recently, there was some discussion regarding learning languages on the boards. That inspired me to get off my lazy buttocks and write up a quick guide on the most common and speedy way to learn languages. This is still in <b>draft form</b>, as there are a couple of points I still need to verify. Once I've done that, I'll edit this guide and post a note at the end of the thread.
I'd appreciate any comments, corrections, criticisms, flames, or death threats regarding the guide. Just post here and I'll take it all into account.
The Kyros Krane Random Guide Series, Part 1:
Language Skills
(For a guy who's been playing the game all of three months, I'm pretty arrogant, aren't I?
)
Overview:
1) Prepare a language macro
2) Set up your windows correctly
3) Set your language
4) SPAM! (with apologies to Hormel)
5) Zone to check skill (optional)
6) Check your language.
1) Prepare a language macro
The key to learning languages quickly is volume. Not volume as in sound; volume as in quantity. As with all other skills, you learn by doing, and the more you do something, the better your chance to get a skillup. So, for language skills, you want a macro (called in EQ a "social") that lets you get the maximum number of lines out there with the least work possible. I'll use the terms "social" and "macro" interchangeably.
In EQ, socials can have a maximum of five commands. For languages, I've seen two versions of the macro you'll need. One is the lazy and convenient way that reduces your number of possible skillup opportunities (I'll call this the "safe" macro); the other is the quick and dirty way that potentially renders you unintelligible to most other EQ players (I'll call this the "speedy" macro).
The "safe" macro is set up as follows:
<b>Line 1:</b> /lang 20
<b>Line 2:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 3:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 4:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 5:</b> /lang 1
This macro automatically switches you to the language you set up, spams the group chat with three lines of text in the chosen language, then switches you back to common. Note that the number "20" is just an example, you need to find the correct number for the language you are teaching and set it to that. Language number "1" is always Common tongue, and it is the default language that everyone uses.
The "speedy" macro foregoes the language-switching in favor of five lines of group speech, like so:
<b>Line 1:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 2:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 3:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 4:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 5:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
To use this macro, you have to manually switch into your teaching language before you start, then manually switch to Common when you're done. This has the advantage in that you're pumping out much more data, thus enabling faster skillups for your groupmates; but if you reply to a tell or say something in OOC or Shout while training, it will likely go out in the language you're teaching, not Common. Likewise, if you forget to switch back at the end of the training session, you'll confuse people you chat with as you speak to them in some obscure tongue they don't understand.
The "safe" macro avoids this by switching you into the chosen language at the start, then back to Common at the end of each press. You give up a bit of volume (teaching speed) in favor of convenience (language safety). Which you choose is a matter of preference; I chat enough that I prefer the safe macro.
Note that you can say whatever you like after the /g. I use the verses of a song that I like; other folks put in a small story or a limerick; others just use "blah...". What you use doesn't matter; I haven't noticed a difference in using short or long messages. I try to keep the messages short so that they show up in only one line for the other folks; this minimizes vertical window scrolling.
2) Set up your windows correctly
The EQ user interface is wonderful in that you can make mini-chat windows for dedicated purposes. A perfect use in this case is to make a chat window dedicated to the training session. You will see HUNDREDS of language messages go by each minute. That's a monstrous volume of spam that will make it all but impossible to read any other text in the same window.
So, get rid of it! Make a new window to catch the language spam, and leave your Main Chat window for "normal" stuff like OOC and tells. To do this, right-click on the Main Chat window's title bar and choose "New Chat Window". Position the new window somewhere out of the way, then right-click on the new window's title and look at the "Filters -> " option. Select Group and Other for this window (you'll see a star appear next to each one in the menu after it's selected). Now, all the group messages, language skill-up notes, and language change messages will go to this window, and everything else will stay in the main chat window.
When you're done with the language session, you'll probably want your group and skillup messages to go into their usual window. To do this, just close the new window by clicking on the X in the top-right corner. Any text that was filtered to this window will now go into the Main Chat window instead.
3) Set your language
For some reason, it appears that the code number associated with each language changes from time to time. The only constant I've seen is that Common is always language 1 (one). To prepare for your language session, you need to find the correct code for the language you want to teach. Here's how you do this. Type these lines, and after each one, note the language you've switched to.
/lang 1
/lang 2
.
.
/lang 15
.
.
etc.
To return to Common (the default language), type this:
/lang 1
(Note that it's the number one at the end, not the letter L or i.)
So, let's say you've found that the language you want to teach is number 3 for you. If you're using the "safe" macro, change the first line to read as follows:
<b>Line 1:</b> /lang 3
Leave the rest of the macro alone.
If you're using the "speedy" macro, just change the language before you begin by typing the following before you begin:
/lang 3
4) SPAM! (with apologies to Hormel)
Form your group as normal, and make sure you know who the group leader is (he's the person who will have to invite new members if they want to join after you start). Start clicking the macro button you made. Each press will send out three (for the "safe" macro) or five (for the "speedy" macro) messages to all your groupmates. Hopefully, they've also set up their macros and are spamming right back at you in other languages.
Note that it's impossible to have a meaningful conversation in group chat while spamming. Instead, most folks will either use tells to the group leader, or say stuff out loud if the group members are close to each other. Both will show up in the main window, not the group spam window, which makes it much easier to converse while training.
5) Zone to check skill (optional)
Every once in a while, you'll see a message like "Your language skills have improved!" in dark blue. (I forget the exact message text.) However, if you check your skills from the Inventory window, none of the numbers have changed! It turns out there's a small bug that causes the skills window to NOT update language improvements until you zone or camp out. Your skills really are improving; you just can't see how much until you zone. If you're impatient, you can zone every five minutes or so to see how much you've improved, but note that this will slow down the rate at which you're learning. On the other hand, it is useful if you just need a few points to max out a language and you don't want to waste time "learning" a language that's already been mastered.
Personally, I'll just zone once at the end of a session if my rating in the language I'm being taught is really low. If my skill is high and it only needs a few points to max, I may zone more frequently to maximize my investment.
6) Check your language
When you're done with your language session, remember to switch back to Common so everyone can understand you! Type this just to be sure:
/lang 1
If you use the "safe" macro, you should automatically switch back; if you use the "speedy" macro, you have to do this manually.
And that's it. Happy spamming!
Recently, there was some discussion regarding learning languages on the boards. That inspired me to get off my lazy buttocks and write up a quick guide on the most common and speedy way to learn languages. This is still in <b>draft form</b>, as there are a couple of points I still need to verify. Once I've done that, I'll edit this guide and post a note at the end of the thread.
I'd appreciate any comments, corrections, criticisms, flames, or death threats regarding the guide. Just post here and I'll take it all into account.
The Kyros Krane Random Guide Series, Part 1:
Language Skills
(For a guy who's been playing the game all of three months, I'm pretty arrogant, aren't I?
)Overview:
1) Prepare a language macro
2) Set up your windows correctly
3) Set your language
4) SPAM! (with apologies to Hormel)
5) Zone to check skill (optional)
6) Check your language.
1) Prepare a language macro
The key to learning languages quickly is volume. Not volume as in sound; volume as in quantity. As with all other skills, you learn by doing, and the more you do something, the better your chance to get a skillup. So, for language skills, you want a macro (called in EQ a "social") that lets you get the maximum number of lines out there with the least work possible. I'll use the terms "social" and "macro" interchangeably.
In EQ, socials can have a maximum of five commands. For languages, I've seen two versions of the macro you'll need. One is the lazy and convenient way that reduces your number of possible skillup opportunities (I'll call this the "safe" macro); the other is the quick and dirty way that potentially renders you unintelligible to most other EQ players (I'll call this the "speedy" macro).
The "safe" macro is set up as follows:
<b>Line 1:</b> /lang 20
<b>Line 2:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 3:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 4:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 5:</b> /lang 1
This macro automatically switches you to the language you set up, spams the group chat with three lines of text in the chosen language, then switches you back to common. Note that the number "20" is just an example, you need to find the correct number for the language you are teaching and set it to that. Language number "1" is always Common tongue, and it is the default language that everyone uses.
The "speedy" macro foregoes the language-switching in favor of five lines of group speech, like so:
<b>Line 1:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 2:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 3:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 4:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
<b>Line 5:</b> /g (something meaningful here)
To use this macro, you have to manually switch into your teaching language before you start, then manually switch to Common when you're done. This has the advantage in that you're pumping out much more data, thus enabling faster skillups for your groupmates; but if you reply to a tell or say something in OOC or Shout while training, it will likely go out in the language you're teaching, not Common. Likewise, if you forget to switch back at the end of the training session, you'll confuse people you chat with as you speak to them in some obscure tongue they don't understand.
The "safe" macro avoids this by switching you into the chosen language at the start, then back to Common at the end of each press. You give up a bit of volume (teaching speed) in favor of convenience (language safety). Which you choose is a matter of preference; I chat enough that I prefer the safe macro.
Note that you can say whatever you like after the /g. I use the verses of a song that I like; other folks put in a small story or a limerick; others just use "blah...". What you use doesn't matter; I haven't noticed a difference in using short or long messages. I try to keep the messages short so that they show up in only one line for the other folks; this minimizes vertical window scrolling.
2) Set up your windows correctly
The EQ user interface is wonderful in that you can make mini-chat windows for dedicated purposes. A perfect use in this case is to make a chat window dedicated to the training session. You will see HUNDREDS of language messages go by each minute. That's a monstrous volume of spam that will make it all but impossible to read any other text in the same window.
So, get rid of it! Make a new window to catch the language spam, and leave your Main Chat window for "normal" stuff like OOC and tells. To do this, right-click on the Main Chat window's title bar and choose "New Chat Window". Position the new window somewhere out of the way, then right-click on the new window's title and look at the "Filters -> " option. Select Group and Other for this window (you'll see a star appear next to each one in the menu after it's selected). Now, all the group messages, language skill-up notes, and language change messages will go to this window, and everything else will stay in the main chat window.
When you're done with the language session, you'll probably want your group and skillup messages to go into their usual window. To do this, just close the new window by clicking on the X in the top-right corner. Any text that was filtered to this window will now go into the Main Chat window instead.
3) Set your language
For some reason, it appears that the code number associated with each language changes from time to time. The only constant I've seen is that Common is always language 1 (one). To prepare for your language session, you need to find the correct code for the language you want to teach. Here's how you do this. Type these lines, and after each one, note the language you've switched to.
/lang 1
/lang 2
.
.
/lang 15
.
.
etc.
To return to Common (the default language), type this:
/lang 1
(Note that it's the number one at the end, not the letter L or i.)
So, let's say you've found that the language you want to teach is number 3 for you. If you're using the "safe" macro, change the first line to read as follows:
<b>Line 1:</b> /lang 3
Leave the rest of the macro alone.
If you're using the "speedy" macro, just change the language before you begin by typing the following before you begin:
/lang 3
4) SPAM! (with apologies to Hormel)
Form your group as normal, and make sure you know who the group leader is (he's the person who will have to invite new members if they want to join after you start). Start clicking the macro button you made. Each press will send out three (for the "safe" macro) or five (for the "speedy" macro) messages to all your groupmates. Hopefully, they've also set up their macros and are spamming right back at you in other languages.
Note that it's impossible to have a meaningful conversation in group chat while spamming. Instead, most folks will either use tells to the group leader, or say stuff out loud if the group members are close to each other. Both will show up in the main window, not the group spam window, which makes it much easier to converse while training.
5) Zone to check skill (optional)
Every once in a while, you'll see a message like "Your language skills have improved!" in dark blue. (I forget the exact message text.) However, if you check your skills from the Inventory window, none of the numbers have changed! It turns out there's a small bug that causes the skills window to NOT update language improvements until you zone or camp out. Your skills really are improving; you just can't see how much until you zone. If you're impatient, you can zone every five minutes or so to see how much you've improved, but note that this will slow down the rate at which you're learning. On the other hand, it is useful if you just need a few points to max out a language and you don't want to waste time "learning" a language that's already been mastered.
Personally, I'll just zone once at the end of a session if my rating in the language I'm being taught is really low. If my skill is high and it only needs a few points to max, I may zone more frequently to maximize my investment.
6) Check your language
When you're done with your language session, remember to switch back to Common so everyone can understand you! Type this just to be sure:
/lang 1
If you use the "safe" macro, you should automatically switch back; if you use the "speedy" macro, you have to do this manually.
And that's it. Happy spamming!
Ngreth Thergn
ops: I have two windows open; one for communication and one for combat spam. If I'm not careful to change the language in the "main" window (and change the OTHER one) I never actually speak in the other language...
Comment