Just wanted to introduce myself and say hello! I have ghosted the forum for a while now (same thing with HBO) but only now have started gaming myself and really starting to learn more about the community! You can find me as Hoots88 on XB1 and CommandrCleavage on PS4. I just started playing Destiny last night and am a general novice at Halo. Played through all the Bioshocks which were my first "real" introduction to gaming.

Hosted the 2013 HBOhio alongside Revenant1988, attended the 2013 Kentucky Fried LAN, and the 2014 Smokey Mountain LANbouree so I do know a few community members already!

Looking forward to meeting new people and really getting into Destiny! Already loving what I have played through so far!

Happy to be here!

Awesome stuff, welcome to the fun! :D

*points*
*waves*
*dances*

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It is, wanted a username that would make me laugh every time I logged in

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Glad to see you here!

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Hi Blue!!! Glad to be here! Spent all last night playing! I can't wait to play with you guys!

You and Rev are doing newgen only, yeah?

I'm not going to score a Bone until release, but looking forward to playing with you kids. Glad you decided to finally jump in with both feet!

PS - Definitely up for a KI throwdown, once I get my bearings there. Watching you play brought back that ol' bloodlust.

~m

Hi Mal!!

Yes New Gen only. Looking forward to seeing you on there!

I played through what I could of KI again the other night when we first got everything hooked up before I got the Destiny Beta. I really was so excited to see that on there for free! Yes, yes throw down please, fight games like that don't interest Rev much so I am on my own with that one.

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Looking forward to more co-op nights with ya (this time with your very own gamer handle), and of course more meet-ups in the future!

Welcome!

You picked a good time to post here. You've haven't missed any LAN writeups yet. :P

Im still missing the HBOhio writeup that Bones swears is still coming....

Can we have another LAN again soon? We need another LANbouree where you stay with us the whole time!

Can we have another LAN again soon? We need another LANbouree where you stay with us the whole time!

Hope so! My mid-LAN excursion last time was just the result of an unfortunate collision of two obsessions. A Springsteen show is one of the few things that would keep me from hanging out with you and Rev.

Just wanted to introduce myself and say hello! I have ghosted the forum for a while now (same thing with HBO) but only now have started gaming myself and really starting to learn more about the community! You can find me as Hoots88 on XB1 and CommandrCleavage on PS4. I just started playing Destiny last night and am a general novice at Halo. Played through all the Bioshocks which were my first "real" introduction to gaming.

Hosted the 2013 HBOhio alongside Revenant1988, attended the 2013 Kentucky Fried LAN, and the 2014 Smokey Mountain LANbouree so I do know a few community members already!

Looking forward to meeting new people and really getting into Destiny! Already loving what I have played through so far!

Happy to be here!

Hey there, person I've met in real life! Welcome to the forum! Can't wait to game with you and Rev again!

- CC This post is filled with exclamation points!!

Fantastic name! You seem like you know a bunch of peeps here so I suspect you'll know tons more pretty quickly! I'm happy to see so many new faces here and I hope you stick around to have plenty of fun with us, Cleavage! Welcome to DBO! Have fun! Exclamation point!

It's a nice courtesy for everyone. :)

It's a nice courtesy for everyone. :)

And what do I use instead? There's no alternative. English has no gender neutral singular pronouns.

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It's a nice courtesy for everyone. :)

And what do I use instead? There's no alternative. English has no gender neutral singular pronouns.

This is true, though it is becoming more and more accepted to use "they" as a gender neutral term. It's generally what I use as I find it less awkward than listing the possibilities.

Im still missing the HBOhio writeup that Bones swears is still coming....

Well, I've got just the thing to inspire that handsome, handsome man. BLAM.

It's a nice courtesy for everyone. :)

And what do I use instead? There's no alternative. English has no gender neutral singular pronouns.

This is true, though it is becoming more and more accepted to use "they" as a gender neutral term. It's generally what I use as I find it less awkward than listing the possibilities.

That's makes sense to me, though I'd love to hear what Grizz has to say too.

Can we have another LAN again soon? We need another LANbouree where you stay with us the whole time!

Hope so! My mid-LAN excursion last time was just the result of an unfortunate collision of two obsessions. A Springsteen show is one of the few things that would keep me from hanging out with you and Rev.

Solution: have Springsteen play at the LAN.

Who I did I say before anyway? Mellancamp? Bon Jovi? I don't even remember.

I'm still missing the HBOhio writeup that Bones swears is still coming....

And you've already fired shots at Bones.

Blue would be proud.

Well done.

Ask politely.

Hey Commmander, what pronouns do you prefer?

I'm all for taking shots at Bones.

http://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=21247

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I went to Ohio.
I met a bunch of people I hate.
We played Halo.
I killed everyone and won all the stuff.
The food was terrible.

The End.

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I see Rev's plan has failed. I'll have to activate the sleeper agent, code name: Bonkle.

He will show no mercy.

Welcome to Deebo!

She is always my preferred pronoun. LOL I'm all for gender neutrality if that's your bag but I like being a proper lady :)

Hi Cane! -insert copious amounts of explanation points-

Jessie's Girl rocks, BTW.

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Until 50 years ago every literate person knew that "he" was gender-neutral when referring to a person of unknown gender. Only women were considered important enough to have a pronoun that referred only to them. Then everyone got stupid. ;)

She is always my preferred pronoun. LOL I'm all for gender neutrality if that's your bag but I like being a proper lady :)

You've got more balls than most men I've met, but sure, proper lady it is.

It's a nice courtesy for everyone. :)

And what do I use instead? There's no alternative. English has no gender neutral singular pronouns.

As Xenos suggested, they, them, and their is useful for when you don't know a person's gender and their pronouns, if you know they don't care for feminine or masculine pronouns, or if you really don't know. Alternatively, you can simply call them by their name.

Regarding he/him/his as the gender neutral terms suggests masculine pronouns are the default or standard and that should not be the case. I certainly don't appreciate it when people assume I'm a guy and use masculine pronouns when I join an online community where you can not display your gender in some way, and I know many ladies and queer or non-binary people don't appreciate it either.

I'm really sorry for getting off-topic on someone's introduction thread, but it's very easy to be inclusive so we seem welcoming to all sorts of people and I just want to do all I can to help ensure that.

You'll find "s/he" a lot when referencing transgender women when their gender and pronouns are totally obvious. It's just one little way to degrade them as something less than an "ordinary" woman.

Until 50 years ago every literate person knew that "he" was gender-neutral when referring to a person of unknown gender. Only women were considered important enough to have a pronoun that referred only to them.

Every literate person in the English-speaking world, perhaps, and probably only men at that. Women weren't very well regarded or afforded much respect 50 years ago [or today] and I'm guessing that's why masculine pronouns were made the standard centuries before.

Then everyone got stupid. ;)

Pardon?

Until 50 years ago every literate person knew that "he" was gender-neutral when referring to a person of unknown gender. Only women were considered important enough to have a pronoun that referred only to them.

Every literate person in the English-speaking world, perhaps, and probably only men at that. Women weren't very well regarded or afforded much respect 50 years ago [or today] and I'm guessing that's why masculine pronouns were made the standard.

Then everyone got stupid. ;)

Pardon?

Just joshing. To make a serious point, male and female English speakers knew that using "he" to refer to a non-specific person was inclusive of both genders and was not meant to indicate that the person was male. See also "mankind."

I see Rev's plan has failed. I'll have to activate the sleeper agent, code name: Bonkle.

He will show no mercy.

Best I can do is turn her into a llama.

Also welcome to our humble corner of the internet The Artist formerly known as Rev(1)! Please enjoy your stay :)

I went to Ohio.
I met a bunch of people I hate.
We played Halo.
I killed everyone and won all the stuff.
The food was terrible.

The End.

You just plagiarized my write-up of your LAN!

I went to Indiana.
I met a bunch of people I didn't know and someone they hate named korny.
He played Black Ops.
I killed the host and won all his prizes.
The cookies were awesome
The smells were awful.
"Yes Mom, I can talk."

The End.

See what you did?

We can't take you anywhere!

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I went to Ohio.
I met a bunch of people I hate.
We played Halo.
I killed everyone and won all the stuff.
The food was terrible.

The End.

You just plagiarized my write-up of your LAN!

I went to Indiana.
I met a bunch of people I didn't know and someone they hate named korny.
He played Black Ops.
I killed the host and won all his prizes.
The cookies were awesome
The smells were awful.
"Yes Mom, I can talk."

The End.

3am.
Korny's phone plays it's 150th alarm for the night.
Korny keeps on sleeping.
Canecutter: "I'm going to kill Korny."
Also I was on the winning ODST Challenge team.

Oh damn, really?

I always assumed it was just when the gender of an unknown person was. well, unknown.

Though yeah I can totally see how that might offend. My bad.

Well, even discounting a singular "they" "one" fits the bill, but I understand someone not wanting to talk like the Gravemind all the time; there are some situations where it's incredibly unwieldy.

Eh, while "man" used to be the gender-neutral term I really wouldn't say that "he" was. It was used as such when necessary, but it was definitely the masculine. Whereas man went from meaning "human" to "male human". Oh well, this is literally semantics.

Regarding he/him/his as the gender neutral terms suggests masculine pronouns are the default or standard and that should not be the case. I certainly don't appreciate it when people assume I'm a guy and use masculine pronouns when I join an online community where you can not display your gender in some way, and I know many ladies and queer or non-binary people don't appreciate it either.

It doesn't assume you are a guy. Technically, you are supposed to use "he" or "him" if the gender is unknown in the english language and you are referring to a singular person. It's not done out of insensitivity, just protocol. You can be unhappy about this, but that is what's proper linguistically.

Hello and welcome. I'm glad to see you on here finally.

Eh, while "man" used to be the gender-neutral term I really wouldn't say that "he" was. It was used as such when necessary, but it was definitely the masculine. Whereas man went from meaning "human" to "male human". Oh well, this is literally semantics.

"Man" is a third case with its own nuances. I'm talking about how generic masculine pronouns were perceived and used by educated people in the past, and it was understood to be generic in certain contexts. Language is a living thing where perception often becomes reality, though, and the masculine pronoun began to take on political significance to some readers, and here we are, where we try to avoid that usage if we want to appeal to the widest audience. It's impossible to talk about this, though, without talking about politics, and this isn't the place.

Regarding he/him/his as the gender neutral terms suggests masculine pronouns are the default or standard and that should not be the case. I certainly don't appreciate it when people assume I'm a guy and use masculine pronouns when I join an online community where you can not display your gender in some way, and I know many ladies and queer or non-binary people don't appreciate it either.

It doesn't assume you are a guy. Technically, you are supposed to use "he" or "him" if the gender is unknown in the english language and you are referring to a singular person. It's not done out of insensitivity, just protocol. You can be unhappy about this, but that is what's proper linguistically.

You are correct, Cody, but most newer style guides at least mention that it is perceived by many readers as sexist and because of this suggest you rewrite the sentence to avoid the issue. It rarely comes up in my professional writing, and there are cases where I think it's a tough call. The awkwardness of writing around it is more disruptive than using the masculine pronoun, but then it's a case of pick your poison. Which readers are you willing to lose?

It doesn't assume you are a guy. Technically, you are supposed to use "he" or "him" if the gender is unknown in the english language and you are referring to a singular person. It's not done out of insensitivity, just protocol. You can be unhappy about this, but that is what's proper linguistically.

Language is a fluid thing.

For a couple of centuries, some scholars prescribed "he" for unknown gender. It's hardly "the" standard use right now, though.

And if anyone wants to be a stickler about historical precedent, "they" has been used as a singular pronoun for as long as Modern English has existed.

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Aww YUSSS.
Play whiff me soon!! >:U

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I love this, I will never call you anything other than Sammy Whammy again...

I know im getting flack from all sides, it did take me long enough.

I went to Ohio.
I met a bunch of people I hate.
We played Halo.
I killed everyone and won all the stuff.
The food was terrible.

The End.

well now I don't feel so bad about missing it

You just plagiarized my write-up of your LAN!

I went to Indiana.
I met a bunch of people I didn't know and someone they hate named korny.
He played Black Ops.
I killed the host and won all his prizes.
The cookies were awesome
The smells were awful.
"Yes Mom, I can talk."

The End.

I laughed, fairly hard, and I'll apologize again (but also say again someone could've just said "shh")

Also, Kermit and uberfoop said what I was going to say, and meant to say for a while, probably better than I could've. I'll add in that written language rules are slow to change and tend to go with whoever holds the most power (not so much the formal written vocabulary, the list of words in the Oxford English Dictionary is bewilderingly neophytic) and for the English language those people have traditionally been European-descended heterosexual men (who had no outwards doubts or qualms about their sex or gender), but grammar? That takes ages to change, officially.

Regarding he/him/his as the gender neutral terms suggests masculine pronouns are the default or standard and that should not be the case. I certainly don't appreciate it when people assume I'm a guy and use masculine pronouns when I join an online community where you can not display your gender in some way, and I know many ladies and queer or non-binary people don't appreciate it either.

It doesn't assume you are a guy. Technically, you are supposed to use "he" or "him" if the gender is unknown in the english language and you are referring to a singular person. It's not done out of insensitivity, just protocol. You can be unhappy about this, but that is what's proper linguistically.

Protocol is for suckers. What are you, French?

But more seriously, happy to sacrifice proper linguistics in this case.

Jessie's Girl rocks, BTW.

Where the hell did I even get Rick Springfield? Hahaha.

Also I was on the winning ODST Challenge team.

Old news, bro. Old news.

Jessie's Girl rocks, BTW.

Where the hell did I even get Rick Springfield? Hahaha.

Your hilarious brain.

Looking forward to meeting new people and really getting into Destiny! Already loving what I have played through so far!

Happy to be here!

With all the language talk I did not welcome you. Welcome!

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Also I was on the winning ODST Challenge team.

Old news, bro. Old news.

Shhh. Come on man, that was the highlight of his life. Don't take that away from him.

Except we totally did...

You are correct, Cody, but most newer style guides at least mention that it is perceived by many readers as sexist and because of this suggest you rewrite the sentence to avoid the issue. It rarely comes up in my professional writing, and there are cases where I think it's a tough call. The awkwardness of writing around it is more disruptive than using the masculine pronoun, but then it's a case of pick your poison. Which readers are you willing to lose?

Heh, this is actually something I've struggled with many times, especially when I post community-created content to the DBO front page (or Twitter feed) and don't know the gender behind the user name. Sometimes a Twitter bio or DeviantArt profile will reveal the gender, but I never assume unless it's blindingly obvious.

I usually just rewrite the sentence to eliminate pronouns and call it a day. :P

Regarding he/him/his as the gender neutral terms suggests masculine pronouns are the default or standard and that should not be the case. I certainly don't appreciate it when people assume I'm a guy and use masculine pronouns when I join an online community where you can not display your gender in some way, and I know many ladies and queer or non-binary people don't appreciate it either.

It doesn't assume you are a guy. Technically, you are supposed to use "he" or "him" if the gender is unknown in the english language and you are referring to a singular person. It's not done out of insensitivity, just protocol. You can be unhappy about this, but that is what's proper linguistically.

Yeah, I find that language can actually have a lot embedded in it. A wise man once said to me reasons not rules make us strong.

Welcome! I post on here once in a blue moon and know some folks on here. I'm originally from Ohio as well, now I'm living in South Carolina.

You are correct, Cody, but most newer style guides at least mention that it is perceived by many readers as sexist and because of this suggest you rewrite the sentence to avoid the issue. It rarely comes up in my professional writing, and there are cases where I think it's a tough call. The awkwardness of writing around it is more disruptive than using the masculine pronoun, but then it's a case of pick your poison. Which readers are you willing to lose?

Heh, this is actually something I've struggled with many times, especially when I post community-created content to the DBO front page (or Twitter feed) and don't know the gender behind the user name. Sometimes a Twitter bio or DeviantArt profile will reveal the gender, but I never assume unless it's blindingly obvious.

I usually just rewrite the sentence to eliminate pronouns and call it a day. :P

That's a good approach. Where I differ from Cody's strict interpretation is if you are talking about an actual person, it's best to ask if you can, or rewrite to avoid the issue. "Maybe he or she is a geologist" would have been easy enough to type or read. The usage I was kind of/sort of defending was when you're referring to a hypothetical individual. It was a loss for elegance when using "he" was deemed problematic.

That's a good approach. Where I differ from Cody's strict interpretation is if you are talking about an actual person, it's best to ask if you can, or rewrite to avoid the issue. "Maybe he or she is a geologist"

Still not enough. There's people who don't identify with either gender, are intersex, etc.

Still not enough. There's people who don't identify with either gender, are intersex, etc.

An accommodation for 99% is reasonable. Expecting additional accommodation without specifically asking for it is unreasonable.