Hello all of you AoC supporters!
I want to know what are some of your small annoyances that end up in our favorite games that don't make it unplayable but irk you in the most pedantic ways. Two of mine come to mind and they are both how we use language.
The difference in Poisonous and Venomous.
Poison is roughly described as "something that will kill you if you bite it" and venom is "something that will kill you if it bites you". My peeve is when this gets mixed up. I understand the need for two very similar mechanics to be rolled into one for practical purposes, but none the less it bothers me. Many times boss monsters will spew out poison stacks when it should be by all rights be described as venom.
As a side tangent, how would you describe a rouge type character who coats their weapons in a poisonous leaf or venom from some kind of fantasy snake? Are they adding the poison from the plant or are they themselves being venomous? Feelings?
The difference in Decimate and Devastate
Decimate is to reduce by 1/10th, and devastate is to ruin or destroy. The peeve is when decimate gets used in place of devastate. "We have decimated the enemy army!" has a lot of less weight when that is the expected losses for two forces colliding with each other. "Lieutenant, that is not good news. Why are you so excited about it?"
I do admit that decimate has also taken on the meaning of devastate but its two contradictory definitions make it a poor use of many situations.
Post what you feel about my peeves and add your own!
-Bollux
