• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Developers hear me out! Playing in English doesn't mean refusing the Metric system!

ohlawd

Member
Totally fucking agree. I facepalm every time a game uses the redneck imperial system.

MapOfCountriesNotMetric-800px.jpg


I personally wouldn't be friends with a tool who prefers imperial over metric.

I love seeing this image. I quoted this, pic et al

poor imperial plebs
 

Theonik

Member
You keep using the word "arbitrary" but you don't know what it means.
It means...
If there is a reason (anatomical) then how is it "completely arbitrary" like you exclamied?
The choice is arbitrary. You can use Base 10 based on the number of fingers. You can use base-20 based on another measure.
 

jayu26

Member
The choice is arbitrary. You can use Base 10 based on the number of fingers. You can use base-20 based on another measure.
But we didn't make the choice to use Base 20, because we can't easily fold out toes like we can fold our fingers therefore making it easier to count with our fingers. Our fingers are also closer to our faces. Anatomy is just not about how many, but also about where and what can you do with it.
 
Only Americans can dicipher this:

Every other person on the planet would immediately crash their car upon crossing the border.

I mean, maybe not a great example given that the metric system is literally right there, but I understand the point.
 

lyrick

Member
But we didn't make the choice to use Base 20, because we can't easily fold out toes like we can fold our fingers therefore making it easier to count with our fingers. Our fingers are also closer to our faces. Anatomy is just not about how many, but also about where and what can you do with it.

Civilizations have used base 20 before and many other counting bases. Base 10 is what the current majority of civilizations use (but not all of them).

It's arbitrary and it's also not consistent as our Time is still base 60, which is from a previous civilizations measure.
 

Theonik

Member
But we didn't make the choice to use Base 20, because we can't easily fold out toes like we can fold our fingers therefore making it easier to count with our fingers. Our fingers are also closer to our faces. Anatomy is just not about how many, but also about where and what can you do with it.
Erm we did. Why do you think the French say 'Quatre Vingt Dix' for ninety? (4 * 20 and a 10) Sumerians used base 60 and developed an anatomic way of counting to 60 with two hands. Different cultures have used different measures.
 

tuxfool

Banned
As much as people shit on imperial due to their unfamiliarity and unconventional bases between scales of units, when dealing with daily temps that we all live in °F is a more precise scale that has an increased range during normal variances in temperatures.

If you live in a climate that has an average temperature range of between -11°C and 23°C, you're operating in a very small window of only 34 measures. In °F that range of measure is increased to 60 (13 to 73°F) which actually makes more sense by allowing a higher window into our everyday lives.

How is this talking point still valid?

We exist in a world where decimal values exist.
 
For the most part in games it does not bother me which scale system is used. I can roughly guess what it is in metric if imperial is used and vice versa. I grew up in metric but since I have been to the States a ton over the course of my life I can guesstimate quite well. In the end of the day metric in terms of distance and water measuring really is the way to go because of the whole base 10 philosophy of it.
 
1 yard ≈ 0.9 meters. 1 kilometer ≈ 0.6 miles. 72 degrees american = room temperature

If you can't remember that I'm not sure how you handle other unit systems either. The only time American units are seriously annoying are when you have to deal with both pounds force and pounds mass (because nobody uses slugs), but I've never seen that come up in a video game
 
Because you're not using it.

And because by now everyone knows about American education standards before University level.

Depending on your field, you might use it every day (Science and medical fields certainly do).

And wow at that second sentence. You sound like a real expert.
 

tuxfool

Banned
Erm we did. Why do you think the French say 'Quatre Vingt Dix' for ninety? (4 * 20 and a 10) Sumerians used base 60 and developed an anatomic way of counting to 60 with two hands. Different cultures have used different measures.

Wiser french speaking countries have chosen to align with other latin languages and use huitante and nonante.
 

LeleSocho

Banned
I don't want to get on the Imperial vs Metric because everyone with a brain knows what's up but yeah i really appreciate if every game gave you a toggle for those two systems.
 

marmoka

Banned
I'm really surprised Americans using a 24-hour/day metric like the rest of the world, with 1 hour 60 minutes, 1 minute 60 seconds and so on.

At least they don't have their own hour metric, with each day having 15 or 50 hours because reasons.
 
I, for one, am deeply insulted every time metric is used. Im not a drug dealer. Get that shit off my screen.

I think you're joking but you do know your beloved Military and NASA use metric almost exclusively right? It's a poor choice of words to say that the only people in the US that use metric are drug dealers.
 

lyrick

Member
I think you're joking but you do know your beloved Military and NASA use metric almost exclusively right? It's a poor choice of words to say that the only people in the US that use metric are drug dealers.

nah, you can buy drugs by the ounce too.
 

The Lamp

Member
Even better: use the metric system forever because the imperial system is hot garbage and should be abandoned in every way as soon as is possible. Video games can lead the charge!

The metric system is better for calculations and scaling, but honestly the length of a foot is a more common length for objects for me than a meter. A laptop, a DVR box, a pot/pan, a wine bottle, they're all roughly a foot in length. Many things in life are in increments of this size. A meter is just too big of a common increment at almost 3 feet, and a centimeter is too small for most common objects. Nobody thinks in terms of decimeters (but maybe they should).

Anyway, yeah, this should be an option since it is so easy to implement.
 

Hattori

Banned
Fahrenheit makes it easier to look at the temp at a glance and know what to expect. It also makes fine tuning central air in your home manageable. Everything else though can change to the metric system without being missed.
 

That's not what was meant by "tone." Most scientific work in the US is done in Metric. High school chemistry is done in Metric. Of course NASA uses metric. Walk into most hospitals and you'll find they're using Metric too. Metric is not a crazy idea in the US.

The "tone" was a reference to calling out the "beloved Military" like that's some subtle cut against Americans (Who are of course one uniform people without a diverse set of backgrounds and ideologies).


Fahrenheit makes it easier to look at the temp at a glance and know what to expect. It also makes fine tuning central air in your home manageable. Everything else though can change to the metric system without being missed.

I'm certain you would feel Metric was perfectly adequate for both of those scenarios were you to use it more often for temp.
 
That's not what was meant by "tone." Most scientific work in the US is done in Metric. High school chemistry is done in Metric. Of course NASA uses metric. Walk into most hospitals and you'll find they're using Metric too. Metric is not a crazy idea in the US.

The "tone" was a reference to calling out the "beloved Military" like that's some subtle cut against Americans (Who are of course one uniform people without a diverse set of backgrounds and ideologies).

By "beloved Military" I meant it as in even the most American thing that's ever American'd in the history of America thats loved by everyone in the country use the "god-less, communist Metric system". Not precisely what a white male GOP voter living in rural Mississippi that has a Support our Troops bumper sticker on his truck use or even likes in his daily life.

I'm guessing NASA is less liked, thats why i omitted calling them "beloved".
 

Phu

Banned
explain please, i really don't know how it would work without them...

I was going to respond to your call for an explanation but then I realized you guys were talking about time zones and my mind had filled that in as daylight savings. So yeah, I'm confused, too.
 

PlatStrat

Neo Member
American here and I support moving to Metric for measurement and the date/time format should be YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss as it goes from highest unit of measurement to lowest. It's ridiculous we don't have a global standard by now.
 

Theonik

Member
American here and I support moving to Metric for measurement and the date/time format should be YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss as it goes from highest unit of measurement to lowest. It's ridiculous we don't have a global standard by now.
ISO-8601

Why would you need that precision outside of scientific applications (where you'd naturally use Celsius or Kelvin)?
*Kelvin.
 
Even better: use the metric system forever because the imperial system is hot garbage and should be abandoned in every way as soon as is possible. Video games can lead the charge!

I live in the States and I've been arguing this for years. I'm sick of the imperial system. If you're doing anything with science then you're already using the metric system. The metric system is easier for calculations and conversions. It's just a better system and there's no reason for Americans to prioritize the imperial system any longer. I hate it.
 
explain please, i really don't know how it would work without them...

There are 24 hours of day for the whole world regardless of where you are. The only things timezones offer are a "normalized" clock - When you wake up it's 7:00 am or whatever time you wake up. That would be true regardless of where you are in the world. The sun is where you would expect it to be for 7:00am.

Now, without timezones, the sun is still in the exact same spot as you would expect it to be, but the clock just has a different time, a "world time." So instead of New York being 3 hours ahead of Los Angeles, they are on the same clock. So let's say the day starts in New York (We set that as the first time zone) and you wake up at 7:00am. Its still 7:00am in Log Angeles, but the sun won't be up for another 3 hours. So, you wake up at 10:00am in Los Angeles, but to both of you, the sun is where you would expect it to be when you wake up. It's just that now the hours on the clock seem different, but functionality, nothing changes about society. It's 10 in New York and 10 in LA, but LA is just waking up.
 
Top Bottom