Good question. It makes sense that it would.

I don't think Kypiq actually talk to wildlife. Forest cant just mimics animal sounds, so as to blend in among the forest. That is unless I missed something.

You are correct. The term "Forest Cant" always throws me off because I take it as an implication more than just a name.

Posted By Snipehunter at 09:18 AM - Wed May 23 2018

Posted By Drun Redforge at

After reading the communication design journal I've had one interesting question begging to be answered: Will the gossip system apply to wildlife for the Kypiq to converse with?

As a clever race that favors trickery and has the ability to talk to wildlife it only seems to reason that the gossip system would apply to the animals in nature for the Kypiq to use.

Oh, that's a good question! I think it'll sadden some to hear me say it, but no, by default Forest Chatter won't let you talk to animals. Rather, it's a cant, more like a cryptolect: a way to use animal calls and other forest sounds the Kypiq can mimic to speak with other Kypiq in a way that others can't "crack," for lack of a better term.

Speaking to animals is something else.

Hope that helps! :)

That's what I had figured... it's more mimicking the sounds than actually communicating them.

Posted By Snipehunter at 6:18 PM - Wed May 23 2018

Posted By Drun Redforge at

After reading the communication design journal I've had one interesting question begging to be answered: Will the gossip system apply to wildlife for the Kypiq to converse with?

As a clever race that favors trickery and has the ability to talk to wildlife it only seems to reason that the gossip system would apply to the animals in nature for the Kypiq to use.

Oh, that's a good question! I think it'll sadden some to hear me say it, but no, by default Forest Chatter won't let you talk to animals. Rather, it's a cant, more like a cryptolect: a way to use animal calls and other forest sounds the Kypiq can mimic to speak with other Kypiq in a way that others can't "crack," for lack of a better term.

Speaking to animals is something else.

Hope that helps! :)

Will there be other cant ? other secret languages like the thief cant or an alchemist cant ?

Posted By Snipehunter at 09:18 AM - Wed May 23 2018

Speaking to animals is something else.

Hope that helps! :)

I wonder if that "something else" is referring to a talent or something more actively attainable.

Posted By Drun Redforge at

After reading the communication design journal I've had one interesting question begging to be answered: Will the gossip system apply to wildlife for the Kypiq to converse with?

As a clever race that favors trickery and has the ability to talk to wildlife it only seems to reason that the gossip system would apply to the animals in nature for the Kypiq to use.

Actually the kypiq can't communicate with animals, they use animal sounds to talk to each other, and they can mimic animals sounds, but they can't understand animals. That's actually a seperate talent (that may be more common to kypiq).

Posted By markof at 10:48 AM - Wed May 23 2018

Posted By Snipehunter at 6:18 PM - Wed May 23 2018

Posted By Drun Redforge at

After reading the communication design journal I've had one interesting question begging to be answered: Will the gossip system apply to wildlife for the Kypiq to converse with?

As a clever race that favors trickery and has the ability to talk to wildlife it only seems to reason that the gossip system would apply to the animals in nature for the Kypiq to use.

Oh, that's a good question! I think it'll sadden some to hear me say it, but no, by default Forest Chatter won't let you talk to animals. Rather, it's a cant, more like a cryptolect: a way to use animal calls and other forest sounds the Kypiq can mimic to speak with other Kypiq in a way that others can't "crack," for lack of a better term.

Speaking to animals is something else.

Hope that helps! :)

Will there be other cant ? other secret languages like the thief cant or an alchemist cant ?

I second this question. Will there be any other cants that players can learn such as thieves cant, alchemist's cant, military cant, scribe cant, etc?

Posted By Varhukan at 7:15 PM - Wed May 23 2018

Researching new cants sounds plausible

Cants are spontaneous group inventions, like any natural languages. Intentionally "researched" or "invented" languages like Esperanto and Klingon tend not to be used much.

Posted By markof at 1:48 PM - Wed May 23 2018

Will there be other cant ? other secret languages like the thief cant or an alchemist cant ?

This was actually addressed indirectly in one of the early Q&A's that first mentioned that Kypiq's would have a "language that sounded like forest noise". I'm sorry not to include a link to the video but it'll take a bit of time to re-watch them to find the specific moment. In the interim, they talked about the forest cant as a possibility (now reality), and then went on to state they couldn't wait to see what players did with the language/emote system once the game was running live.

It was one of the video's with Souzou in it, and he and Vye shared a joke that players may ignore the intended meaning of emotes and give them "cultural meanings". the joke was something like "Neran bows "thank you" and Janoan perks up "what did you say about my Mother"?!?

In that spirit, players could absolutely "re-define" certain emotes, etc to develop a "secret thieves handshake" across cultures. If this practice takes hold in the game I'm sure that, given her love of language, Vye could be persuaded to urge SBS to develop a specialized cant, over time, after launch... (not that I should speak for her)... :)