I have had occasion to read and reread many of the stories...

[gynoneko]

i agree that the story and imagery and ideas are vitally important, but to say they are more important than basic grammar and spelling? Grendizer, you yourself said that:

Good grammar and spelling allow the words to disappear and ensure that what elements are there rise to the front of the reader's mind unimpeded

The most important thing about a story is that it is enjoyable. That means the story, the characters, and plot, and the imagery all need to be compelling. However... if you can not portray the story well, you get lost in bad grammar and spelling errors, and fall out of the story. The idea is that if you are truly engaged by a good story or book, you don't think "I'm reading a book", you think "what's going to happen next?" or something like that. Once you start to get lost in bad grammar and spelling, you can not only get confused as to what is happening, but you start to become painfully aware that you are reading a book... a poorly written book. No matter how amazing the imagery and the plot and the characters are, if you can't portray it well, the story will fail.
So I say YES, you need to have a great story, engaging plot, fun characters, and amazing visuals. BUT you must ALSO have the basic principles of English writing, grammar and spelling, down in order to really present the story well, to prevent confusion in the reader, and to show quality and not just ideas.

I am always trying to concentrate on a good story, good characters, and coming up with visuals I like, and try to write a good story out of that. I always check my grammar and spelling to try to prevent people getting distracted by them, and to get lost in the story and not the words.

[Grendizer]

I get your point, but spelling and grammar are meaningless without the other elements, whereas many people can actually enjoy a story if the spelling or grammar falter but the rest of the story is compelling. If that weren't so, then many good stories on this board wouldn't be enjoyed at all. I see comma splices, run-on sentences, and split infinitives all the time here, but it doesn't necessarily kill my enjoyment of the story. Now, some misspellings can pull you out of the story, especially if they create a kind of pun, but unless it's truly bad (the author wasn't paying attention to spell-correction software) then much of the time the reader can skip past this. Also, expectations play a role. If you are reading a professionally published novel in a bookstore or on your Kindle, you may be (rightfully) annoyed at such mistakes cropping up habitually. But on a forum, where no one is getting paid, mistakes in grammar are less jarring both because the reader hasn't invested money and because the expectation of professionalism simply isn't there, so disappointment is less severe (such as it is). In this regard, the other elements surely are more important, because even if you get past a comma splice, you won't care to read further if the character is poorly-executed or boring to you, or if the imagery is cliched and bland.

I stand by that quote, gynoneko, but saying spelling is important isn't saying that it's the chief priority. I said the other elements were more important, and I still believe that. If Mark Twain had managed his grammar and spelling perfectly, yet not delivered on character and plot, he'd never have gotten published. Some editors can see a diamond in the rough (rare though that might be) and actually work with an author who is weak in grammar, if the story is very strong. The opposite will almost never happen. You may read a book that has an awful plot and characters, but that wasn't the editor's opinion.

[King Snarf]

I'm reminded of an awful old movie called "Warrior Of The Lost World." The opening scroll lasts at least 6 minutes telling you the complete background about why civilization fell, what the current state of affairs is, and who the major players are. Its ridiculous. All of those things could have been addressed in the film with just a minimal amount of dialogue. Instead you have to sit through 6+ minutes of text scroll followed by film credits.

It was all worth it for MEGAWEAPON!

[The Egg]

I've always liked the windup necklace idea (my domestic partner and I both made one for ourselves) but I think on its own it's not enough; it's a ubiquitous enough idea that you could get yourself into trouble assuming everyone with one is "on the inside". Perhaps a combination of the necklace and a sort of codeword exchange like Dale is implying, a question and answer like the old spy movies.