Created in 2003; words added 2004, 2005. Thanks also to contributors to this gaming terms glossary!

MMP Game Names

• AC, AC1: Asheron's Call
• AC2: Asheron's Call 2
• AO: Anarchy Online
• ATitD: A tale in the Desert
• CoH: City of Heroes
• D2: Diablo 2
• EQ: Everquest (at one time the most popular MMP game in the United States)
• EQ2: Everquest2
• DAoC: Dark Age of Camelot
• DnD: Dungeons & Dragons
• EnB, E&B: Earth and Beyond (discontinued)
• FFXI: Final Fantasy XI
• GnH: Gods and Heroes
• GW: Guild Wars
• Lineage: Lineage is the most popular MMP game in Korea, and has more players than EQ
• Lineage2: A 3D MMP by the developers of Lineage; marketed in the US.
• MEO: Middle Earth Online
• NWN: Neverwinter Nights. Not a true MMP.
• PotBS: Pirates of the Burning Sea
• PS: Planetside
• RoE: Rubies of Eventide
• RoT: Realms of Torment
• RO: Ragnarok Online
• SB: Shadowbane
• STO: Star Trek Online
• SWG: Star Wars Galaxies
• TSO: The Sims Onine
• UO: Ultima Online
• UXO: Ultima X: Odyssey
• WoW: World of Warcraft
• WW2O: World War II Online

  MMP Game Business Lingo

• alpha, alpha test: a period of testing of a game that precedes beta.
• alphaware: software that is either in alpha testing, or which performs as if it is in alpha (crashing, buggy, incomplete, etc.)
• avatar, player avatar: the 3D model of the player's character
• beta, beta test: a period of testing a game that involves a limited number of players actively playing the game and reporting bugs.
• betaware: software that is either in beta testing, or which performs as if it is in beta (crashing, buggy, incomplete, etc.)
• bug: (OK, everyone should know this by now, but....) A bug is a mistake in either the computer programming or in the game design that causes undesired results in a game.
• client: the software on the player's machine that talks to the server.
• CSR: customer service representative. CSRs may appear in game to speak directly with players.
• downtime (servers): when the game servers are not running, usually for the sake of maintenance, hotfixes, or updates.
• dupe bug, dupe: A way of duplicating items or money or other in-game assets. Dupe bugs, because of the way they allow players to bypass the game economy, are usually very serious problems. Means of duping are almost never intentionally given to players.
• dynamic: Dynamic content or text is that which is created on the fly. (There are many technical meanings.)
• dynamic zones: See "instanced".
• easter egg: A hidden, unpublicized bonus content or joke.
• expansion, expansion pack: An expansion is a new addendum to an existing game, usually adding new features, new virtual terrain to explore, and so on. Expansions often are sold on store shelves, in contrast to free downloadable updates.
• exploit: (noun) A means of cheating. A bug either in the game's code or in the game's design that allows players to give themselves unintended advantages. For example, if a player finds a dupe bug and makes lots of money, that is an exploit.
• f2p, F2P, Free to Play: A financial model in which players can play a game for free. Players may have to pay for upgrades, special items, special abilities, expansion packs, etc. Players may also have to pay for the initial game client (unclear if that counts as f2p). Contrast with p2p.
• feature: (noun) A feature is a clearly defined, useful or beneficial characteristic of a game. The ability of a player to choose his character's face is a feature. The ability to talk privately with other players is a feature. Anything positive or useful can be called a feature. ("It's a bug, not a feature" or the opposite "it's a feature, not a bug" is an oft-used phrase of rebuttal.)
• fps, frames: frames per second: a measure of game performance. Lower-end machines tend to have low fps in areas of the game world where there are many objects, buildings, and PCs (player characters).
• FPS: First Person Shooter: Games that involve seeing the world through the PC's eyes and which generally involve fast reflexes and shooting other PCs.
• go gold/gone gold: When the final "ship" version of a piece of software has been sent off to be burned onto CDs or applicable media.
• griefer, grief player: A player who, due to psychological issues or unresolved frustrations, tries to disrupt the gameplay of other players, such as through interfering with play, racial slurs, or other such destructive behavior. According to industry sources, grief players are usually about 3% of the player population. Sometimes, grief players' energies can be rerouted into positive directions through the game companies' outreach efforts.
• hotfix: An emergency prop to correct a very bad, unexpected problem.
• housing: The most common term for this frequently-requested feature - allowing players to claim houses or other structures for their own personal (or group) use.
• HUD: Heads Up Display: Usually refers to the graphical user interface displayed on the screen during most of the gameplay.
• instanced: A zone that is created by the server specifically for a single player or group of players, or for a limited number of players. This prevents or reduces kill-stealing or mob camping by unrelated individuals, but has been known to make some players feel lonely. Also known as dynamic zone.
• launch: See "ship" or "launch."
• live team: The game developers who are assigned to maintain, improve, and run an MMP post-ship. Often, those who create, develop, and launch a game do not stay on the project after it has shipped, so live teams are hired to take up the helm after launch.
• LoD: Level of Detail: Term describing the system whereby objects further away in a 3D game are shown as a lower polygon, lower quality texture model. Objects closer are shown in a higher polygon, more graphics-intensive form. This way, the world up close looks very realistic; things further away are simplified to improve game performance. Back in the early days of Turbine, we called this "degrade mode," leading to odd questions like, "Has he been degraded yet?"
• MMO: Massively Multiplayer Online (game). See MMP.
• MMP: Massively Multi-Player. Internet games that have thousands playing in the same world(s), usually at the same time.
• MMORPG: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game.
• MUD: Multi-User Dungeon. Text-only multiplayer internet games; MUDs came in many varieties ranging from adventure-oriented MUDs like LPMUDs, to cooperative building environments, or even chat room MUDs. MUDs predate today's glitzy 3D MMORPGs by many years, and still exist today.
• p2p, P2P, Pay to Play: A financial model wherein the customers pay a regular fee (such as monthly) in order to play a game. Contrast with f2p.
• patch, prop: An update to a game. Sometimes involves the player having to download updates to the game software. "Prop" comes from the word "propagation."
• playerbase: The customers who play a particular game.
• port: Rewriting a game meant to run on a particular operating system or platform (e.g. Windows) so that it can run in another (e.g. Macintosh, Playstation3, etc.).
• post-ship: The time after a game has been shipped. MMPs in particular have a lot of content and features added post-ship.
• PSW: Persistent State World. You know how elistist science fiction snobs insist on calling Earth "Terra?" PSW is the equivalent term for an MMP. Used primarily by CEOs, "money," and developers who assert that their product is not just some silly game, but is a sophisticated sociological experiment you leveling treadmill peons couldn't possibly understand. [Text by Stormwaltz]
• PTS, public test server: A game server where regular players can log in and try out upcoming changes before the changes are put on the standard game servers. Helps find unusual bugs, balancing issues, and so on. Often requires the players get a special version of the game client.
• release, at the time of release: "release" refers to the publication of a game, when it becomes available to the general public.
• rollback: To revert game servers to an earlier state, which means that character data and world data is set back to that state. Hence, players will lose whatever experience and equipment they've earned since that time. Rollbacks are bad news.
• PvP server: Player-versus-Player server. A game server (shard/world) in which players are allowed to fight each others' characters with fewer restrictions than in most other servers. In some games, PvP servers allow almost anyone to attack almost anyone else almost anywhere.
• RPG: Role-Playing Game. Where your character's skills are built up and theoretically have more impact on your success than your reflexes and hand-eye coordination. Also implies a certain amount of role-playing/acting in character.
• RTS: Real Time Strategy (type of strategy game)
• RP server: Role-playing server: A game server (shard/world) in which players are encouraged to role-play. RP servers may ban non-RP names (e.g. "Stupidcharacter" would not be an RP name) and enforce certain types of public speech.
• server: the program running on the game company's machine that sends out information about the world and so on. Generally, servers handles the information about monsters, combats, character statistics, and so on. In general tersm, "server" frequently refers to a particular game world or shard; however, technically speaking, each game world may be made up of multiple different game server programs running on multiple machines.
• shard: One of multiple parallel game worlds, each with the same content but with different players and PCs (player-characters). Players usually cannot transfer their PCs from one shard to another. ("Shard" itself is based on the term that Ultima Online uses for its worlds.)
• ship: (verb) shipment: To publish a game and get it to the store shelves.
• ship: (noun) The time of ship. "I've been playing this game since ship."
• subscription: Most MMPs (at least in the US) require a monthly fee to be paid. Pre-1995 (roughly), most commercial online games charged hourly.
• TOS: Terms of Service: the contract by which players agree to not do things like harass other players or use cheats and so forth.
• UI: User Interface. The means by which players navigate, interact, and manipulate the world. This includes the screen layout, graphical user interface (GUI), and the format and form of various windows, text entry boxes, and so on.
• world: this often is used as another term for shard.

  Hacker/d00d Words Common in MMPs

  (Microsoft explains L33tspeak here on this page.)

• arpee: RP (roleplay)
• cyber, cyb0r: Online chat sex ("cybersex"). Both a noun and a verb ("He was cyb0ring" "He was into cyber").
• d00d, dood: "dude" ... many EQ players are called "d00ds" because they use hax0r words and care more about powergaming than anything else.
• hacker, hax0r, h4xx0r, etc: (noun) Script kiddie, or young computer "hacker"
• hack, hax0r, h4xx0r, etc: (verb) To modify a program (e.g., modify a game client to show information not usually available), or use a program to affect another program (e.g., run a helper application that gives away information not normally displayed), or otherwise use computer cracker/hacker methods of cheating in a game.
• joo, j00: you
• leet, l33t, 1337, 31337, 133+, etc: "elite"
• leet speak, l33t sp34k, etc: "Leet Speak": This kind of writing.
• lewt: (see "loot")
• l00t: loot (see "loot")
• n00b, n3wb, noob, etc: see "newbie"
• own, 0wnz0r, 0wn: term for being completely and utterly superior to, or having completely beaten up, someone or something. ("I owned that mob!" or "He totally owned me! I was embarrassed!")
• peekay: PK (Player Killing)
• ph4t, phat, fat: great, plenty, superior ("ph4t l00t")
• ph34r, phear: fear (be in awe of)
• pron, pr0n: pornography
• pwn: see own, above
• r0xx0r, r0x0r, roxor, etc: "rocks" (as in, great, or wonderful, or superior)
• suxx0r: hax0r term for "sucks"
• teh: the (see "teh suq")
• ueber, uber, ub3r: hax0r term for "superior" (based on German word "ueber").
• w00t, woot, woo, wewt: exclamation of happiness/joy etc. One theory says that "woot" means "we owned the other team."

  General MMP Words, with DAoC focus

• 2h, 2-h: two-handed. A weapon that requires both hands to wield.
• af, autofollow: This is a feature that lets a PC automatically follow around another PC (or NPC), without the player having to maneouver the PC.
• alignment: (Originally from Dungeons & Dragons ?) Alignment is very similar to faction, and usually is used to refer to particular groupings based on supposed character philosophy or religion (e.g., "evil alignment" "good alignment"). People of opposing alignments may well be hostile to each other.
• allegiance: The Asheron's Call 1 version of a guild, this is a hierarchical layout of loyalties between player characters.
• alliance: On DAoC, an alliance is a grouping of guilds who share a common chat channel (the alliance channel).
• alt: (alternate, or alternative) A secondary character. For example, a person who has a high level character of one class (the "main") may decide to start another character of a different class. The second character would be the alt.
• avatar: the animated character that a game player controls.
• bio, biobreak: Means to be leaving the computer to go to the bathroom/lavatory (for biological demands).
• bot, bott: (from "robot" presumably) A secondary character a player creates in order to facilitate his own gameplay. Some bots in some games act as vendors and service-providers. In other games, bots simply exist to provide buffs to the primary character. In one game, bots are automated ways of claiming rare monsters, so as to get rare loot.
• BSOD: Blue Screen of Death. The worst kind of software bug, this locks up your computer on the legendary Windows "error" screen, virtually unchanged in form or color since the earliest days of the OS. [Text by Stormwaltz]
• buff: (verb) To cast spells or perform some action on oneself or someone else to increase their stats or abilities. (See also "debuff") "I'm buffed and ready to go."
• buff: (noun) Spells or effects that increase stats or abilities. (See also "debuff") "I need a strength buff."
• carebear: (based on the toy/TV franchise name) The game worlds in which the players are perceived to be less into hardcore, aggressive, nasty fighting and tactics. [Stormwaltz adds: Also used to describe the players who will only make characters on such worlds. Carebear is sometimes shorthanded using the emoticon o.O, which is said to be the "Carebear Stare" (another reference to the toy/TV franchise).]
• (chat) channel: A channel is like a chat room in which only subscribers to that channel can speak or listen. In WoW, a chat channel is a named chat that can be instantly created simply by subscribing to it, and to which a player re-subscribes every time he logs back into the game. (Note: very similar in some respects to the Zephyr instant messaging system.)
• chant, song: a spell that remains active ("up") indefinitely. Many chants affect everyone who is grouped with the person who is the source of the chant.
• clan: Essentially a guild.
• class, character class: The "profession" a player's character is. For example, thief, mage, priest, fighter, etc.
• con [1]: constitution. This is a commonly used characteristic of a PC that determines total HP.
• concentration [1]: Concentration usually refers to the inability of a spell-caster to cast when interrupted, or when trying to do anything else other than cast (e.g. casters can't fight and cast at the same time).
• concentration [2]: Concentration can refer to spells of which a caster has a limited supply, and which stay active for as long as the caster is alive. DAoC has a number of buffs that use up "concentration": the person buffing can only cast a limited number, but the buffs remain active indefinitely.
• crack: recently in DAoC, this term refers to a helpful spell that helps boost a PC's efficiency so much that many people are willing to beg for it.
• crafting: in most games, PCs can learn trade skills and create items that can be bought or sold for in-game currency.
• CTD: Crash to Desktop. The second worst form of software bug, this causes the game client to close suddenly and unexpectedly, leaving you back at the Windows OS desktop. [Text by Stormwaltz]
• cyber, cybersex: Simulating sexual activity via chat text and emotes. "Want to cyber?" is a form of sexual proposition.
• debuff: (verb) To cast spells on a monster or another player to decrease their stats and abilities. "Don't attack the Revenant yet - give me a chance to debuff it first."
• debuff: (noun) A spell that debuffs. "That mob just hit me with an armor debuff!" [text by Stormwaltz]
• Dereth: "Dereth" is the name of the main land in AC1, and derives from archaic words for "dark" and "forest" ... I know, because I made it up. That's all I wanted to say kk thx bye.
• ding: To reach the next level by having earned enough experience points. Often announced to the rest of one's group. "Ding! 44" means "My character just reached level 44!" In DAoC, there are half-way dings above level 40, so people will often say "mini ding" or "mini." The word "ding" apparently developed due to a characteristing dinging sound used in EQ1.
• dt, downtime (player): time spent waiting for mana/stam/health/etc. to regenerate instead of actual play. [text by Stormwaltz]
• easymode: This term is taken from single-player games where the player could choose from different levels of difficulty. "Easymode" now is a term often used in online forums, where players can accuse other players of being on "easymode" for playing certain types of characters. (E.g. "If you play a hunter, you're on easymode.") Also can refer to those who use exploits, etc.
• emote: to make the avatar on the screen perform a certain action, either through an animation, or through just text.
• exp, xp, XP, experience, learning: experience points. These are reward points given for killing a monster, and serve to eventually increase one's skills, hp, stats, and other such vital things. Experience is the most coveted, time-consuming aspect of most MMPs.
• dc: disconnect. Also see link-dead. Apparntly this is a term used in WoW. A player has lost connection to the game, and his or her character stops moving and eventually disappears. This is a dreaded but frequent occurrence.
• dmg: damage
• down [1]: To not be in effect. "Heal chant is down."
• down [2]: To not be available. "My once-every-15-minutes super group-heal is down, so you don't want to attack that tower for the next 10 minutes."
• down [3]: To have de-spawned or been killed (in the case of monsters). "The dragon is down! We have to wait three hours until it spawns again."
• down [4]: To have been killed in combat and not yet resurrected. "I'm down."
• dps: damage-per-second. Indicator of how a weapon's damage factors in with its striking speed and such.
• drop: (noun) Refers to the treasure (loot) that a monster leaves behind when it dies.
• faction: Usually, this refers to a measurement of a character's status with a type of monster. Good faction indicates monsters will not attack unprovoked; bad faction implies the monsters will attack on sight. Oftentimes, faction can be "improved" or made worse by killing a particular type of monster. For example, killing faeries will probably do bad things to one's Faerie Faction, while killing the faeries' nemesis (say, Werewolves) will improve one's Faerie Faction.
• fanboi (fanboy): A derogatory term used to describe players who are overly devoted to gaming. Sometimes refers to players who are too supportive of a particular game.
• fellowship: The Asheron's Call 1 term for a group.
• ffa, FFA: free-for-all: In games where loot is given out randomly by the game system to group members and groups, to have declared "ffa" means that whoever got the item gets to keep it without dispute. Otherwise, lottery or need-before-greed rules apply.
• FotM, Flavor of the Month: A character class (e.g. shaman, hunter) that is very popular because it is easy to play or relatively more powerful than other classes.
• fom, fop: Full of mana, full of power. "fom" means a person that uses power (healer or caster) has plenty of power and can cast spells effectively.
• ftl, 4tl: for the lose: Refers to a negative person, place, thing, circumstance, etc.
• ftw, 4tw: for the win: Usually refers to an in-game ability or item known to be powerful enough to be a decisive factor in conflicts. E.g.: "AE mezz ftw." May also refer to any action or object or person that is perceived to be positive for one's own gameplay.
• Game Master, GM: Historically, a "Game Master" or "GM" is the person who develops a pen-and-paper roleplaying campaign, and who describes scenes, handles combat, and acts the role of various NPCs. These days, a GM is often "a person, usually in-game, with at least some level of authority and power (in the form of administrator commands)." [This term is apparently used in RO. Thanks to: Fireoth Avalon.] Note that GM may also mean "guild master."
• gank: To be slaughtered horribly and unsuspectingly by another player or players, usually when you were doing something else (like hunting monsters).
• gimp: A character that is abnormally weak or useless, either due to poor choices made by the player, or because the game company has screwed up the game balance balance.
• gimpy: To be like a gimp.
• gimped: to have become a gimp, or to have been rendered abnormally weak or useless through poor decisions or game company balancing decisions.
• grats, gratz, congrats: congratulations. Used most frequently to express congratulations to someone who has just dinged.
• group: The usual transient social group of MMPs. Most groups are made up of about 8 people or less. Groups tend to travel together and kill monsters, and the experience rewards are set up to reward players for grouping (i.e., if 8 people were not grouped and killed a monster, each person would get far less XP than if formally grouped).
• /gu: The command /gu is used to denote a message that is sent to all of one's guild members who are currently logged into the game. This is true for both EQ and DAoC, for example.
• guild: The usual permanent social group of MMPs. Guilds are generally comprised of a number of members, from a handful to hundreds, with a few members having ultimate control over membership.
• guild leader, guild master, GM, GL: A guild master is the highest ranked member of a guild, who usually has the ability to invite new members, change guild settings, ban people from the guild, etc. There may be multiple GMs. Note that "GM" in general gaming parlance also can mean "game master." Note also that "GL" may stand for "group leader."
• heal pot: Something that restores health gradually over time (e.g., 10 hp gained per 5 seconds). Usually refers to spells or potions with this effect.
• HP, hp, hits: hit points or health points, a measure of a PC's health.
• hybrid: A character class that combines abilities of two or more classes. For example, a fighter-cleric, or a mage-fighter.
• keel: kill (from EQ)
• kt: kill task: A kill task involves giving an NPC a specific item that drops from a specific monster or type of monster, in return for a special reward (such as experience points).
• lag: This very commonly-used term refers to an unusually large time lapse between the player trying to do something, and the reaction in the game world. For example, if one says hello to a friend and the text appears two seconds later than it normally would, that means there is a two second lag. Usually lag is caused by network (internet) problems, but the term may also be applied to any slow down caused by graphics performance problems or other such issues.
• lag beast: Mostly an AC term. People jokingly say they were "killed by the lag beast" when lag contributes to their PC's death.
• ld, LD: link-dead. A player has lost connection to the game, and his or her character stops moving and eventually disappears. This is a dreaded but frequent occurrence.
• lfg, LFG: looking for (a) group (to join). People may say or shout this in crowds of people, in the hopes of getting an invite (invitation). "24 sb lfg" means "I'm a level 24 shadowblade looking for a group."
• lfp, LFP: looking for a party to join.
• lfs, LFS: looking for a squad to join (e.g., in Planetside - "gal pilot lfs" means "galaxy pilot looking for squad")
• lft, LFT: looking for a team to join (e.g., in City of Heroes)
• lm: loot master: a trusted person who is given all the nice loot so that it can be given out in a lottery later.
• logger: A PK player who avoids unfavorable PvP odds by logging their character out of the world. [text by Stormwaltz]
• loot: (noun) the treasure that a monster drops (or which is found in chests guarded by monsters).
• lop, lom: low on power; low on mana. "lop - don't do anything stupid" indicates the healer is out of power and can't heal for a while.
• los, LoS: Line of sight. Whether or not a person or monster can actually see its target (never mind what the camera says).
• lottery: A player-run, randomized way of giving out treasure that multiple people want to have. This may involve rolling dice, picking random numbers, or other means of randomly picking the person who gets the item.
• love, luv: Refers to the game developers bestowing some attention, new powers, bonuses, or other strengthening changes to a character class. "This patch, casters get some love."
• lvl: level
• macro: Within a game, a macro is a means of making a quick way of doing something that normally takes a lot of typing. Works like the UNIX "alias" command. "Macro" may also mean to use a cheating program to allow one to do boring things repeatededly in a game without actually having to sit at the computer.
• main: A player's primary character, usually highest level out of all his characters. All other characters would be considered "alts."
• med: (meditate, originally an EQ term) To rest so as to regain power or other depleted stat.
• mithril: A precious metal usually set to be worth more than gold (sometimes greater than or sometimes less than platinum). (From J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth universe.)
• mule: An alt character created by a player specifically for extra pack space or to train support skills (usually craft skills). Diminutive of "pack mule." (Text by Stormwaltz)
• mt, mistell, MT: to intend to say something to a person or group of people, and to accidentally say it to the wrong person or group of people. This occurs easily with chat channels, where the wrong mouse click or typing can send embarrassing text to the wrong people.
• need before greed: A system of players giving each other loot based on who needs it, rather than who first picked up the items.
• nerf: when the game maker reduces the relative power of a given character class (e.g., clerics, or wizards, or paladins) or a given attack, weapon, spell, etc. Most nerfs are done to correct imbalances in the game. Some nerfs are indirect: By allowing everyone to run faster, the game maker is theoretically "nerfing" the people who had special spells to allow themselves to run fast.
• newbie, newb, noob: Either a game player who is not used to MMPs (or the specific game), or a very low level character.
• ninja: (verb) To grab the loot off a tough kill and disappear with it (often by logging off) before any others have a chance to distribute it fairly. "Joe ninjaed the Dragon sword off the dragon before the raid leaders could get it and lotto it."
• Norrath: Name for EQ's world.
• NPC: a non-player-character (a game creature or game person that is controlled by the game via AI)
• officer: an officer is usually a high-ranking member of a guild who has special privileges, such as being able to invite new members, or being able to speak on a guild officer chat.
• omw: on my way
• ooc: out of character (i.e., speaking of a real life subject, not in-game)
• ooe: out of endurance. This means a PC has temporarily used up all his or her end (endurance) and can no longer do anything that requires it, such as powerful attacks, sprinting, etc.
• oom: out of mana. This means a PC has temporarily used up all his or her mana (power) and can no longer cast spells.
• oop: out of power (mana)
• oops: oops, I did something wrong; we might die
• otm: on the move: The group is moving, so pay attention and keep up. Some players may think that "otm" also means "on to more."
• otw: on the way ("Thor is otw to meet you.")
• out of con, out of conc: a DAoC term meaning a healer-type has used up all available concentration buffs (which last indefinitely - until death or port - but of which a healer-type only has a limited number).
• OTD: One time drop: a nice piece of equipment that can be acquired the FIRST time someone kills a monster, but never again for that person.
• pathfinding: Pathfinding is the ability of a monster to navigate around corners, obstacles, up and down stairs, and other such obstacles, in order to reach a target.
• PC, pc: player-character (a game avatar controlled by a human being game player). Also, "personal computer."
• peeps, ppl: people
• pet: (noun) an NPC creature that a PC can command to attack other monsters, follow him around, etc.
• pet: (verb) to attack a monster with a pet. Can even be used as a form of CC.
• PK, PvP: (adjective) PCs can attack and kill almost any other PC.
• PK: (verb) For a PC to kill another PC.
• plat: platinum. Games have their own versions of platinum items and currency.
• port: teleportation. In DAoC, "port" means teleportation to an enemy realm.
• portal logger: Unique to AC, this is a PK who avoids unfavorable PvP odds by executing a position recall spell to a teleportation portal. [text by Stormwaltz]
• pot: potion. Potions are one-use items that can be used to confer some benefit upon oneself, usually in the form of regained health or mana.
• PoV: Point-of-view. Usually refers to camera setting: is the camera 1st person or 3rd person, etc.
• powergaming: to concentrate on gaining levels, skills, items, etc., as quickly and efficiently as possible, even if it means pissing off other players, using multiple accounts, possibly even cheating, etc.
• PL, powerlevel, plevel, pl: To have a higher level character help a lower level character earn experience faster. "PL me" or "plevel me" is not something to say to someone who does not know you well.
• PST, pst: please send tell: When a request for an item or information is sent out to many people at once, the requestor may add "PST" to imply anyone who responds should send a private message (a "tell").
• PUG: pick up group: A group made up of people who don't normally group together (hence, "pick up," as if picking up a stranger for dating). In DAoC, which requires smooth teamwork for successful RvR, PUGs generally have a poor reputation.
• PvE: PCs don't or can't fight other PCs; they only fight AI NPCs, or otherwise interact with their environment.
• raid: A raid is a massive gathering of people to go take enemy territory or to fight tough monsters in rapid succession to gain experience and loot. WoW has formalized raids.
• retire: To retire a character is to cease playing that character indefinitely.
• RvR: (Realm vs. Realm, DAoC): PCs cannot fight PCs from their home realm, but can kill PCs from other realms.
• ROG: random object generator: something that creates items whose characteristics are randomized.
• recall: An AC1 term for using a spell to go back to/teleporting to a specific location.
• roll, roll up [a character]: To make a new character, going through the process of assigning initial statistics, etc. The term "roll up" is probably based on the original D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) philosophy that all character statistics should be determined by dice rolls.
• rp, RP [1]: role-play. To rp means to act and speak appropriately for a character (e.g., an elf talks about trees, a troll speaks with short words) and to never mention the real world. Talking about football in a medieval game setting is not rp.
• rp, RP [2]: In DAoC, rp also means realm points, which are earned for killing enemy player-characters.
• safefall, safe fall: Refers to an ability that lets a character land relatively safely (with less damage) after a long fall from a great height.
• sandwich combat: A combat or style of combat that lets the player click a button, start fighting a monster with his character, and head out of the room to make a sandwich while the character goes on killing the monster.
• secure trade: An in-game, UI-based means of allowing people to make sure that when they are trading an item for other items or money, that one person cannot cheat by defaulting on the trade and yet still acquire the item. Since many MMP games have large communities where (1) not everyone can trust each other and (2) even if someone steals an item there is no recourse, secure trade is necessary to ensure that economies are not destroyed by rampant cheating.
• skill, skilling, skill up: To create items in a tradeskill system for the sake of gaining levels in that skill. For example, a person might creat a lot of useless swords just to gain skill as a blacksmith.
• song: See "chant."
• sow, SoW: In EQ, a very commonly used acronym for Spirit of the Wolf, a much-requested buff that lets people run faster.
• stam, stamina: A PC's attributes that allows the PC to (depending on the game) do full-power attacks, sprint, or other such exertive endeavors.
• stats: A PC's attributes that determine such things as how much damage he or she does, or how much damage he or she can take before dying.
• stealth: A common game ability to essentially make a character invisible to most others. Stealthed characters can move around undetected, and often have traditional "stealther" abilities such as backstab.
• stealther: One who uses stealth extensively.
• sticky, stick: This generally describes when a PC or NPC is "stuck" to another PC or NPC during combat, preventing the latter from escaping the attacks of the former.
• the suck, the suq, teh suq: This phrase refers to things that are known to be hurtful or otherwise unwanted. "Getting mezzed is the suq."
• tell, /tell: A private message seen only by the sender and recipient. Often requires appending "/tell " in front of the message.
• toon: A character that a player creates in a game world. Avatar. Probably derived from "cartoon" or perhaps "cartoon character."
• trade skill, tradeskill: An ability that lets a person create or craft items.
• train: (noun) A line of multiple monsters aggroed on one player, trailing behind them as they flee. [text by Stormwaltz]
• train: (verb) To create a line of monsters chasing oneself; or, to bring trained monsters to one or more unsuspecting people and somehow get the monsters to attack them instead. ("We all died because he trained the boss monster on us.")
• twink: (verb) to outfit a low level character with superior and expensive items far before most characters of the same level could afford to get those same items. "My level 5 is twinked" is sort of a shameful thing to admit.
• twink: (noun) someone who has been twinked. "You twink" is a mild, humorous insult.
• up [1]: To be in effect. "Heal chant is up."
• up [2]: To be available. "My once-every-15-minutes super group-heal is up, if you want to attack that tower."
• up [3]: To have spawned and be in the game (in the case of monsters). "The dragon is up!"
• up [4]: To have been resurrected after death. "I'm up."
• vendor: Most MMPs' primary non-monster NPC is the vendor, who generally stands in one place and buys/sells items from players.
• wahmbulance: (wah+ambulance) A gaming forum term denoting contempt for whining. "Call the wahmbulance" may be posted in response to a forum thread where players are complaining about their characters' classes being gimpy.
• whiners, whining: General derogatory terms referring to people who complain about a game feature or something that happened in game, or the actual words used by said people. Example: "I'm tired of the whiners whining about how powerful wizards are" (said by a wizard, of course).
• white dot/red dot: These are AC1 terms for non-player killers and player-killers, respectively. Based on the color that is used to represent the PC in the AC "radar" screen.
• /who : A command used to find specific names in an MMP. For example, /who Rockie would find all characters with "rockie" within their names: Rockie, Frockie, Drockiet, etc. /who also usually works with locations and guild names. (/who Haunted might list everyone in Haunted Forest, and /who Phalanx would list everyone in the guild named "Phalanx.")
• Windows key: the key on many keyboards that, when accidentally hit, often causes games to crash and the character to go LD.
• wizzy: Standard shortening of "wizard."
• WRU: Where are you?
• wtb or WTB: want to buy: Used to indicate wanting to buy an item. "wtb 2-h asterite greataxe"
• wts or WTS: want to sell: Used to indicate one has an item for sale.
• wtt or WTT: want to trade (i.e. swap one item for another). [text by Stormwaltz] Note: in DAoC, it is common for people to want to trade money in one realm/server for money on a different realm/server.
• yt: You there?
• zone: A limited area of geography that usually is bounded by either impassable walls or other zones. Oftentimes there is a brief loading time associated with moving from one zone to another. AC is one of the few games that did not have surface world zones per se.
• zoning: To be incapacitated and unable to view or enter chat text because one is loading a new area. In DAoC, this occurs when going between realms or between dungeon and outside world.

  Monsters

• add: (noun) a monster that joins another monster in attacking, even if otherwise unprovoked. "We were just fine until the add came and killed us all."
• aggro [1]: (verb) to get a monster's aggression; to be attacked by a monster. "I was aggroed by the wolf" implies you were going through wolf territory and a wolf attacked you.
• aggro [2]: (adjective) monster aggression : the monster is aggressive to you and will attack if you go too near it. "That cat is aggro" means you have looked at the cat and determined it will attack you if it notices you. (Some monsters are neutral or even friendly, and won't attacked unless attacked first.)
• aggro [3]: (noun) monster aggression. If you have aggro, the monster has currently chosen to target you for its attacks. Getting aggro can be a good thing if you're trying to make it stop attacking someone else. This can be a bad thing if you got aggro because you're a healer trying to save your friends from dying. "Lose aggro" is to stop being the monster's current target.
• aggro [4]: (noun) amount of monster aggression. Also called "hate." If you accumulate aggro, you are likely to get attacked. The more a healer heals, the more aggro is accumulated. A healer tries to reduce or limit aggro; a tank tries to increase aggro on himself to save the healer.
• baf: bring a friend. Refers to monsters who, when pulled, will bring along one or more other monsters. Can be dangerous for a group.
• boss, boss monster: The biggest, most powerful monster in a given area. (I think this derives from old console RPGs, in which every region or dungeon had one final powerful monster that had to be defeated to move on to the next part of the game.)
• camp: to stay in one spot and keep killing the same monsters over and over (verb), or a place where players are camping or like to camp (noun). "Let's camp at this great camp." Note: camp can also mean to logout. ("I'm camping for the night.")
• camped: a place that already has a group in it killing the local monsters; it's generally considered rude to start pulling those monsters.
• con [2]: (from "consider," an EQ term): a measure of a monster's relative power and difficulty of killing, compared to oneself. In many games, grey con means a monster is so relatively weak that killing it will yield no experience. A purple con monster is one that is so powerful that to attack it by yourself is almost always suicidal. The standard spectrum goes from gray, to green, to blue, to yellow, to orange, to red, to purple.
• farm: to safely collect experience or other bonuses from monsters or other characters (by killing them)
• gtg: Good to go: ready to move, ready for pull.
• hate: See "aggro" [4]. "Build up hate" is to build up aggro.
• inc: (based on "incoming") This term is an alert words used to mean that monsters are coming toward a group, with intent to kill.
• kos, KOS, KoS, kill on sight: "Kill on sight" means that NPCs (or sometimes PCs) will automatically attack the moment they detect a particular PC or NPC. Often, this has to do with bad factions or alignments.
• ks, KS, killsteal: to attack a monster someone else is already fighting, usually with intention of getting easy experience or unfairly getting the privilege of taking the monster's treasure.
• mob: another word for "monster" (based on something like "Mobile Object Program"). Lee Sheldon notes that it is a MUD word that was invented by Richard A. Bartle.
• "on me": A phrase that indicates a monster (or other) is attacking a person who can't do his job while being attacked. "I can't heal - on me!"
• peel: When a bunch of monsters attacks a group, peeling is to attack one of them so that it doesn't attack someone you don't want it to attack. "Who will peel the add off the healer?"
• pop: When a monster or monsters are generated in the game - usually used as a term of alert.
• pull: to get a monster to come to your group so you can kill it, usually in a safer place away from other monsters. Often this involves getting aggro, such as by sticking an arrow into the monster. "Pulling" means someone is getting a monster. See also "inc"
• rage: In WoW, "rage" is a player stat that increases the more damage that is taken or given out. When rage is high enough, some combat abilities become available.
• respawn interval: The time it takes for local monsters to spawn again.
• rfp: ready for pull
• rdy, ready: ready for pull
• rtm: An EQ term that stands for "red to me"; this indicates a monster cons red to a particular player-character. (Red in EQ indicates the monster is far more powerful than the observing person.)
• social: refers to monsters that tend to attack in groups of two or more.
• spawn: Refers to monsters being generated in the game.
• spawn point: the location where a monster appears.
• threat: See "aggro" [4]

  During Combat

• AE, aoe, ae: area-of-effect. A spell that affects all valid targets within a wide area, as opposed to a spell that only affects a single target. Can refer to ae mezz as well. See also PBAoE.
• aura: An AoE effect, usually one that stays active indefinitely. Auras may be beneficial to allies and/or harmful to enemies. For example, a healing aura is an aura (usually centered on a player character, such as a paladin) that heals those within it.
• amnesia: In DAoC, refers to the loss of one's selected targeted. Amnesia is deliberately induced in enemies via various spells.
• bash: Usually refers to a shield attack (which may stun the opponent). Probably originated in EQ.
• bomb: To rush up and surprise a large enemy force with massive (usually AE) attacks that kill large numbers of them almost instantly. A small group can "bomb" a much larger one. (Usually refers to PvP conflicts; very common in DAoC where PBAE and CAE are overpowered.)
• bt, bladeturn: Bladeturn is a protective spell that absorbs the damage from a blow or strike. However, the bladeturn is then broken, and the next blow will do full damage. This is why pbt is so powerful.
• CAE, cae, CAoE, caoe: cone area of effect: A spell or other in-game effect that influences (e.g. damages) targets within a roughly cone-shaped area. Compare with PBAE.
• CC, cc: crowd control: Using mezz (mesmerize), stun, or other means of making sure that most attacking monsters are kept harmless so the group only has to fight one at a time. "Who's handling CC?" may be asked when there are multiple mezzers and rooters in a group; this is important to know because two people doing CC at once risk breaking each others' mezzes or roots or reducing the duration of such.
• chamber: Likely derived from modern weapons terminology, this term (in DAoC) refers to a virtual "slot" that can be loaded with a spell. The spell can then be discharged in combat instantly or almost instantly.
• damage add: A buff to a weapon that results in extra damage being done any time a successful strike is made.
• damage shield, dmg shld, dmg shield: Although this may sound like it means a shield that protects against damage, it actually is a "shield" that damages those who attack the person protected by the shield. A basic example is a "Field of Thorns" that implies the character is covered in thorns, hence causing damage to anyone who tries to hit him. Damage shields may or may not actually offer incoming damage reduction to the wearer. Damage shields are usually spells. A "focus damage shield" is a damage shield that is only active when the caster concentrates (e.g. stays still, doesn't fight, etc.). In some games, damage shields can be very powerful, allowing casters or their pets to tank tough monsters.
• detaunt: A means of encouraging an attacking monster to aggro someone else. Usually done through a specific style of melee attack.
• dot, DoT: Damage over Time: a spell or effect (e.g., poison) that causes damage once every few seconds.
• focus: (verb) To focus usually means to be unable to do anything else in order to maintain a particular spell or other effect.
• focus: (adjective) A spell that remains in effect only so long as the caster does not do anything else. For example, some focus spells require the caster not move, not cast, not fight, and especially not get hit by anything.
• GT, ground target: To aim an attack not by selecting a specific opponent, but by selecting a specific section of the ground.
• gtae, gtaeo, GTAoE, etc.: Ground-target area-of-effect. Usually a big explosive spell or attack that is aimed at a section of ground, not a specific person or monster.
• interrupt: (noun) Interruption. Usually refers to an even that stops a caster from completing a spell, forcing the caster to start over again. For example, hitting someone who is casting a spell is usually a good way to cause an "interrupt."
• kite: a particular combat technique, frequently used by casters, of DoTting a monster, possibly stunning it, and running away, repeat until it's dead.
• mana burn: A situation in which players use casters and their nukes (spells) to overwhelm a very tough enemy that was intended to require a balanced player group (e.g. tanks, casters, healers). ("Mana burn" presumably derives from the burning up of mana in the process of nuking, but may refer also to burning the target.) ["mana burn" is used in FFXI. Thanks to: M. Mahmud.]
• meat shield: A melee character who can take lots of damage. Thus, they are usually used to physically block the path of monsters and absorb their attacks while mages and archers behind them do their work. [text by Stormwaltz and rei]
• mezz, mes, mez: (mesmerize) to render a target temporarily unable to do anything, including move, fight, or cast - usually until the target is struck and damaged (depends on what hits it). A lot like a traditional sleep spell. Breaking mezz is considered a very bad thing if done before your group is ready to fight the mezzed monster. Mezz wears off in a given quantity of time. AE mezz is considered very useful.
• nuke: (verb) To do magical damage, usually at a distance.
• nuke: (noun) Magical damage, usually done at a distance.
• PA, perf: Perforate Artery. A very commonly used attack in DAoC. Used by assassins. So commonly used that I list it here.
• pbae, pbaoe, PBAE, etc: person-based area of effect. An area-of-effect spell that is centered on the caster.
• pbt: pulsing bladeturn: this is a spell or chant that brings up a new bladeturn on a regular basis (such as one every 8 seconds).
• proc: (based on "procedure") a special effect (usually spell) that occurs under certain conditions. A sword may have a fire proc - a fireball spell that occurs randomly. Armor may have a reactive proc - a spell that has a chance of being cast when that piece of armor is struck by an enemy.
• rezz, res, ress: resurrection. A dead person can be resurrected by someone who has the right resurrection spells. Some games do not have rezz.
• roll: To totally overrun an enemy, or to be overrun. ("We rolled the enemy.")
• root: to render a monster (or PC) temporarily unable to travel for a specific time period. In DAoC, roots are usually broken when a monster takes damage.
• stun: to render a monster (or PC) temporarily unable to do anything, including move, fight, or cast - even if the monster is being attacked. Stun wears off in a given quantity of time.
• style, styles: In DAoC, styles are special melee attacks that do more damage, have special effects (such as stun), and which tend to use up endurance.
• tank [1]: (verb) To hold a monster's aggro and to suffer through its attacks.
• tank [2]: (noun) A person who is best suited to hold a monster's aggro and suffer through its attacks: usually someone wearing heavy armor, having lots of hp, and wielding a big sharp weapon.
• taunt: A means of getting aggro, especially aggro [4]. In DAoC, taunting is usually done through specific types of melee attacks. This is useful to make a monster attack the guy in full armor, instead of the spellcaster clad in wispy bits of gauze, even if the latter is doing more damage.
• wall humping: An Asheron's Call 1 term for attacking and killing monsters through a wall, thus gaining free and easy experience.
• zerg: (verb) To form up massive numbers of people to overrun the enemy. (Presumably from the "Starcraft" race of the same name, known for having units that were fast and cheap to make.)
• zerg: (noun) A massive group of people that will or is or has overrun their enemies. Or, the act of doing so or having done so. (Presumably from the "Starcraft" race of the same name.)

  Internet Acrononyms and Terms Often Used in MMPs

• 2: sometimes used instead of "to" or "too" - especially by those who use "u" as "you." Example: "gl 2u" would be "good luck to you."
• 4: sometimes used instead of "for." Example: "I have something 4u" is "I have something for you." "4sale" is "for sale."
• afk, afkas: away from keyboard ("I'm getting food and going afk.")
• AI: artificial intelligence
• atm: at the moment
• b4: before
• brb: be right back
• brt: be right there
• btw: By the way
• chat channel: a means by which people can talk together and/or listen to a specific person or persons. Only subscribers to a particular channel can talk or listen.
• cuzz: because
• cya, cyas: See you (later); goodbye.
• doh: Exclamation of dismay, now thoroughly in common usage in the United States, thanks to the TV cartoon "The Simpsons."
• fricking, frigging: nicer term used in place of "f*cking" as an emphasis.
• gj: good job
• gl: good luck
• hehe: Instead of the usual "hee hee," implying laughter, most games have it condensed to "hehe."
• imo, imho: in my opinion, in my humble opinion
• irl: In real life ("In real life, I'm a student")
• jfyi: just for your information
• k, kk: OK (term of acknowledgment)
• l8r: later (see you later)
• lol: laughing out loud. The term "lol" is so commonly used that saying it on a role-playing server doesn't seem strange at all any more). People commonly say "lol" instead of "haha" or other forms of laughter.
• lmao: laughing my ass off
• ne, ne1, ne one: any, anyone ("ne" pronounced "en" "ee")
• nm: never mind, forget it
• np: no problem
• oic, o i c, ic: "Oh I see" (pronounce the letters phonetically)
• okies: OK
• omg, omfg: Oh my G-d, oh my f*cking god
• omw: On my way
• plz: please
• pm: private message: to send a message to someone else that only the recipient sees (unlike speaking in a public chat room).
• pos: piece of sh*t
• rl, RL: Real Life: Life away from the computer and out among human beings as experienced through direct contact, not via chat rooms and the like.
• roffle, rawfle: rofl
• rofl, ROFL: rolling on the floor laughing (used to indicate laughter)
• rtfm, RTFM: read the f*cking manual
• sok: it's ok.
• spam: to repeat something over and over again rapidly. In gaming terms, it can refer to anything that affects others, from "spam the attack style" to "stealth spamming" (stealth and unstealth repeatedly) to just "spamming" (saying the same thing over and over again rapidly). Derives from the Montey Python comedy sketch involving the repeating singing of the word "Spam" (a canned meat-based ham-like product).
• stfu: shut the f*ck up
• sup: "What's up" corrupted to "whassup" corrupted to "sup"
• tmi, TMI: too much information, oversharing: To speak too openly or explicitly about one's private affairs, in such a way as to make other people feel uncomfortable or voyeuristic.
• ttfn: ta-ta for now (bye)
• ty, thx, tnx: thank you, thanks
• u: you
• ur: your
• yt, yt?: you there: Are you there? (often used when sending a message to someone who may or may not be at the keyboard)
• yw: you're welcome
• wb: welcome back (often used if someone has gone LD and has just returned)
• wtf: what the f*ck
• wth: what the hell, what the heck
• wtg: way to go (term of praise)

  Internet Emoticons (Western and Eastern)

• Smiley faces (view from side): :-) :) =) :o) :O) :^) 8-) ) etc
• Frowny faces (view from side): :-( :( =( :o( :O( :^( 8-( ( etc
• Winking faces (though I think of them as sort of cynical faces): ;-) ;) ;-( ;( etc
• Sardonic faces: :-/ :/ =/ etc.
• Tongue-sticking out faces: :-P :p =P etc.
• Grinning/very happy faces: :D =D :-D
• Anime faces: ^_^ @_@ ^.^ _mOm_ (bowing) \(^.^)/ (yay!) etc.
• The carebear or weird stare: o.O o_O
• Streaming tears: QQ (Western) and T-T or ;-; (anime-style)

  Common Unintentional and Deliberate Misspellings, Etc.

• dunno means "don't know"
• "I'll" written as "ill"
• "I'm" written as "im"
• its, it's
• "hear, hear!" often written as "here here!"
• "lose" is very commonly written as "loose"
• "their" or "they're" frequently written as "there" ("There going to attack")
• "they're" is frequently also written as "their" ("Their going to attack")
• "too" is often written as "to"
• "you're" is extremely frequently written as "your" ("Your wrong!" "Your going to regret it")
• wanna means "want to"
• "we're" written as "were"

  Japanese Internet Acrononyms and Terms Often Used in MMPs

• [name]3: 3 is "san" in Japanese, so Paul3 would be "Paul-san"
• 4649: Yoroshiku (Yo(n)-Ro(ku)-Shi-Ku)
• 39 or 999: Thank You (san-kyu)
• 5963: Gokurousan (Go-Ku-Ro(ku)-San)
• 8181: Bye-Bye
• [term]C: okaC, tanoC, kanaC (etc): C is pronounced "shii" in Japanese, so it's used to complete words such as "okashii" ("okaC"). etc.
• haijin: A societally useless person; scum. Sometimes used to refer to game-addicts.
• neko: cat. For some reason, one of the first Japanese words a non-Japanese learns is "neko"....
• otu: Otsukaresama. Farewell term or congratulatory term expressing respect for the work the target person has done.
• oya: Oyasuminasai. Good night.
• tiwa, tiwan: Konnichiwa. Hello.
• w: warau. Means "lol" or "*laugh*"
• O|-|_ or _|-|O or orz or OTL: (text art showing a person collapsed onto hands and knees): an expression of exaggerrated defeat or exhaustion.

  Korean Internet Acrononyms and Terms Often Used in MMPs

• keke: cackling laughter

home

Another game terminology glossary for WoW.