MMORPG Terminology

[True_Avery]

Here is a list of terms you may hear often in TOR. In Feedback there was mention of more introduction of what an MMO is, so here is the crash course:

 

AE - “Agro Enhancement” . Spells, attacks, etc that get mobs to attack you. Primarily used by Tanks.

 

“Add” - A new Mob aggroing to you or another player when you or they already have an enemy on top of you. Often a term for Tanks, as they need to get many mobs on them at once.

 

AFK - “Away from Keyboard”. Means person is away from their desk and cannot function for a relative amount of time.

 

“Aggro” - The attention one gets from mobs. Usually based on a mathematic system, aggro is gained through attacking, using aggro growing spells/attacks, etc.

 

AH - “Auction House”.

 

“Alt” - Means your or another players other character besides their main.

 

AOE - “Area of Effect”. A skill or attack that hits more than one enemy or simply a relative amount of space.

 

Blind - When your body dies in some MMOs, you are transported to a safe spot. This is known as a Blind.

 

“Bio” - Bathroom break.

 

BoE - "Bind on Equip". Some items are bind on equip. This means that as long as you don't equip it, you can give/sell it to another player, alternatly send it to an alt.

 

BoP - “Bind on Pickup”. Some items are permanently yours once you receive them and cannot be given to another character. You own it, or you sell it to an NPC merchant.

 

“Bot” - Generally illegal, it is a third party program tat turns a character into a NPC to do something without need of a player, like farm money.

 

“Build” - The specifications of your character in terms of skills/abilities.

 

“Buff” - Temporary boost in ability due to some kind of item or spell.

 

“Camp(ing)” - To stay in a single, precise geographical location. This term usually means standing by someone’s dead body and killing them repeatedly. Also known as Griefing.

 

“Crafting” - To create something with an in-game crafting tool/system.

 

“Corpse Run” - In some MMOs, you must run back to your corpse in order to keep playing again.

 

“Crit” - A critical hit that is based on some determined mathematic. Some classes are designed to crit over regular attacking.

 

“Crowd Control” - Spells/Attacks that temporary slow/stop/stun/etc a mod or a group of mobs.

 

DC - Used when a player disconnects. "I think he DC'ed."

 

DD - “Direct Damage“, or “Damage Dilemma“. This is a spell or attack that goes through armor to directly hurt the mobs life points without going through a damage dampener equation. More uncommonly used to refer to a spell that causes large amounts of damage, and/or kills everyone in your group.

 

DKP - “Dragon Kill Points”. A system of guild organization that has been created by third party programs to determine who gets loot, etc in raids.

 

DOT - “Damage Over Time”. These spells and attacks may do starting damage, but DOT spells/attacks are abilities that do small to large amounts of damage over a given period of time. Like, say, Fire would not hurt you much from the start but the burning would be considered a DOT.

 

DPS - “Damage Per Second”. The amount of damage you or your group puts out every second. If you play a class that is geared to doing damage, you will often be judged for your dps, and possibility even asked how good your dps is.

 

“Farming” - The act of killing many mobs in order to gain loot, XP, etc from them. One of the more time consuming acts from MMOs.

 

“Gank” - To unfairly attack a weaker opponent when you are positive you can win.

 

“Guild” - An organized group within the game., usually with a guild leader and mods.

 

GM - “Guild Master”. Leader of a Guild. Also means Game Master, a person who is hired by the company to oversee problems inside the game.

 

Griefer - Someone who Ganks, Camps, and is generally mean to other players.

 

“Healer” / “Cleric” - A player or class that is geared to healing themselves and/or other players.

 

HoT - Healing over Time. Much like DoT, but heals the target over time rather than damaging it.

 

“Experience Debt” - Sometimes in MMOs, you will receive a penalty of less XP for dying. In extreme cases, Experience Debt is given in which you much gain a certain amount of XP before being allowed to level again. This is uncommon and unpopular.

 

“Fighter” - Class that is meant for fighting directly, armor rating depending on the game. Usually fighting classes are given moderate XP, but Warriors can also be considered fighters with the right equipment.

 

“Group” - Team of players organized to quest, instance, etc.

 

“Group Leader” - Self explanatory.

 

HO - “Hopeless Opportunity”. A situation where a mob, instance, level, etc requires a very specific series of attacks/spells in order to beat a mob or situation.

 

“Inc” - “Incoming Target”. A phrase uttered when one or more Adds are coming. Usually the last thing the Tank ever hears.

 

“Instance” - A location that is separate from the rest of the world in which only the players that enter may be apart of.

 

“Kite” -To lead a mob in the direction you want.

 

KS - “kill Stealing”. To attack a mob that someone else is trying to kill and steal the kill. More often it means to wait for someone to clear an area, then attack the player and steal any possible rewards, or attack the the mob that the person clearing was going for.

 

LD - “Link Dead”. When a player has disconnected.

 

“Leeroy JENKINS!” - A lunatic battlecry uttered when someone is about to charge a mob or group of mobs. A famous WoW quotes started from a YouTube Video.

 

LFG/LFT - “Looking for Group” “Looking for Team“. A phrase uttered when someone is looking for a team, raid, etc to join.

 

LFM - “Looking for Members”. When a group is looking for new members in their group.

 

“Loot” - Reward or items that a player or group earns by killing a mob or opening some kind of chest. May also refer to things bought.

 

LOS - “Line of Sight”. When targeting mob, they must be within your line of sight to hit or vise versa.

 

“Macro” - A button in which you press and program to do multiple things at once.

 

“Mage” - Class that uses spells, or sometimes strong long range attacks. Usually a type of class meant to do vast amount of damage from afar.

 

“Mana” - Points required to attack.

 

“Main Tank” - Player, usually a Tank class, given the opportunity to take the main brunt of the damage for a group or raid, whom also receives the most attention from healers. Hi job is to take the most agro and keep it for as long as possible.

 

“Merchant” - An NPC that buys and sells in-game items.

 

“Mez” - Short for Mesmerize. To stun an opponent.

 

“Miss tell” - Posting a comment in the wrong section, area, chat, etc.

 

“Mob” - AI controlled monster that you more often than not kill.

 

Mount - A spawnable thing that allows you to get manually from one place to another. Like a Horse, Giant Cat, Dragon, etc.

 

MMO - Massively Multiplayer Online

 

MMORPG - Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

 

“Mule” - An npc or something similar that is used to hold items for you.

 

“Nerfed” - A in-game something that the developers make weaker.

 

“Ninja” - The act of stealing loot.

 

NPC - “Non Player Character”.

 

“Nuke” - A strong Spell that does a lot of damage. Also refers a spell caster that has a very high DPS. Usually used in situations by the raid/groupleader/main tank when he/she wants the group to go full out on damage, without regards to overtaking the tanks threat level.

 

Off-Tank - A player, usually a Tank-class, that off tanks a second (or more) target(s).

 

“OMW” - “On My Way”

 

OOC - “Out-Of-Character”. You when you are not Role-Playing.

 

OOM - “Out of Mana”.

 

“Pat” - A patrol.

 

PB - “Point Blank”. A spell that you must be right next to the mob in order to use.

 

“Pker” - A player that plays primarily to kill other players.

 

“Port” - Short for Teleport or Portal.

 

“Proc” - A random occurrence in the game from an attack, DOT, etc that has some effect on the mob or the player. A crit can be considered a Proc, but some items/spells have abilities that activate at random during attacks.

 

PuG - PickUp Group. A group assembled on the spot from people you do not know.

 

“Pull” - To forcibly bring an add/mob into the fight.

 

PvE - Player Vs. Environment.

 

PvP - Player Vs. Player.

 

“QQ” - A term that basically means “Cry more”.

 

“Quest” - Either item or NPC given, an assignment given to you that you must accomplish to gain XP, Loot, Gold/Money, etc.

 

“Raid” - A much larger group put together in order to fight through an instance, particularly hard enemy, etc.

 

“Regen” - To regenerate health.

 

“Respec” - To change your skill/ability set.

 

“Rez” - Short for Resurrection.

 

“Roll” - Roll a dice to determine who gets something.

 

“Root” - To keep a Mob or player stuck temporarily in one spot.

 

“Scout” - A class or player of questionable ability, integrity, and/or skill.

 

“Solo” - To quest, level, grind on ones own.

 

“Spec” - Short for specification. Refers to the Build of your characters skills/abilities.

 

“Tell” - A private message.

 

“Wipe” - To have your group or raid all die.

 

WTB - “Want to Buy”. A term used by people who would like to buy something. “WTB new sword“.

 

WTS - “Want to Sell”. A term used by people who would like to sell something.

 

Zerg - Combat strategy where a large group of players or mobs rush a target.

 

Zone - A different area of the game world.

 

Mention anything I may have missed.

[Bob Lion54]

Pretty good, Avery!

 

I just want to point out that sometimes the terms listed could have a different meaning depending on the game. There's no one list of official terms, but these tend to be more used ones.

 

Just a few comments off the top of my head:

 

AE- Sometimes, people will use this for "Area of Effect," dropping the "O."

 

BOE- Can also mean "Bind on Equip," meaning you can pick it up and still trade it, but if you use it, you can't give it to another player. You can usually still vendor the item though. (See below for vendor)

 

BOP/BOA- "Bind on Pickup/Acquire," you pick it up or receive it as a quest reward, and it's yours for good.

 

DD- Also, "Damage Dealer." If you are a DD class, it means you are made to deal a lot of damage.

 

GM- Game Master- this is an employee of the game company that deals with issues that arise in game.

 

That's all the duel-meaning ones I saw as I read through the list. Each game tends to make its own lingo, to an extent, so when TOR comes out, we might have more to add to the list or change meanings. Still, this is a good starting point for people new to MMOs.

 

Here's a few I just thought of:

 

Vendor- A Vendor is the same as a merchant. The term can also be used as a verb to denote the action of selling items to a NPC. For instance, someone might say, "My bags are full. I need to go vendor a bunch of stuff."

 

Vendor Trash - Items looted from MOBs that have no use or little value. They are a way to give the player money without directly dropping money. (or Credits, in our case.) Some mobs won't drop money, such as a Kath Hound, but you might get its claws. They will be useless to us, but for some odd reason, the vendors will love them and never tire of buying them all up! Humanoid MOBs will also usually drop Vendor Trash as a way to add variety to the game, over just receiving money/gold/credits all the time.

 

Bags- Your personal inventory.

 

Vault/Bank- Additional inventory, usually that you have to buy, that gives you more storage.

 

Storage- The amount of space available for you to carry or store items. Such as what your character can carry, the bank, or a house, if available.

[Mav]

“QQ” - A term that basically means “Cry more”.

Haha when I was playing CoD4, we used to have this saying, "less QQ, more pew pew" but yea I vaguely remember some of these terms from my short stint with Galaxies.

 

it didn't really originate from MMO's but...

summat - "something"

[jrrtoken]

[True_Avery]

Yes, and those are just a few of the more objective terms. Each MMO has double that list in game specific acronyms and terms.

 

Like MC for Molten Core, or AV for Alteric Valley. A lot of them are zones, but then you get into game mechanics and loot specifications.

 

When they say an MMO can be more of a job than a game at times, they aren't lying.

[Hallucination]

Generally you can pick the lingo up as you go along.

 

 

But as a rule, never ask someone you don't trust to explain what something means, unless you like getting insulted over just about nothing.

[adamqd]

Yea, and You'll get people saying stuff like "Type /qui-gon and you get a rare green crystal" too lol

[Jan Gaarni]

Added a few and corrected a few in your post, Avery.

[True_Avery]

Added a few and corrected a few in your post, Avery.

Awesome, thanks.

 

If anyone else has anymore to mention feel free. I'll keep this thread in the line for future stickies when we get closer to release.

[Miltiades]

But as a rule, never ask someone you don't trust to explain what something means, unless you like getting insulted over just about nothing.

I know the feeling. "omg, n00b" is the usual.

 

If I persist in asking noob questions in MMO games, there's bound to be someone willing to help me, right? The world can't be that evil, right? *sigh*

[Tommycat]

One I hear a lot is COE. Cone of Effect. Usually pertains to ranged. Affects targets in a cone. slightly different to AOE which affects all targets in close proximity to the targeted spot, the COE isn't limited by range from the targeted location. AOE would be like a grenade. COE would be like a shotgun.

 

Stealth Nerf: A nerf that was done but not listed in the release notes.

 

A lot more depend on the game itself.

[Hallucination]

Shealth Nerf: A nerf that was done but not listed in the release notes.

 

I think you mean 'stealth nerf'. On a side note, there are also stealth buffs, and in fact just about any change can have 'stealth' appended to it if it's undocumented.

[Tommycat]

I think you mean 'stealth nerf'. On a side note, there are also stealth buffs, and in fact just about any change can have 'stealth' appended to it if it's undocumented.

 

Thanks, I corrected my post

Finger hit the "h" by mistake(stupid laptop keyboard).

 

Yeah I was going to put it as "Stealth <something>" meaning a change that was added that has no documentation.

 

OOOOoo thought of another.

 

Gold farmer: a person who only exists on the server for the purpose of earning in game cash to sell on the web for real world cash.

 

Grinding: the process of doing repetative tasks over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over to level up. This is theoretically one of the things TOR should NOT have.

 

POB: Portalized Object. This is an in game location that you have to teleport into and can share with group members. In SWG there are ships that allow this.

 

NGE: While this is typically referencing Star Wars Galaxies' New Game Experience, it has become synonymous with "VERY BAD IDEA!"

[Jan Gaarni]

One I hear a lot is COE. Cone of Effect. Usually pertains to ranged. Affects targets in a cone. slightly different to AOE which affects all targets in close proximity to the targeted spot, the COE isn't limited by range from the targeted location. AOE would be like a grenade. COE would be like a shotgun.

 

Well, I've never heard that abreviation used before, but to elaborate abit more on what a CoE can be (and maybe correct):

CoE is, as he says, much like AoE in that it affects multiple targets.

But unlike AoE, which can be 360 degrees around the player outwards to a set distance, or a circular area of different diameters (depending how the Devs of whatever game has set it to be for that particular spell), the CoE is only a cone in front of a player. Distance of a CoE can vary.

 

Taking WoW as an example, the Shockwave of the Warrior affects all targets in a cone in front of him, damaging and stunning all targets that are hit by it for 4 seconds. The range, however, is short, about 10 yards (9 meters).

 

The Druids Typhoon spell damages aswell, and has a knockback effect on targets. It's range is as far as his other offensive spells, affecting targets out to a whole 36 yards (33 meters).

 

Both are CoE spells.

 

Also, I believe CoE spells / abilites spread out the further it goes away from the caster.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

wow, this is insanely useful, t_a! thanks!

[Fiestainabox]

Great list, I noticed a few thing's missing though:

 

Hit Rating (Also known as Spell Hit, or HR)

 

The chance that you will hit an enemy of the same level as you.

 

Hit Cap: The maximum amount of hit rating you need to no longer "miss" your target.

 

Unfortunately, the math involved in calculating Hit Rating and the Hit Cap, is way above me, so I simply use This to do all the work.

 

The key thing to know though, is that the "Cap" is different for each class. It's based off talents, which usually give some form of Hit Rating, Buffs, or what orientation of weapon your currently wielding (i.e Two Hander, One Hander, Duel Wield).

 

Spell Cap is pretty much the same thing, except with spells.

 

However, I pray that this stat won't be in TOR, it's a big pain to have to constantly compensate for Hit Rating -_-.

 

(Heh, I played Enhancement Shaman in WoW, I had to cap both Melee and Spell hit, if they hadn't have merged the two "hits" in 3.0, I would have died.)

[Hallucination]

Do we really need one specific game's system in this general MMO terminology thread? Should I dig around and get mechanics from AD&D 1E while this is happening?