Thursday, October 4, 2007

An MMORPG glossary, Part Two

Continuing from the previous entry.

Again, I've culled the glossary from the relevant Wikipedia page, with relevant edits and comments added.

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MMORPG Glossary, Part Two

Nerf - The act of intentionally weakening a skill, ability, feature, or class in the interest of game balance, usually carried out by the game's designers ("they're going to nerf mages in the next patch").
Noob / N00b - Shortened and "l33t" forms of the common internet term "newbie," which was first shortened as "newb," simply referring to someone inexperienced at a game and displaying their lack of knowledge. This has further been corrupted to "nub," all but losing its original meaning. In some circles, "newbie" or "newb" describes a genuinely inexperienced player, whereas "n00b" refers to a player who acts ignorantly despite being experienced.
NPC - Non-player character, a character that is controlled by the game. It can also be used to identify when one is selling an item to an NPC, such as "I'm going to NPC the X item."
Nuke - Another term for direct damage spells, often used as a verb to indicate the act of repeatedly casting such a spell on a specific target or to use all your "powerhouse" spells on one target ("nuke the healer!").
Nuker - noun Any combat-oriented class that specializes in inflicting high DPS from a distance. Elementalists specialize in this type of combat.

Patch - When used as a noun, a new set of files that must sometimes be downloaded and installed by each player. These files usually contain updates and bug fixes to the game, and sometimes contain new features, new quests, new content, or any other addition, deletion, or alteration of the game that the designers have decided to "push out." All players must have the latest patch installed to continue playing. When used as the verb, the act of acquiring and applying the patch. Patches are usually numbered sequentially. ("Did you get the 2.82 patch?" "I haven't patched yet.")
Patch Notes - A text-file that accompanies a patch, explaining what the patch contains. Patch notes are often studied and discussed voraciously. Patch notes for test servers are sometimes called "test notes."
PC
1. Player character, a character in the online world who is controlled by another human player.
2. Price check, when a player wants to know the going price for an item or service
PK
1. Player killer, a player who kills another in PvP. PK can often refer to a player who aggressively kills others without being provoked.
2. To kill another player in PvP. Often used in a negative manner, such as a level 50 killing a level 30. The term PK is rarely used for an even, fair fight.
PM - short for Private Message as in "PM me". See also PST.
Pot - short for potion.
Pokemon Mission - a mission in which all MOBs must be defeated (Gotta beat 'em all).
Powerleveling also PL
1. A method of leveling a character faster (i.e. accumulating experience points quicker) than would be possible by playing the game normally. For example, a low level character could have a high level character following them around and healing or otherwise helping them, allowing the low level player to kill opponents much faster than they could otherwise. Businesses that offer 'powerlevellng' are usually against the Terms of Service for a particular game, and those that use the services of such businesses are often ridiculed for 'buying their class', rather than learning how to play properly through direct experience.
2. 'Powerlevel' or 'PL', to implement this method
PUG - short for "Pick-Up Group". A party of players that have joined together ad hoc and have never met before, often to cooperate on a particular quest or mission. PUGs can also form within guilds, usually started with the words, "Hey guys, who wants to help me with..."
Pull - A term to describe attacking a mob so that it comes to a designated area to be engaged, usually while trying to avoid drawing a whole group.
PvE - Player vs Environment, describes player interaction with the environment, usually involving combating NPCs. Also known as PvM, Player versus Monster
PvP - Player versus Player, occurs when two players engage in combat or describes a system that allows this.

Quest
1. Built-in goals or objectives that are issued to the player by NPCs, and which, when completed, often yield specific rewards, such as equipment, money, experience, or faction.
2. The act of actively and specifically finishing quests ("I can't raid, I'm busy questing!")

Raid - Some games allow multiple groups to combine their efforts to solve difficult quests or venture into difficult instances; this is called a raid. Some games impose limits on what can be done as a group and what can be done as a raid in order to prevent the game from becoming too simple.
Raid Boss - A very powerful NPC that requires a raid group to complete.
Rez - Abbreviated form of resurrect, the act of bringing a dead player back to life at the location of his or her death. Many variations on the abbreviation exists, like "Ress", "Res", "Rezz". Example: "Rez me please".

S> - Selling. The speaker is announcing their desire to sell a given object. Ex. "S> Orc Helm" indicates that the speaker wishes to sell an Orc Helm and is inviting other players to make an offer for it. If the speaker is willing to sell or to trade for another item, the term S/T> may be used instead.
Spam
1. A term that describes someone constantly casting a spell or using an ability in order to accomplish a goal (like healing the main tank or killing a mob.)
2. To say a word or phrase over and over again to emphasize a point or annoy people. As such, it is a very rude act, and can possibly lead to being banned from the game if done in excess.
Spawn - The moment when a particular mob appears or reappears in game. Usually this is random and is only created to repopulated the zone. This term is not often used to refer to triggered events, where the players did a certain task, such as talking to a specific person or clicking a specific item, and created a monster to fight in the process.
Spawn Camp - The act of waiting near or at a location where a mob or player will appear in game with the intention of killing them immediately ("I'm spawn camping anyone who is coming though this portal."). In PvP, this is generally considered poor show as the arriving player may be dead before they even have control of their character. Many games use artificial means to prevent spawn camping by either making the player invulnerable for a short time after spawning or by placing mob spawn points in inaccessible areas.
Squishy also squishie - noun A character who wears cloth armor and/or has very low health; ex. "Be ready to heal the squishies, they go down fast." Most often refers to wizards and elementalists, and to a certain extent musketeers.

T> - Trade. Used when one wishes to trade with another player.
Tank
1. A player who intentionally aims to keep all of the mob's aggro, and by doing so, protecting other party members who can heal the tank or damage the mob more effectively. A tank should generally have high hit points and armor class. Also, any combat-oriented class that primarily uses toe-to-toe melee rather than ranged combat or some form of subtle melee (that is, a rogue or assassin is a melee character who is not a tank, whereas warriors, paladins, and other such classes are).
2. The act of being the main target of a mob. Can be used to describe both intentional and unintentional aggro; eg. 'We need a well equipped warrior to tank the dragon' or 'Make sure you have good aggro or the healers will end up tanking the dragon and we will wipe '.
Train
1. A line of charging mobs. Often brought to a zone-line; "Train to zone!!"
2. To lead a train of mobs in an uncontrollable fashion
3. The act of purchasing or learning new skills or abilities (cf. training); in some games, also may be the act of improving skills or abilities by visiting a specific NPC and often by paying in-game currency.
1. Clearing train - a train where a player or group of players have deliberately started a train of enemies to divert them away from another player or group of players. The following groups of players can then run through the area without risk of attracting the attention of the computer enemies.
2. Hostile train - a train where a player or group of players have started a train for the sole purpose of running the train into another group of players with the hopes that the train will engulf the other players and kill them. This practice is often frowned upon in the MMORPG world and is considered bad form, though it can be useful to dislodge dogged pursuit.
Treadmill - pejorative term for the repetitive grinding many games require to reach the highest levels ("I'm close to hitting the 45 treadmill")

Warp
1. A spell or ability that allows a player to return to their home or bind point (see "Hearth").
2. A player or NPC suddenly disappearing from one place and reappearing in another, often from lag. The term bamf is occasionally used instead.
Wipe - noun When a party or group of player characters are all killed by enemies (wiped out).
WTB - Want to buy, when a player wants to buy a specific item from another player.
WTS - Want to sell, when a player wants to sell a specific item to another player.
WTT - Want to trade, when a player wants to trade a specific item for another one.

XD - an emoticon representing a mischievous grin.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

nice post