Speaking MMORPG: Translation of Gamer Slang

If you have a friend, spouse, child, or loved one that enjoys playing WoW (World of Warcraft), MMORPGs, or other online games, then these are the words, references, acronyms, and slang that you'll need to understand exactly what their talking about. Now, you can be on the inside without actually having to play!

--Acronyms

MMORPGs: MMORPG is an acronym for Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game. These games are distinct because thousands of other players are playing in the same world as you do. Most of them are fantasy-genre games, like WoW. However, some, like City of Heroes or Matrix Online, are more comic book or sci-fi oriented.

FPS: First Person Shooter.

RL: Real Life. Most gamers agree that, even though it's in 3D, the graphics are kind of bland and the Gamma is set too high.

MUD: Multi-User Dungeon. Before MMORPGs, people played text-based RPGs. You would get a short description of your surroundings, then enter a command prompt, such as Strongbad's "Get Ye Flask."

MOB: The origin of the word "MOB" is contested. The most common translation is "Mobile OBject." Don't get confused, MOB refers to any single enemy.

PvP: Player vs. Player. Any activity in which you are allowed to battle another player is consider PvP.

DPS: Damage Per Second; how fast you can kill Mobs or other players. Usually, high level wizards or mages have the highest (potential) dps. Rogues tend to have the highest melee dps.

AoE: Area of Effect. Any spell that effects an area or radius.

--Slang

Spawn, Spawn Point, or Spawn Camp: After being destroyed by a character, a MOB will respawn (after a period of time) at a certain point or location on the map so that it can be killed by another character or group. Some MOBs have a few spawn points, making them harder to find. Mobs usually wonder around near their spawn point. Certain types of MOBs will spawn in small areas of the map, thus making a "spawn camp."

Camping: Camping refers to killing Mobs from a spawn camp or spawn point over and over. In some games, such as Everquest, you have to clear a spawn camp over and over so that a Boss, Named, or Elite Mob will spawn.

Grinding: Grinding is the meat and potatoes of any MMORPG. It is the act of leveling up your character by repeatedly killing a certain level range of MOBs. Your level dictates what level range of monsters you can kill. Certain areas of the map spawn a defined level range of creatures. Therefor, your level usually dictates what area of the map you will be killing. When you level past the level range of the area, you can move on to the next (higher level range) area. This is also known as the "treadmill" or the "hamster wheel."

Power Leveling or Rushing: A higher level character takes you through an area above your level range for the purpose of experience, items, or objective completion.

Farming: When a player repeatedly kills Mobs (usually lower level ones) for the sake of gathering easy gold or items, this is known as farming. Lately, it has been used to describe characters who use exploits, hacks, macros (automated programs), or glitches to obtain gold, i.e. "gold farmers."

Drops or Loot: The metaphorical carrot at the end of the proverbial stick. Anything that comes off a corpse is a drop. Players grind, camp, farm, and raid for drops.

Raids: Usually a raid is a group of more than eight players (usually 20-30) who intend to take down a Boss or Named Mob. Raids are time consuming because you have to gather all these people and take down hordes of "trash" (generic) Mobs before you get to the boss. Then, the boss can only be defeated by a certain strategy, according to its "script" (actions, sometimes causing spawns or other environmental interferences) A boss will often trigger a new script according to its remaining level of life. If anyone doesn't adhere to the strategy determined by the boss's script, then this usually means a "wipe" (everyone dies and has to restart at the beginning).

Aggro: The amount of "hate" that a Mob has toward you. If the mob has aggro'd you, then you are being attacked. Aggro formulas can get complex, but basically, the more DPS you are doing to him, the higher you are on his "hatelist".

Buffs: Any spell or effect that enhances your character for a certain period of time.

--The "Holy Trinity" Strategy

Tank: It is the tank's job to keep the Mob's aggro on him. The tank has high defense and hit points, but usually low DPS. Tanks have abilities that generate "hate" toward him, so that other's can dish out more DPS.

Healer: The healer heals the tank. If the tank loses aggro, and the mob starts attacking someone else (the next player on its hatelist), then the healer heals them as well.

Crowd Control: The person in charge of crowd control has the ability to stun or otherwise occupy multiple Mobs. It is more efficient for multiple players to be attacking one creature at a time. Crowd control allows the whole party to focus on and then move from one Mob to the next (think assembly line).

--Common Words or Phrases

"Pwned": An intentional misspelling (and now, mispronunciation) of the word "owned." Literally, decisively beaten. The O and the P are close together on the keyboard, so the misspelling was common, and eventually became adopted. If something "owns" or "pwns" then it is unbelievably awesome, or "leet."

"Leet": Short for "Elite."

"Noob": A newbie. Someone who doesn't understand how to play the game.

--References and Gamer Humor (possible adult language)

Leroy Jenkins

Boom Headshot

Internet is for Porn Song (not Graphic)

Red vs. Blue