Social Change and Gaming.
Dan Byrne
The rise of the internet has brought about a lot of social changes within the modern world. By
analysing recent history we see huge development in technology, where the rise of the internet
has allowed information and data to be accessed incredibly easily and and even more recently
sub cultures have developed for the online environment. Gaming technology has evolved
immensely over the past 30 years and has now become a subculture within the online
environment. Games have always been an effective medium to entertain, and game consoles like
the playstation and Nintendo revolutionized the gaming world allowing games to feature graphics that seemed more lifelike and realistic and it is this realism that made the games more appealing.Now that we have online gaming environments; where players can interact with other people playing all over the world, we see exponential growth in realism within gaming, in the graphics, but more so with the social interaction between users. With this technological and change we see that gaming has changed from more than just a linear form of entertainment to a second life.
Thirty years ago computer gaming technology was very minimal. Game designer David Perry
talks briefly about gaming in the 1970s and 1980s and remarks; “To play a game in those days
you had to have an imagination.” (Perry, 2008). In 1981 a man known now as the “Father of
Video gaming” (Perry 2008) Clive Sinclair, released the “Sinclair ZX 81” a home personal
computer which was intended for the high end income earners but almost immediately, people started programming games for it. It had a hard drive of 1 kilobyte and so the games that could be played on it were very simplistic and minimalist. As technology continues to evolve we continue to see a huge increase in the popularity of gaming. In the year 2000 thegaming industry retail sales had reached $7.98 Billion USD. In 2009 sales in the gaming industry
had exceeded $19 Billion USD. “In ten years, the industry has changed dramatically in many
ways, but most importantly it was grown over those years by more than 250 percent at retail
alone.” (Frazier 2009).
There is no doubt that over the last ten years, the gaming industry has grown exponentially in
terms of retail sales, however in 2009 there was a $1Billion USD drop in sales. Considering there
are many new sources of revenue including subscriptions and digital distribution, industry growth is even more impressive.” (Frazier 2009) The fact that there is a decline of retail sales, speaks a lot about the large amount of people who are now turning the internet for their gaming needs. Games like World of Warcraft and Second Life are known as MMORPGs (Massively multiplayer online role playing games) and use principles of participatory culture where users can continuallyinteract with each other.
Web 2.0 has been coined to term how we perceive today’s Internet capabilities. The term “Web
2.0” (2004–present) is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive
information sharing, inoperability, user centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide
Web. Open source guru and the man responsible for the term Web 2.0, Tim O’Reilly states; “It is
becoming increasingly clear that the internet is becoming not just a platform, but an operating
system, an operating system that manages access by devices such as personal computers,
phones, and other personal electronics to cloud subsystems ranging from computation, storage,
and communications to location, identity, social graph, search, and payment.” (O’Reilly. 2010)
“We are using participation as a term that cuts across educational practices (and) creative
processes” (Jenkins 2009) Jenkins goes on to say “Many young people are already part of this
process through:
Affiliations — memberships, formal and informal, in online communities centered around various forms of media, such as Friendster, Facebook, messageboards, metagaming, game clans, orMySpace).
Expressions — producing new creative forms, such as digital sampling, skinning and modding,
fan videomaking, fan fiction writing, zines, mash-ups).
Collaborative Problem-solving — working together in teams, formal and informal, to complete
tasks and develop new knowledge (such as through Wikipedia, alternative reality gaming,
spoiling).
Circulations — Shaping the flow of media (such as podcasting, blogging)”
The MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game); Hobowars is a text based
massively multiplayer online game. Thousands of people play it daily and within the game you are in control of your hobo, which is your avatar within the online environment Firstly; there is a huge sense of accomplishment when you set particular milestones for your avatar and then accomplish them. Its a simplistic accomplishment that can be seen by all players within the game, i.e. level gains, attribute values etc. You can sit on this game all day, "training" your hobo. The social side of Hobowars is probably the biggest part of the game. Hobos within the game can post onto various boards and talk about anything. This game provides more than an acquired
accomplishment within a linear, story based game, everything that each player does is unique
and different. Even though its a text based game that you are playing at a computer screen on
your own you know that nearly everything within the game is generated from other real people
playing the game as well. It also draws very real parallels to the real world, it had its own
economy that goes up and down depending on certain variables within the game.
Games like Hobowars show that we see games coming through that are more like real life, in
their graphics, but more so in the social aspects of the game. This makes for an online game that
is so much more engaging and exciting. “An avatar is an interactive social representation of a
user”. (Meadows, 2008) Through the avatar a user can become somebody that they are not in
their own life. It can become an escape from their own life, not to say that their own life is dull or
depressing but the fact that a person can immerse themselves into a whole new world makes for
an incredibly entertaining experience. Phillip Rosendale, the creator of the popular MMORPG;
Second Life states, “We are moved by the idea of virtual worlds, because like space, they allow
us to reinvent ourselves and they contain anything and everything, and probably anything can
happen there.” (Rosendale 2008) Within the visual communication I wanted to create an Ad for a billboard that would express the immersive qualities that online gaming has in a positive light. The man in the foreground is changing into his online avatar and entering a beautiful digital world, a metaphor for the online gaming environment. The different creatures on the island and the floating piece of earth that the man is standing on refer to the small piece of copy on the ad,
“Anything and Everything”. A reference to Rosendales quote, reinforcing the idea that the ability
to create an avatar and accessing a virtual reality means that the same laws within the real world
do not apply. Gaming has changed and evolved into a second reality that has strong parallels to
real life but with the continuing development of technology, gaming is becoming a more
entertaining and engaging medium.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
In a virtual world I can do things I cant do in real life. If I want to spontaneously jump off a cliff, In a virtual world I can. If I want to start a gang, In a virtual world, I can. I can potentially live a live that is more full than a life that anybody has ever really lived. There are no laws of physics. There are no real life changing repercussions for choices made, only repercussions within the virtual world.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Hobowars
As part of my research for my major project, I signed up to a community based web game called hobowars.
Hobowars is a text based massively multiplayer online game. Thousands of people play it daily and within the game you are in control of your hobo, which is your avatar within the online environment who you can equip weapons to and strengthen for different purposes, fighting and begging.s within the game than you can build up within the game (strength, speed, intelligence) which you can build up at different centres (library for intelligence, and the dojo for strength and speed.) I found out 1st hand that this game is incredibly addictive for a number of reasons. Firstly; There is a huge sense of accomplishment when you set particular milestones for your avatar and then accomplish them. Its a simplistic accomplishment that can be seen by all players within the game, ie level gains, attribute values etc. You can sit on this game all day, "training" your hobo. to complete actions and tasks within the game it uses up time, which regenerates every ten minutes. Therefore the more time you spend playing this game, the stronger your hobo will become.
The boards
The social side of hobowars is probably the biggest part of the game. Hobos within the game can post onto various boards (allocated by themes such as "whos smokin who") and talk about anything. You can get help from more experienced players. This game initially seems simple because its a text based game but in actual fact there are many complexities to it and ways to make your hobo stronger, ways that could only be worked out by a master mathematician! Its an interesting thing, posting on a board that hundreds of people see and comment on daily.
Gangs
Once your hobo is strong enough you can apply to become part of a gang, which is just a collective of hobos that have their own posting board, perks and "battle chamber", a group of the top ten fighting hobos who can battle against other gangs battle chambers. Gangs also provide its members with better weapons and "security" ie if somebody attacks you multiple times, a stronger member of the gang will go and attack that hobo for you!
Personal Experience
Once I had played for a month or so my hobo was strong enough to be part of a gang. There is a lot to be said about the sense of accomplishment and excitement this had for me personally, it was more than an aquired accomplishment within a linear, story based game where many individuals before myself had already accomplished the exact same thing, this was unique to me, its just a very real sense of accomplishment. Even though its a text based game that you are playing at a computer screen on your own you know that nearly everything within the game is generated from other real people playing the game as well.
I then started using the boards and this was a whole new revelation. I started posting my own threads that were intended to be humourous; I would basically talk about how I was the most powerful hobo in hobowars and how everyone else was inferior to me.It was amazingly fun seeing the responses I'd get. Most of it was negative, and I quickly became one of the most hated hobos on hobowars! however Id developed a name for myself which meant I had fame among this select group of people. I also developed a small following of people who knew I was using the boards as a joke and eventually got offered the chance to become a co leader for a small gang. Hobowars has a very real worldly feal to it, the only metaphor I can think of is its like climbing the career ladder, just within a game. Social status is a big thing within the hoboworld and as I continued to post more controversial posts I became an enemy of the "staff" of hobowars. I enjoyed the very loose but humorously real parallels that hobowars had to the real world, it had its own economy that would go up and down depending on demand for certain weapons etc. Eventually the "staff" sent me to jail within the game for a year for stealing millions of hobo dollars from another gang!
Even though my hobo came to a sad and shameful demise, I really enjoyed the time I spent playing the game and came to realise that with the evolving nature of games, we see games coming through that are more like real life, not in their graphics, but in the social aspects of the game. this makes for an online game that is so much more engaging and exciting. I can live an exciting life within the game and take risks that I would never take in real life, say and do things that I wouldnt say and do in real life. Through the avatar, I could become whoever I wanted and that is a pretty awesome experience.
Hobowars is a text based massively multiplayer online game. Thousands of people play it daily and within the game you are in control of your hobo, which is your avatar within the online environment who you can equip weapons to and strengthen for different purposes, fighting and begging.s within the game than you can build up within the game (strength, speed, intelligence) which you can build up at different centres (library for intelligence, and the dojo for strength and speed.) I found out 1st hand that this game is incredibly addictive for a number of reasons. Firstly; There is a huge sense of accomplishment when you set particular milestones for your avatar and then accomplish them. Its a simplistic accomplishment that can be seen by all players within the game, ie level gains, attribute values etc. You can sit on this game all day, "training" your hobo. to complete actions and tasks within the game it uses up time, which regenerates every ten minutes. Therefore the more time you spend playing this game, the stronger your hobo will become.
The boards
The social side of hobowars is probably the biggest part of the game. Hobos within the game can post onto various boards (allocated by themes such as "whos smokin who") and talk about anything. You can get help from more experienced players. This game initially seems simple because its a text based game but in actual fact there are many complexities to it and ways to make your hobo stronger, ways that could only be worked out by a master mathematician! Its an interesting thing, posting on a board that hundreds of people see and comment on daily.
Gangs
Once your hobo is strong enough you can apply to become part of a gang, which is just a collective of hobos that have their own posting board, perks and "battle chamber", a group of the top ten fighting hobos who can battle against other gangs battle chambers. Gangs also provide its members with better weapons and "security" ie if somebody attacks you multiple times, a stronger member of the gang will go and attack that hobo for you!
Personal Experience
Once I had played for a month or so my hobo was strong enough to be part of a gang. There is a lot to be said about the sense of accomplishment and excitement this had for me personally, it was more than an aquired accomplishment within a linear, story based game where many individuals before myself had already accomplished the exact same thing, this was unique to me, its just a very real sense of accomplishment. Even though its a text based game that you are playing at a computer screen on your own you know that nearly everything within the game is generated from other real people playing the game as well.
I then started using the boards and this was a whole new revelation. I started posting my own threads that were intended to be humourous; I would basically talk about how I was the most powerful hobo in hobowars and how everyone else was inferior to me.It was amazingly fun seeing the responses I'd get. Most of it was negative, and I quickly became one of the most hated hobos on hobowars! however Id developed a name for myself which meant I had fame among this select group of people. I also developed a small following of people who knew I was using the boards as a joke and eventually got offered the chance to become a co leader for a small gang. Hobowars has a very real worldly feal to it, the only metaphor I can think of is its like climbing the career ladder, just within a game. Social status is a big thing within the hoboworld and as I continued to post more controversial posts I became an enemy of the "staff" of hobowars. I enjoyed the very loose but humorously real parallels that hobowars had to the real world, it had its own economy that would go up and down depending on demand for certain weapons etc. Eventually the "staff" sent me to jail within the game for a year for stealing millions of hobo dollars from another gang!
Even though my hobo came to a sad and shameful demise, I really enjoyed the time I spent playing the game and came to realise that with the evolving nature of games, we see games coming through that are more like real life, not in their graphics, but in the social aspects of the game. this makes for an online game that is so much more engaging and exciting. I can live an exciting life within the game and take risks that I would never take in real life, say and do things that I wouldnt say and do in real life. Through the avatar, I could become whoever I wanted and that is a pretty awesome experience.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
The demotivational poster
This is a very simplistic design aesthetic for a popular online poster that parodies motivational posters like the "Hang in there" poster created in the 60s with a kitten holding onto a branch. These "demotivational posters" use sarcasm as a form of humour. Some of these are very funny!
http://verydemotivational.com/
The avatar
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/magazine/10wwln-guest-t.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=avatar&st=cse&oref=login
Philip Rosedale, the creator of Second Life, defines avatar in the gaming sense as “the representation of your chosen embodied appearance to other people in a virtual world.”
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html - Philip Rosendale talking about 2nd life and the reasoning behind it...
Compares 2nd life to space travel - the human truth of wanting to explore new worlds - start again. (When venturing into space) "Its going to be so different than here on earth, that anything is going to be possible"
"We are moved by the idea of virtual worlds, because like space, they allow us to reinvent ourselves and they contain anything and everything, and probably anything can happen there."
World of world of warcraft! parody- http://www.theonion.com/video/warcraft-sequel-lets-gamers-play-a-character-playi,14240/
Philip Rosedale, the creator of Second Life, defines avatar in the gaming sense as “the representation of your chosen embodied appearance to other people in a virtual world.”
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html - Philip Rosendale talking about 2nd life and the reasoning behind it...
Compares 2nd life to space travel - the human truth of wanting to explore new worlds - start again. (When venturing into space) "Its going to be so different than here on earth, that anything is going to be possible"
"We are moved by the idea of virtual worlds, because like space, they allow us to reinvent ourselves and they contain anything and everything, and probably anything can happen there."
World of world of warcraft! parody- http://www.theonion.com/video/warcraft-sequel-lets-gamers-play-a-character-playi,14240/
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Glossary of gaming lingo:
Noob - dweeb, lame a@#, twit, nerd. "What a noob."
Dood - dude. Dudes are cool. Doods are kewl. They are also leet and uber.
Nerf - to reduce abilities and/or effectiveness in battle. Eg, "when will Mythic nerf them damn bone dancers?" or "Blizz gotta nerf those stupid pallies."
Toon - Short for cartoon, a character in an online game. Usage example: "I'll log and get my other toon." "The toons on this server are lame."
Twink - They sparkle. They shine. They positively twinkle in their ill-gotten glory. A Twink is a low-level character wearing gear far, far superior to what they could afford on their own. Sugar Daddy (a high-level character, often the main of an alt Twink) has twinked them sweet enough to "own" the low-level PvP combat arenas.
AA - "alternate abilities." Some games or game expansions include paths you can take to acquire skill or expertise in areas other than your main skill or ability lines.
NP - This means "no problem" and is used in a couple of ways. First, when that noob somehow messes up and gets you killed, but has the courtesy to apologize for his mistake, you can reply with "NP." Second, when you do something really sweet for someone and they gush over with thankfulness, you can say "NP," as in "no big deal" or "YW - You're welcome."
Bot or Buffbot - A character created solely to support other characters, usually a healer who trails behind keeping the main character (or group) fully buffed and healed.
Buffs - Spells that enhance strength, power, or other abilities. One of the primary functions of the healer classes and some caster classes is to "buff" their fellow players so that they perform to their maximum ability.
LOS - "line of sight." Casters can't make firebolts curve around obstacles the way that guy in Wanted could. If only. We wish. Sadly, mobs seem to have no trouble shooting spells through walls or through ship decks. Damn those murlocs. Damn them all.
PL - "power level". When a higher level character groups with a lower level character for purposes of providing the lower level character with incredibly swift gains in xp. A level 2 noob sends a tell asking a level 45 to "PL" them. Appropriate response: "no way."
XP - experience points.
Alt - Alternate character. Characters you have created in addition to your "main".
LFG - "looking for group." When looking for a group, it's often helpful to let other people know what you're looking to accomplish, as well as your character's class and level. Example: "50 mage lfg for donut dunking quest."
Main - Your most played, highest level, or first created character.
Mine, Farm, Pharm - To stay in one place, killing the same mob over and over and over again, for loot or xp.
Grind - Just like RL, in gaming you still have your daily grind doing faction quests, farming for crafting materials, leveling toons, raiding for tokens. *sighs* There's something not quite right about that.
QFT - "quoted for truth." Used to express your agreement with another person's statement, opinion, etc.
RTFM - "Read the F*** Manual" - a not especially polite way to stop that annoying noob from asking you question after question after question after .... Or, if you're in a good mood, or feeling patient, it can also mean "Right Turn, Follow Me," after which you lead the noob through by the hand.
Spam - To repeat an action over and over again. This word is also used to describe speech, generally in a public chat channel, that is either out of place or repetetive. Example: Goober, the level 2 noob, wants everyone to know how many hairy spiders he's killed, so reports in the general channel the completion of every kill. Bigcheese, the level 40 been around a long time, tells Goober: "Stop spamming general chat!"
Tell, Send, or Whisper - Private communication from one player to another.
TP - "teleport" or, in some games "town portal." In-game service, or player-provided service, for teleporting instantly, or quickly, from one area of the gaming world to another.
Train - A whole bunch of mobs chasing after someone who can't handle them. Choo choo!
Zone - Many on-line gaming worlds are so vast they have to be divided into areas or "zones." Generally, when you enter a new zone in a game, there will be a delay while your computer loads the graphics, sound files, and other stuff for that zone into your computer's RAM.
WTB/WTS/WTT - "want to buy" "want to sell" "want to trade" Commerce and craft skills are an integral part of most every game.
PW - Most on-line games record actions of players, groups of players, or entire "realms" and change, accordingly, over time. These changing game worlds are called "persistent worlds."
RL - Real life.
RPG - role-playing game, either on or off-line.
-ZOR (suffix), with a definition from http://www.urbandictionary.com
MMORPG - massively multi-player online role-playing game.
Expressions of appreciation for a fellow gamer's humor
(please keep in mind that online gamers have a tendency to overstate their feelings):
LOL - You are "laughing out loud" though in real life (RL) you may be simply smiling broadly or perhaps quietly chuckling.
KIK - "LOL" for the typing-impaired.
ROFL - You are "rolling on the floor laughing". Obviously, if you were really rolling on the floor you would be unable to reach the keyboard to express your delight. However, you are mightily tickled by someone's comment or action.
ROFLMAO - You are "rolling on the floor laughing your ass off". Completely overcome by mirth, you respond to the funniest thing you've heard in days by collapsing into helpless laughter. In RL, you really are laughing out loud, sometimes for minutes on end.
LMFAO - "Laughing my fat arse off"; LMTAO ("Laughing my thin arse off"; LMAAO ("Laughing my average arse off") - Variation depends on your self-image!
LOL - You are "laughing out loud" though in real life (RL) you may be simply smiling broadly or perhaps quietly chuckling.
KIK - "LOL" for the typing-impaired.
ROFL - You are "rolling on the floor laughing". Obviously, if you were really rolling on the floor you would be unable to reach the keyboard to express your delight. However, you are mightily tickled by someone's comment or action.
ROFLMAO - You are "rolling on the floor laughing your ass off". Completely overcome by mirth, you respond to the funniest thing you've heard in days by collapsing into helpless laughter. In RL, you really are laughing out loud, sometimes for minutes on end.
LMFAO - "Laughing my fat arse off"; LMTAO ("Laughing my thin arse off"; LMAAO ("Laughing my average arse off") - Variation depends on your self-image!
Expressions of approbation, approval, achievement, and congratulations:
Woot! - Gee, that went well. Wow! We killed that sumbitch. That sumbitch is dead. Ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
WOOT! - The keep is ours! All them damn sumbitches is dead! Or, that humongous, horrible, impossible to kill dragon or monster and all its nasty minions is dead. We rule! We are uber! We are de best! WOOT! Yea.
FTW! - "For the win!" As in, "Skimpily-clad, epic-busted, bouncy-bottomed chick avatars ftw!"
Ding! - You've achieved a new level in your game. Newbs sometimes announce "Ding!" to their mates at every level. Hint: No one gives a hoot if you make level 2. No one gives a hoot if you make level 12. Above level 15, if you are fighting in a group, it is appropriate to announce a "ding!". When achieving a particularly important landmark such as Level 60, 70, or 80 in WoW, it is appropriate to announce a "ding!" to your guildmates as well. When achieving the ultimate level of the current expansion, it is permissible to announce your "ding!" to the entire gaming community (please use the general channel). Go for it! You earned it! You did it! Everyone will be entirely pleased for you and will respond with:
GRATZ! (or the variations: Grats!, Gratzz! Gratzzzz! - some gamers get carried away with their zzzz). Gratz is an easy abbreviation to decode; it is simply a contraction of "Congratulations". Use it often, make friends, play nice.
WTG - "way to go!" Self-explanatory.
PWN or PWNED -- "Thr styff of lemgendz: Gamer defeats gamer, types in 'I pwn you' rather than I OWN you. 'This word is just an overly used Internet typo. It has been overused to the point that people who play online games are using it in everyday speech.' -- Tory Rowley, Corunna, Michigan" - taken from the Lake Superior University's Banished Words List for 2007.
WOOT! - The keep is ours! All them damn sumbitches is dead! Or, that humongous, horrible, impossible to kill dragon or monster and all its nasty minions is dead. We rule! We are uber! We are de best! WOOT! Yea.
FTW! - "For the win!" As in, "Skimpily-clad, epic-busted, bouncy-bottomed chick avatars ftw!"
Ding! - You've achieved a new level in your game. Newbs sometimes announce "Ding!" to their mates at every level. Hint: No one gives a hoot if you make level 2. No one gives a hoot if you make level 12. Above level 15, if you are fighting in a group, it is appropriate to announce a "ding!". When achieving a particularly important landmark such as Level 60, 70, or 80 in WoW, it is appropriate to announce a "ding!" to your guildmates as well. When achieving the ultimate level of the current expansion, it is permissible to announce your "ding!" to the entire gaming community (please use the general channel). Go for it! You earned it! You did it! Everyone will be entirely pleased for you and will respond with:
GRATZ! (or the variations: Grats!, Gratzz! Gratzzzz! - some gamers get carried away with their zzzz). Gratz is an easy abbreviation to decode; it is simply a contraction of "Congratulations". Use it often, make friends, play nice.
WTG - "way to go!" Self-explanatory.
PWN or PWNED -- "Thr styff of lemgendz: Gamer defeats gamer, types in 'I pwn you' rather than I OWN you. 'This word is just an overly used Internet typo. It has been overused to the point that people who play online games are using it in everyday speech.' -- Tory Rowley, Corunna, Michigan" - taken from the Lake Superior University's Banished Words List for 2007.
Expressions of dismay and concern:
WTF? - "what the f%#&?". Please note the question mark included in this expression. In RL, WTF connotes a shrugging shoulder and "so what" attitude. In gaming, WTF? expresses confused alarm, as in "what the HECK just happened here?" or "WHAT the heck just happened here?" or "what the heck just happened HERE?"
OMG - "Oh My Goodness!" or "Oh My Gosh!" or "Oh My God!" For those moments when you wish to express your shock, dismay, or other similar emotion; like that moment when 50 Olthoi Eviscerators spawn right in front of you.
ZOMG - A leet addendum to OMG. You can basically fool people into thinking you speak leet by attaching a "z" to the front or back of every English word. "zomg izz leetz iz pwnzzz ur azz lawlz"
? - "what are you talking about?" "Please explain your inane non sequitur."
??? - "what the hell is that supposed to mean?" "where do you get off with a remark like that?"
????? - "who the hell do you think you are?" "take it back, right now." "how dare you pass such an insulting, untrue, and completely uncalled for remark?" I shall now kill you. /duel challenge
STFU - "shut the %#&@ up" Nice people never use this phrase.
JK - "just kidding" You better say it quick.
IAMF - It's all my fault. Yes, it is. You screwed up. Admit it, apologize and move on.
OMG - "Oh My Goodness!" or "Oh My Gosh!" or "Oh My God!" For those moments when you wish to express your shock, dismay, or other similar emotion; like that moment when 50 Olthoi Eviscerators spawn right in front of you.
ZOMG - A leet addendum to OMG. You can basically fool people into thinking you speak leet by attaching a "z" to the front or back of every English word. "zomg izz leetz iz pwnzzz ur azz lawlz"
? - "what are you talking about?" "Please explain your inane non sequitur."
??? - "what the hell is that supposed to mean?" "where do you get off with a remark like that?"
????? - "who the hell do you think you are?" "take it back, right now." "how dare you pass such an insulting, untrue, and completely uncalled for remark?" I shall now kill you. /duel challenge
STFU - "shut the %#&@ up" Nice people never use this phrase.
JK - "just kidding" You better say it quick.
IAMF - It's all my fault. Yes, it is. You screwed up. Admit it, apologize and move on.
Common chat/text expressions often used in gaming:
Occasionally, you will need to leave your computer to perform a variety of RL tasks (mainly, getting another beer, mug of coffee, paying the pizza delivery person, changing the baby's diaper, or reassuring your partner that you are still aware of their existence.) It is courteous to inform your groupmates of your absence:
RL - "real life"
BRB - "be right back"
AFK - "away from keyboard"
BIO - short for "biological" - ie, you are taking a potty break.
ATM - "at the moment"
OTW - "on the way"
BTW - "by the way"
Other courtesies when coming or going, or in general chit chat include:
TTYL - "talk to you later
TYT - "take your time
NVM - "never mind"
TY - "thank you"
WB - "welcome back"
NP - "no problem"
TYVM - "thank you very much"
BBL - "be back later"
Additionally, sometimes in group play, you need to rest and recoup your resources. Depending on your character class, you might use these abbreviations:
OOE - "out of endurance". You must rest in order to perform the fighting styles inherent in your class. In some games, tanks and stealthers use a lot of "end" (endurance).
OOP - "out of power". Your healer or caster class teammate is pooped and must sit down for awhile. NEVER continue to play when your healer is OOP. You will die. (Other variations include: OOM - for "out of mana," LOM - for "low on mana," and LOP - for "low on power.")
OOC - "out of concentration" Some classes require "concentration" to do their stuff, usually when it comes to buffing themselves or other characters. When a player says he or she is OOC, it means their concentration pool is all used up.
OOC part two - Actually in use longer than "out of concentration," this acronym is also used by role-players when they need to say something that is "out of character." An example might be: "OOC: Crapola, guys, the cat just barfed on my mouse - brb." Then, once the mess is cleaned up, they will say "IC" to let their fellow adventurers know they are back "in character" and ready to face the next challenge. (As a side note, we have a great admiration for our role-playing brothers and sisters. They are a breed apart from we casual - translated "lazy" - players. /salute role-players!)
((Insert speech)) - Double brackets are also used by role-players to indicate they are saying something out of character.
OOM - "out of mana", same as OOC. Your oom-ph is all gone.
Once rested, you are:
GTG - "good to go" or RTG - "ready to go". GTG can also mean "got to go" (no, not that. As in time to log, leave the game.)
RL - "real life"
BRB - "be right back"
AFK - "away from keyboard"
BIO - short for "biological" - ie, you are taking a potty break.
ATM - "at the moment"
OTW - "on the way"
BTW - "by the way"
Other courtesies when coming or going, or in general chit chat include:
TTYL - "talk to you later
TYT - "take your time
NVM - "never mind"
TY - "thank you"
WB - "welcome back"
NP - "no problem"
TYVM - "thank you very much"
BBL - "be back later"
Additionally, sometimes in group play, you need to rest and recoup your resources. Depending on your character class, you might use these abbreviations:
OOE - "out of endurance". You must rest in order to perform the fighting styles inherent in your class. In some games, tanks and stealthers use a lot of "end" (endurance).
OOP - "out of power". Your healer or caster class teammate is pooped and must sit down for awhile. NEVER continue to play when your healer is OOP. You will die. (Other variations include: OOM - for "out of mana," LOM - for "low on mana," and LOP - for "low on power.")
OOC - "out of concentration" Some classes require "concentration" to do their stuff, usually when it comes to buffing themselves or other characters. When a player says he or she is OOC, it means their concentration pool is all used up.
OOC part two - Actually in use longer than "out of concentration," this acronym is also used by role-players when they need to say something that is "out of character." An example might be: "OOC: Crapola, guys, the cat just barfed on my mouse - brb." Then, once the mess is cleaned up, they will say "IC" to let their fellow adventurers know they are back "in character" and ready to face the next challenge. (As a side note, we have a great admiration for our role-playing brothers and sisters. They are a breed apart from we casual - translated "lazy" - players. /salute role-players!)
((Insert speech)) - Double brackets are also used by role-players to indicate they are saying something out of character.
OOM - "out of mana", same as OOC. Your oom-ph is all gone.
Once rested, you are:
GTG - "good to go" or RTG - "ready to go". GTG can also mean "got to go" (no, not that. As in time to log, leave the game.)
Expressions to display your infinite knowledge and wisdom:
IIRC - "If I recall correctly" - used to cover your ass if you misspeak. For example, someone asks "Where do I find the elite green and purpled speckled hahabird?" and you respond, "IIRC, he is crouching at the top of the third hahatree to your left." Naturally, at that point, Mr. Know-it-all Perfect Gamer says, "FWIW, actually, he is hiding beneath the tiny hehebush under the tree."
FWIW - "for what it's worth" - an expression of false modesty when stating your (flawless) opinion.
IDK - "I don't know" - then why are you speaking up?
FWIW - "for what it's worth" - an expression of false modesty when stating your (flawless) opinion.
IDK - "I don't know" - then why are you speaking up?
Expressions referring to loot:
phat lewtz - nice gear.
BoE - "bind on equip" - refers to loot drops that anyone can pick up to use, sell, or give away.
BoP - "bind on pickup" - the moment you pick it up, it becomes bound (soulbound in WoW) to you. In groups, if you pick up a BoP item which you cannot personally use and without asking first, you will die and go to the deepest, coldest hell ever imagined by any gamer anywhere. Your first response to any BoP drop is to PASS.
Ninja Looting - grabbing loot from a slain monster, chest, etc., that you don't have a right to grab, or that you didn't earn, or that you don't need. Ninja looting is very, very bad form, and - if you do it consistently - can get you labeled by other players as a "ninja looter." Which is a sure way to get yourself black-listed from groups, guilds, and/or raiding parties. Ninja looters often become very lonely players.
BoE - "bind on equip" - refers to loot drops that anyone can pick up to use, sell, or give away.
BoP - "bind on pickup" - the moment you pick it up, it becomes bound (soulbound in WoW) to you. In groups, if you pick up a BoP item which you cannot personally use and without asking first, you will die and go to the deepest, coldest hell ever imagined by any gamer anywhere. Your first response to any BoP drop is to PASS.
Ninja Looting - grabbing loot from a slain monster, chest, etc., that you don't have a right to grab, or that you didn't earn, or that you don't need. Ninja looting is very, very bad form, and - if you do it consistently - can get you labeled by other players as a "ninja looter." Which is a sure way to get yourself black-listed from groups, guilds, and/or raiding parties. Ninja looters often become very lonely players.
Online gamers have a variety of slang terms for the various character classes and their abilities:
Tank - One of the heavily armored fighting classes, usually without magical ability or with limited magical ability, such as armsmen, paladins, warriors, champions, heros, etc. The tanks' motto: "hold the agro."
Caster - Any of the wide variety of magical spell-casting classes such as mages, wizards, cabalists, shamans, enchanters, etc. Casters have their very own set of expressions describing the important work they do. Some common terms include:
Freeze - A spell that "freezes" the recipient, making them unmoving or majorly slowed and at times completely unable to defend themselves. In some games, "root" is a similar type spell.
Mezz - Short for "mesmerize". Arrgh, to be mezzed is to be made helpless, confused, and unmoving while the tanks move in and kill you. You can't run, you can't hide. You are dead, dead, dead.
AOE - "area of effect" - a spell that effects everything within a designated perimeter.
Stealther - Any of a class that can become literally invisible. Assassins sneak up on the foe, and slice their throats with a single stroke. Rogues, assassins, archers, and minstrels/bards often have the ability to stealth.
Healers - Duh, the classes that heal. The most beloved, yet most maligned, of any class in group play. When the group lives, the healer is the greatest thing since sliced bread. When the group dies, the healer takes the blame. You need a thick skin to be a healer.
Rezzers - Those classes with the ability to rez (resurrect) the dead. The wonderful thing about playing games is that you never really die. You get to come back for more, over and over again. If you learn from your karmic mistakes, you will eventually reach the highest level and never, never have to worry about losing experience ever again. Game nirvana.
DOT - A pesky spell or poison that causes "damage over time" - repeatedly hurting you until it is cured, wears off, or leaves you lying on the ground looking for a rez.
DPS - "damage per second." This can refer to a magical spell or a weapon, as in "My fire-up-your-arse spell does 1,350,000 dps!" or it can refer to a player class, as in "Looking for one more for Deep, Dark, Dangerous Dungeon-Crawl Quest. Have tank and healer. Need DPS."
PUG - 1. In RL, a pug is a small, wheezy dog that looks like it had its face smashed in by brick wall. 2. In online gaming, the acronym PUG stands for "Pick-Up Group," which is a group of players who've gotten together (or been thrown together) in order to accomplish a goal, a quest, or whatever. PUGs are oftentimes mix-and-match, hit-or-miss groups that are less than optimum for achieving a goal. The opposite of a PUG is a:
Pre-Made Group - A planned, balanced group of players (with the appropriate mix of tanks, healers, AoEers, DPSers, etc.) who have gathered to accomplish a specific goal.
Caster - Any of the wide variety of magical spell-casting classes such as mages, wizards, cabalists, shamans, enchanters, etc. Casters have their very own set of expressions describing the important work they do. Some common terms include:
Freeze - A spell that "freezes" the recipient, making them unmoving or majorly slowed and at times completely unable to defend themselves. In some games, "root" is a similar type spell.
Mezz - Short for "mesmerize". Arrgh, to be mezzed is to be made helpless, confused, and unmoving while the tanks move in and kill you. You can't run, you can't hide. You are dead, dead, dead.
AOE - "area of effect" - a spell that effects everything within a designated perimeter.
Stealther - Any of a class that can become literally invisible. Assassins sneak up on the foe, and slice their throats with a single stroke. Rogues, assassins, archers, and minstrels/bards often have the ability to stealth.
Healers - Duh, the classes that heal. The most beloved, yet most maligned, of any class in group play. When the group lives, the healer is the greatest thing since sliced bread. When the group dies, the healer takes the blame. You need a thick skin to be a healer.
Rezzers - Those classes with the ability to rez (resurrect) the dead. The wonderful thing about playing games is that you never really die. You get to come back for more, over and over again. If you learn from your karmic mistakes, you will eventually reach the highest level and never, never have to worry about losing experience ever again. Game nirvana.
DOT - A pesky spell or poison that causes "damage over time" - repeatedly hurting you until it is cured, wears off, or leaves you lying on the ground looking for a rez.
DPS - "damage per second." This can refer to a magical spell or a weapon, as in "My fire-up-your-arse spell does 1,350,000 dps!" or it can refer to a player class, as in "Looking for one more for Deep, Dark, Dangerous Dungeon-Crawl Quest. Have tank and healer. Need DPS."
PUG - 1. In RL, a pug is a small, wheezy dog that looks like it had its face smashed in by brick wall. 2. In online gaming, the acronym PUG stands for "Pick-Up Group," which is a group of players who've gotten together (or been thrown together) in order to accomplish a goal, a quest, or whatever. PUGs are oftentimes mix-and-match, hit-or-miss groups that are less than optimum for achieving a goal. The opposite of a PUG is a:
Pre-Made Group - A planned, balanced group of players (with the appropriate mix of tanks, healers, AoEers, DPSers, etc.) who have gathered to accomplish a specific goal.
Expressions referring to monsters or foes:
MOB - a dangerous monster. You will kill it.
INC - the dangerous monster, group of monsters, or group of enemy players is "incoming" - in other words, headed your way.
ADD - Oops, here comes another one.
BAF - Dang, it "brought a friend." Or, someone might pass the remark, "watch out, it BAFs (brings a friend)."
Pat - short for "patrol", a wandering mob or group of mobs. Best to wait till they're gone before starting the pull or a wipe may be the result. (pull = attacking the targetted mob, often from a distance. wipe = everyone dies.)
Agro - a military term brought to the gaming world. The monster is whacking on you - you have the agro. Ouch. If the healer or caster has the agro, they will shout "HELP" or "Get it off me" "Now". If you're a tank or melee specialist, do so.
PvM or PvE - Player versus Monster and Player versus Environment.
PvP (Player versus Player), RvR (Realm versus Realm), and FvF (Faction versus Faction) - A lot of games include player versus player action in one form or another. There's a lot of satisfaction to be had in burying your sword, arrow, or spear in an enemy when you know there's a real person behind the toon on your screen. Talk about a challenge! But that does bring up the inevitable:
PK or PKer (Player Killer) - While there's "honorable" PvP action to be had, many games leave room for the inevitable PKers, those people whose only joy in gaming seems to be in killing other players. As a rule, though PvP action is integral to many games, the term PKer is generally a negative one used to describe a person who kills players much lower level than he is or at a disadvantage for some other reason. Synonym - "griefer" - gives much grief to lowbies just trying to level their chars.
PKK/PKKer (Player Killer Killer) - The knight in shining armor who rushes to the rescue of lowbies throughout the lands, dashing from point to point to take out the griefers, restore order, and make those bullies run crying for their mamas.
PKKK/PKKKer - Is there no end in sight? Someone, please, stop this endless cycle of violence.
PC and NPC - Humanoids, friendly or foe, either controlled by a real person (PC - Player Character) or by your computer or server (Non-Player Character).
Spawn - A place where an NPC or MOB appears in the game world. Example: "Anyone know where blue-bellied, bug-eyed, big-bottomed barflies spawn? I need to seduce one for this quest."
XP - Experience points.
Zerg - Tactics? Who needs 'em! Organization? Never heard of it! All you need to do is overwhelm the other guys with NUMBERS! (The video game word "zerg" orginated with the zerglings of Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft game. In online video gaming, it means to overpower an enemy with sheer numbers.)
INC - the dangerous monster, group of monsters, or group of enemy players is "incoming" - in other words, headed your way.
ADD - Oops, here comes another one.
BAF - Dang, it "brought a friend." Or, someone might pass the remark, "watch out, it BAFs (brings a friend)."
Pat - short for "patrol", a wandering mob or group of mobs. Best to wait till they're gone before starting the pull or a wipe may be the result. (pull = attacking the targetted mob, often from a distance. wipe = everyone dies.)
Agro - a military term brought to the gaming world. The monster is whacking on you - you have the agro. Ouch. If the healer or caster has the agro, they will shout "HELP" or "Get it off me" "Now". If you're a tank or melee specialist, do so.
PvM or PvE - Player versus Monster and Player versus Environment.
PvP (Player versus Player), RvR (Realm versus Realm), and FvF (Faction versus Faction) - A lot of games include player versus player action in one form or another. There's a lot of satisfaction to be had in burying your sword, arrow, or spear in an enemy when you know there's a real person behind the toon on your screen. Talk about a challenge! But that does bring up the inevitable:
PK or PKer (Player Killer) - While there's "honorable" PvP action to be had, many games leave room for the inevitable PKers, those people whose only joy in gaming seems to be in killing other players. As a rule, though PvP action is integral to many games, the term PKer is generally a negative one used to describe a person who kills players much lower level than he is or at a disadvantage for some other reason. Synonym - "griefer" - gives much grief to lowbies just trying to level their chars.
PKK/PKKer (Player Killer Killer) - The knight in shining armor who rushes to the rescue of lowbies throughout the lands, dashing from point to point to take out the griefers, restore order, and make those bullies run crying for their mamas.
PKKK/PKKKer - Is there no end in sight? Someone, please, stop this endless cycle of violence.
PC and NPC - Humanoids, friendly or foe, either controlled by a real person (PC - Player Character) or by your computer or server (Non-Player Character).
Spawn - A place where an NPC or MOB appears in the game world. Example: "Anyone know where blue-bellied, bug-eyed, big-bottomed barflies spawn? I need to seduce one for this quest."
XP - Experience points.
Zerg - Tactics? Who needs 'em! Organization? Never heard of it! All you need to do is overwhelm the other guys with NUMBERS! (The video game word "zerg" orginated with the zerglings of Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft game. In online video gaming, it means to overpower an enemy with sheer numbers.)
Expressions used with computer malfunctions or difficulties:
Lag - Lag means to slow, due to excessive memory use or slow Internet connection. Commonly found in graphic-intensive or player-intensive environments, lag causes a huge slowdown in your character's movement, often leading to disaster. Lag kills. A longer word for lag is latency.
DC - "disconnected from server", LC - "lost connection" or LD - "link dead". You are standing there, arms held loosely at your side. You are not fighting back. Your connection to the game is gone, but for 5 or 10 seconds or longer you are at the mercy of your foe. You are now dead.
S@%# - What you say out loud in RL when you DC.
DC - "disconnected from server", LC - "lost connection" or LD - "link dead". You are standing there, arms held loosely at your side. You are not fighting back. Your connection to the game is gone, but for 5 or 10 seconds or longer you are at the mercy of your foe. You are now dead.
S@%# - What you say out loud in RL when you DC.
General gaming terms and acronyms used in popular games:
Newb (newbie) - a new player, generally used derisively as in "stupid newb".Noob - dweeb, lame a@#, twit, nerd. "What a noob."
Dood - dude. Dudes are cool. Doods are kewl. They are also leet and uber.
Nerf - to reduce abilities and/or effectiveness in battle. Eg, "when will Mythic nerf them damn bone dancers?" or "Blizz gotta nerf those stupid pallies."
Toon - Short for cartoon, a character in an online game. Usage example: "I'll log and get my other toon." "The toons on this server are lame."
Twink - They sparkle. They shine. They positively twinkle in their ill-gotten glory. A Twink is a low-level character wearing gear far, far superior to what they could afford on their own. Sugar Daddy (a high-level character, often the main of an alt Twink) has twinked them sweet enough to "own" the low-level PvP combat arenas.
AA - "alternate abilities." Some games or game expansions include paths you can take to acquire skill or expertise in areas other than your main skill or ability lines.
NP - This means "no problem" and is used in a couple of ways. First, when that noob somehow messes up and gets you killed, but has the courtesy to apologize for his mistake, you can reply with "NP." Second, when you do something really sweet for someone and they gush over with thankfulness, you can say "NP," as in "no big deal" or "YW - You're welcome."
Bot or Buffbot - A character created solely to support other characters, usually a healer who trails behind keeping the main character (or group) fully buffed and healed.
Buffs - Spells that enhance strength, power, or other abilities. One of the primary functions of the healer classes and some caster classes is to "buff" their fellow players so that they perform to their maximum ability.
LOS - "line of sight." Casters can't make firebolts curve around obstacles the way that guy in Wanted could. If only. We wish. Sadly, mobs seem to have no trouble shooting spells through walls or through ship decks. Damn those murlocs. Damn them all.
PL - "power level". When a higher level character groups with a lower level character for purposes of providing the lower level character with incredibly swift gains in xp. A level 2 noob sends a tell asking a level 45 to "PL" them. Appropriate response: "no way."
XP - experience points.
Alt - Alternate character. Characters you have created in addition to your "main".
LFG - "looking for group." When looking for a group, it's often helpful to let other people know what you're looking to accomplish, as well as your character's class and level. Example: "50 mage lfg for donut dunking quest."
Main - Your most played, highest level, or first created character.
Mine, Farm, Pharm - To stay in one place, killing the same mob over and over and over again, for loot or xp.
Grind - Just like RL, in gaming you still have your daily grind doing faction quests, farming for crafting materials, leveling toons, raiding for tokens. *sighs* There's something not quite right about that.
QFT - "quoted for truth." Used to express your agreement with another person's statement, opinion, etc.
RTFM - "Read the F*** Manual" - a not especially polite way to stop that annoying noob from asking you question after question after question after .... Or, if you're in a good mood, or feeling patient, it can also mean "Right Turn, Follow Me," after which you lead the noob through by the hand.
Spam - To repeat an action over and over again. This word is also used to describe speech, generally in a public chat channel, that is either out of place or repetetive. Example: Goober, the level 2 noob, wants everyone to know how many hairy spiders he's killed, so reports in the general channel the completion of every kill. Bigcheese, the level 40 been around a long time, tells Goober: "Stop spamming general chat!"
Tell, Send, or Whisper - Private communication from one player to another.
TP - "teleport" or, in some games "town portal." In-game service, or player-provided service, for teleporting instantly, or quickly, from one area of the gaming world to another.
Train - A whole bunch of mobs chasing after someone who can't handle them. Choo choo!
Zone - Many on-line gaming worlds are so vast they have to be divided into areas or "zones." Generally, when you enter a new zone in a game, there will be a delay while your computer loads the graphics, sound files, and other stuff for that zone into your computer's RAM.
WTB/WTS/WTT - "want to buy" "want to sell" "want to trade" Commerce and craft skills are an integral part of most every game.
PW - Most on-line games record actions of players, groups of players, or entire "realms" and change, accordingly, over time. These changing game worlds are called "persistent worlds."
RL - Real life.
RPG - role-playing game, either on or off-line.
-ZOR (suffix), with a definition from http://www.urbandictionary.com
MMORPG - massively multi-player online role-playing game.
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