The Ivory Tower: Establishing a Vocabulary for Online Gaming

[apocrypha]

You see twink used as both noun and verb routinely in WoW at least. The pvp forums regularly have threads about twinks and how they're ruining/saving battlegrounds and how twinking is a bad/good thing.

[FatuousTwat]

No one has mentioned my favourite MMO word?

Poopsock

(n) A person who has become so addicted to their game of choice, that they refuse to leave their computer for extended periods of time and use any nearby container to defecate in, e.g. a sock.
I heard Brian played WoW for 18 hours yesterday, what a poopsock!

(v) Playing a game (particularly an MMO) for a very long, uninterrupted session. See above.
Did you hear that Hello Kitty Online is coming out next week? I'm gonna poopsock that motherfucker.

[Ubvman]

Twink in MMORPGs is a verb.

"I need someone to twink my alt."

I've never heard it used as a noun in a game. The only other definition I know it as (as a noun, that is) is "young attractive boyish homosexual (male)."

No, I have to disagree - Twink is most definitely a noun in MMORPGs - and not as a general gay slang term but within a  MMORPG context. Of this, I am 100% certain - as a long time EQ1 player (1999-2006) and in WoW (2007-present) - I hear it being used as a noun (and a verb) all the time.

I promise, I did not edit the Wikipedia article... but here is the entry with the description of the term as a noun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinking

Anyway, here is my definition of Twink as a verb:

Twink (verb): To equip a low level character with high level gear that the character would not have been able to obtain in normal gameplay. Related to min-max (see above).

====

I see that you have added cockblock into the wiki to define it as something devs do. I am sure that there has been a shift in the meaning as I understand it - as I actually believe the word started in a PvP context - refer to my definition above. With the introduction of instancing and better quest designs, Cockblocking as a PvP tool has been minimized or done away with altogether.

Origin of the word Cockblock:
I believe the origin of the word Cockblock comes from Everquest 1 - circa 1999 - 2003 before they introduced instancing in the game. The heyday being in the Planes of Power expansion, with no instancing and having to share raid events and mobs out in the open. Even though the game in general was strictly PvE (apart from specialized servers), rival guilds and players could block each others progress. For instance, by farming a trivial raid/quest mob repeatedly, just so to prevent a rival guild or other players from getting the flags needed to progress or finish quests.

In short, acting like DICKS to block others, hence TO COCKBLOCK. 

[schild]

The origin of cockblock has nothing to do with MMORPGs. It's as old as 2 guys and a girl being in the same place at once. The applicable version of cockblock is in the dictionary. When once says cockblock, at least around here, they mean that - not players being dicks to other players.

Remember, the point is to standardize lingo, at least in this neck of the woods, not apply Every Single Definition Out There.

[Bunk]

perch Popular in earlier MMOs, using the ability to jump or climb on to terrain that a MOB can't reach, and then killing the mob with ranged attacks. Often debated as to whether it was a feature or an exploit, was eventually coded out of most later MMOs

azzrape possibly several other terms for the same action - using the "bow" emote in UO to simulate anally raping the corpse of a player you just killed.

[Soln]

Catass -- someone who is obsessive about their grind and wishes to advance no matter what the cost (i.e. to the cost of cats peeing in their room).  Refers to some famous article written about some dysfunctional EQ1 player where "the smell cat pee" is mentioned at least once or more.


Edit: unbelievable -- sorry I missed that.

[schild]

Heh, read the first reply.

[Ubvman]

The origin of cockblock has nothing to do with MMORPGs. It's as old as 2 guys and a girl being in the same place at once. The applicable version of cockblock is in the dictionary. When once says cockblock, at least around here, they mean that - not players being dicks to other players.

Remember, the point is to standardize lingo, at least in this neck of the woods, not apply Every Single Definition Out There.

Heh, yes - I apologize for my sorry ass speculation on how the word started in MMOGs. My bad.

On the other hand, I am quite sure the word cockblock in MMOG context had its start in Everquest 1 - especially in the Planes of Power expansion where players can stymie and block progression of each other in a PvE raiding enviroment. Since most of this stuff all happened in 2002-2003, its hard to google up the references. Perhaps some of the old time hardcore raiders of EQ1 can back me up.

Of course, it was all fixed later within the game, and instancing completely removed this sort of gameplay behavior soon after from almost all MMOGs, hence the meaning shift to something devs do.

Okay - brings back some good old memories - gotta put in some of this stuff in the gaffes thread.

[MahrinSkel]

Kite -v

To attack a mob and lead them around without being harmed for an extended period of time.  Originally used to described techniques used by Bards in Everquest 1 when killing typically more than one enemy target.  Also used to describe a technique to distract mobs away from a group of players killing something else.

Actually, it referred specifically to the Druid ability to apply a dot, run away (aided by SoW) while the dot worked, then apply it again and take off again, lather, rinse, repeat.  I'm absolutely sure of that.  In DAoC it later came to refer to the practice of "Buffbotting", having a character set on /follow in a PvP area that maintained high-level buffs for you but took no other actions.  You "kited" the buffbot.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat: Refers to any simple strategy that confers an optimal gain at minimal risk when performed repeatedly.  Often associated with exploits where emergent combination of game elements (such as speed enhancers and high-power DOT spells on the same class, or pathing bugs in NPC's) is far more effective than expected, or quest rewards may be repeatedly cashed in with little effort.

ATM Quest: In general, a quest that allows itself to be repeated many times in a short interval.  This may involve collecting many of the quest token items and turning them in repeatedly for the reward, or a FedEx quest that has the giver standing very near the receiver.

FedEx Quest: Any quest that involves taking an item (message, bracelet, Eye of Vecna) from one NPC to another.  A common subtask of "quest chains".

Gold Fountain: Any means for creating effectively unlimited amounts of in-game currency at a high rate through LRR methods.  A FedEx quest where the receiver and sender are standing next to each other (perhaps through use of other bugs to change the positions) and can create the reward as fast as the quest can be clicked through for as long as the player (or his macro program) care to continue, is a gold fountain if the item has cash value to NPC's.  An extremely high-value NPC that can be forced to respawn frequently is another form of this.  Can also be used as a leveling exploit in games with XP-based level or skill gain.

Usage-based skill systems: Where the primary or only method for raising in a skill is to perform actions that make checks against that skill.  To raise your swordfighting, you equip a bladed weapon and attack things.  To make better armor, you make lots of crappy armor nobody wants to buy, and so on.  Can lead to very odd and even farcical behavior, such as evil assassins skipping (running and jumping skills) through a meadow plucking up daisies (herbcraft skill for poisons) and tossing them at everyone they see (thrown weapons skill).  Tend to be used more for "Trade Skills" than combat-related skills, but may be used in a less grindy form for nonessential skills inside a class/level framework.  Legend says that someday the perfect use-based skill advancement system will come and liberate us from our leveling shackles and class system chains.  If confronted with one of those believers in this prophecy, make no sudden moves while backing towards the door.  Do not ridicule, deride, or even laugh at the afflicted person until you are certain you have reached the exit.

Trade Skills: Skills that gateway the capacity to create in-game items from other in-game items, or to change their properties.  Frequently associated with precursor skills for gathering the materials or preparing the items.  Not to be confused with Eve Online's Trade Skill group, which relates entirely to the in-game buy-sell market system (in Eve, Industrial skills are equivalent to normal Trade skills).

Wipe: When things go badly wrong and every member of a raid or party dies, it is referred to as a "Wipe", shortened from "wipeout".

Dirtnap: What you do when your character "dies" in games without permadeath.  The time between the "death" and your resurrection is a "dirtnap".

Corpse Run: Old school EQ1 punishment for players that suffered wipes in hostile areas, intended as a public humiliation for the amusement of the operators.  All of their gear would remain on their corpses at the location where they died, generally very close to the things that killed them.  GM's would invisibly gather to watch the festivities as players tried to "corpse drag" their stuff to a location where they could loot it without being attacked again.  This often involved repeated deaths, and losses of entire levels worth of XP representing weeks of grinding.  The Corpse Runs of EQ have had most of the fun removed, and no later game has repeated it, gear now magically joins you after death.

Multi-Boxing: For one person to run multiple accounts, generally on different computers, often with macro-program assistance.  2-boxing is fairly common in PvP games, but there are confirmed cases of 6-boxing and claims of higher numbers (generally accompanied by photoshopped scenes of an actual 4-6 box setup that has screens and keyboards cloned into all available space).  For people who find it easier to buy more hardware than to make friends.

I'll do more later, I'm tired.

--Dave

[ClydeJr]

You might want to have two definitions to "buff".

1) A temporary improvement to a character, skill, spell, or item. The buff is usually activated by some player action (casting a spell, reading a scroll, applying poison to a weapon, etc).
2) A permanent improvement of a skill, spell, class, race, or item which is hardcoded by the MMO's developers. Anyonym of "nerf".

Would various acronyms be included in this?

[palmer_eldritch]

Dirtnap: What you do when your character "dies" in games without permadeath.  The time between the "death" and your resurrection is a "dirtnap".

Popular with some roleplayers who prefer not to say that their character has "died" when in fictional terms it clearly hasn't.

[Yegolev]

I was going to define a bunch of shit but I see the wiki hasn't been updated.  We need more wikipedos (thanks for the new word, Jeff Kelly!).

[WayAbvPar]

Usage-based skill systems: Where the primary or only method for raising in a skill is to perform actions that make checks against that skill.  To raise your swordfighting, you equip a bladed weapon and attack things.  To make better armor, you make lots of crappy armor nobody wants to buy, and so on.  Can lead to very odd and even farcical behavior, such as evil assassins skipping (running and jumping skills) through a meadow plucking up daisies (herbcraft skill for poisons) and tossing them at everyone they see (thrown weapons skill).  Tend to be used more for "Trade Skills" than combat-related skills, but may be used in a less grindy form for nonessential skills inside a class/level framework.  Legend says that someday the perfect use-based skill advancement system will come and liberate us from our leveling shackles and class system chains.  If confronted with one of those believers in this prophecy, make no sudden moves while backing towards the door.  Do not ridicule, deride, or even laugh at the afflicted person until you are certain you have reached the exit.

Don't make me slap you, Dave! It WILL happen, dammit.

[ShenMolo]

Goldfarmer (noun): A player who exists solely to generate in-game currency that is later used for RMT purposes. First mention I ever saw was in EQ1. Ex: My alt is being griefed by a goldfarmer.

Mule (noun): A character used solely for item/currency storage in order to circumvent in-game inventory mechanics. Ex: Send your extra mats to my mule.

Mats (noun): Materials. Often used in reference to in-game crafting related items. Ex: Send your extra mats to my mule.

Griefing (verb): Harrasing another player within the game. Often used in reference to PvP game play.

Griefer (noun): One who engages in greifing or harassing other players.

Healbot / Buffbot (noun): A character who exists solely to heal and/or buff another player.

Main (noun): The primary character on a players account.

Twobox / Multibox (verb): Using multiple machines and/or accounts to play more than one account at the same time.

[Inactiviste]

Slightly off-topic but how about some exotism ? Let me introduce you to the french MMO vocabulary. We use a lot of english acronyms like DPS & co, because the first french MMOers played on US servers. But we often transform them in french words. "Je tanke, tu tankes, il tanke, nous tankons..."

Kikitoudur : litteraly "hard penis" (kiki is a child's word, don't know how to translate it), a bragging hardcore gamer.
Kikimeter : a meter for said penis, ie a damage meter.
Kevin : in the late eighties, early nineties Kevin Costner was a big star. So lots of parents called their braindead child "Kevin". A Kevin is an annoying kid.
Bisounours : translation of carebear.
Palouf : pejorative for paladin.
Kipik : weak pun, because "epic" sounds like "qui pique", "that stings"

Do you use "afk bio" ? Bio is for biological need, the anti poopsocker technic of going to the shitter.


It's all I can think of at the moment, it would be interesting to hear from spanish, german, or italian players.

[Fraeg]

Are low use words ok?  As in something just used in a circle of friends/guild?

Not sure of the critical mass required in order for something to be a part of legit gaming vocab.

For Example:  Manpile, used by a number of guilds on the WoW blackrock server to describe what to do in certain encounters when everyone in the raid needs to stand in a certain spot, stand at the base of a mob etc.  I.e. "everyone manpile at the foot of mob X's feet so you don't trigger an aoe knockback"

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=manpile&defid=1606738 - 18k -



more widely used would be:

Tank N Spank - slang for a  very straightforward pve fight, requiring no special tactics/strategy etc.  Tank taunts mob and holds aggro, dps does dps, and healers heal.  Example:  "Ok, so i see most of you have never been in here before, no worries this first boss fight is a straight up tank and spank, DPS watch your aggro this guy will one shot you, 123 k go."

[schild]

Are low use words ok?

For sure.

[Rendakor]

Need before Greed - (NBG) A system used to distrubute loot, giving an item to players who can recieve some tangible upgrade it before those who would simply sell the item.
Master Loot - Also known as 'Leader Loot' or 'Leader Only'; this looting system allows only the group leader (or someone designated by the group leader) to loot and distribute items. This system is frequently used in guild groups/raids, often in conjunction with a DKP system (see below).
DKP - Dragon Kill Points, a system (originating in EQ1 iirc) that tracks raid participation; points are awarded for attending and spent on loot. There are many variations between the different DKP systems, but all function in the above manner.

[kERRA]

On the other hand, I am quite sure the word cockblock in MMOG context had its start in Everquest 1 - especially in the Planes of Power expansion where players can stymie and block progression of each other in a PvE raiding enviroment. Since most of this stuff all happened in 2002-2003, its hard to google up the references. Perhaps some of the old time hardcore raiders of EQ1 can back me up.

I remember it being used in the Vox/Naggy days pre-PoFear but with a slightly different meaning since it was describing the attempt to prevent access to an encounter itself, not to unlockable content past it.  The latter sense became more common starting in Luclin with Emperor Ssra.



oh, definitions

Clogging: Using ranged attacks on MOBs that can't reach you due to pathing or geometry quirks - considered an exploit in most games.  See - Perch.
   "The GMs caught me clogging in the specter caves."

Regs:  Ultima Online slang for 'reagents,' which are the physical ingredients needed to cast spells.
   "I couldn't cast fire field because I was out of regs."

Cross-dresser: Someone who plays a character of the opposite sex. 
   "When we started using Ventrilo we discovered that our guild leader is a cross dresser."

Silent Sam: An Ultima Online player who approaches uncomfortably closely without saying anything, which is usually a sign of sinister intent. (Possibly limited to the Baja shard)
   "I lost my 'Great Lord' title because I killed a silent sam in Hythloth."

Kill steal: To take the experience reward and/or loot from an encounter that rightfully belongs to another player - also abbreviated as 'KS.'
   "That jerk KSed Drelzna after I'd been waiting for 12 hours."

junk buffs: An EQ1 term for superfluous buffs placed in the first few buff slots to prevent buff dispelling attacks from removing valuable buffs in lower slots. 
   "OK, everyone toss on at least 3 junk buffs before the useful ones."

DD: Short for Direct Damage.  Refers to offensive spells that do damage to a single target upon impact, as opposed to AoEs or DoTs.
  "Ice Comet is the most powerful L.50 DD spell."

LFG: Stands for Looking for Group.  Can be shouted in public channels by group-seeking players or, in some games, set as an identifying tag on one's character.
   "L.80 templar with no lockouts LFG!!"

Bind point: The location to which a player returns after death.  Can also be a verb referring to the act of choosing that location.
   "Let me bind outside the dungeon before we head in."

Bot: A character controlled by complex scripting or automation software.  Also refers to the act of running such a character.
  "I'm pretty sure those two hunters in Duskwood are bots.  They're killing in the same pattern as the farmer who was botting there yesterday."

PK: Short for Player Killer, a player who deliberately kills other players.
   "Kerra is pissed because her house was robbed by PKs."

Endgame: The highest level content in a game or expansion, which usually provides the greatest reward when defeated.
   "The Vex Thal zone is the Luclin expansion's endgame."

Main tank: Can refer to the tank who holds the aggro of the primary target in a raid encounter or to the player in a guild who most often takes that role.
  "Kalaran has been FoH's main tank for years."

Offtank: A player who holds the aggro of secondary targets while the main tank focuses on the primary.
  "I'm stuck offtanking in the big fights until I get my HP over 11000."

Main Assist: The player who chooses targets for the rest of the group or raid to attack.
   "Mungo will be main assist this raid, so change your /assist keys accordingly."

CH chain/Heal chain: A tanking strategy in which a number of healers do nothing but cast their biggest heal on the main tank in a timed sequence.
   "We wiped to Tormax because the CH chain broke down."

Clickie: An item that creates an effect when activated (clicked).
   "Sune's gear is terrible because she spends all her DKP on clickies."

Zoneline: The boundary between one area of a game and another.  In most games, MOBs do not pursue players through them.
   "If one more kobold paths into us, run for the zoneline."

Zone ranger: Derogatory EQ1 term for players who stay close to zonelines to permit easy escape in case of trouble.
   "I wanted to explore the castle basement but my group was a bunch of zone rangers."

RNG: Short for Random number generator.  It's also an abbreviation for the ranger class in some games.
  "The item I want never drops - I swear the RNG hates me."

Loot whore: An especially and unapologetically greedy player.
  "I can't believe Ghrok wants the helmet too after winning three other items.  He's such a loot whore."

Dumbfire: A type of pet that can't be controlled beyond directing it at a target when summoned, and that disappears after engaging one encounter.
  "Zezal killed us all by aggroing a second MOB with his dumbfire."

Flag: A marker on one's character achieved by killing a MOB.  Flags are called attunements in WoW.  Both terms can be used as verbs describing the act of acquiring the noun.
   "I need three more flags before I can enter the plane of time."

Dupe: Any exploit that duplicates an item or quantity of money.
   "I made 30k on Ebay back when I discovered that plat dupe."

Greens/grays: MOBs that are too low-level to provide experience or reward.  In most games such MOBs or their names highlight green or gray when targeted.  Green/gray can also refer to an area filled with green/gray MOBs.
   "I haven't been back to Upper Guk since the zone went green."
   
Random: To decide loot distribution by using the in-game number generator.  Also called 'rolling.'
  "Everyone who wants it, random 1-100 for the breastplate."

Teamspeak/Ventrilo: Two versions of online voice software that are popular with gamers.
   "I hate when Razz logs in because he's always so loud on Ventrilo."

Camp: Refers either to a place where players sit and kill the same MOBs repeatedly or to the act of sitting there.
  "We camped the Eboots camp for 3 days before a pair dropped."

Guide: A player who the game's management has given limited power to assist the GMs with player problems.
   "UO guides used to trade gold and items for cybersex."

Hate: The numerical measure of a MOB's anger toward a player.  The person with the most hate will almost always be the MOB's target of attack.
   "My tanking sword adds +700 hate every time it procs."

Knockback: A spell effect that knocks a player or MOB backwards out of position.
  "That boss' knockback tossed me at least 300 feet!"

WTB/WTS/WTT: Abbreviations for Want to Buy, Want to Sell and Want to Trade, respectively.  Used in public trade channels to indicate exactly what they sound like.
  "WTB mithril ingots, paying well, please send tell."

Assist:Assisting means setting your target to match that of another player.  Learning when and who to assist is a vital, basic skill in any MMO.
   "The playerbase in WoW is so clueless that half of them don't even know how to assist."

Instance:A copy of a dungeon or zone that exists only for the group or raid that enters it.
  "Kiera and Shana are both running Maidens, but their groups are in different instances."

Zerg: To attack with overwhelming numbers and/or a lack of intelligent strategy.  See - Bind Rush.
   "That guild has done nothing but zerg since their best raid leader quit."

[Tarami]

I think not even f13 is decided on this term, but this is what it has meant for me for a while:

Cockstab: A nerf of the rewards of a particular advancement path or activity, that previously (or currently) required very long periods of grind. The activity was likely formerly known as a cockblock (albeit lucurative), thus its name.
    "Nerfing the epic armour set was a complete cockstab after all the work I've put in."

[grebo]

Just my $.02 on Twink.

A. Definitely a Noun first.

B.  I first heard the term on Sojourn Mud a year or two before there was an Everquest.  Sojourn was extremely item centric with no item level restrictions.  Many popular items only spawned after a restart, so anyone lowish level with good gear was instantly recognizable.

Edit:  They apparently have a Glossary here with a very different definition.  Interesting.

[Azazel]

Good post, adding some based on my own EQ, WoW and MMO experiences.

Cross-dresser: Someone who plays a character of the opposite sex. 
   "When we started using Ventrilo we discovered that our guild leader is a cross dresser."

Also, Shemale.

Kill steal: To take the experience reward and/or loot from an encounter that rightfully belongs to another player - also abbreviated as 'KS.'
   "That jerk KSed Drelzna after I'd been waiting for 12 hours."

Also, Killstealer, KS, KSer.

DD: Short for Direct Damage.  Refers to offensive spells that do damage to a single target upon impact, as opposed to AoEs or DoTs.
  "Ice Comet is the most powerful L.50 DD spell."

Also, Nuke - was being used in EQ1 as far back as 1999, so probably predates it.
Noun and Verb. "Use your nukes." "nuking it". Origins - Nuclear weapons. (big explosions).

Main tank: Can refer to the tank who holds the aggro of the primary target in a raid encounter or to the player in a guild who most often takes that role.
  "Kalaran has been FoH's main tank for years."

Also, MT as a common abbreviation.

Main Assist: The player who chooses targets for the rest of the group or raid to attack.
   "Mungo will be main assist this raid, so change your /assist keys accordingly."

Also, MA as a common abbreviation.


Plow Tank: A tank that due to level, experience or class is not given the job of tanking bosses, but instead tanks the trash mobs between boss encounters. Allows the MT to have a mental rest between boss fights. (More common in games such as EQ with bigger numbers of people in raids. Often Paladins and/or Shadowknights would get this role. Related to Tank Rotations. Unrelated to Heal Rotations

CH chain/Heal chain: A tanking strategy in which a number of healers do nothing but cast their biggest heal on the main tank in a timed sequence.
   "We wiped to Tormax because the CH chain broke down."

Also known as Heal Rotations

Hate: The numerical measure of a MOB's anger toward a player.  The person with the most hate will almost always be the MOB's target of attack.
   "My tanking sword adds +700 hate every time it procs."

Also known as Aggro, Taunt. "I have aggro."  "I'm losing taunt."


On Twink - noun and verb. Back as far (at least) as 1999 on EQ1. Both everyday vernacular, neither usage rare or more common than the other. Over time, even in EQ1 the term lost it's negative connontations for many "It's me, Drizzle. This is my Twink rogue!"

On Need Before Greed/NBG - Also known as Can Use Will Use aka CAWU

On Holy Trinity - in EQ1 this was not Tank/Healer/DPS. It was Tank/Healer/CC. Usually in the form of Warrior/Cleric/Enchanter, the "ideal" classes for all three roles. This was because in EQ1, more than 1 mob in the camp attacking the party usually meant a player death or even a wipe. WoW has a much larger emphasis on multiple enemies, and so CC is relegated to an occasional niche instead of being seen as a necessity.

[Samwise]

Another crossdresser synonym = mangina.

Has anyone defined aptiabod yet?

[UnSub]

Cross-dresser: Someone who plays a character of the opposite sex. 
   "When we started using Ventrilo we discovered that our guild leader is a cross dresser."

Also, Shemale.

Also: GIRL (Guy in Real Life).

Someone really needs to put all these together in a list so I can scroll down and see if any term I've thought of has been mentioned.

[Jack9]

I've never heard Plow Tank (from EQ1 beta to WoW). Offtank (OT), AOE Tank, yes.

[schild]

Cross-dresser: Someone who plays a character of the opposite sex. 
   "When we started using Ventrilo we discovered that our guild leader is a cross dresser."

Also, Shemale.

Also: GIRL (Guy in Real Life).

Someone really needs to put all these together in a list so I can scroll down and see if any term I've thought of has been mentioned.

The plan was to do that once I could find wiki/library software that didn't require you KNOW what you were looking for (i.e. springnote, but not slow, shitty and prone to NCSoft shutting it down).

[Jack9]

I've also heard it called a Mangina multiple times. I see we have another mangina.  Cross dresser? some of this terminology must be based in the forums, instead of the game iteself.

[Segoris]

Assjam, Verb.
Definition: The act of interfering with a fair fight, normally between groups.
Example: It was a great 8v8 until that extra group assjammed it.

Assjammer(s), Noun.
Definition: People who perform assjammings
Example: It was great until we were interefered by that assjammer.

On Holy Trinity - in EQ1 this was not Tank/Healer/DPS. It was Tank/Healer/CC. Usually in the form of Warrior/Cleric/Enchanter, the "ideal" classes for all three roles. This was because in EQ1, more than 1 mob in the camp attacking the party usually meant a player death or even a wipe. WoW has a much larger emphasis on multiple enemies, and so CC is relegated to an occasional niche instead of being seen as a necessity.

Just chiming in that this is how I know of the Holy Trinity as well. The 3 vital roles to solid standard groups from back in EQ1. Without them groups were decreased in efficiency and survivability many times over to a point some dungeons/spawns weren't even doable for the majority of players.

[Azazel]

I've never heard Plow Tank (from EQ1 beta to WoW). Offtank (OT), AOE Tank, yes.

That's why we're doing this. Different servers/realms from EQ1 all the way through to WoW will sometimes have slightly different terminology for things and ingame places (moreso in EQ1 than WoW, since WoW has proper names for most of thelittle places in the zones, while EQ players had to name the geography inside the zones "orc 1, orc 2 etc." I remember when my server was merged and the other side had different names for places and things. Chances are if something was called a certain thing on one server, it was probably called the same thing on a couple of others at least.

Basically Plow Tank is the guy (or girl) who tanks while the raid is plowing through the trash mobs before the bosses.

Also, we also had Mangina[/b].

I've also heard it called a Mangina multiple times. I see we have another mangina.  Cross dresser? some of this terminology must be based in the forums, instead of the game iteself.

Why? Because you had an active max level character on every server in every MMO so anything you didn't personally hear back in the day must not have existed? 

Cross-dresser wasnt used on my server either, but I can easily believe it was on some.

[Ubvman]

Mangina (noun): A RL male player playing a female or feminine looking avatar.

Fairly common slang term in EQ1 when I was playing it.

I would guess the phenomenon of "cross dressing" in MMOGs got a whole lot more widespread when improved 3D graphics enabled better boobs and butt renditions. Also, the reason why so many male players played Chun Li in SF2.

The opposite of a Mangina - a RL female playing a male or male looking avatar is a whole lot rarer. The few RL females playing MMOGs that I know of would NEVER EVER touch a male avatar, they would not even play a "bad" or "gross" looking racial avatars like Ogres, Trolls or Halflings. I have heard the slang term Wenis applied to RL females playing male avatars (usually inherited level 70s) but its extremely rare. In fact, Wenis it may not be widespread enough to be a proper MMOG slang term at all.

[MahrinSkel]

Nick Yee's polling would seem to say you're wrong, women cross-dress at equal or higher rates (usually to avoid the catcalls and comeons of immature idjits),  But since most MMO's are only 10 to 15% actual females, the cross-dressing females to male are a small portion of the male characters, while around half of all female characters are played by males.

Speaking of which, are there special terms for the various permutation of cyber-sex and harassment in MMO's?

--Dave

[Bunk]

When I played AC, I knew of a number of women playing male avatars because they didn't like the way they were treated if others thought they were actually female.

[UnSub]

Fanboi (n) - an over-optimistic proponent for a title that will defend it against all accusations, logic be damned; also can be used as an insult

Vanboi (n) - a fanboi of Vanguard

TRanboi (n) - a fanboi of Tabula Rasa

[Sutro]

Couple of real simple ones with MUD roots:

Con: Short for consider, an action possible in many older multi-user dungeons that reported a MOB's power level as relative to your own. The term was later ported to graphical MMORPGs.

An example of the feedback text when performing the consider action would be, "This creature could wipe the floor with you!", in the case of one that was stronger, or "This monster is a meager challenge, unfit for your skills," in the case of a weaker one. In the latter case, the text suggests to the player, as was often the case, that the creature is worth little to no experience.

While not universal, it has become common practice for games to display the consider feedback text in a customary color - green typically indicates a weak creature, black or white typically indicates one of close to your level, yellow indicates a tough challenge, red indicates one that is nearly impossible. Less common colors include grey, for creatures of extremely little to no challenge whatsoever, blue, for slightly weaker than yourself, and purple, for creatures far too powerful to assault.

In some games, the evaluate action performs a similar function; this form is usually shortened to eval.

Examples of usage: "That orc cons red to me," "I would have attacked him, but he conned grey and it wasn't worth the mana."

----

Undercon: A label applied to monsters who are perceived to be stronger than the consider text indicates. See entry consider.

A similar term, mean green (also mean greenie or mean greeny) is applied to undercons that are indicated to be significantly below the player's power level, but are in reality considerably stronger.

Examples of usage: "I thought the mage would be easy to kill, but he was a real undercon," "That fight's not worth the aggravation, it's all mean greens."

[Arnold]

Gank - to kill with an overwhelming advantage.

Root word - Gang Kill

Very wordy definition in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganking

Corwin of UO Atlantic and Siege Perilous has a pretty good equation for a gank.  It is 2x+1, where x is the size of your group.