understand In-game Terms In MMORPGs - The Blonde's Guide to Gaming Language - Part 2

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Special Terms

There are literally thousands of different terms that MMO gamers use constantly and if you have been around any other type of MMO game, then you’ll already be familiar with them. In the first part of this series, I explained what some of the normal words meant, like noob and OMG. This part will tell you what some of the terms mean that you see all the time, but are afraid to ask for fear of being labeled a noob. So, to help you out, here are some of the most widely used terms in MMO/MMORPG games:

AH – Auction House (while other games have different names for their auction, many players – especially those that play WoW – will refer to it as this)

Buff – Spell that grants a benefit to you or another player

Debuff – Taking off a spell that is either beneficial or hurtful to you or another player

AST – Assist

Add – Additional mob attacking a player near you or someone in your party

Aggro – When you get too close to a mob so that it attacks you preemptively

AOE – Area of effect

CC – Crowd control

Caster – These are the players that rely on magic spells instead of melee attacks to do damage and kill mobs

CD – Cool down, or the time between next use of an item or spell

DoT – Damage over time

DD – Damage dealer

Farming – Doing the same action over and over again to get resources or items

Tank – A character with high defense that hits the mobs first to make them attack them instead of other party members

Nuker – A character that uses spells to damage mobs

Mobs – Monsters found around the game

Toon – The character that you, or another player, creates

Now, this is not to say that there aren’t others, and each different MMO game has it’s own set that coincide especially with that game. The longer that you play the game, the more lingo you will understand. But, these are the basic terms that you should know so that you can understand what your job is in a raid or group and so you don’t embarrass yourself by asking – even when you really need to know.

This post is part of the series: The Blonde’s Guide to MMO Gaming Language

This series will help those new to the MMO gaming world learn the lingo so that they don’t embarass themselves or end up in more trouble than they bargained for.

  1. The Blonde’s Guide to MMO Gaming Language – Pt. 1
  2. The Blonde’s Guide to Gaming Language Pt 2