Understanding Common Terms for MMORPGs

MMORPGs create a virtual world in which real people interact. Each game develops its own insider language and terms for MMORPGs vary as a result of shared gaming experiences.

General Terms for Games Online

Knowing game terminology can give you a basic understanding as you get involved with MMORPG culture:

• Clans/guilds: A team of players who work together in a game, typically on a regular basis
• Game master (GM): An individual who is either paid or volunteers to moderate the game
• MMORPG: Massively multi-player online role-playing game
• Pick-up Group (PUG): A team quickly assembled for a temporary period of time
• Role-playing: The act of assuming the identity of a character, speaking and behaving as the character would.

Technical Terms for MMORPGs

MMORPGs have several terms that describe the different character modes and ways to level up by gaining or losing experience, damage or health:

• Alternate character (ALT): A secondary character you can control, in addition to your main character
• Damage per second (DPS): Determines how often you attack and how much damage is inflicted
• Experience points (XP): Earned by defeating enemies or completing quests. Enough XPs allow a player to "level up" or become stronger.
• Health points (HP): The amount of damage your character can take before falling in battle.
• Non-player character (NPC): A generic character assigned actions by the game
• Out of character (OOC): A function used to identify a player's dialogue with other players, rather than character-to-character conversations
• Server: The computer host of the world. Most MMORPGs are large enough that they must have several servers, each with its own limited number of players.

Game Play Terms for MMORPGs

MMORPG players will encounter some commonly used game play terms:

• Blind spot: The point where a player accepts re-entry after dying or fainting in the game
• Camping: The act of waiting in an area to hunt a specific enemy, particularly over an extended period of time
• Farming: The act of accumulating a quantity of treasure or experience by repeatedly performing the same action, such as killing an enemy over and over again
• PvE: Player vs. environment combat, specifically against game-controlled monsters
• PvP: Player vs. player combat
• Questing: Performing a game suggested action in order to reap a benefit
• RvR: Realm vs. realm combat, or player vs. player combat with large numbers of participants on each side
• Spawn: The location or time where an enemy or player enters the world of the game.

Once you've familiarized yourself with these terms, you're ready to sign up for MMORPGs and learn the lingo of the game you've chosen.