Glossary of Video Game Terminology


    Are you unfamiliar with some of the terminology casually tossed around in video game novels? If so, good news! This glossary is here to help! I''ve focused on MMO terms, since that''s most relevant if you''re reading my novel, but I''m happy to add others if anyone has other questions. If you evere across a word you don''t know, please feel free to ask about it, and I''ll tell you what it means and add it to this glossary for future readers! :)


    These are in alphabetical order for now:


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    Add/Adds - "Additional Enemy" : a term, generally used in boss fights, that means "generic enemies that aren''t the boss." Someone saying "clear adds" really means "kill the additional enemies that are not crucial to the mechanics of the boss fight." (Mobs and Adds are often used interchangeably and essentially mean the same thing.)


    Aggro - Aggression: measure of a mob''s attack interest in a specific character. "Holding Aggro" means the mob is fixed on you, so it''s focusing its attacks on you. (Generally good for the Tank to Hold Aggro)


    AoE - Area of Effect : dealing damage to enemies standing within a certain range radiating out from the spot where the spell/attack was targeted


    Buff - Spell that increases a beneficial attribute to a yer (can also be obtained through foods/potions/etc, depending on the game)


    CC - Crowd Control : as an attack, it controls a number of enemies by either freezing, slowing, or generally inhibiting their attack abilities so your own team can attack more efficiently


    Cooldown - After certain attacks or spells are used, the cooldown is the time before the attack can be used again


    Crit Hit - Critical Hit : When the maximum amount of damage for an attack is reached, it is called a critical hit


    Debuff - Spell that decreases a beneficial attribute of a Mob or yer (can also be obtained through poisons/etc, depending on the game)


    DOT - Damage over Time : When a spell or attack deals damage over a period of time


    DPS - Damage Per Second


    EXP - Experience : points received for killing mobs,pleting quests, etc; used to increase in level and strength


    Grinding - Killing mobs for experience without regard to a quest or other goal


    HP / Health Points / Hit Points - measure of a character''s life; decreases upon injury


    Instance - A specific area that exists only to a particr to a specific yer or group of yers


    Kill Steal - Killing a Mob another yer was in the process of attacking (generally for the purpose of stealing the EXP and/or loot drop)


    Kite/Kiting - Tactical technique that reduces the amount of melee damage taken; generally involves using ranged attacks, then running away, then ranged attack, then running, all while the mob chases you, until it dies (hopefully without ever getting near enough tond a hit)


    Leech - Stealing experience and/or items; Sometimes a yer will follow closely behind a group or higher-level yer as they perform a specific quest. The group does all the work clearing a path to the quest and the leech can thenplete the quest without doing all the work


    Loot - Objects obtained as rewards for killing mobs,pleting quests, opening chests, etc.


    Melee - Closebat attacks performed with martial arts or with melee weapons: swords, axes, hammers, daggers, scythes, etc


    MMORPG - Massively Multiyer Online Role-ying Game


    Mob - "Mobile objects" / "Mobile Object Blocks" OR "Monster or Beast" : generic term for non-yer entity whose primary purpose is to be killed for experience, quest objective, or loot. They tend to be aggressive to all yers


    MP / Mana Points / Magic Points - measure of how much magic a character has to cast spells


    MPK - Monster yer Kill : luring a monster to kill another yer


    MT - Main Tank : (See "Tank") Most highly skilled defensive yer, who holds aggro for difficult mobs so the other members of the party can focus on attacking without needing to take hits


    Nerf - To reduce the capabilities, power, or attributes of a weapon or attack, or even an entire race/ss; in an attempt by the developers to bnce game y


    Noob/n00b/newb (etc) - New or inexperienced yer (generally an insult)


    NPC - Non-yer Character (entity in game controlled by the gameputer)


    OT - Over Threat/Off-Tank : When another party member identally pulls aggro from the Main Tank; this yer usually doesn''t have the defensive capabilities of dealing with the aggro and taking hits, or they would have been the MT. Sometimes, parties with many capable tanks will purposefully have Off-Tanks to split up the defensive duties.


    PC - yer Character (character controlled by a human yer)


    PK - yer Kill : killing another yer


    PvE - yer vs Environment : Fighting against Mobs and other game-controlled enemies


    PvP - yer vs yer : Fighting against yer controlled characters


    Regen - Regenerate : depending on the game, mobs and/or yers may have functions to automatically regenerate HP, MP, and/or SP. Mobs, especially elite mobs, often have a HP regen function that allows them to regain HP during a fight, so the yers fighting have to deal more damage per second than the mob can heal


    SP / Stamina Points - measure of a character''s stamina; meaning greatly changes depending upon game y


    Stun - Attack that stops a yer or mob from attacking (and usually moving at all); usually onlysts a short time


    Tank - Character with inherent high armor factor, high defense, high strength; they can take more damage than most characters. Used to Hold Aggro during team fights so lower-defense characters don''t take damage. (Also makes it easier on healers if they only have to focus on Tanks)


    VRMMORPG - Virtual Reality Massively Multiyer Online Role-ying Game


    Zerg - An attack in which you overwhelm the enemy with excessive numbers