| Online Gaming Terms and Definitions |
| Term |
Definition |
| ADD | An additional monster has attacked. |
| AFK | Away From Keyboard: You are not at your computer. |
| AI | Artificial intelligence: The programming that controls the actions and responses of the beings in the world. |
| AOE/AE | Area Of Effect: Spells or weapon attributes that not only affect the intended target, but everything around it. |
| Aggro/Agg | Aggressive: An aggro monster will attack if you get too close to it. |
| bait | The person who lures or pulls a creature toward a group. |
| bind | Choose a home base where your character will respawn. |
| bot | Robot: A character controlled by a third-party program instead of a human being. |
| buff | Magical enhancements that increase character abilities. |
| CON | 1. Consider or judge how dangerous a monster is in relation to your character's level. 2. A type of character stat that indicates constitution. 3. Trying to fool or "con" another character. |
| caster | A magic user. |
| camp | 1. To wait in a specific area. 2. A stationary spawn of monsters. |
| class | The character's job type. Examples: Bard (wandering minstrel), Mage (magic caster), Paladin (hybrid of warrior and healer). |
| DD | 1. Damage Dealer: A character who specializes in harming monsters. 2. Direct Damage: Immediate damage, not Damage Over Time. |
| DOT | Damage Over Time: Spells that continue to harm after the initial attack. |
| debuff | Make a character weaker. |
| ding | To gain a level: Named after the sound that the game makes when you gain a level. |
| drop | An item from the character's inventory falls out and lands on the ground. A drop may occur when a character dies. |
| emote | A command that has your character perform an action such as "dancing". |
| EXP/XP | 1. Experience 2. Percent amount of experience. |
| fizzle | A spell fails during casting. |
| GM | Game Master: A policeman of the game company who enforces policies. |
| gank | A character is attacked and easily beaten. |
| gimp | To cripple: Made weaker. |
| grief | To annoy players. |
| group | A temporary combination of players. |
| guild | A group of players who combine into a formal organization. |
| incoming | A monster is coming into an area. |
| KS | Kill Steal: An uninvited person jumps into a fight, causes more damage than the first fighter, and receives the reward. |
| KOS | Kill On Sight. |
| LD | Link Dead: A player loses connection to the game. |
| LFG/LFM | Looking for group/Looking for more: A player wishes to either join a group or wants more players to join his group. |
| LVL/level | Level: 1. A character's level of experience. 2. To advance to a higher level. |
| lag | A slow internet connection that adversely affects character actions. |
| leet speak/"l33t" | A way of talking that uses symbols or numbers instead of letters. |
| loot | 1. Rewards: Items or money from a dead monster's inventory either remain on his body or fall out and land on the ground for a player to collect. 2. To "loot" (pick up) items. |
| mana | The pool of magic which a caster or healer character draws upon to cast spells. |
| med/meditate | Meditate: Build up mana pool. |
| MOB | Mobile Object: A computer controlled monster. |
| NPC | Non-player Character: A computer controlled character. |
| nerfed | Programmed to be less effective than previously. |
| newbie/noob | A new, often clueless player. |
| nuker | A character whose job is to cause damage with magic. |
| OMW | On my way: I'm coming. |
| OOM | Out of mana: I can't cast or heal. |
| PK/RED | Player-Killer: a player character who murders other player characters in non-consensual battle. Often their name will turn red and they will receive punishments such as a higher chance of dropping an item. |
| PM | Private Message: send a personal message only to one specific person. |
| PVP | Player vs. player. Anytime a character can kill another character. Some servers are total pvp, some have areas in which pvp can occur, some have no pvp. Can be consensual or non-consensual. |
| pet | An animal or monster that is either summoned or controlled by a character. The pet will obey commands. |
| pop | A monster has appeared or respawned. |
| pull | Lure or bait a creature towards the character or group. |
| pwnd/ownd | A character is defeated in battle easily. |
| quest | A specific series of actions performed to attain a reward. |
| race | The character's physical type. Examples: Dwarf, Elf, Human, Orc. Each race has special abilities and limitations. |
| Res/Rez | Resurrect: 1. Bring a dead character back to life. 2. A skill learned by healer classes. |
| rez-kill | Resurrecting, then immediately killing a character. |
| root | Immobilize: A spell that makes a target unable to move. |
| root 'n' nuke | Immobilize a target, then attack it with magic. |
| shard/realm | A specific game server. |
| skills | Character learned abilities. Example: A thief class character would need to learn the sneak skill. |
| spam | Unsolicited messages: To broadcast multiple messages indiscriminantly. |
| spawn | A monster or NPC appears or reappears after being killed, usually in the same area. |
| spells | Magic incantations used by caster and healer classes. Example: A mage class character would learn the Flame spell. |
| stats | Character base attributes. May affect character skills differently according to race or class. Examples: DEX (agility), CON (health), STR (physical power), INT (intellect), WIS (wisdom), MEN (mana). |
| tank | A character who draws a monster's attention and accepts his blows. |
| taunt | A skill that provokes a monster into attacking. |
| teleport/port/tp | Instantaneous travel by spells or other means. |
| train | Multiple monsters following a character. |
| twink | To give a low level character better armor and weapons than they can't usually afford. |
| WTB/WTS/WTT | Want To Buy/Want To Sell/Want To Trade. Used in business transactions of items. |
