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MMOG Lingo Twists Tongues
The Guardian Gamesblog takes a look at the sometimes confusing lexicon used by MMOG players. Aleks was inspired by this post from the MemoryCard blog about acquiring a drop in FFXI. From the Guardian post: "Certainly, I predict that the word 'avatar' will be on the tips of tongues, if only so that tech journalists can stop adding 'the identity that represents you online' every time it's included in an article. If anything, that definition should be added to the OED along with the others: 1. Hindu Myth. The descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form. 1784 SIR W. JONES in Asiat. Res. I. 234 The ten Avatárs or descents of the deity, in his capacity of Preserver. 1858 BEVERIDGE Hist. India II. IV. ii. 28 The fifth avatar, called Varuna, because in it Vishnu assumed the form of a dwarf." On a related note, the MMOG commentary blog n3rfed has begun posting again after a leave of absence. Cosmik reintroduces himself with a 'We Didn't Start the Fire'-esque recap of recent events.
Heh for once, the french dictionary seems to have adopted it before the others:
AVATAR n. m. [...] 4. Représentation virtuelle créée par un internaute pour évoluer dans le cyberespace. [Virtual representation created by someone on the internet to move in cyberspace.] (Petit Robert 2006).
Neat.
theefer
or... you could use "screenname", "nickname", "callsign" or other phrase to describe it.
Sig- http://www.dreamhost.com/rewards.cgi?ayefly
There are plenty of generic acronyms used both in instant messaging and online gaming, but a bunch of other ones are game specific. I don't really see them as a barrier to entry. After playing World of Warcraft for awhile you learn what UBRS is and why people are "LFM for UBRS have key" in "IF" all the time.
Besides the acronyms, you have your leet-speak and purposeful misspellings (pwned, teh, pron etc.). Every once in awhile a word is coined that really is necessary online and describes something you only encounter online. My current favorite is ePenis.
Sometimes my arms bend back.
Vamana is the 5th avatar of Vishnu (Matsya - the fish, kurma -- the turtle, varaha -- the boar, narsimha -- the half man, half lion beast, vamana -- the dwarf, Parshuram, Ram, Krishna and the Buddha.
Varuna is the lord of water.
I can throw myself at the ground, and miss.
can anyone tell me what the heck i just read?
I have already insinuated the mmorpg concepts of ninja and gank into various offices where I work. I honestly think Avatar will be one of the last words to make it into common speech. Toon is much more commonly used. Example: Dude, you ninja'd my bagel (you took the bagel that I wanted without a fair contest to see who should get the bagel). Example: Did you hear that Larry got ganked by IT? (While Larry was working on an important project, the IT department blamed him for a mishap, causing management to lay the blame on him for not only his project being late but the apparent failure of IT as well).
From TFA:
That's a nifty trick.
I find the new lingo in WoW a little bit of an annoying phenomena. I've been playing WoW for a year, and I still hear stuff in the game that I don't recognize. Everything is concatenated and abbreviated, and to a newbie it must sound like these guys have been playing forever and are too tired of retyping long strings of text. But the reality is, it's just the same old in-group/out-group language evolution that occurs. And I find myself falling into the same folly.
First, if someone mentions a term that I don't understand, I don't ask for the definition because I don't want to flood the chatlines. And also, I just don't like asking stupid questions. My guess is that this is a widespread reaction, and therefore this creates the mass mis-perception that everybody understands everybody.
Second, I find myself using the concatenations and abbreviations so as to not talk down to people. If I say, "Looking for Group: Sunken Temple" when people are already saying "LFG ST" then it makes my statement look like some stupid grand announcement/advertisement.
So in summary, as soon as members of the WoW community learn new lingo, they bring it into use in order to fit-in, and not because it's easier to use. Then, because people don't appear to mis-understand the new lingo, it makes the lingo a standard.
In the real world, if you tell somebody something they don't understand, usually they'll react funny or ask you what that is. But in chat-based programs like WoW, where non-response is often accepted, it's too easy for miscommunication to be misread as comprehension.
Philosophistry
Don't feel too bad. I had to Google Leeroy Jenkins before I "got" what it was about. I kept seeing it pop up everywhere out of context, but somehow never saw the source. Maybe it's because I don't play WoW.
Now _that's_ something that makes _no_ sense if you aren't on the inside. Some nerd types up "LEEEEEEEERROY JENNNNKINS," and it's just completely opaque--is it a battlecry? This is especially true when it's just thrown in a sig or something. How does the average Internet user google that, anyhow?
Frankly, I think it's sad to see people _afraid_ of asking questions. Everyone was a n00b at some point, and it's not like you can google "LFG WoW" and get an instant and up-to-date list of all the abbreviations everyone uses. It's not like you're asking a complex or involved question (how I mine for fish?); all someone has to do is type out "LFG = looking for group."
I still don't know what the hell "ffs" means.
For Fsck's Sake.
I wonder if someone can explain this one to me.
I've been playing City of Heroes for a few months now and in the past have played Dark Age of Camelot.
In the super group most my characters belong to other members tend to use 'kk' in place of 'ok'. I never asked anyone why they were using that. Maybe it's actually in widespread use in MMORPGs and I've just never run into it before. Anyone know why kk would be used in place of ok? It's the same number of characters so it couldn't be short hand for ok. At least I would imagine not.
Yes, yes, I know; I could ask in game...but the peer group coward I am doesn't allow me to do so even as I find myself using 'kk' since all the cool kids are using it.
Any insight would be appreciated.
On a side note, I have noticed another one being used and wonder if it's used in other games and if it is perhaps an old phrase or something that has recently evolved. Namely, 'bio' as in afk using the head.
All the interesting language and social structures in these games almost makes me want to give up coding and go back to what I originally went to school for many years ago -- anthropology. Probably lots of interesting papers could be done on MMORPG cultures, their customs and language usage.
Do people really speak like that in MMORPGs? The closest to that sort of thing I've played was MUDs years ago, and people whilst not spelling every word out exactly typed out actual full sentences with minimal abbreviations. But I suppose that sort of game encourages fast skillful typing, rather than clicking and drooling.
Certainly, I predict that the word 'avatar' will be on the tips of tongues, if only so that tech journalists can stop adding 'the identity that represents you online'
What was ever wrong with 'character'?
In World of Warcraft and City of Heroes, I don't think I've ever seen a player refer to their character as an avatar in game. The most common terms are main, alt or toon - and occasionally using the term character. Main being the main one you play, alt being your alternate character and toon just being quicker to type than character. No one seems to use char anymore, although this abbreviation was commonly used back in the old days and pen and paper gaming.
I don't like the term avatar, because it implies that this is "you" in the game. I don't make an avatar, I make a character which is seperate from me and does not represent myself or my traits.
Sometimes my arms bend back.