The RPG gaming lexicon (?)

I can't provide a definitive answer to this, but my impression is that this stuff filters down from the people who get really hard core into the numbers games and strategies, dissecting every aspect of encounters and posting their data on message boards. They tend to use acronyms and short forms of speech once a concept is explained when they present their information and gradually it just becomes a part of the accepted vernacular.

For example, a high level raiding guild would bang their heads against a wall in an untested boss fight in a new MMO expansion, trying different strategies and learning through trial and error what works and what doesn't. Once they arrive at a strategy that works, they post their findings on (usually private) message boards. Gradually, these strats leak out and are posted on spoiler sites like Wowhead or Thottbot along with the particular terms that best describe the strat. Gradually the terms become commonly used.

Once this happens, minor variations can be explored and the similarities between systems allow a certain portability. Terms like "Tank-n-spank" or "DPS Race" are general enough that they can be applied across numerous games. It's like any other aspect of the language in that it grows, evolves, and changes according to the needs of its users.

Most games have the big four:

Tank: Class designed to take big damage and deal low/moderate damage (warrior, shadow/death knights, paladin)
DPS: Class designed to deal big damage and take low/moderate damage (can be classes like assassin, ranger, or mage types, wizard for example)
CC (Crowd Control): Class designed to control multiple enemies so you can control the fight (enchanter, illusionists, psionic types)
Healers: Class designed to keep others alive while they fight, and deal low/moderate damage (cleric, shaman, mystics, druids)

Different games can use the classes differently, but that is that basics.

I want to say a lot of this started with EverQuest, at least the names. I know I'd never heard of DPS until I played it.

I'd just watch out when someone wants you to be the party's ATMer or DPee.

AOE: Area of Effect. This is an action that effects an entire area, not just a single opponent
Pull (as in, 'to pull'): To try and single out 1 or 2 enemies from a mob and draw them over to your party. You do this to avoid getting mobbed by a larger force.
Aggro (as in, 'to aggro'): to try and draw the enemy's attention towards you. Tanks that are fighting a boss will typically trade off aggro during a long fight.

Kite: This is the act of using a ranged weapon (bow, crossbow, etc) or spell to damage an enemy while keeping one's distance from it. Often this occurs while the player is moving away from the enemy while it moves towards them, since characters with ranged abilities usually aren't very proficient in melee combat (or "squishies" or "glass cannons", as they are sometimes called).

Root: Often used with kiting, this any spell or effect that freezes an opponent in space. A common strategy is to kite an enemy, root them when they get too close, then run back to safe distance to continue kiting.

Mob: Another name for an NPC (non-player character), derived from "mobile," used to describe objects in MUDs that were self-mobile. Usually, it's reserved for opponents, with non-hostile NPCs simply being called NPCs.

Buff:
- 1. To increase the stats of yourself or a comrade, usually via a spell of some sort.
- 2. Game parlance for when the developers, in an effort to fix game balancing issues, will make a class stronger.

De-Buff: To decrease the stats of an enemy, usually via a spell of some sort.
Nerf: Game parlance for when the developers, in an effort to fix game balancing issues, will makd a class weaker. (Dude, they totally nerfed my AOE abilities with that last patch!)

Also, to remove an existing buff.

Guild: A large group of players banded together for social, competitive and/or progress-related reasons. Some are merely a loose association of friends who enjoy playing together, others are extremely dedicated and structured organizations with by-laws, officers and websites. The common goals of most guilds are support of the players in the guild and cooperation with certain missions, quests and encounters that can only be done by large groups (see below).

Raid: An encounter that, due to length and/or difficulty, requires a larger number of players to complete than normal. This can be 5, 10 or 25-player groups, an entire guild, or in some cases even multiple guilds. Many guilds are created solely to advance through raid content.

Wipe: An encounter that results in the death of the entire party. Most commonly used in reference to raids, which, due to the number of players involved, usually take quite some time to put together, making a wipe an extremely unfavorable result.

Farm: 1) To continually kill the same mob over and over again to receive a particular piece of loot. 2) To run repeatedly through a raid at which a guild has become proficient enough that it can usually be completed with minimal difficulty and casualties. Referred to as "being on farm status".

That's definately when these terms became an everyday occurance I think. Before EQ1 started I played Dark Sun Online on the Ten Network. That was my first game. It had the graphics that were similiar to those um, (gold box, silver box?) games from D&D years ago.

I imagine some of these terms popped up in the old MUD games and got appropriated by the newer shinier games.

PK: Player Kill. A guy's dude got killed.

TPK: Total Party Kill, an entire adventure party made up fully out of player characters got killed.