MMORPGs are somewhat unique in the world of games because they make heavy use of chat. As with normal chat, people love to shorten down words as much as possible. Saying things quickly becomes all the more important if you’re being chased by a band of Trolls.
There are some terms and acronyms that are common across all MMORPGs. There are also terms and acronyms unique to LotRO. I thought it would be a good thing to go over some of the ones you’ll come across on a regular basis.
It took me quite a bit to figure out what some of them mean, so hopefully I can save you the trouble. I’m certain that many more casual players are completely unsure of what many of these terms mean, just as I’m certain that this is probably the first MMORPG for many out there. As always, if you’re unsure of what something means just ask. I’ve found people in-game to be very understanding about that sort of thing.
General Terms
Avatar — A player character. Some also call these chars or toons. Each person tends to have their preferred term for this. Personally, I’ve never understood the use of “toon” for this.
Main — A player’s main character.
Alt — An alternate character. These are used less often than the main, although some might argue that point (I’d say if you’re playing a alt more than a main, that alt is your new main … sorry!). While some will level these fully, many use alts to help with mailing items, crafting and Auction House duties. In this capacity, the alt could also be described as a mule.
Mule — An alternate character created solely for the purpose of storing extra items and performing Auction House duties.
Freeps — Free Peoples. This refers to all “good” characters in the Ettenmoors, specifically players.
Creeps — A term used to refer to monster players.
PvE — Player vs Environment. This refers modes within a MMORPG that do not involve player versus player combat. LotRO is a PvE focused game.
PvMP — Player vs Monster Player. While most MMORPGs have a Player vs Player component (or PvP), LotRO instead pits standard players against separately created monster players. All combat between the two factions takes place in an area known as the Ettenmoors. Monster players do not level up, but do gain new abilities based on completing goals.
NPC — A non-player character controlled by AI.
Mob — Any general computer controlled enemy.
Add(s) — An enemy that joins an existing battle. Usually this can be avoided by picking off stragglers on patrol before going after your main target. Some enemies are specifically placed to force you to fight adds in addition to your main target.
Named — Signature Mobs. In LotRO these are enemies that have actual, unique names. They’re typically stronger than normal mobs and usually drop items of note.
Elite — Elite mobs. These are mobs that are significantly overpowered for their level. They are not necessarily named, but they can be. Enemies even stronger than Elites are known as Elite Masters. Sounds better than Boss Bosses.
Loot/Drop — Any items or money taken from a defeated creature. The act of taking items from the corpse is known as looting. While Drop usually refers to items left behind by an enemy, loot can also refer to items taken from a chest.
Spawn — In general, this refers to the appearance of an enemy in the game world. Normal enemies in MMORPGs appear at specific areas ( referred to as a spawn point) at set time intervals. Some creatures of note may spawn more rarely. Spawn points can vary (for example, a single enemy may appear in several different spots), but are not entirely random.
Camping — Probably more recognized for its FPS usage, but the concept is the same. This refers to players who wait around known spawn points for enemies to appear. The enemy in question generally has a drop of value that the player is hoping to farm.
Wipe — Wipe refers to situations where an entire group (particularly in a Raid or instanced quest) is killed. Typically everyone will have to regroup at the entrance, although a class that has a resurrecting ability is sometimes asked to return to the area and bring the remaining players back from the dead.
Zerg — A Zerg is an alien race from Starcraft, essentially more known for attacking in sheer numbers than for its cunning. In MMORPGs, Zerging refers to situations where a large group rushes in for an attack (typically against an enemy that doesn’t necessarily require such force). Some frown upon this practice as it typically requires no real planning or skill.
Leech — A player that contributes little to a group, despite sharing in XP and rolling for every piece of loot.
Vendor Trash — Items with no purpose other than to be sold to a vendor for profit. If your bags are full, these should be the first to go.
Player and Interaction Terms
Kinship — In most MMORPGs, this is referred to as a Guild. A Kinship is a semi-permanent group of players with a set hierarchy. Kinships receive their own chat channel in the UI and can gain certain benefits such as large housing, item storage and further Auction House options.
Fellowship — This is simply LotRO’s term for a Group. A typical Fellowship can contain up to six players. Fellowship players split experience for mob kills, share deed progress and generally work together toward a common goal. All Fellowships have a lead player whose main additional functions involve inviting and booting players from the Fellowship, assigning icons to players for quick reference and changing the loot rules.
Raid — A Raid involves a large, organized group of players typically grouping together with the intent of finishing off a major area or boss(es). Raids, generally, are a more substantial commitment of time and energy than other quests and instances in a MMORPG. They’re generally significantly more challenging as well and typically lead to the most valuable equipment and items in the game.
Instance — Refers to a private instance of an area for a group of players, typically some sort of dungeon (although LotRO also uses instances for story purposes). Instances can be for solo players, Fellowships or Raid groups. A separate instance is generated for each group that enters the area. Other players can typically join an instance in progress if invited. Anything that is not an instance is considered a public area.
Session Play — Session play occurs when you play as a character that is not your own. For Freeps, this can involve playing as a chicken or a Ranger. For Creeps, this can involve playing as a Troll. Session play is expanded for Mines of Moria and is typically used for story telling purposes so that players can see things happen from a different point of view.
PUF/PUG - Pick-up Fellowship or Pick-Up Group. Refers to a group that typically does not play together and will likely break up as soon as their task is complete.
PST — Please Send Tell. LotRO refers to these as IMs in the chat tabs. This simply means that you should directly contact the person in question as opposed to discussing in open chat. I used to think this just meant “psst”, as in whisper. Oops.
AH — Auction House. Auction Houses are located in Thorin’s Hall, Michel Delving, Bree and Rivendell.
WTS — Want to Sell.
WTT — Want to Trade.
WTB — Want to Buy.
Vendor Trash — Items with no purpose other than to be sold to a vendor for profit. If your bags are full, these should be the first to go.
LFF — Looking for Fellowship. In most games this is called Looking for Group (or LFG). In LotRO groups are called Fellowships, hence the difference.
LF#M — Looking for # More. The # is replaced with the number of people the Fellowship is looking for. There’s typically a number given as a normal Fellowship caps out at 6 players.
OOC — Out of Character. Although LotRO does not force role-playing, OOC is a simple way to refer to generic chat about anything. It may be game related or it may not be.
RP — Role playing. Role playing characters enjoy pretending that their character actually exists in the game’s universe. As such their speech and actions will reflect this. There are no role playing dedicated servers in the US for LotRO, unlike some other MMORPGs.
EXP/XP — Short for experience points. As in most RPGs gathering so many of these by questing or killing enemies leads to gaining levels. XP is the more common of the two and is the abbreviation that Turbine uses in-game.
GM — Game Master. GMs are employees of the company running the MMORPG in question. They typically will respond to questions and complaints of players in-game, if necessary. They have “admin” powers within the game and can restore items, fix issues and expel players as necessary.
You’ll know if you’re being talked to by a GM, so the typical “beware of scams!” stuff applies here.
KS or Kill Stealing — Refers to situations where the person who receives XP for a kill is a different person than the one that originated combat. LotRO avoids this by giving all XP to the player who originated combat. XP is divided up in Fellowships despite this rule.
Tap — Tapping is used to refer to an enemy that has been marked as yours. You tap an enemy by being the first to attack it. The enemy’s name is grayed out for all other players in the area, signifying that they will receive no XP for the kill.
Nerf — A nerf occurs when a class, ability or item sees its statisitics reduced. This is typically done if the developers have deemed an item too powerful, but as expected this leads to making those with the item unhappy. In some MMORPGs this is a near constant complaint, but it seems to be relatively rare in LotRO.
Pat or Path — Refers to the path a walking enemies follows. Pat usually refers directly to the patrolling enemies.
Port — Short for teleporting. In LotRO, Hunters are able to bring other players to set locations instantly assuming everyone has the necessary items.
Pull — Occurs when a player lures an enemy (or enemies) to a safe area so they can be more easily defeated by a group of players. This is typically handled by characters with ranged attacks, although there are alternate methods.
Rez/Res — Resurrection. Refers to the ability to bring characters back to life. A few classes in LotRO are capable of this, most obviously the Minstrel.
Root — A trap or ability that holds an enemy into place or “roots” them like a tree. Most skills of this variety end once the rooted character/enemy is attacked.
Roll — Rolling in LotRO can refer to the loot distribution mechanic in place for your Fellowship. For example, the system may be set up for Need vs Greed. When you pick one of these, a roll out of 100 is made and the item is given to the winner in your Fellowship. Need rolls take priority over Greed rolls.
Rolling may also be done manually when the item in question was not dropped by a mob. For example, if you’re having a contest and want to fairly give away an item, rolling can be of help. Typing /roll in chat will randomly display a number between 1 and 100 for this purpose.
Spec/Build — Specification or Character Build. This is typically used to refer to the setup of your character in MMORPGs. In LotRO, this typically refers to how your traits are set up. Mines of Moria is introducing a system known as Trait Sets that allows players to more easily follow preset builds if desired.
Skill and Gameplay Terms
Morale — LotRO’s term for health.
Power — LotRO’s term for what most games call spell points, ability points or mana.
Buff — A beneficial spell with effects that improve a character or monster’s stats for a set period of time. Typically these may increase Morale or Power, improve speed, prevent Dread effects, increase resistances and so forth. This does not include normal healing abilities, although healer classes are typically given the largest amount of buffing skills. In LotRO, this is mostly fulfilled by Captains and Minstrels.
Debuff — The opposite of a buff. These negatively impact a character or monster in some fashion. They may decrease speed, lower overall morale, decrease resistances and so forth. They do not directly cause damage.
Dread — LotRO does not employ a “corpse run” mechanic like World of Warcraft. When you die, you can either be resurrected by another player or choose to respawn at a nearby location. When coming back to life, Dread will be applied to you. Dread is a debuff that decreases your overall strength and morale. The strength of the Dread debuff is dependant on which area you died in. The higher level the area, the worse Dread effect. Dread lowers morale, lowers incoming heals and increases incoming damage.
Dread can also be given off by certain areas, characters and enemies. It’s power can range anywhere from 0 to 10, with 10 being the most severe. When a character has a high level of Dread, there is a chance he or she will cower in fear and be unable to complete actions.
Hope — The opposite of Dread, Hope increases morale, increases incoming healing and decreases incoming damage. Hope is increased by spending time in important areas (such as Rivendell), spending time by characters or by using Hope Tokens. Hope can help negate the effects of Dread, but it can also build up on its own. As with Dread, it can vary from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest.
DPS — Damage Per Second. Refers to the amount of damage per second a weapon can inflict. The final number is affected both by the stats of the weapon and the stats of the player. Certain classes, such as Champions in LotRO, are built around this concept and are focused on increasing DPS as much as possible.
Tank — Any class that generates aggro and absorbs large amounts of damage. The Guardian is the main tank in LotRO, with Champions, Captains and Wardens (and even certain Lore–master pets) able to fulfill secondary rolls in some situations.
Nuker — Classes that can cause large amounts of damage from a distance. Hunters and attack-tuned Rune-keepers fall into this category.
Healer — A class focused on healing others. In LotRO, this is typically the Minstrel. However, Captains and healing-tuned Rune-keepers are also of strong use here.
CC — Crowd control. The ability to keep large amounts of adversaries occupied (generally through stuns) and prevent them from completing their own abilities. The goal of CC is to leave opponents near useless so that fewer enemies have to be worried about simultaneously. Lore–masters are the primary crowd control class in LotRO.
AoE — Area of Effect. This refers to abilities that affect all targets within a specified area around the attacker. These are not single target abilities.
DoT — Damage over Time. These are abilities (or items) that continue to cause damage over set intervals after the initial action.
HoT — Healing over Time. Abilities (or items) that heal targets over set intervals after the initial action.
BoA — Bind on Acquire. When this item is acquired it binds to the owner and can no longer be traded or put on the Auction House. It can be sold to vendors.
BoE — Bind on Equip When this item is equipped it binds to the owner and can no longer be traded or put on the Auction House. It can be sold to vendors.
DMG — Short for Damage.
Mitigation — In basic definition, to mitigate means to lessen in force or intensity. So in LotRO, mitigation is essentially resistance to a type of attack. Lore–masters can use their “Knowledge of the Lore–master” skill to display an enemy’s strengths and weaknesses, which includes their migitation against different types of attacks.
Explaining this in detail is difficult and not easily kept succinct. If you really want to get into it, I suggest reading Haakon’s information on the topic. Note that this is something you don’t have to delve into as a more casual (or even average player). A lot of this can simply remembered as Mob X is weak to Damage Type X.
Kiting — Kiting allows a player to use range attacks to damage and aggro an enemy while remaining at a distance. The player has to constantly run away from the enemy in question in order to keep this up and remain undamaged. This can be used on bosses that have adds so that the boss remains occupied and the adds can be defeated by other players easily. It can also be used to bring an enemy to an area where it does not normally spawn or patrol.
Crit — Critical. In general this refers to a critical attack (i.e., an attack with higher damage output than usual). In LotRO this also refers to when crafting. Critting when crafting (specifically known as a “critical success) leads to better crafting results.
Mez/Mezz/Mes — Mesmerise. This refers to a “mesmerized” or stunned state. Typically in LotRO, Lore–masters are called upon to mez a strong enemy so weaker ones can be taken out first.
Aggro/Threat — Aggrivation. This refers to enemies who have noticed you and are on the attack.
Aggro is also used to refer to the concept of “threat”, although many do differentiate between the two terms (to keep it simple, threat generates monster aggro). Enemies in MMORPGs, including LotRO, typically have a “list” they use to determine which player to attack first (i.e., the player causing the most aggro or posing the biggest threat). In most settings this means they’ll go after the initial attacker first. However, if a second player is determined to be a bigger threat (by healing others or causing the most damage), the enemy will move on to them instead. This means the more fragile healer and nuker classes are typically high on the enemy’s list.
However, certain classes are able to generate additional threat (through attacks, Taunts, etc.) and, thus, purposely adjust the list. Tank classes (such as the Guardian in LotRO) have many skills designed to generate threat in order to pull monsters off of other players. Of course, while this is happening the enemy will continue to calculate the threat of every player around him. If a tank isn’t pulling through, this can lead to the enemy returning to the highest damage dealer or most successful healer. Balancing all of this is key.
Aggro Range (or radius) — This refers to the area around an enemy that it is aware of. If you enter this range, the enemy will begin its attack. Aggro range vary in size depending on the level and importance of an enemy.
Taunt — Refers to abilities that can generate threat and pull a monster’s aggro off of another player and onto him or herself.
Cooldown — The amount of time you must wait after an ability or item is used before it can be used again. Ability and item tooltips will inform you of the length of the cooldown. In LotRO, an item is grayed out if the cooldown has yet to expire. Repeatable quests also have cooldowns, preventing you from completing them over and over in a short amount of time.
BS — Backstab. In LotRO, Burglars have abilities that are improved by attacking enemies from behind.
1H/2H — Refers to one– or two-handed weapons.
FM — Short for Fellowship Maneuver. These are special abilities that can pop on screen while fighting as a Fellowship.
Mats — Materials. Specifically in reference to materials necessary for crafting.
Book/Epic — Quests that are part of the main storyline of the game. The titles of these quests generally contain a book and chapter number and are prefaced by “Epic” or “Introduction”.
Location Terms
CD — Carn Dum. A large instance for high-level players in Northern Angmar.
MD — Michel Delving. Located in the southwest corner, this is the main area of note in the Shire.
GB — Great Barrow. A midlevel dungeon in the Barrow Downs. The area can be entered for general questing and leveling, but is also important to a Book quest.
GA — Garth Agarwen. A midlevel area north of Agamaur in the Lone Lands. The area is full of elite enemies and requires a group for decent progress.
Moors — Short for the Ettenmoors, the PvMP area in LotRO.
DG - Dar Gazag. An area in western portion of the Ettenmoors. It is directly west of Hoardale and southwest of Lugazag.
GF — Gramsfoot. An area in the northwestern portion of the Ettenmoors. It is located in the mountains farthest corner of the Steps of Gram. All Monster Player characters start here and are safe from the attacks of Freeps while in the area.
GR - Grothum. An area in the northeastern part of the Ettenmoors in Arador’s End. It is southeast of Isendeep and directly north of Ost Ringdyr, although you must go around some mountains to reach it from there.
GV - Glan Vraig. A town in the southeastern part of the Ettenmoors. All Freep players enter the Ettenmoors from here and are safe from monster attacks while in the area.
HH - Hoarhallow. A village in the forests of Hithlad of the Ettenmoors. It is directly west of Glen Vraig and southwest of the Lumber Camp.
ID - Isendeep. An area in the far northern section of the Ettenmoors, in the section known as Arador’s End.
LC - Lumber Camp. An area in the southern portion of the Ettenmoors, in the forests of Hithlad.
LG — Lugazag. An area in the central-western section of the Ettenmoors. It isn the fields south of the Steps of Gram, northwest of Hoardale.
OR - Ost Ringdyr. A town in the eastern part of the Ettenmoors. It is north of Glen Vraig and east of Tirith Raw.
TA - Tol Ascarnen. An area in the center of the Ettenmoors, near the Hoardale. It is surrounded by water.
TR - Tirith Raw. An area in the Ettenmoors east of Tirith Raw and north of Glen Vraig.
Conclusion
Obviously this can be expanded on all of the time and I imagine Mines of Moria will introduce its own unique terms. However, I hope this is a good starting point for people who ever find themselves in a chat and embarrassed to ask what the heck everyone is talking about.
Feel free to let me know about things you think should be added to the list or corrected.
Couple more locations
GF (in contratiction to above) — Garth Fornir — East Angmar
BG — Barad Gurlaran — mainly refers to the Udunion instance area
Uru — Urugarth - North Angmar instance area
TS — Turmun Sursa (may have spelling wrong) — Freep camp in CD/Uru area
Rift — The Rift of Nurz Ghashu — Raid area in East Angmar
Hele — Helegrod — Raid area in North Misty Mountains
also
TS — Teamspeak — a third party voice/chat system
Vent — Ventrilo — another third party voice/chat system
DC’d — Disconnected — refers to a play who looses their link to the game / network connection
I’m sure other people have more to add
Hal
Thanks Hal. I guess this list could go on for miles haha.
Player and Interaction Terms
An occurrence associated with, but not widely known by the general populace of players, is the division or reduction of EXPERIENCE POINTS due to TAPPING and/or KILL STEALING.
When you have tagged and/or are engaged in combat with a MOB, and another (non-Fellowship/Raid) player attacks that MOB, your EXPERIENCE POINTS earned for the defeating of said MOB are cut by HALF.
This can be especially upsetting to the original MOB-tagging/attacking player if that player has invested real time to accrue (and thus spend) RESTED EXPERIENCE POINTS and/or gained (and thus spent) DESTINY POINTS through PvMP play and/or FREEP character leveling to enhance their EXPERIENCE POINT reward.
If you are the originator of the PLAYER vs. MOB interaction, you can choose to either walk away and continue on your adventures, or you can politely send the offending player a TELL (IM) explaining to them that which I had just described. More often than not, you will be met with a response akin to: “Sorry, didn’t know. Thx”. But, on occasion will get a less-than-cordial response. To which it is best to just not reply. A further action on your part to utilize the “/ignore” feature can’t hurt as well.
I wasn’t aware of the XP cut… Thanks for that info.