Glossary

Many adventurers new to Stormreach are taken back at some the terms used conversationally by its veteran denizens. This is a partial list of terms you may or may not have seen or heard before.

1-9

 * 1337 - Leet - Elite - El33t : Often used by older people to describe someone who is full of himself or arrogant.Often used by younger people to refer to someone with above average or "elite" skills.Can also be used by older congratulatory people to joke about someone with above average or "elite" skills.


 * 28 Point Build: When starting DDO, you can use a maximum of 28 points for stat allocation for new characters. See 32 Point Build


 * 32 Point Build: Once you've earned 1750 favor on any character, you can use 32 points in the initial stat allocation. As of Update 1 for DDO Unlimited (October 28, 2009), 32 point builds can be purchased from the DDO store.


 * 3BC : Three-Barrel Cove (quest)

A

 * AA : Abbreviation for the Arcane Archer, a path or enhancement for Rangers, Elves and others


 * AC : Armor Class (game mechanic)


 * ADQ - DQ1 : Against the Demon Queen (quest)


 * AFAIK : As Far As I Know


 * AFK : Away from Keyboard: this player is telling you that he has left for a given time.


 * Aggro : This is the name for the level of aggression a monster has towards any player. The person with the most "aggro" is usually who the Monster will target and persist to attack. Aggro is gained through dealing damage to the creature, taunting the creature with the intimidate skill, or healing party members. Most groups seek to have the Tank hold the Aggro. For humorous real-life variants, see Waggro, Haggro and Kid Aggro.


 * AH : Auction House. NPCs located throughout public areas that show up as a red gavel icon on your map.  Here you may post items for others to bid on or bid or buyout (purchase immediately) on items for yourself.  Note when selling on the Auction House: there is a "Listing Fee" when you put the item on the Auction House list; there is also another selling fee of 30% if the item is sold.  Factor those costs into the selling price of any items you decide to sell.  If the item sells, you get the listing fee back; it's lost if the auction expires.


 * AHAP : As Hard As Possible. Usually used in LFMs to say the quest will be done in the hardest difficulty that can by opened by the party.


 * AI : Artificial Intelligence. Sometimes discussed in how certain enemies attack specific classes first.


 * AKA : Also Known As.


 * Alt : A player's alternate characters, these are characters that they play for fun but are not the main focus of their time in game.Any character on a player's account he is not currently playing.See also Avatar, Character, Toon and Main.


 * AOE : Area Of Effect: AOE spells are spells that affect multiple targets in a designated area. Spells like Fireball have AOE damage because they damage the creatures surrounding the initial target of the spell.


 * Arcane : An Arcane would refer to arcane casters, such as the wizard or sorcerer classes, and would exclude other divine-based spell casters (i.e., the cleric)


 * Arraetrikos : Difficult-to-pronounce name of the central boss of The Shroud. See Harry Beater.


 * AS or ASB : A Guild Airship or Airship buffs.


 * ASAP: As Soon As Possible.


 * ATM : At The Moment.


 * Auto-crit: Automatic critical hit. Enemies who are paralyzed or stunned, for instance, will receive maximum damage that the player can deliver.


 * Avatar : The virtual incarnation of the player. See also "alt" and "toon."


 * Axer Package : Nickname of a collection of buffs in DDO. Generally refers to every possible useful buff for the given quest. But often non-useful but funny buffs like Merfolk's Blessing are included. Common buffs for all quests included: Haste, Rage, Displacement, Resist Energy: All, Prayer, Freedom of Movement, Death Ward. Others depending on the quest or context it is used. Example of usage: "Hey what buffs do you need?" "I'll take an Axer Package." Note that this package is not required for good players, nor for self-sufficient players. If you only form parties that consist of you on your Dwarven Barbarian with the other five party members being Clerics, Wizards, Sorcerers, and Bards, then yes, you will need the Axer package.

B

 * BAB : Base Attack Bonus: Number that represent your skills with a weapon, and increases as you gain levels. As your BAB increases, you gain a greater bonus to attack rolls and additional swings. The speed at which BAB increase depends on the class(es) you are training.


 * Balanced Party : A party with many skills, usually including a healer, a magic user, a trap specialist, someone that excels at ranged weapons, and a melee fighter. A quest that is described as needing a Balanced Party may be difficult or impossible without strong skills in all these areas.


 * Battle Cleric : A Cleric who likes to and is built to fight in melee combat.


 * BB : Blade Barrier (spell)


 * BB : Boss Beater. A weapon capable of bypassing a particular boss's Damage Reduction. (See also Harry Beater.)


 * BBL : Be Back Later.


 * BH : Sometimes used to refer to a Beholder.


 * Bio : Often used as "Bio break", this term refers to someone taking a break for biological reasons. Often used in DDO to state a player is going to the bathroom.Can also refer to the player's biography.


 * Bind or Binding:
 * 1) The process of setting a resurrection point in a tavern, by talking to an NPC "spirit binder."
 * 2) Items (typically unique chest loot) that, once found and/or equipped, can only be used by that player character or the player's DDO account on that server. Non-unique items can be bound-to-character using the Stone of Change. Binding non-unique items to a character will make that item immune to permanent damage, but the item cannot be auctioned, mailed, or traded.


 * Bowfag, Bowmo : Archer builds, especially for poorly played/equipped ones. Usually considered derogatory.


 * Box of Rocks : A chest full of gemstones.


 * BS : Bastard sword (item), Bull's strength (buff) at lower levels, or Barkskin (buff) at higher levels.


 * BRB : Be Right Back, often used in conjunction with AFK.


 * BRT : Be Right There.


 * BTW: By The Way.


 * Buff, Buffs, or Buffed : Buffs are generally cast on characters at the beginning of quests and after shrining to give resistance to damaging effects or enhance ability scores, attack damage or saving throws.


 * Build: Preplanned character progression, choosing when feats, etc., are taken.  Often done with the assistance of "build planner" software  or websites.


 * BYOH : Bring Your Own Heals, generally seen on the LFM to let people know that there isn't a dedicated healer in the group. While Hirelings may be discouraged as they take up a player space, wands, potions and scrolls are welcome.

C

 * Capped : The point in which a character has reached level 20. They still collect experience points but does not receive any further character levels or Action Points.


 * Capstone : An optional enhancement available at level 20 that often gives a player character a special ability that exemplifies the class ability. Barbarians hit harder, Monks get more Concentration, Sorcerers deal more damage with empowered spells, and so on.


 * Caster : Typically a Wizard or Sorcerer, but technically any class that casts offensive spells, such as a Cleric or Favored Soul.


 * CC : Crowd Control: Refers to effects capable of affecting large amount of hostile mobs to reduce the damage taken. Casting classes (Bards, Sorcerers, Wizards) are often asked to do CC. This involves AOE stuns, Web spells, and Daze spells to prevent monsters to deal damage to party members. Melee classes can provide a limited version of CC using paralyzing and stunning weaponry or abilities.


 * CE : Combat Expertise, (feat), a stance that increases your AC at a cost. Can't be used in tandem with other non-Monk stances such as Power Attack.


 * Char : Your player character.


 * Chew Toy : A melee class such as a fighter, who tanks, acquiring and maintaining aggro with a specific mob(s). Usually specific to the Hound of Xoriat raid.


 * Chump Block : A character that tanks, although they are likely to die in the process.


 * Clickie : An item that generates a spell or other effect upon clicking the item from its place on a toolbar or double-clicking from a player inventory. For example, the Visor of the Flesh Render Guards are goggles that, when clicked, give a Death Ward spell.


 * CLW : Cure Light Wounds: A healing spell used frequently by clerics.


 * CMW : Cure Moderate Wounds: A healing spell used frequently by clerics.


 * CSW : Cure Serious Wounds: A healing spell used frequently by clerics.


 * CO6 : The Cult of the Six: A quest chain on Sorrowdusk Isle, accessible from the House Deneith ward. Sometimes called COT6.


 * Coyle : An infamous NPC you must protect in the Threnal East quests. His near-useless magic attacks often aggros many enemies and dies quite easily, causing the quests to fail. Much to the delight of players, he can be knocked out in the quest, Hold for Reinforcements.


 * Crawl : A dungeon crawl to show newbies the ropes, and/or to complete all side quests and objectives


 * Crit : Short for Critical hit, a high attack roll that occur naturally on the dice that give bonuses to damage to most enemies (and players).


 * CR : Challenge Rating: The difficulty of a monster. The rating is not always accurate for every monster.


 * CYA : "See Ya." A form of "goodbye."

D

 * DA : Dwarven axe (item) or Dungeon Alert


 * Dark monk : A Monk that chooses the Path of Inevitable Dominion. These monks are extremely swift and powerful unarmed fighters that use ki to debuff, curse or kill enemies. Contrast to the light Monk.


 * DC :
 * 1) When a player disconnects unexpectedly, losing his internet connection or his client-side connection to the game, causing a forced logout.
 * 2) Difficulty Class: The foundation of most skills in DDO, based on a D20 dice roll versus a DC. The DC of any given object, spell, trap, or magic item is the "check" that you must roll above to succeed.


 * DD : Dimension Door (spell)Disable Device (skill)


 * DBF : Delayed Blast Fireball (spell)


 * Death Taxi/Train : Killing your character to quickly return to your bind point. Synonymous with Soul Train.


 * Deuce : Scored when a player beheads consecutive monsters with consecutive blows using a vorpal weapon.


 * Dev : Developers; these are the good men and women who actually work on the game itself. The Dev team can consist of artists, programmers, and managers. There are other types of employees, like public relations, but they are not specifically Devs since they are not directly developing the game.


 * Diplo : Short for Diplomacy (skill), used to redirect aggro onto others.


 * Disco Inferno : The humorous and highly destructive use of Wall of Fire & Otto's Sphere of Dancing cast together, often in advance of a pending mob of enemies.


 * Divine : Divine spell casters such as Clerics, Favored Souls and Paladins, which excel at curing ailments and healing allies.


 * DM : Dungeon Master, the game referee. In DDO, the voiceover narrators perform this role.


 * DPS : Damage per second or Damage per swing, a method of calculation of damage. Most often used to represent a general focus on damage rather than precise numbers. Note that there is no actual measurement for DPS, rather it is a play style where one intends to do high damage for each round of attack, as opposed to stat damage or crowd control.


 * DR : Damage Reduction. In a player's character sheet and other areas, DR is formatted DR N/TYPE, where N equals absorbed damage from the damage reduction, and TYPE equals what material of the attacking weapon will ignore the DR and cause full damage. A vampire, for instance, may be listed as DR 10/Silver.


 * Dragonmark : A mark that looks like an elaborate tattoo and grants magical powers to the bearer. Specific dragonmarks are found only in the bloodlines of certain families, and therefore only certain races may manifest true dragonmarks. In DDO, characters may spend feats to purchase dragonmarks. The dragonmark graphics on the characters themselves can be turned off in the game options.


 * DS : Deepwood sniper (path), a ranger path that focuses skills on ranged attacks and scouting.


 * DSD : Detect Secret Doors (spell). Less effective than True Seeing.


 * Dump Stat : An ability that is unused by few or no aspects of a particular class (such as Intelligence for a Monk). Experienced or knowledgeable players will commit little to no ability points to a dump stat.


 * DV : Divine Vitality: This is a cleric ability which is used at the expense of a Turn Undead. DVs are optional enhancements that a Cleric may choose to take in order to refill small amounts of Spell Points to a target party member but not himself.


 * DQ1 : Against the Demon Queen, part 1. A required pre-flagging quest for the raid, Zawabi's Revenge, after completing 3 previous quests in the Sands of Menechtarun wilderness area.


 * DQ2 : Zawabi's Revenge, part 2 of the "Against the Demon Queen" story arc. This is a raid adventure.

E

 * Emo: Emotional Hardcore


 * End game: Term used to refer to items, activities or quests available to characters at the maximum level. See "Epic."


 * Epic:


 * 1) The most difficult quests in the game that are playable (and survivable) only by level 20 characters. Many aspects of protection, such as armor class, may not apply in Epic quests.
 * 2) Unique items that can be upgraded for use by level 20 players by way of crafting or other means, such as the Epic Charged Gauntlets.


 * EOM: End Of Message


 * EULA : End User License Agreement


 * EZ : Easy

F

 * F2S : Flesh to Stone (spell)


 * Farming : Running a quest, or explorer area, multiple times for experience points, or to progressively acquire a number of Ingredients or Collectables.


 * Favor : Points given for completing quests. Special benefits are made available to users who obtain enough favor with certain patrons


 * FF : Feather Fall, a highly important effect that prevents a player from severe injury or death from falling from any significant height. Is found on clickies for a short-effect spell, or items that give a permanent effect to the player when equipped.


 * Finger : Finger of Death (spell)


 * Firewall : A common misnomer of the Wall of Fire spell, often said by World of Warcraft or Diablo players.


 * Flagged : Having completed the required quests, or gathered the required items, to move onto the next chapter of a story line, usually a raid.


 * Fleshy : Term used for denoting a "flesh and bone" race (eg Human). Primarily used by Warforged.


 * Finish Out or FO : Notifying a party that it is okay to leave a completed quest, often after all chosen optionals are done and all loot has been retrieved.


 * FOD : Finger of Death (spell)


 * Free to Play or F2P : New to Module 9, Free to Play accounts can enjoy much of DDO completely free, but suffer some drawbacks, such as limited character development, lack of access to superior equipment and wilderness areas. The purchase of any one adventure pack, locked class, race or character slot changes a F2P account into a Premium account on all servers, which gets additional character slots but remains otherwise free to play. (Compare to VIP.)


 * FOM : Freedom of Movement (buff)


 * Fred : Fred The Mindflayer can respec feats with the right currency. Found near the entrance of the quest, Dead Predators, under the elevated gardens in House Jorasco.


 * FtS : Flesh to Stone (spell)


 * FTW : For The Win: Simply put, anything that is followed by "FTW" means it is a good thing. (e.g. "+4 Ghost Touch Adamantine Bastard swords FTW!")


 * FVS : Favored Soul (class)


 * FYI : For Your Information

G

 * GA : Greataxe


 * GG : Good Game: Often used as a congratulatory response to a good group or good job on a task. This has been used alternatively as a condescending insult flavored with sarcasm. (e.g.. "GG, Noob...")


 * GH : Greater Heroism (buff), can also reference the Gianthold Area or Good hope (spell)


 * Ghost Run : When players intentionally die, allowing a fellow player to carry their soulstone through the quest


 * Gimped : A subjective term where a character's abilities don't have synergy to the build or multiclassing in a way that hurts your character more than any benefit he may gain from it. An example would be a Fighter with a low CON stat. Short of Greater Reincarnation, the most common solution to this is a re-rolling the character.


 * GIMPO : "God, In My Personal Opinion". Typically used to describe a good character build.


 * GISH : Derived from "magician." A spell caster that is skilled in both physical combat and the use of magic.


 * GJ : Good Job: used in the same context as GG.


 * GLOER : Good Luck On End Reward. Also a reminder that receiving the end reward resets raid timers, allowing replay of a raid after about 3 days.


 * GM : Game Master: these are the fellows who are employed by Turbine to help players with unusual problems like monsters not spawning, getting stuck, items disappearing, and other events which disrupt the flow of gameplay. They also moderate behavior of players when it gets out of hand. Consider the GMs to be like the Police of DDO: when something goes wrong, you contact them.


 * GMW : Grey Moon Waning: A quest chain on Sorrowdusk Isle, accessible from the House Deneith ward.


 * Gold Farmers or Spammer : People who try to sell gold or platinum in game; a bannable offense.


 * Grind (or Grinding) : Repetitious questing for a specific goal, typically until obtaining a randomly dropped item. Close to farming, but with a sense of hassle.


 * GP : Gold Piece. Before Platinum (PP or Plat) was introduced, this was the currency standard. Many older NPCs ask for services in GP, not PP.


 * GR : Guild Renown, the experience format for Guilds that allow them to receive upgrades on amenities for their airship (the Guild "clubhouse").


 * Griefing : In DDO, griefing occurs when a party member sabotages quest objectives, threatening the party's survival, experience points, loot gained and/or completion of the quest. DDO's design generally prohibits the classical definition of this term, where a player kills another player without challenge and without provocation in other MMORGs.


 * Groundhog Day : The Tangleroot Gorge quest chain bestowed by Chief Ungurz, a hobgoblin. So named because you keep starting back to the same beginning each time the quest is advanced.


 * GS : Green Steel Item or Greatsword (item)


 * GTG : "Got to Go" or "Good to Go", an indication a player is ready to start a quest. This sometimes creates confusion with G2G, or "Got to go", which suggests a player is logging out of the game.


 * GTWF : Greater Two Weapon Fighting (feat)


 * Guild Group : A group comprised mostly or entirely of members of a guild. Usually these players know one another well, and work together as a team. Often a very different experience from a PUG.


 * G2G : Got To Go. A player is logging out of the game or leaving a party. Players often use G2G as opposed to GTG, which have different meanings.

H

 * Haggro : When your husband wants you to stay game play, as if he "has aggro on your game playing" and you have to log out to sit with your husband's friends at Hooters, for example. Identical in form (but perhaps less used) than Waggro.


 * Hagglebot : A character built to have extraordinary Haggle skill, often at the expense of skills used in combat.


 * Harry Beater : A weapon with both Silver and Pure Good attributes that can bypass the damage reduction of The Shroud boss, Arraetrikos, often nicknamed "Harry."


 * Healbot : A character dedicated to healing and who does little else in a quest.


 * HIPS : Hiding in Plain Sight (quest)


 * Hi Welcome : Phrase once used on the DDO forums. Now banned by forum moderators.


 * Hound : Hound of Xoriat (raid)


 * House D : The House Deneith ward, an area north of the Marketplace.


 * House J : The House Jorasco ward, an area north of the Marketplace.


 * House K : The House Kundarak ward, an area north of the Marketplace.


 * House P : The House Phiarlan ward, an area north of the Marketplace.


 * HoX : Hound of Xoriat (raid)


 * HP : Hit Points. Can be increased with Constitution.

I

 * IBT : In-Between Technology: it refers to an idea or plan which is half-baked, i.e., it has not been considered carefully enough.


 * IBTD : I Beg To Differ.


 * IBTL : In Before The Lock: threads that are expected to be closed soon by moderators, especially when adding one's opinion to an already heated or controversial topic.


 * IC :
 * 1) "In Character." For all intents and purposes, this term is most commonly used in MMORPGs to describe a player's Roleplaying state. If he is in character, then he is talking and acting as his character. (This is not done often in many circles of DDO.)
 * 2) Internet-inspired shorthand; a fast way of saying "I see".


 * IDC : I Don't Care, in the sense, "It doesn't make a difference to me."


 * IDK : I Don't Know


 * IIRC : If I Remember Correctly


 * IK : InstaKill, or more specifically, spells where the effect is instant death such as Finger of Death. Deathblock items and Death Ward spells prevent this.


 * IMHO : In My Humble Opinion


 * IMO : In My Opinion


 * INC : "Incoming!", often used to let other players know that an enemy mob is following an oncoming player. Someone who pulls will often let his party know that the pull was successful by saying "INC". Also used when a zerger or a scout has drawn more attention than he can handle and is heading back to the group for help dispatching the swarm of enemies he's found.


 * Incapped : Shorthand for incapacitated, where a character is between -9 and 0 hit points, unconscious and unable to perform actions, but can be revived by another player's Heal skill or healing spells. When a player drops to -10 HP, they die.


 * Intimitank : Refers to a player that excels at holding aggro with the Intimidate skill while keeping a good Armor Class and, most of the time, good saving throws and hit points.


 * IP : In Progress, generally seen on the Groups party formation tab to let people know that a party is already at work in a quest.


 * IRL : In Real Life : It refers to the world outside of cyberspace. You know...eating. Watching TV. Being exposed to sunlight. That sort of thing.


 * ISO : In Search Of. Commonly used in trading posts on many massively multiplayer online game forums.


 * ITWF : Improved Two Weapon Fighting (feat)

J

 * JK : Just Kidding


 * JMO : Just My Opinion


 * JSOW : Joint stand off weapon refers to attacking a foe with a bow, returnable, or spell rather than with a direct contact melee weapon

K

 * KEK : Another version of LOL, KEK was commonly used in World of Warcraft due to the Horde's translation of LOL when viewed by an Alliance member. Kek originated from Korean players on Battlenet who would show laughter via "kekekekekeke".


 * Ki : The mystical energy that powers many attacks and abilities of a Monk. While ki is used much like spell points, ki is a renewable energy that's generated as the monk attacks enemies, but drains from the character slowly if left unused. While spell points are represented by a blue bar on the heads-up display of the game, ki is shown as a yellow bar.


 * Kid Aggro : Like Waggro and Haggro, a player has to stop play due to rambunctious children often questing in their home--complete with breakable objects, disableable device, and sometimes even killables.


 * Kite (or Kiting) : Strategy of attacking one or more melee monsters with ranged attacks and running around so they can't hit you. Frowned on by melee classes as it makes it difficult for them to dispatch a kited enemy.


 * KK : Okay.

L

 * Lag : Delayed or slowed gaming experience due to, but not limited to; internet connection or pc problems. usually results in a frozen frame in-game.


 * LD : Link Dead, an alternate description of a disconnection, usually used when the disconnection was abrupt. Synonymous with DC.


 * Leet : A variation of Elite, often used more in terms of self-aggrandizement of gaming process than in selection of a quest's high difficulty level, "Elite."


 * Leeroy Jenkins : A reference to a famous YouTube video of a screen capture of a World of Warcraft player wrecking an intricately planned raid by rushing into combat without being in on the plan, causing a wipe. Often a term for someone who zergs when the rest of the party is not, threatening the quest completion.


 * Light monk : A Monk that chooses the Path of Harmonious Balance. These monks have many abilities that mimic a cleric, including curse removal and healing, at the expense of slightly less DPS or attack power. Contrast to the dark Monk.


 * LFG : Looking for Group


 * LFH : Looking For Ham. An outdated term from early DDO versions, where consuming ham was the way to regenerate hit points and spell points before the introduction of shrines.


 * LFH :
 * 1) "Looking for Help." Likely not someone of equal level but aid from a higher level character in a quest.
 * 2) "Looking For Healer." A group has everything they need except a healing class.
 * 3) Can also can refer to the LFH emote, which stands for Looking for Ham.


 * LFM : Looking for More (alternatively, LF1M, LF2M, etc shows how many more are needed for a complete group)


 * LotD : Litany of the Dead - item or quest


 * LMAO : Laughing My As* Off (Laughing really hard)


 * Log or Logging : Process of exiting the DDO software completely, or to change characters


 * LOH : Lay On Hands (enhancement), the ability of paladins to heal with divine powers


 * LOL : Laughing out Loud


 * Lowbie : Someone of low level: Usually refers to characters between levels 1-4, but some of the more jaded veterans will use this to refer to all characters three or more levels below the cap.


 * LS : Longsword


 * LSP : Low Spell Points


 * LVL : Level, typically referring to a character's or quest's experience level


 * L8tr or Lat8r : Later; "Until next time."

M

 * M/A : Mature Audience.


 * Main : A player's Main character.


 * Mana : Spell Points.


 * Mana Sponge : A player character with a weak build, poor protection or poor gameplay skills that dies so often and/or recklessly that Clerics use excessive amounts of spell points to heal or raise them. To save spell points for the less fragile party members so as to complete the quest, some Clerics warn these players that they are not hireling "healbots" and that the Cleric might--might--stop healing the sponge and carry their soulstone to the next shrine during a quest should they die again.


 * Meat Shield : This term is often used to refer to the tanking classes of the group. Paladins or Fighters, usually, but Barbarians and Rangers can be meat shields as well. They are the front line tanks that take the beating so the squishy classes don't have to.


 * ML : Minimum Level requirements, referring to items


 * MM : Magic Missile


 * MMO or MMOG : Massive Multi-player On-line Game


 * Mob : Stands for Mobile Object. Common term used to describe a monster or other enemy that you encounter.


 * MoBB : Maladroit of Bone Breaking weapon, combo that deals most effective dexterity damage


 * Mod : Module, Modification (ie DDO Mod 9), or Modifier (ie Str Mod)


 * MT : Mistell: this is used to apologize to a player when someone sends them a message that was intended for another player.Alternatively, MT can refer to the "Main Tank" of a group.


 * MU : Magic User: Bards, Clerics, Sorcerers and Wizards are all Magic Users. Paladins and Rangers are usually not referred to as magic users, even though they can (and should) have spell points and cast spells after level 4.


 * Mule : Describes a character as having been created to hold extra items. Some are created and run through a few missions to improve the Haggle skill and or to collect Coin Lord favor and increase the size of the mule's pack. Thereby increasing the amount of extra storage provided by a single mule character.

N

 * Necro/Necro 1,2,3 : Necropolis/Necropolis crypt series


 * Neg 10 P : Loss of 10% quest experience point bonus from player deaths


 * Nerf : Gaming term where a game item or ability has been made less effective. In most cases, players see nerfing something usually holds a negative effect on them. During the "balancing" phases of most game development, many aspects are being "Nerfed" from what developers may have considered an overpowered state.


 * Newb : A new player, or "newbie." When spelled this way, it's a title given to new players who may not fully understand the intricacies of the game itself due to time spent in-game thus far, or a lack of familiarity with DDO gaming mechanics. Most players are quite patient with newbies. Contrast with "noob."


 * NHE or N/H/E : Abbreviations for Normal/Hard/Elite (quest difficulty levels) sometimes used individually


 * NM or Nvm : Never mind.


 * Noob : (Also spelled "N00b" or "Nub") A derogatory term used to refer to a player lacking gaming skills for no reason other than lack of concern of other player's interests or enjoyment. Care must be taken to differentiate between "Newb" (a player willing to learn and simply unfamiliar) with this definition (where disregard for others and arrogance often gets such a player a bad reputation and very few invitations to groups).


 * NP : No Problem. Typically said when a fellow player was glad to help another in some matter.


 * NPC : Non Player Character. Quest givers, enemies, and the Dungeon Master. Anything working in the game that's not controlled directly by a player character.


 * NT or NTY : "No, Thanks" or "No, Thank You."

O

 * OB : "Obligatory." Typically a player is pointing out an game objective that's a required step to proceed in a task.


 * OIC : Oh, I See


 * OMG : Oh My God


 * OMW : On My Way


 * OOC : Out Of Character, an roleplaying term, generally not used in DDO. Contrast with IC.


 * OOM : Out Of Mana. In DDO, the official term is spell points, but "mana" is easier to roll of the tongue and is a holdover from many other games with a magic meter bar. "Mana" can only be recharged by shrining, through Elixir of Mnemonic Enhancement, or from a Cleric's Divine Vitality spell.


 * OP : Original Poster; this is generally a term used on the official DDO forums.


 * ORLY? : "Oh, Really?" Another player doubts what you say or has heard it before, ad nauseum.


 * OSP : Out Of Spell Points. Same as "Out of Mana," but more accurate to DDO's terminology.


 * OT : Off-Topic. Commonly done (but not desired) in a DDO forum thread.


 * Owned : Originally spelled PWNED!, probably originating from players mistyping the word "owned" in the heat of battle. This term denotes complete domination, usually in a (virtual) physical sense. 'Your Sorcerer was totally PWNED! by that ogre!'

P

 * P2P : "Pay to Play," shorthand for VIP accounts that have complete access to all adventures, classes, races and events in DDO. Compare to Free to Play, or F2P. A P2P player often warns F2P players in Looking for Group descriptions that a forming party is going on a quest that is not available without an Adventure Pack or Guest Pass.


 * PA : Power Attack (feat)


 * Path : A pre-defined character build you can select as part of the Character Creation process when generating a new character. Paths makes all decisions regarding your alignment, ability scores, skills, and feat and spell selections, both at creation and every time you train up to the next level. There is no middle ground between paths and full customization. Complements Prestige Enhancements but does not select these options automatically. Such classes include the Tempest Ranger, the Warchanter Bard and the Rogue Assassin. The term is used (confusingly) for Monks where there are build paths as well as a Monk philosophy supported by the build, either Path of Harmonious Balance or Path of Inevitable Dominion.


 * PC : Player Character. That's you.


 * PD : Permadeath, a play style that deletes a character after they die for the first time. Strict rules regarding PD groups vary between groups or guilds.


 * PG : Pure Good, an attribute that helps to bypass an enemy's damage reduction.


 * Philosophy : Chosen at level 3, where a Monk feat option determines the use of ki for debuffing and damage or to heal and support themselves and other players. These philosophies are also called "Path," which can be confusing with character build paths.


 * Piking : A term used to describe someone that is leaching XP or loot from the activity, without contributing anything to the party.


 * Pileon, Pile-on : A group member that contributes less or worse. Usually considered derogatory.


 * Plz : "Please."


 * PK : Phantasmal Killer: a sorcerer/wizard spell that can instantly kill many creatures in DDO.Alternatively, and more commonly among other MMORPGs, PK means "Player Killer". DDO's taverns are the only places in the game where player-versus-player attacking can occur.


 * PnP : Pen and Paper: This refers rules and gameplay of the original Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game system.


 * POP : Prison of the Planes (quest)


 * POP# : Pearl Of Power (item), an item used to increase a caster's spell points. The "#" would be replaced with a number designating its power.


 * Pots : Shorthand for Potions (item)


 * Power 5 : +5 equivalent weapon effects, most of which can instantly kill monsters on a good roll (Vorpal, Banishing, Smiting and Disrupting).


 * Power Leveling : Getting more powerful characters to run quests while you tag along. There are limits in DDO to how far you can take this tactic before a quest or wilderness area prohibits any player from getting experience points.


 * PP : Platinum Piece


 * PPL : People


 * PrE : Prestige Enhancement. Chosen freely through action points, PrEs give DDO classes similar options to the D&D tabletop game's Prestige Classes, such as the Arcane Archer. Not to be confused with the automatic selection of ability points, skills and feats that a Path can do, as selected when creating a new character. PrEs often have feat, class and race prerequisites.


 * Proc: Also called "Proc Rate", refers to a procedure triggered under particular circumstances like items that generate effects on hit (such as a Guard effect on certain items like Air Guard or Concordant Opposition) and the chance that those effects will go off. Stands for Predicted Random Occurrence.


 * PS : Post Scriptum means written after, and it's writing added after the main body.


 * PST : Please Send Tell: The player is requesting that you talk to him/her using the TELL function: /tell Usually used to ask for communication regarding an LFM, LFG, or buy/sell advert


 * PUG : Pick Up Group: a group of random players brought together through LFM/LFG usually to run one mission.Usually a very different experience from a Guild Group


 * Pull, Pulling, "Body Pull" : Where one player character comes close enough to one enemy within a mob, often in hopes of getting only that one enemy and not its companions, and luring it alone away from the pack for the party to slay. Bluff is a skill often used for pulling, at least by Rogues. "Pulling Fire & Ice" is a common term heard in the Tempest's Spine raid to bait two ice- and fire-based bosses that must be killed within seconds of each other.


 * PvE : Player versus Environment: Running missions, exploring encounter areas and the like.


 * PvP : Player versus Player: Killing or competing against other playersPvP is limited in DDO to very specific areas, and players may opt in only by going to those areas.


 * PWN : A 1337 term pronounced as "own" (sometimes pronounced "pone"). This means to greatly overpower or defeat an adversary.Usually regarded as extremely juvenile.

Q

 * QFE : Quoted for Emphasis: used primarily on the forums, this message is used to denote strong agreement, usually with the wording of an argument as well as the actual content


 * QFT : Quoted For Truth: used primarily on the forums, this message is used to denote strong agreement, usually with the wording of an argument as well as the actual content. Also used in derrogatory "Quit F*$%ing Talking".


 * QQ : Emoticon for crying eyes. Often used as a noun or verb to mean whine/whining


 * Quest Chain : A series of quests connected by storyline and intended to be run all in one session. Examples in DDO include Grey Moon Waning/Cult of the Six, the Waterworks, and the Catacombs.

R

 * Raid : Raid are massive quests in scope and intended for 12 players to enter at one time. The lowest level Raid quest in the game as of Update 8 is The Chronoscope, which is available in Marketplace to all characters levels 6 and up.


 * Rambo : A player that runs ahead of the party and doesn't work as team player. See also: Leeroy Jenkins and Zerg.


 * Ransack : When you re-run quests at the same difficulty level and open the same chests so many times in a given period that it eventually offers little or no treasure at all.


 * Ransack Bonus : When your party breaks almost every single breakable (sarcophagi, vases, boxes) in a quest to gain an experience point bonus.


 * Reroll : to abandon a character and create another one from scratch to replace it.


 * Respec : to change out feats or enhancements. You can respec feats with Fred the Mindflayer, or respec enhancements at a trainer.


 * Rez : Resurrection


 * RFN : Right "Frakking" Now!


 * RL : Real Life (Yes, there is a world out there, with sun and birds and girls and sand between your toes!)


 * ROFL : Rolling On the Floor Laughing


 * RP : RoleplayDerivatives include: RPer 'roleplayer' and RPing 'Roleplaying'


 * RR :
 * 1) Race Required, referring to items restricted to specific races only.
 * 2) Reroll a character
 * 3) The Reaver's Refuge (town area)


 * Run : To go through a quest, often in a methodical way for a specific purpose (such as a loot run, or "Delera's Run")

S

 * SC : Stormcleave Outpost (quest)


 * SF : Solid Fog (spell)


 * Share : To click the "Share" button from a player's quest entry window so that other players in a party who haven't spoken to that quest giver can be assigned the same quest. Often asked by some by typing "Share, plz." in Chat. Can get annoying in PUGs where inexperienced (or lazy) players haven't done their homework in setting up the quest themselves. Some quests are part of quest chains or raids (like Cult of the Six or The Shroud) with item or quest prerequisites. Such quests can't be shared.


 * Shield Wall : Characters line up in close proximity between obstacles to form a line monsters can't cross. A tactic used in the final part of The Shroud raid to keep the last lieutenant penned in (pausing the raid in a sense), ready to kill his last enemy once all in the group have healed and buffed and are prepared for their last fight in this raid against Arraetrikos.


 * SoC : Stone of Change, a crafting table.


 * SoS :
 * 1) Stealer of Souls (quest)
 * 2) Sword of Shadow (item)


 * Soul Train : Using the command "/death" to take you to your bind point. Commonly used for those out-of-the-way areas such as Meridia or the Reaver's Refuge.


 * SP or Spell Pen :
 * 1) Spell penetration (feat)
 * 2) Spell points (DDO's term for mana), used for casting spells by arcane and divine characters.


 * SP : Silver Piece


 * Spammer guild : A guild that focuses on getting as many members in it as possible regardless of the quality of the player in game or real life, for the sole purpose of swelling its guild levels and ship buffs. These guilds are usually unorganized and may rarely group together.


 * Spamming : Doing the same attack/spell over and over again, or sending unsolicited in-game mail


 * Specced : Focused, written specifications.


 * Splashing: Multiclassing only a few levels of a class (around 1-3 levels).


 * Squishy : Typically refers to a character with low AC and HP, or a character that cannot defend themselves effectively in normal situations


 * SR : Spell Resistance (buff)


 * SS : Shortsword (item), or Stoneskin (buff)


 * Stealth Humping or Shadow Humping : Pushing jump while in stealth mode


 * Steam Tunnels : An instance zone available from the Marketplace in which one can find the entrance to the Quest Chain usually called STK.


 * STK : Shan-To-Kor: a Quest Chain available from the Marketplace.


 * Stone(s) : Soulstones are physical objects connected to your ghost after you die in a quest. Soulstones can be picked up and carried to shrines. You can't move too far away from your stone or your ghost will be pulled back to it.


 * Sub or SubT : The Subterrane, a high-level explorer area which leads to the Vision of Destruction and Hound of Xoriat raids. Also a popular place to use the Greater Teleport spell on others while in a raid party to go to such far-flung places as Meridia or Twilight Forge.

T

 * Tank : A universal term used in MMORPGs to describe the frontline "protection" class. In DDO this role is often filled by the Barbarian, Paladin or Fighter of a group. A Tank's purpose is to manage aggro and keep party members safe by taking all the damage.Tanking can sometimes be achieved by investing in the Intimidate skill rather then simply dealing the most damage (aka Hate) to an enemy.


 * Tap or Tap Runs : Tapestry, or Tapestry farming in the Orchard area outside of Necropolis
 * TBF : Trial by Fire (quest)


 * TBH : To Be Honest


 * THAC0 : To Hit Armour Class Zero


 * THF : Two-Handed Fighting (feat)


 * ToD : Touch of Death (enhancement)


 * Tome : An item consumed by a character to increase base attribute scores


 * Toon: An alternate word used to describe a player's "Character". Also see Avatar, Alt, Character and Main.


 * TP : Turbine Points, the currency used in the DDO Store added with the release of Module 9.


 * TPK : Total Party Kill. For causes and a synonym, see Wipe.


 * TR : Tangleroot Gorge, a frequently run low level Quest Chain. Also, True Reincarnation.


 * Trap Monkey : A rogue specializing in disabling traps and opening locks, or any other class with those skills


 * Troll :  Both kinds of troll appear in DDO but, sadly, Giant-bane weapons only work on the latter definition.
 * 1) A socially retarded player that intentionally causes grief and distress upon others through pointless arguing, debate or ad hominem attacks while hiding behind the anonymity of the internet.
 * 2) A giant-like monster with a long nose, a weakness to fire and acid, and renowned for its ability to regenerate HP.


 * TS : Tempest Spine: A level 10 raid quest available from House Phiarlan. The second lowest raid by level, next to The Chronoscope.


 * TT : Table Top, also refered to as PnP, the original D&D format.


 * TTYL : Talk To You Later


 * TTFN : Ta-ta for now


 * TY : Thank You


 * TYVM : Thank You Very Much


 * TWF : Two Weapon Fighting (feat)


 * Twink : The process of giving items obtained by one of your characters to another of your characters


 * Twitchy : refers to a type of game that relies on quick reflexes to play, like a first-person-shooter, or a reference to a THF tactic.

U

 * Uber : Decked Out, typically used to describe a character equipped with the best of weapons and items, and stats that are buffed with tomes


 * UC : User Chat or User Channel


 * UMD : Use Magic Device: A skill used mostly by Rogues and Bards to allow them to use wands, scrolls and race restricted items.


 * UWA or UA : Under-Water Action, an item option that allows permanent water-breathing

V

 * VC : Voice Chat. A common way to communicate with members of a party as it is faster than typing and does not require a player to stop combat or movement. Players without a microphone to speak can keep their voice chat settings on in the game settings so that they can hear others who use voice chat. Some players opt to keep VC off to appreciate the game's music and other audio aesthetics, asking VC players to type when possible.


 * VIP : A player account who pays a monthly fee for DDO gaming and has complete access to the game. They receive 9 character slots, access to all adventure areas, classes and races, as well as an allotment of Turbine Points per month. VIP players can also unlock many quests at any difficulty, even when a quest is first played by the character. Compare to Free to Play.


 * VoD : A Vision of Destruction (quest)


 * Voice(s) or "Voices on" : Equip your Voice of the Master (item), usually used at the end of a quest to remind users to "make sure your Voices are on" for additional experience points generated by the trinket.


 * VON : Vault of Night: A quest chain found in House Kundarak. Part 5 and 6 of this chain are raids.


 * Vorp : Vorpal, a potent weapon with the ability to sever the heads of those it strikes

W

 * Waggro or Wife-aggro : When a wife wants their husbands to stop game play. That is, a wife has "aggro" on their spouse's game and you have to log out to go to Bed Bath and Beyond. Also see Haggro and Kid Aggro.


 * WAI : "Working as intended." Often an answer to questions on the DDO forums about features, attacks, abilities or items that don't seem to be working as expected to the player, but was designed to work as seen by the DDO developers.


 * Wipe: When all members of a party have been killed in a quest and the adventure must be restarted. Wipes can happen when a party group is legitimately overwhelmed, unlucky--or perhaps had a Leeroy Jenkins, griefer or an unwise zerger in their party.


 * WF : Warforged (race) or Weapon Finesse (feat)


 * Window farming : High XP quests from a chain are re-opened repeatedly without running the entire chain again. After completing the quest, one player finishes out and opens the "quest window" without finalizing the difficulty choice.  The other players then finish out, and the quest can be re-run. And no, don't discuss this on the official forums.


 * WK : The Chamber of Raiyum, a quest in the Tomb of the Wizard King.


 * WoE, W/E : Weakening of Enfeebling weapon, combo that deals most effective strength damage, or Waves of Exhaustion spell


 * Woot or W00t : Commonly used to express excitement (Woohoo!!!). Unsubstantiated but fun history suggests that it may have stood for "We Owned The Other Team"


 * WoP, W/P : Wounding of Puncturing weapon, combo that deals most effective constitution damage


 * Working As Intended or WAI : Typically used to express that even something broke, it's not getting fixed or revised.


 * Wraps : Handwraps, which add to a Monk's Unarmed Strike damage.


 * WTB : Want to buy


 * WTH : What the "heck?"


 * WTF : What the f%@!?


 * WTG : Want to give


 * WTS : Want to sell


 * WTT : Want to trade


 * WW : WaterworksA Wilderness Adventure Area available from the the Harbor.Frequently used to refer to the quest chain available from inside the Wilderness Adventure Area.


 * Wilderness Adventure Area : An open area with many mobs and usually with extra quests for exploration and rare encounters. Some Wilderness Adventure Areas also contain entrances to further quests.

X

 * XC : Xorian Cipher (quest)


 * Xy'zzy : The virtually indestructible raid boss of the Hound of Xoriat. The name is a homage of an early computer game, where this was a magic word similar to the Teleport spell.

Y

 * YARLY : Yeah Really


 * YW : You're Welcome

Z

 * Zerg : Zerging is a term used to describe a hasteful method based on brute force to getting past a dungeon. The idea here is that adding more force (either through number of characters or lack of restraint with spell usage) the task is more easily overcome. The term "Zerg" originates from the Blizzard game Starcraft which includes a race known as the Zerg. The focal point of their tactical strategy is to create hordes of units that continually swarm the opposing factions.An alternate usage involves a character rushing ahead of the rest of the party to deal with particular threats (casters, archers, certain traps) while the main party deals with a large group of mostly nonthreatening mobs. Improper zerging can amass too many enemies for even a strong party to handle, or leave straggling members in a dangerous situation. See Leeroy Jenkins.


 * ZOMG : A 1337 version of "OMG". The Z at the beginning is from a meme from way back that no one can trace the origins from. Everybody's sure that a bunch of people just tried to type is so fast that the OMGZ became ZOMG.