Vocabulary

Often games have their own language and DDO is no exception. Here are some vocabulary words that are DDO-specific and MMO-generic. If you have an addition or clarification, please list it in the comments.

28-Point Build – (Also referred to as a ’28′) A character build that begins with 28 points for stats.

32-Point Build – (Also referred to as a ’32′) A character build that begins with 32 points for stats.

3bc – Three Barrel Cove, a p2p quest chain.

AA – Abbreviation for an Arcane Archer, a ranger-specific build. AAs specialize in longbow attacks and rarely resort to melee.

Adventure Pack – Purchasable collection of adventures, usually with a wilderness area.

AFAIK – As far as I know.

AFK – Away from keyboard, in other words, the player is not in front of him computer.

AFM – Away from mic/speakers; as most players use a headset to play the game, if their mouth is away from their mic, they can also not hear spoken word and you must type to communicate with them.

Aggro – Abbreviation for aggression. If you are holding a creature’s aggro, it is singularly focused on you and will do whatever it can to kill you. Ways to gain a creature’s aggo in order from weakest to strongest:

• Be the first player it sees
• Be the first player to deal damage to it
• Do more damage to it than the current player that has damage aggro
• Use your intimidate skill to intimidate it

AH – Auction House

Alt – Alternate character

AP – See Adventure Pack

Arcane – See caster

Arcane Spell Failure - A % chance that an arcane spell will fail while cast while the items is equipped. The numbers do stack when equipping multiple items with ASF.

Armor Check Penalty - A penalty applied to certain physical skills (Balance, Hide, Jump, Move Silently and Tumble; Swim’s ACP is doubled) by equipped armor and shield. The ACPs do stack. Medium encumbrance applies a -3 ACP, Heavy is -6. The Fighter Armored Agility enhancement can help offset the ACP.

Barb – Abbreviation for a Barbarian class

Bio - Short for biological function/using the bathroom. (Ex.: afk bio means I’m stepping away from the keyboard to use the bathroom.)

BRB – Be right back

BRT - Be right there

BTA - Bound to account. The item cannot be traded away from the account possessing it.

BTC - Bound to character. The item cannot be traded away from the character possessing it.

Buff - Temporary enhancements, usually granted by spell casting

Build – A combination of classes, levels, skills and enhancements toward a specific goal. (tank/AA/mechanic/etc.)

Cap - At the maximum possible character level. (As of early 2010, that is 20.)

Caster – A wizard or sorcerer class character. Even though bards can cast some caster spells, they’re not considered casters by most. Technically speaking, clerics and favored souls cast spells, but they’re termed ‘healers.’

CC - Crowd control. Refers to mitigating damage from several monsters by denying them the ability to function normally.

Clickie - An item that, upon activation, produces and effect.

ck Cloudkill spell.

co6 - Cult of the Six, a p2p quest chain.

Copy/Copy that – Borrowed from military lingo to mean, “I have heard your message and I understand.”

Coyle - A famous fighter and archaeologist, renown for his ability to fend off dragons single-handedly.

Dave Arneson – Co creator of the original Chainmail and Dungeons & Dragons game with E. Gary Gygax. Arneson eventually succumbed in 2009 at the age of 61, survived by his daughter and two grandchildren. He was honored by the developers with the Threnal expansion which he, in part, narrated and features his specialized item, Mantle of the Worldshaper. RIP, Dave.

Devs – Developers; slang for the people that work the game.

DD - Dimension Door

Disco Ball - Otto’s Sphere of Dancing

Divine - Practitioners of curative and preventative magics; Clerics, Favored Souls, Paladins, etc.

DM – Dungeon Master; Turbine employee that serves the players of the game.

DPS – Damage per second. DPS can refer to a measurable number (My barb can put out 800 dps) or it can refer to a build that puts out larger than average amounts of damage.

DR - Abbreviation for Damage Reduction. Absorbs damage before passing it on to the wearer. (Ex.: If you have a DR or 15 and get hit for 22 points of damage, the DR soaks 22-15=7 actual damage inflicted.)

Dragonmark - A tattoo appearing the face of the bearer allows a special, race-specific ability.

DV – Divine Vitality. A cleric-only enhancement that allows their Turn Undead ability to be converted in to spell points for OTHER characters.

End Game/Endgame - What capped players do.

f2p – Abbreviation for free-to-play. f2p players have put no money into the game and are not regarded highly by premium and VIP players.

Farm - Repeating a specific activity in hopes to gain a specific piece of loot. See also Old MacDonald.

Favor Run - Conducting a quest for the sole purpose of gaining a faction’s favor. XP and loot are rarely considered in these runs.

FF - Feather fall

Fleshy – A flesh-based character, as opposed to a toaster.

FO - Finish Out

FvS – Abbreviation for a Favored Soul class.

fw Firewall spell.

Guild – A guild is an organization of players. Another can be a clan.

GH - Greater Heroism

GM - See DM

Healer/Healbot – A character, usually a cleric or favored soul, that is primarily a healer. Most healbots also issue buffs at the start of a mission or as necessary. Healbots usually only carry weapons to enhance their healing function, not for combat.

HP - Hit points. A measure of life force. At 0HP, you are incapped, at -10 you die.

E. Gary Gygax – Co creator of the original Chainmail and Dungeons & Dragons game with Dave Arneson. Gygax eventually succumbed in 2008 at the age of 69. Surviving him are his wife, six children and seven grandchildren. Gygax was a very generous and friendly man and until his passing, still ran D&D games for local kids. His death was a large and emotional blow for all the gaming world. He was honored by the developers with Delera’s Graveyard expansion which he narrated and nearly everyone carries his specialized item, The Voice of the Master. RIP, Mr. Gygax.

GT – A greater teleport differs from teleport in that the caster can bring anyone within a radius with him. GT can only be cast in unpopulated areas. (This prevents new players from being confused in towns by a dialog box asking if they want to accept the transportation.

Incap - Incapacitated and unable to move or perform other functions; between 0 and -9HP

Intimitank – See Tank, Intimidater

LFG - Looking for Group; One or more players seeking an existing group.

LFM - Looking for More; A group looking for more players to join it.

Lowbie - Low-level character. Usually encompasses levels 1-10.

Mana – See Spell Points

Max Dex Bonus - The armor or shield can only benefit up to the plus as AC bonus from your DEX. A higher DEX will be wasted on AC but still useful for missile weapon to hit.

Mechanic – A character built to find & remove traps and open locked doors/chests.

Melee – Attacking something immediately in front of you.

Merch - Traveling to a merchant to sell unwanted loot, purchase new items, repair damaged gear and drop things in the bank.

Missile Weapon – A missile is anything that moves through the air, either under it’s own power or launched somehow. Typical missile weapons are arrows, bolts and throwing knives, but technically speaking, a sword or person could be thrown and be considered a missile.

ML - Minimum level

mt - Mistell; Equivalent to saying, “I intended to communicate the above text to a different party.”

Newb – If you have to read this, it’s probably you. :)

NPC - A computer-controlled ally.

OMW - On my way

OOM – Out of mana. The player is out of spell points and can no longer cast spells. If you have DVs, throw them to this character.

p2p – Abbreviation for pay-to-play. p2p players have put some amount of money into the game.

PD - Permadeath; A permadeath character is one that is deleted upon the first death. Yes, people have that much time!

pk - Phantasmal Killer

Plat – Abbreviation for platinum, the most valuable coin currency in DDO.

PoP - Prison of the Planes

Pot - Potion

Premium Account/Player – A premium player is someone that has paid money for TPs but is not a VIP (or subscriber). Can also be a person that is no longer a VIP subscriber and has downgraded his account.

PUG – Pick Up Group. Grouping with strangers, usually via world/region chat or grouping utility.

Range/Ranged Attack – To attack something with a missile weapon.

Ransack – To cause a chest to generate less loot by using it often.

• Detail: When you open a chest for the first time in a new instance, you generate loot. 8-10 loot generations will cause a chest to become ransacked. Opening a chest that has already generated loot in an instance will not regenerate new loot, so you can open chests as many times as you like without adding another to your overall total. You can open a ransacked chest 3 times producing less loot before it will produce no loot at all. This resets a full week (168 hours) from the first time you opened the chest and generated loot, not the time the ransack message is showed.
• Example: You farm Durk’s for Muckbane 3 times beginning Sunday at Noon. You then farm it 5 more times  Thursday and on the eighth total time (counting Sunday’s efforts) get a ransack message and see a noticeable decrease in loot. You will have to wait until Sunday at Noon (because this is exactly one week from the first loot generation) before the ransack resets and loot generates normally again.
• Clarification: Assuming the above example, ransack resets Sunday at Noon. Now assume you don’t open that same chest until Tuesday after the reset. Now your 168 hour timer begins on that Tuesday and ends the one following.

Shrining – Using a rest shine to replenish hit points & spell points.

SoS - Stealer of Souls

Soul Train - Using the /death command to return to a spirit binder.

Spell Failure - See Arcane Spell Failure

Spell Points – Similar to hit points, spell points are a measure of how many spells you can cast of varying complexity and power.

Subs/Subbies – The Subterrane; a high-level wilderness area located beneath The Marketplace.

Sword & Board – Refers to a player using a sword or other single-handed melee weapon and a shield (board).

Tank – A build (usually fighter or barb toaster) designed to take multiple hits from enemies and not take damage as quickly as other builds, allowing healers to focus on other demands. When a tank successfully has the aggro of a boss, he’ll usually tell the rest of the party and then they can move in, often attacking the creature from the back, mitigating cleave damage.

Tank, Intimater – (Commonly referred to as intimitanks) are tanks that can also gain aggro of a  creature(s) via use of the intimidate skill.

Taxi – A caster using a GT to transport other players.

Tempest – A ranger-specific build that focuses on enhanced speed, two weapons and mid to light amounts of damage.

Thief – Slang name for the Rogue class. This is a carryover name from the older editions of the Dungeons & Dragons pencil and paper game.

Toaster – (aka Waffle Iron) A warforged race.

Toon - Character

Trap Monkey – See Mechanic

Train - A line of enemies trailing behind something.

Trash - Monsters aside from the rares or bosses.

TP – Turbine Points. TPs are purchased with real life currency that you can exchange for in-game items, unlocks and adventure packs. Most wait for the 5,000 points for $50 pack.

Twink – A character that possesses gear acquired by other characters, such as a level 8 character with epic items.

waggro – See Wife Aggro

wc - See mt

Wife Aggro - A player’s wife (or husband) is annoyed and requires immediate attention or the player will be sleeping on the couch tonight. Protect this player while they are AFK!

Wipe - When every member of a party dies.

Wilderness - An open, explorable area with lots of trash to kill and rares to loot from.

WTB - Want to buy

WTS - Want to sell

WTT - Want to trade

WW - Waterworks

VIP – A VIP player pays a subscription to unlock all races, classes and adventure packs. VIP players also get bonus points every month to spend on in-store items.

Zerg – A player that does not stay with his party or the process of moving quickly. Term is taken from Blizard’s StarCraft game.