FAQ 2008-06-02 [part 5 of 5]

(Available on the web as http://www.icynic.com/~don/EQ/age.faq.htm)

9. Glossary

9.1 Q: What abbreviations and jargon show up in the game?

There's a lot of terms and abbreviations you'll run into, too many to cover
them all here, but I'll try to describe the ones that get asked about most
often (since this is, after all, an FAQ). Certainly if you see any jargon
used in the FAQ itself and the term isn't explained here, let me know! The
terms here are grouped into categories rather than listed alphabetically.

Generic chat shorthand

Many of these terms are not specific to EverQuest, but show up in chat rooms,
IM, and other places where people type messages to each other. The terms are
often used in lower-case but are shown here in upper-case for clarity.

AFK
away from keyboard (EQ even has an /afk command)
BRB
be right back ("afk for a soda, brb!")
BTW
by the way
JK
just kidding
NM
never mind
NP
no problem
THX, TNX, TY
thanks, or thank you
YW
you're welcome
MP
my pleasure
WTF
what the ...?
LOL
laughing out loud
ROFL
rolling on the floor laughing
LMAO
laughing my ass off (also, ROFLMAO = ROFL + LMAO)
FTW
for the win; usually preceded either by a key strategic element
("pet hold ftw!") or something accidental that happened to work
("proximity aggro ftw lol!")
K
short for OK (no, really!); also seen as "kk", this shorthand may
have arisen because messages between players sometimes arrive with
the last letter cut off, so "kk" may appear as "k" whereas "ok"
could appear as "o"
GTG
good to go, i.e. ready; sometimes confusing because the same
shorthand in a chat room or IM often means "got to go"
ATM
at the moment
OMW
on my way
WB
welcome back
PST
Please Send Tell, used when someone uses /ooc or /auction to ask for
or offer something and wants responses via /tell rather than having
the whole zone have to listen to the answers

Money and Economics

plat, pp
platinum pieces, the largest unit of EQ currency
WTB, WTS, WTT
want to buy / sell / trade

Monsters and Combat

These terms come up in lots of different contexts. Several terms (e.g.,
mob, PvP) are used by players in other MMORPGs as well.

PC
player character
NPC
non-player character, especially one you might imagine talking to
mob
any monster or NPC (short for "mobile object")
PH, place holder
a mob that, if killed, sometimes reappears as a rarer mob
con, also /con
short for /consider (which by default is tied to the "C" key),
refers to the "color rating" of the mob and how much it hates or
likes you: "What does that con to you?" "Yellow and scowling."
faction
most mobs belong to one faction, and your standing with that
faction can affect how the mobs react when you /con them
KOS
kill on sight, a /con of "scowling" or "threatening", such that
the mob will attack you even if you don't attack it: "I'm KOS to
the guards at Cabilis"
gray, green, blue, LB, DB, white, yellow, red
the color portion of a /con, i.e. the mob's level relative to yours;
the colors for many of the ranges changed in late 2006, so older
web posts (and players) may still use "green" to refer to what is
now gray, or LB (light blue) for what is now green, etc.
camp
as a verb, this can mean "to exit the game", but as a noun it refers
to an area where a certain set of static mobs spawns, such that a
group (or solo) can wait nearby and kill the same mobs over and over
as they reappear (see discussion in Grouping 101 document); hence
also a verb "to camp" a set of mobs, or to camp a rare mob by killing
its "placeholder mobs" hoping the replacement will be the rare one
breaking a camp
killing all the mobs in a camp but spacing out the kills over time,
so eventually the mobs respawn one at a time for easy killing
camp check
also "CC" (though less often since that also means crowd control),
this means someone is asking which camps are claimed so they don't
waste their time going somewhere that other people are hunting
pop
a mob suddenly appearing as the game world creates it; can be used
to call attention to an anticipated respawning (often then called a
"repop"), or to warn of a mob appearing amidst the group
aggro (also agro)
a mob becoming aggressive; this term is used in lots of ways: "aggro
radius" is how close you can get before a mob notices you, "social
aggro" is when a mob attacks because another similar mob nearby is
attacking, "aggroing" a mob means to make it mad at you, "taking
aggro" means getting a mob to smack you instead of someone else, etc.
rampage
a special extra attack some high level mobs get that attacks someone
other than their current target (sometimes an AE vs multiple targets)
flurry
two extra attacks on a mob's current target, an ability of some mobs
riposte
an ability that (when it works) stops a melee attack from hitting and
bestows an extra return strike against the attacker; the extra strike
may still miss or be blocked (but not riposted)
enraged
a mob that is enraged automatically ripostes ALL melee attacks
except those coming from behind it
train
lots of mobs chasing a player (who is usually running for the zone
line); it's considered good form to shout a warning (or even to stop
and let yourself be killed) if you think your train might run over
other players
zone!
used as an exclamation, this is a warning that you should run across
the boundary to the adjacent zone to avoid being killed (e.g., if
your group is fighting near a zone line and too many mobs appear)
wipe
when your entire group dies, or a significant fraction of a raid
KS
kill-steal, killing a mob after someone else has aggroed it and
they haven't asked for help, such that you get the experience and
loot; doing this deliberately can cost you your EQ account
PvP
player-vs-player (see question 2.8.3)
hp
hit points
xp
experience points: "these DBs give good xp"

Spells in General

buff
a long-lasting beneficial spell, or the action of casting one
(see the list of shorthands for oft-requested spells, below)
MGB
Mass Group Buff, a way of casting a buff on all players within a
certain radius of the caster, often done by good samaritans in PoK
DD
direct damage, something that applies damage once and is done
DOT
damage over time, doing partial damage every 6 seconds
tick
6 seconds (1/10 of a minute), the unit of time for recurring effects
such as DOTs and mana regeneration (i.e., mana regen +3 gives you an
extra 3 mana recovery per tick, or 30 per minute)
DS
damage shield, a buff that does damage to anything that hits you
nuke
a big DD spell
AE, AOE
area effect (centered on a target, usually affecting at most 4)
PBAE
point blank area effect (all mobs near the caster)
HOT
heal over time
mez
mesmerize, the enchanter's specialty, and really annoying when a
mob does it to you
mem
memorize one or more spells
FOM, LOM, OOM
full of mana, low on mana, out of mana
med / medding
meditating, when a caster sits to regain mana faster
wmp
when mana permits (a fighter who says "Need DS wmp" is being patient
and polite, and is not calling the caster a wimp!)
group hug
the act of -- or a request for -- everyone in the group moving
close to the caster or group leader, so that an incoming group buff,
heal, or transport spell will include everyone (or the speaker could
just be overly friendly); some players use the term "huddle" instead

Miscellany

[Ed: If anyone can suggest ways to organise some of these into new
or existing categories, please do!]

bubble
one-fifth of a mana bar, hp bar, or experience bar
ding
gained a level, as in "I just dinged 13!" (the proper response,
no matter how trivial the level, is "Congratulations!" or something
of the sort); this usually means a character level, but sometimes
is used to refer to other skills: "Ding! Tailoring 250!" "Grats!"
ping
sometimes used to refer to gaining an Alternate Ability point
trumpet
used by some players to refer to any event where the game plays
the trumpet fanfare (pinging an AA, completing a quest, etc.)
lag
lowered responsiveness of the game, caused by a combination of
network speed, machine power, and how much stuff the game is trying
to draw: "Turn off all spell effects on a raid, it'll reduce lag"
LD
linkdead, lost the connection to the game server; this is what the
game tells everyone else in your group when you're looking at a
"You have been disconnected" screen
CR
corpse run (or corpse recovery), the act of finding your corpse
so you can loot it (and possibly resurrect it to regain some xp)
nerf
what SOE is said to do when they take a useful (though perhaps
overpowered) feature of the game and make it useless: "They nerfed
that shark that was dropping a million plat"
twink
a character with equipment far above what is accessible to its
level; it either got a lot of plat and bought gear in the Bazaar
(a "bazaar twink") or a higher-level character, usually belonging
to the same player, has supplied hand-me-downs ("twinked" it)
main
the highest level character a player has, or the one he plays
most often (frequently these are the same thing, of course)
alt
other characters of the same player (i.e., other than the "main")
toon
character (short for "cartoon"); some people dislike the term
griefer
a player who deliberately causes trouble for other players, e.g. by
leading trains of mobs to attack them, or tricking them into giving
away hard-to-replace items, etc.; most forms of griefing can get the
griefer's account banned, but only if a GM catches them in the act
cyber
to engage in "cybersex", which is role-playing a sexual encounter via
private tells and emotes
FFA
free-for-all, usually referring to looting corpses, i.e., agreeing that
anyone in the group can loot anything they want (often used if the
group is mainly seeking XP or killing "trash mobs" en route to a
larger target)
ninja looting
a form of griefing in which a player slips in without permission
and loots a corpse killed by another group (once the timer has ticked
down enough that the game allows it), or if a group member loots an
item that was awarded to another member; some players also consider
it ninja looting if one player is deliberately hogging all the loot
in a FFA looting arrangement
loc?
"what's your location?" (type /loc and report the numbers)
mistell
Sending a message to the wrong person, e.g. by mixing up /gu and /g
or misdirecting a /tell; telling someone "mistell" says your
previous message wasn't intended for them; also seen as "MT" (which
can also be Main Tank but context usually makes the meaning clear)
DPS
damage per second, i.e. how fast is a mob being smacked down
LDON
the Lost Dungeons of Norrath expansion, often used to refer to
going on an "adventure" into one of the dungeons in that expansion
DON
the Dragons of Norrath expansion, often used to refer to a mission
in that expansion (e.g., "Looking for a tank for a DON")
MM
a Monster Mission from the Depths of Darkhollow expansion
PoK
Place of Knowledge, a popular gathering spot because it is easy
to reach from so many places; many other zones also have common
abbreviations, but they're too plentiful to list here
disc
short for discipline, one of several spell-like abilities available to
melee classes
lull / pacify
a spell or skill that prevents one or more mobs from aggroing on you
while you drag off one of their friends
FD, feign
feign death, a skill/spell used by monks/necromancers/shadowknights
GM
either an NPC guildmaster, or a character run by a SOE representative
inc / incoming
the puller's report of what's being brought; a puller should have a
hotkey for "/g incoming %T", or something more colorful but to the
same point: "/g %T followed me home, can I keep %o?"
RL, IRL
real life, in real life
kite
to get a mob to run after you, either for crowd control (keeping
it busy while the group kills something else) or so something or
someone else can kill it while it chases you; sometimes refers to
getting the mob to flee from you (fear-kiting)
farming
repetitively collecting some form of resource at little or no risk;
it could be as low level as a player farming spiderlings for silk, or
as high level as a guild farming the Elemental Planes for gear
epic
the reward at the end of a particularly long quest; each class has
available a different set of epic quests unique to that class
No Trade
an object that cannot be dropped, traded or sold; if you place
a No Trade item inside a container, the container becomes No Trade
until the item is removed (a frequent source of confusion)
Temporary
an item that will go away 30 minutes after the bearer logs out
(if it's a container, it used to be that everything inside also went
away, but early in 2005 this was changed so the container instead
becomes a very heavy non-magical bag, so you don't lose the contents)
No Drop, No Rent
same as No Trade and Temporary; the latter terms were introduced in
April 2005, but many old web sites, forums, and players still use
the older terms, as do most in-game messages (e.g. if you try to put
such an item into your shared bank, or try to loot a No Trade item
with /lootnodrop [sic] set to "always confirm")
Lore
an item that no character can have more than one of (but if it's
droppable -- i.e., not No Trade -- there can be one in your shared
bank as well)
Attuneable
an item that will become No Trade the first time any
character puts it on (you're asked to confirm doing so); attuneable
augments, however, become No Trade when inserted into an item,
even if you don't equip the item; you're asked to confirm inserting
it but that confirmation doesn't warn you about the augment becoming
attuned, so be careful!
PL
power level, usually by having a high level character provide
buffs, healing and other aid to accelerate a low level's progress
runner
a mob that's trying to run away from you, especially if there's
a risk it'll attract attention from other mobs
warp
sudden change of location, particularly referring to a mob that
gets stuck trying to chase you and suddenly appears in your face
LFG
looking for a group
LFA
looking for an LDON adventure
LFE
looking for an OOW expedition
LFM
looking for a DON mission

Commonly requested spells

In crowded places (especially PoK) you'll often hear people asking for and/or
offering buffs and other spells. Here are some of the most common ones:

KEI
Koadic's Endless Intellect: adds INT, WIS, and mana regen, but
the target has to be level 45 or higher
Clarity
adds mana regen, not as much as KEI but it can be cast on
characters of any level (and can be learned at lower levels, too)
C1, C2, etc.
C1 is Clarity; C2 is Clarity II, which gives a bit more mana
regen but only works on characters level 41 or higher; C3 is another
name for KEI, and C4 etc. refer to still higher-level spells
SOW
Spirit of the Wolf, increases your running speed
Temp
Temperance, adds a lot of HP and AC
V
Virtue, adds even more HP/AC, but works only on levels 46 and up
HOV
Hand of Virtue, group version of Virtue for levels 47 and up
Kitty Crack
Spiritual Light, a beastlord spell that gives HP and mana regen
to an entire group
Port
Transport: druids and wizards can transport other characters to many
locations, so you may see someone asking for a "port to Iceclad" or
other similar requests (often using abbreviated destination names)
rez
resurrection, a spell that restores you to wherever your corpse
is and (at higher levels of the spell) returns some fraction of the
experience lost when you died

Here are some other spells that come up often in discussions, especially of
raid tactics:

CH
Complete Heal (which heals 7500 hp but takes 10 seconds to cast)
COTH
Call of the Hero: a magician spell that transports a groupmate to
the mage from anywhere else in the same zone
Evac
A group port, which might be to certain zones that don't have normal
group ports, or might be to the zone line; under calm circumstances,
this is simply a transportation mode, though even with a "group hug"
the spell line has a chance of leaving some people behind, and you'll
definitely get left if you are running Divine Aura or Harmshield
EVAC!
as an exclamation, this refers to the use of an evac, almost always
to the current zone's "succor point", to escape impending disaster;
used by the porter, it is a call for a group hug, and to go to all
lengths to keep aggro off the caster so the spell can go off; used by
others, it is a call for the porter to cast her evac spell; used in a
group with no porter, it is a call to make out your will (see "rez")

Roles in a group

These terms are described in more detail in the discussion on grouping, at
http://www.icynic.com/~don/EQ/grouping101.htm.

Puller
The person who goes out and gets mobs (hopefully in manageable
numbers) to follow him back to the group to be killed
MA
Main Assist, the person that tells everyone else what to kill
MT
Main Tank, the person whom you try and get a mob to hit
(sometimes also used as shorthand for "mistell")
ST
Secondary Tank, backup for MT if stuff happens
SA
Secondary Assist, backup for MA if MA goes down or MA misses something
CC
Crowd Control, keeping extra mobs busy (rooted, mezzed, chasing
someone around, whatever) while the group focuses on the MA's target
OT
Off Tank, person who is tanking a mob that the main force is not
trying to kill at the moment; off-tanking is a form of crowd control
DPS
someone whose role it is to do lots of DPS (see above)
ML
Main Looter, the person who loots all cash and droppable items for
later division (see question 3.24)

9.2 Q: What other abbreviations and jargon show up in the newsgroup?

Though some of these terms sometimes come up in game, they tend to be seen
more often in the newsgroup.

AC
Asheron's Call, another online fantasy role-playing game
AGE
alt.games.everquest
CIHYS
Can I Have Your Stuff; made in response to an "I quit EQ" post
CoH
City of Heroes, a super hero comic online role-playing game
EQ
EverQuest (also called EQ Live or EQL, esp. to contrast with EQ II)
EQII, EQ2
EverQuest II
LOTRO
Lord of the Rings Online, a MMORPG set within Tolkien's books
MMORPG
Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Game
NG
News Group
OP
original poster (the person who began the discussion topic)
OT
Off Topic
PLONK
Please Leave Our Newsgroup - Killfiled; a claim that your posts will
be ignored from now on
PvE
Player vs. Environment combat; i.e., you vs. the game
PvP
Player vs. Player combat
RPG
Role Playing Game
SOE
Sony Online Entertainment, the people that bring us EQ
SWG
Star Wars Galaxies, another MMORPG
UO
Ultima Online, another MMORPG
Vanguard, VSoH
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, another MMORPG
WoW
World of Warcraft, another MMORPG

10. Useful Links

Official EQ home page:
http://www.everquest.com
Official EQ information site (news, status, forums, etc.):
http://eqlive.station.sony.com/libra.../faq_index.jsp

For information on a wide range of topics including character creation,
quests, zones, maps, classes and equipment, check out:
* http://everquest.allakhazam.com/
* http://eq.crgaming.com/
* http://lucy.allakhazam.com/
* http://pub57.ezboard.com/btheeverquestnewbiezone
(The New Newbie Zone, with a great FAQ)

Maps:
* http://eqatlas.com/
* http://www.mapfiend.net/ (In game maps)
About maps: If you have the Legacy of Ykesha expansion it is a real good
idea to get all the maps from mapfiend and load them in your EverQuest
maps folder. EverQuest is a HUGE game with over 200 zones; in game maps
help you to get around. Here are a couple map tips:
* If you pull up the maps and can't see anything then zoom the map out by
clicking on the "-" button near the upper right corner of the map. You
may have to click this button many times. Alternately, if you have a mouse
with a scroll wheel, you can hover your mouse pointer over the map and zoom
the map in and out with the scroll wheel. Also, turn off the height
filter to make sure you're seeing all the lines on the map.
* If the map is hard to see because the lines are too light, right-click
on the title bar of the map and change the "Alpha" (normal and faded)
levels to lighten the background of the map. This allows you to see the
map and the screen behind it so it doesn't block your view. This is why
so many maps are drawn with grey lines.

EverQuest Terms Glossary (from year 2000 but still has some use):
http://web.archive.org/web/200306040...eqglossary.htm

Tradeskills:
http://www.eqtraders.com (general)
http://plurpage.com/everquest/aug.php (OOW Augmentation Generator)

Factions:
http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/factionlist.html
http://tinyurl.com/3mgkl (Anezka's guide for Iksar)

Odds and Ends:
http://home.stny.rr.com/jazzmanian/wedding.html (the Wedding FAQ)
http://tinyurl.com/269yf (a grouping FAQ by John M. Clancy)
http://cloud.prohosting.com/~talone/HasteData.htm (Compendium of Haste)
http://www.cardplace.com/eq/ldon/list.cgi (LDoN Merchant Sorting Script)
http://www.phantomraiders.org/member...ldonvendor.htm (LDoN items)
http://plurpage.com/everquest/original/don.php (DoN merchant search)

For specific class information, check the forums and other material at
these sites (last verified as of mid-2007):

Bard:
http://www.eqdiva.com/
Beastlord:
http://www.beastlords.org/
Berserker:
http://www.goberserker.com/
Cleric:
http://www.eqcleric.com/
http://www.eqclerics.org/forums/index.php
http://membres.lycos.fr/niphreedil/aa.htm (Cleric Alternate Abilities)
Druid:
http://www.thedruidsgrove.org/eq/
Enchanter:
http://www.therunes.net
Magician:
http://eq1.eqsummoners.com/
Monk:
http://www.monkly-business.net/
Necromancer:
http://www.necrotalk.com/
Paladin:
http://crucible.samanna.net/
Ranger:
http://www.eqoutrider.com/
http://forums.interealms.com/ranger/
Rogue:
http://www.thesafehouse.org/
Shadowknight:
http://www.evilgamer.net/
Shaman:
http://crucible.samanna.net/
Warrior:
http://www.thesteelwarrior.org/
Wizard:
http://www.graffe.com/

For where to hunt at a particular level/class/race (see section 3.13):
http://www.eqatlas.com/huntguidelevel.html
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/zlvlchart.html

Server Community Forums

There used to be official per-server community Forums as part of the Sony
forums, but those seem to be gone. Many servers have unofficial forums;
here are links to several. (These have not been verified recently.) Note
that the Zek forums are still named for the individual server communities
that got merged to form the current Zek. Likewise, many of these links
are for servers that were merged during April/May 2005, but the forums for
the individual original servers may well still be active.

Antonius Bayle
http://www.antonius-bayle.org/forum/
Ayonae Ro
http://forums.ayonae.ro
Bertoxxulous
http://www.berthall.com/forums/
Brell Serilis
http://www.brellrants.net/brell/
Bristlebane
http://www.bristlebane.com/forum/
Cazic Thule
http://cazic-thule.net/forums/index.php
Drinal
http://pub40.ezboard.com/bdrinal28133
Druzzil Ro (need registration to see)
http://www.druzzilro.com/board/vbindex.php
E'ci
http://eci.ofasoft.com/
Erollisi Marr
http://www.erollisimarr.com/forum/
Fennin Ro
http://pub247.ezboard.com/ffenninrochroniclesfrm8
Firiona Vie
http://pub94.ezboard.com/bfirionavie
Innoruuk
http://pub142.ezboard.com/binnoruukserver
Kane Bayle
http://pub34.ezboard.com/bkanebayleforums
Karana
http://pub76.ezboard.com/bkarana89215
Lanys T'vyl
http://pub130.ezboard.com/beqasylum
Luclin
http://pub106.ezboard.com/bluclin71335
Mithaniel Marr
http://www.mmdn.org/HOME/modules.php...BB2&file=index
Morrell Thule
http://pub169.ezboard.com/bmtboards
Morden Rasp
http://pub119.ezboard.com/bmordenrasp80173
Povar
http://pub23.ezboard.com/bpovarservermessageboard
Prexus
http://pub140.ezboard.com/bprexus81531
Quellious
http://pub54.ezboard.com/bquelliousquaterstherebirth
Rallos Zek
http://www.ralloszek.net/ubbthreads/...eads.php?Cat=0
Rodcet Nife:
http://vnboards.ign.com/board.asp?brd=5024
Saryrn
http://pub40.ezboard.com/bthesaryrntavern
Solusek Ro (must register to access)
http://www.solusekro.com/eq/news.asp
Stormhammer (Legends)
http://www.stormhammer.org/forums/
Tallon Zek
http://tallonzektimes.org/bb/index.php
Terris Thule
http://pub19.ezboard.com/bterristhuleserverboard
Test Server
http://www.l33tgeek.com/testserver/index.php
The Nameless
http://www.namelesstavern.org/phpBB2/index.php
The Rathe
http://www.rathetravelagency.com/phpbb
The Seventh Hammer
http://pub148.ezboard.com/b7thhammer
The Tribunal
http://pub101.ezboard.com/bthetribunaldotorg
Tholuxe Paells
http://pub222.ezboard.com/bsacredomen
Torvonnilous
http://pub173.ezboard.com/btorvboard
Tunare
http://pub13.ezboard.com/btunare
Vallon Zek (must register)
http://pwned.inf7.net
Vazaelle
http://pub41.ezboard.com/bvazaellecommunitycenter
Veeshan
http://veeshanvault.org/forums/
Venril Sathir
http://www.venrilsathir.com
Xev:
http://pub228.ezboard.com/bxevserverboards
Zebuxoruk
http://www.zebuxoruk.com/phpbb/

EverQuest II Links:
http://everquest2.station.sony.com/ (Official Website)
http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2 (Official Forums)
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/index.php (esp. check out the Moorgard index)

11. Comical Links and More

EverQuest Comics:
http://www.wtfcomics.com/index.html (WTF Comics)
http://www.gucomics.com/ (Woody's GU Comics)
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/robin/zander/...nmainframe.htm
(Under the Sky of Norrath)
http://www.foxeye-art.com/ (AGE member art site with some EQ-related art)

EverQuest Parody Video:
http://home.att.ne.jp/surf/mirage/agent_sinzan_2.html
(Celestial Healing chain)

Sayonara Norrath (a long-time player's farewell video):
http://home.att.ne.jp/surf/mirage/sa..._norrath3.html

Funny EverQuest Stories & Stuff:
http://ancarett.com/eqhumour.html (well worth the trip)
http://www.geocities.com/zinphandelc...urnedwoods.txt
(more on the Burned Woods story)
http://www.notacult.com/fansythefamous.htm (Fansy the Famous Bard)
http://pub148.ezboard.com/f7thhammer...opicID=6.topic
(Linvarwen, 7th Hammer's Favorite Son)
http://web.archive.org/web/200512310...q/newbieguide/
(Funny Guide for Newbies, now available only via archive site)

Stories from the Top:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Nebula/8828/monual/
(The Fantastic Adventures of Monual)

[End of part 5 of 5]