Game Terminology

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Revision as of 22:27, 10 April 2018 by Anarchangel (talk | contribs)

This article is a work in progress. It is intended to cover all of the slang terms used in Anarchy Online, as well as all of the terminology for the many important game concepts at work not only in Anarchy Online, but other MMORPGs, PFSs, and RTS games where applicable to AO.

A separate and complete work, specializing, as intended, in Slang: Snowglobe's AO Terminology List


Equipment and Items

  • Breakpoints
  • EQ
  • Equipment Weapons Armor Utilities HUD Inventory Deck
  • Slot Belt Neck Back Wrist Finger
  • NODROP
  • Unique (item)
  • Util
  • Implant
  • loot
  • loot rights
  • NPC
  • Mob
  • Mission
  • Reclaim
  • Splitable. Press left ctrl and left mouse click on the stacked item and drag to the right to increase the count; left to decrease it. Release the left mouse; move the mouse cursor to an empty slot in inventory and left click.
  • Stackable multiple items with a count number displayed at upper left are almost always stackable (the whiskey from Biomare is a rare exception). Pick up one item or items, place it on the other to stack it.
  • Kiosk - Terminal
  • trade
  • melee
  • ranged
  • Multi Ranged. Using two of the same type of weapon
  • Multi Melee
  • Attack Rating
  • Burst cycle
  • Requirements
  • Attack Skills (nano)
  • Equip time
  • Attack time
  • Recharge
  • Recharge time
  • Clip
  • Ammo
  • Slot
  • Instas (only from items, in AO)

Combat

Nanos

  • ae
  • aoe
  • cc
  • pbae. Point Blank Area Effect
  • chant
  • pulsing effect
  • pulsing pbae
  • debuff
  • HoT. Heal over Time
  • DoT. Damage over Time
  • nukes
  • nanopoints
  • Damage Shield. Set value of damage incurred by attackers. Name may be used to mean Reflect, but this mechanic is not currently in AO
  • Reflect. Damage reduced, and up to a set value incurred by attackers
  • AC. Armor Class. Damage reduction is 10% of the value of the AC. Damage type and AC type are compared, damage taken off the top, down to the minimum damage. Shadowlands enemies have high ACs, necessitating weapons with high minimum damage
  • Absorb
  • lifetap
  • life bestow
  • nano tap
  • Nano Bestow. AO is one of few games where, eg Traders can give some of their Nano to friendlies.
  • regen
  • mongo. Enforcer Aggro nano
  • School
  • Nanoline. Effects from nanos in the same line do not "Stack", ie add their effects and both remain in the NCU.
  • Stacking Order. When nanos in the same line are cast, either is added and the other taken away or the 2nd cannot be cast with an error message, depending on the stacking order
  • Visual Profession

Enemies

  • Boss and Uniques
  • Spawn: Enemies enter the game world instantly, and thankfully in AO there is code to PREVENT them spawning too close to players, rather than the way it is in some other games, where the code actively MAKES them spawn too close
  • Unique Encounters
  • camp
  • Dyna Camp
  • BAF: Bring A Friend. "Social" enemies will "add" into a combat if they see one of their kind either attacked, or in combat, or attacking a player. Rarely, it can even be another type of creature
  • Kite, kiting: Attacking an enemy while moving, with instacast nanos or melee or a pet, while staying out of the range of the enemy's attacks. Moreso in other games, it can mean running between attacks; the evasion is what counts, more than the means of attacking
    • proximity aggro


Teams and Raids

  • 12m : Two-team raid, twelve people, hence 12 man raid. Almost exclusively used for in reference to The Xan raid
  • Team
  • group
  • Team lead
  • healer
  • support profession
  • caller
  • Tank: Soak up damage. Wear heavy armor that prevents damage. Keep Aggro to prevent less protected team members from taking too much damage. Adventurers and to a lesser extent Traders add a different angle, and and heal themselves with nanos as well as meds; this both makes them able to take damage, and gives them aggro.
  • buff
  • light tank
  • dedicated / assigned
  • ninja
  • Main Assist
  • pull. There are many sorts of pulls, but the basic principle is for a single player to bring an enemy or enemies to the team. This is almost always done with the aim of greater safety; if not reducing the number of attackers, then at least to prevent being too close to enemies when they respawn. Pets are often good pullers because monsters can have code to not concern themselves with fights against pets. Dedicated Tank classes will often have a nano specifically designed for pulling single targets without aggroing other enemies around them
  • body pull: coming into the aggro range of one monster without entering the range of others. Attempts to pull the one, where attacking would aggro all of them
  • puller
  • Assist

Stats

  • Attack speed
  • Melee Init
  • Nano Init
  • Physical Init
  • Ranged Init
  • Runspeed

Abilities and Skills

See Melee and Ranged

  • Aimed Shot
  • Burst
  • Fling
  • Fast Attack
  • Profession
  • Ability
  • Skill
  • Body
  • Trade & Repair
  • Nano and Aiding

etc

  • Initiative
  • Init
  • Evade
  • Multi Ranged
  • Multi Melee
  • perks
  • spec
  • Train (IP)
  • IP
  • cap
  • heal delta
  • nano delta
  • Defense
  • aad
  • Offense
  • aao


  • pet
  • pet pull one of the ways to pull proximity aggro creatures that do not add; it has the advantage of longer range than ranged attacks, but is (slightly) more dangerous than pulling to a dedicated tank


  • Initiative
  • Init
  • Evade
  • Multi Ranged
  • Multi Melee
  • Attack Rating
  • Burst cycle
  • Requirements
  • Attack Skills (nano)
  • tradeskill


Visible Game Mechanics

  • Attack time
  • Recharge
  • Recharge time
  • cooldown
  • Flags (item use)
    • Sided : Equipment can be locked out of Omni or Clan or Neutral in one of two ways: either specifying a particular faction, locking out two, or specifying NOT a certain faction, locking only that one out. Sided more implies that it is locked out of two, although the term can be used for either distinction.
  • OE Overequipped; items on a character that no longer meets their requirements (buff running out) turn red, and become either 75% or 50% less effective in a few respects. Notably, these handicaps do not include bonuses to skills or abilities, so buffing armor like Neleb's Nanomaster Robe will continue to provide its +15 to nanoskills, even when its defense is lowered by OE, and a weapons like Concrete Cushion will continue to provide their +8 to the Stamina and Strength abilities. Plus damage is unaffected, but Add All Defense AAD and AAO Add All Offense are reduced

Gameplay and Interface

  • Cursor
  • Drag and Drop
  • Quickbars
  • tell
  • Icon
  • AI
  • QL
  • ML
  • PL
  • PvP Player vs Player. Combat against something with a brain. On the other hand, in Duels, also sometimes a combat between rock and scissors. This can be avoided by playing Team PvP (e.g. Battle Station or Tower Wars)
  • PvE
  • PvM Another word for PvE, meaning 'Player vs Monster' or 'Player vs Mob'
  • Flag (PvP)

Behind the Scenes

  • Code
  • Devs
  • Froob : free player; root is 'noob', but that connotation is barely noticeable now
  • Flavor text
  • Instance (name for the individual playfields created for Missions, originated in AO and used by other games)
  • Mob (Dev term now in common usage by players, see Mob)
  • Patch
  • PH : Placeholder-a mob that spawns in the place of another, more desirable mob, which respawns instead after the placeholder is killed
  • Sloob : Shadowlands (SL) player; root is 'noob', but that connotation, once ironic, is rarely applicable and little used now
  • Trigger

Getting Around

  • Borgs : usually referring to the Cyborg spawn in the center of Mort
  • EFP : Eastern Fouls Plains
  • FE Finest Edition shop (with Trader terminal), a meeting place for Clan
  • HUD Heads Up Display
  • map
  • minimap
  • OAG Old Athen Grid, a meeting place for Clan
  • OE in the navigational sense, Omni-1 Entertainment



  • zone noun, verb. Game area
  • zone border
  • zone wall
  • teleport wall
  • adds

Other

  • cone effect
  • ground targetted ae GTAE (not used in AO)

Profession

See Who Buffs What for other likely acronym sources

Agent

ES Enhanced Senses
Sense buff
FG Feline Grace
Agility buff
FP False Profession
TS
Take the Shot Take the Shot - buff Aimed Shot 130 and CriticalIncrease 4
UA
Unexpected Attack Unexpected Attack - buff Rifle 120 and Sneak Attack 30

Doctor

SFA Specialized First Aid - Treatment buff

Enforcer

Behe - one of the Behemoth buffs from the top end of the Enforcer's Strength/Stamina line

Trader

131
the 131-point Wrangle