Darth Hater

New and old players alike are certain to at some point come across the unique lingo of the MMO genre, filled with acronyms and strange terminology that is rarely if ever seen elsewhere. Understanding the unique descriptions and slang of games like TOR helps a player not only with their peers, but also with their grasp of the game itself. In order to help with this, we at Darth Hater have constructed a simple, dictionary style list of the most commonly used terms along with descriptions and examples so that next time you see someone in a chat channel say “Op Heals LFG for KP HM PST,” you’ll at least have some idea as to what that strange amalgamation of letters means!

General Terms

Add [ad] noun, plural adds
Any additional NPC enemies that enter a fight after it has begun. 
Example:
Sometimes this is part of the encounter, where specific units have an ability that summons backup. 
It also refers to another, separate group of enemies being drawn in to the fight by proximity or an ability hitting them while fighting the first group.

AFK [ey-ef-key]
— acronym Away from Keyboard. Used to inform others when you or someone else has stepped away from the computer while still logged in.

Alt [awlt] noun, abbreviation
Alternate character. This term is used to refer to other characters that a player has that is distinguished from a primary character focused on or played the most.

Aggro [ag-roh] noun
aggression or aggravation, refers to the hostile focus of an enemy target on a player. A player being attacked has the aggro of the one attacking them. This is different from threat in that only one person can have aggro from an enemy at a time.

AoE [ey-oh-ee]
— acronym Area of Effect. Area of Effect is a term used to refer to any ability which targets a specific portion of space and the appropriate targets within that space. 
Examples:
Area of Effect abilities can function in a number of ways. A point blank area of effect (PBAoE) is one which has the user of the ability at the epicenter of the effect, in spite of the point blank description these abilities can still reach a considerable distance out. 
A ground-target AoE is one where the user determines where the ability will hit, regardless of what is located within that area, this is usually done by players in ToR by having a circle/targeting reticule appear on the mouse cursor, allowing the player to move the target area wherever they would like (within range) to choose where the ability will hit. 
A targeted AoE is one where the player selects another player or enemy to be the center of the ability’s area, with the effect taking place in its radius around that target. A cone is an area of effect ability that targets an area captured within an angle originating at the user (generally within a 90 degree span from the front center of the user, occasionally cone abilities attack to the side or back).

BoE [bee-oh-ee]
— acronym, Bind on Equip. Refers to any item that can be freely traded as an item, but once equipped by a player it is no longer tradable and can only be used by the character that equipped it.

BoL [bee-oh-el]
— acronym, Bind on Legacy. Refers to any item that can be freely traded by characters on the same account, but cannot be traded to any character belonging to another account.

BoP [bee-oh-pee]
— acronym, Bind on Pickup. Refers to any item that once held by a character, whether in their inventory or equipped, it can no longer be traded.

BRB [bee-ahr-bee]
— acronym, Be Right Back. Used to inform a person that you are temporarily leaving a location within the game world with the intent of returning to it very shortly.

BTW [bee-tee-duhb-uhl-yoo]
— acronym, By the way.

Buff [buhf] noun, verb buff-ed, buff-ing
Any ability with a limited duration that increases the stats or performance of its target. 
This can also refer to changes made in patches that increase the power of a player or non-player.

BW [bee-duhb-uhl-yoo]
— acronym, BioWare

Camp [kamp]
Most commonly refers to staying in a particular location. 
Though less commonly used today, the term can also refer to logging out of the game. This term usage was more common in the earliest 3D MMOs.
Example:
Continuously killing a certain target every time it respawns, or in PvP to kill any players that enter that area. 
It may also refer to when someone stays near a dead players body to either force them to return to med center, or to kill them again should they attempt to use a medical probe.

Cast [kast, kahst] noun, verb cast-ing
The set time delay between activating an ability, and the effect of said ability being triggered.
Example:
A sniper uses the ability snipe. Once they click the ability, a 1.5 second cast time begins with a progress bar marking how long it takes. At the end of that 1.5 second cast, the effect is used.

CC [see-see] verb CC-ed, CC-ing
Crowd Control. Refers to using abilities and methods to reduce the number of targets actively participating in an encounter. Crowd Control abilities usually have a long duration (a minute against NPCs in most cases), effect one target at a time, and break whenever the target takes any damage.

Channel [chan-l] verb chan-neled, chan-nel-ing
Any ability that begins using its effect immediately, and continues to apply its effect over a duration in which the player must continue using that ability.
Example:
An ability that has a three second channel when used will begin immediately when activated, doing its effect in increments as long as the player continues to use that ability up to the full duration.

DD [dee-dee] abbreviation
Direct Damage. Refers to any damage done as soon as an ability has been used.

Debuff [de-buhf] noun, verb debuff-ed, debuff-ing
Any ability with a limited duration that decreases the stats or performance of its target.

DPS [dee-pee-es]
— acronym, Damage per Second. Determined by the total amount of damage dealt by a player or group of players, divided by the number of seconds that the fight lasted.
can refer to a player whose primary function in a group is to deal damage. 
can be a common abbreviation for “damage” as well.
Examples:
If a player does 1,500,000 damage during a fight that lasts 5 minutes (300 seconds), the 1,500,000dmg/300s results in 5000 DPS.
The DPS need to move away from the boss during his flamethrower attack.
We need to DPS the boss down 500,000 more

DoT [dee-oh-tee, dot]
— acronym, Damage Over Time. Refers to abilities or the damage done by these abilities that is applied in increments over a duration. 
Example:
An ability that does 400 damage every 3 seconds for 18 seconds for a total of 2400 damage.
More dots!

Farm [fahrm] noun, verb farm-ed, farm-ing
Activity that involves concentrated effort towards obtaining certain items or currency, usually from defeating certain encounters or specific types of units. Farming may involve defeating certain NPCs for items that they drop, or could involve running certain content repeatedly for a reward. 
Example:
Running warzones repeatedly for valor rank or commendation farming. Or killing robotic enemies in low level Flashpoints to farm for scavenging materials.

Gank [gangk] verb, gank-ed, gank-ing
A player vs. player term that generally is used to refer to a character with a significant advantage (such as being a much higher level) killing another player in a world (non-warzone) environment. 
Example:
May also involve someone killing a player who has just finished combat with another target and is low on health as a result, or killing a player who is AFK.

GTG [gee-tee-gee] var. G2G [gee-too-gee]
— acronym, Good to Go. A simple way of letting a party know that you are ready for whatever’s next.
Got to Go. A way of letting others know that you have to leave.
Usage:
Because these two can easily be mixed up, you may want to be careful about using them alone.

Heals [heels] noun
A player role which is designed to support allies by providing health replenishment and debuff dispelling.

HPS [eych-pee-es]
— acronym, Heals Per Second. Determined by the total amount of healing dealt by a healer or group of healers, divided by the number of seconds that the fight lasted. See also Heals.

IMO [ahy-em-oh] var. IMHO [ahy-em-eych-oh]
— acronym, In My Opinion. In My Humble Opinion.

Inc [ink] adjective, abbreviation 
Incoming. This term is generally used to refer to hostile targets that are closing in on the player’s or group’s location.

Instance [in-stuhns] noun
An instance is any area of the game world that is generated specifically for a player or group of players, and cannot be entered by anyone else outside of that group. 
Example:
Instances are marked off in the Old Republic by different color force fields over the entrance. Red for inaccessible, green for accessible and ready to be generated by you the player, blue for accessible though generated by another player. Different groups can enter separate versions of the same instance simultaneously, keeping the groups from having to wait on each other, or from interfering with each other.

Kite [kahyt] noun, verb kit-ed, kit-ing
Tactic involving the target of an enemy constantly moving away in order to avoid taking damage. 
Example:
Sometimes this is used as a way of keeping additional enemies out of a fight, other times it is used during a boss fight where the boss’s damage is considerably high for a short duration. Can be used against melee classes in PvP as a way of killing them at range while keeping them from being able to attack in kind.

LFG [el-ef-jee]
— acronym, Looking for Group. Used to express interest in teaming up with other players for certain content. 
Example:
A common way of using this is to tell chat channels your class (usually using your advance class in Star Wars the Old Republic), your role, and what you are looking for a team for. (e.g. “Operative Healer LFG for Operation.”)

LFM [el-ef-em]
— acronym, Looking for More. Used to inform others that a group does not have enough people for certain tasks.
Example:
The term LFM usually also includes information about the types of of players that are needed (either general role or specific classes), as well as what the group intends to do once formed. 
LF4M 2DPS/1 Heals/1 Tank for a Hard Mode Operation, or it could be more 8specific, LF2M 1 Melee DPS/1 Mercenary Healer for Nightmare Mode Eternity Vault.

LoS [el-oh-es]
Line of Sight. This refers to having a direct visual path between characters. It is also a factor in ability usage and fight strategies.
Example:
Most player abilities cannot target something unless there is a clear line of sight between the player and target. It is important to move in to LoS for using your abilities, but also important at times to avoid being hit by certain abilities.

Mob [mob] noun
Mobile. Used to refer to any NPC that you can engage in combat with.

MT [em-tee]
— acronym, Mistell. A term which means a message was sent to the wrong player or chat channel.

Nerf [nurf] noun, verb nerf-ed, nerf-ing
Permanent changes, usually through a patch, that decrease the power or performance of anything in the game. 
Example:
A nerf to a class may be a decrease in their raw performance of damage mitigation, damage dealing, or healing, or may affect a specific ability less powerful such as reducing the duration of an ability from 6 seconds to 3 seconds. 
A nerf to a Flashpoint or Operation generally means that specific encounters or the entire event have been made easier. 
A nerf to things such as crew skills usually refers to a reduction in reward for time spent with that crew skill, or a particular aspect of that crew skill.

Ninja [nin-juh] noun, verb ninja-ed, ninja-ing
A player that takes either an item or fight from another player in a way that may or may not violate or exploit game mechanics, but still violates gamer etiquette. 
Example:
In a Flashpoint this may involve rolling need on an item that the player can’t use but another player can. 
While on a planet it may involve a gathering node or special quest NPC being surrounded by another group of enemies and the ninja would be a player who would wait until another player pulls that first group of enemies so they can run in and take the reward behind it.

NPC [en-pee-see] noun
Non-Player Character. Referring to any character in the game world that is not directly controlled by another actual person.

OMW [oh-em-duhb-uhl-yoo]
— acronym, On My Way.

Example:
I’m omw to the Flashpoint entrance now.

OP [oh-pee]
— acronym, Overpowered. A term used to refer to anything in the game that is performing above a fair level due to various factors. It could refer to a damaging ability hitting too hard, an ability that offers too great an advantage, a tank class taking significantly less damage than another tank class of the same gear and played with the same amount of skill, or any number of other factors.

— abbreviation 
Operation. Large scale PvE content.
Operative. One of the advance class options of the Imperial Agent.

Pat [pat] noun, verb pat, patt-ed, patt-ing, abbreviation
Patrol. This refers to the scripted path which NPCs move along, as opposed to standing in one place at all times.

PvE [pee-vee-ee]
— acronym, Player vs. Environment. Refers to any game content that involves players fighting against targets controlled by the computer.

PvP [pee-vee-pee]
— acronym, Player vs. Player. Refers to any game content or conflict that involves any number of players fighting against other players in direct combat.

QQ [kyoo-kyoo] noun, verb QQ-ed, QQ-ing
A term that is derived from QQ being used as an emote face of two eyes crying. QQ is therefore used to refer to complaining or griping.
Example:
Stop QQing about how you got ganked, it happens to all of us.
It is also sometimes used by itself to point out when someone else is just griping, usually in a way that suggests people don’t care about their complaints. 
Player 1: “I accidentally deleted my lightsaber!” Player 2: “QQ”
Reference:
c. 1995 Originated in Warcraft, keystroke Alt+Q+Q to quit match and game.

Rez [rɛz] noun, rez-ed, rez-ing, abbreviation
Resurrection. Refers to a player using an ability to bring a dead player back to life right where they died. 
Example:
In the case of medical probes it can refer to bringing back yourself. 
Or while alive bringing another character who died by right clicking on their dead body. 
The term “battle rez” refers to specific abilities that are able to bring a character back to life while in combat, while standard rezzes only function outside of combat.

Root [root, root] noun, verb root-ed, root-ing
Any ability that prevents the player from moving, while still allowing for abilities to be used.

Snare [snair] noun, verb snared, snar-ing
Any ability that reduces the speed at which a player can move.

Stun [stuhn] noun, verb stunned, stun-ning
Any ability that prevents the player from moving, or using any abilities.

SWTOR [es-duhb-uhl-yoo-tee-oh-ahr]
— acronym, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Tank [tangk] noun, verb tank-ed, tank-ing
A player role which is designed to draw enemy attacks. 
Usage:
A tank’s primary goal is to focus enemy damage on to a single target, allowing healers to direct their heals more efficiently. 
Tank classes generally have three primary defensive categories. 
Mitigation. Refers to any stat that may reduce incoming damaging hits by a greater percentage. 
More Health/Soaking. A well geared tank is likely to have a significantly higher amount of health points than non-tank classes, allowing for a greater amount of damage to be sustained without resulting in death.
Avoidance. Refers to any stat that gives the player a chance to completely avoid an attack landing.

Threat [thret] noun
Threat is a term that either refers to or measures the amount of activity conducted by a player that would cause an enemy to attack them. All players active in an encounter have a certain amount of threat generated with every ability used that either benefits an ally or is targeted against an enemy.

Trash [trash] noun
Trash in MMOs is used to refer to any or all non-encounter mobs in group PvE content that one must fight outside of boss encounters in order to reach them.

Wipe [wahyp] noun, verb wiped, wip-ing
A term used to describe a failure to beat a specific challenge. 
Example:
In PvE it usually means all players being killed, or forced to leave combat through stealth abilities and the encounter resetting thus having to be repeated from the beginning as a result. 
In PvP content such as warzones the term is less common but can be used to refer to being completely overrun by the other team.

WTB [duhb-uhl-yoo-tee-bee]
— acronym, Want to Buy. Used to inform others of items or equipment that you wish to purchase. 

Example:
WTB customizable level 50 Jedi Knight off-hand lightsaber

WTS [duhb-uhl-yoo-tee-es]
— acronym, Want to Sell. Used to inform others of items or equipment that you wish to sell. 

Example:
WTS level 29 high quality Jedi Consular chest armor

WTT [duhb-uhl-yoo-tee-tee]
— acronym, Want to Trade. Used to inform others of items that you would like to exchange for other items, as opposed to using currency exclusively for the purchase.

SWTOR Flashpoints and Operations

BT. The Black Talon (Flashpoint)
Cade. Cademimu (Flashpoint)
BP. Boarding Party (Flashpoint)
D7. Directive 7 (Flashpoint)
BoI. Battle of Ilum (Flashpoint)
FE. False Emperor (Flashpoint)
KoS. Kaon Under Siege (Flashpoint)
LI. Lost Island (Flashpoint)
EV. Eternity Vault (Operation)
KP. Karagga’s Palace (Operation)
EC/Denova. Explosive Conflict (Operation)
TFB/Asation. Terror from Beyond (Operation)
SM. Story Mode, refers to the easiest difficulty for Operations. Sometimes referred to as normal mode.
HM. Hard Mode, refers to a higher difficulty version of an Operation or Flashpoint.
NIM. Nightmare Mode, refers to the highest difficulty version of an Operation. This difficulty setting is not available for all Operations.

Other Games

EQ [ee-kyoo, ee-kyoo-too] Everquest (2)
DAoC [dee-ay-oh-see] Dark Age of Camelot
AoC [ay-oh-see] Age of Conan
AC2 [ay-see-too] Asheron’s Call (2)
WoW [duhb-uhl-yoo-oh-duhb-uhl-yoo, wou] (BC, WotLK, Cata, MoP) – World of WarCraft and its expansions (Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria)
CoH [see-oh-eych] City of Heroes
GW (2) [gee-duhb-uhl-yoo-too] Guild Wars (2)
DCUO [dee-see-yoo-oh] DC Universe Online
D&DO [dee–uhn-dee-oh] Dungeons and Dragons Online
FFXI [ef-ef-eks-ahy] Final Fantasy 11
FFXIV [ef-ef-eks-ahy-vee]Final Fantasy 14
LotRO [el-oh-tee-ahr-oh] Lord of the Rings Online
RO [ahr-oh] Ragnarok Online