My least favorite gaming terms

[Stormcrow]

The great draw of the drow is that they were considered to be mythical in a land of mythical beasts.

When I run games, I consider most of the monsters to be potentially mythical in the setting. Only a subset of them actually exist. This keeps experienced players guessing.

[geneweigel]

The great thing about the drow (yes, I'm pronouncing it "dro" ) is that it worked good as it was giving ideas for other things but expanded in the manner that it was was just plain wrong. Rules or no rules the drow have been in the hands of assholes for so long it just breaks your heart sometimes and you just want to put it out of its misery. Then I look at my old Grenadier Miniatures Eclavdra:



And think that the concept of the drow has become so warped, or rather, "retarded" in the literal sense of the word that its such a giant leap to equate the beings that appear in D3 with what is known as "drow" now. Then their fate doesn't seem so bad. Still...the idea of the drow was always a guideline at best like I said and not something that should have been galvanized after the "UA everybody is playing them" craze.

EDITED FOR CLARITY: I REALLY SHOULDN"T BE WRITING TO FORUMS WITH A POUNDING HANGOVER

[Malcadon]

EDITED FOR CLARITY: I REALLY SHOULDN"T BE WRITING TO FORUMS WITH A POUNDING HANGOVER

Yep, posting sober is highly overrated! No one gets things rolling with a clear and rational head! I find the best results come from posting as a functional alcoholic, and not waiting long enough for the hangover to kick in.

[AxeMental]

Gene: "Then their fate doesn't seem so bad. Still...the idea of the drow was always a guideline at best like I said and not something that should have been galvanized after the "UA everybody is playing them" craze."


The evils of drugs and UA, we know which is worse.

[Ragnorakk]

Variant - like M-U variant
Free Action (not the ring of, I like that)
I hate buff. The first time I heard it said it took me ten minutes to realize what was going on. All improvements and bonuses are now BUFFS...hmm
story share, plot point, story arc
(that gish thing is gross - never heard it before)
...there must be a million others...but a lot more in the love/hate category

[geneweigel]

I just thought of my most hated terms...

"adventure hooks" and "quick start rules" translation "unfinished crap"...

[thedungeondelver]

Someone here mention Adventure Path? Yeah, I hate that one, too. It's campaign, you dimwits.

[tauman]

Hopefully I'm not repeated what someone else has mentioned, but two more that drive me nuts:

Borked, as in broken: "The psionics rules in 1st edition are borked."
Crunch. Rules do not have crunch. Grape Nuts have crunch, my cat's dry food has crunch, and hard frozen snow under your feet has crunch, but not rules.

I find this thread to be cathartic.

tauman

[Algolei]

Variant - like M-U variant

Ugh, I hate "variants." It's almost the same as saying they're "deviants."

[BlackBat242]

And Gene, that's why I renamed all the dark elves in the GDQ 'drau'. Spell it like I say it, says I. The lower level ones I call 'draulien'. All of them yell in exagerrated German accents, listen to crappy Euro disco music, and wear tight black clothing.

- Wheggi

Any of them named "Hans" or "Jeter"?

[BlackBat242]

Here are my definitions of my most-hated terms:

prestige: the “wow-factor” one gets from deeds done
stack: pile objects on each other
attacks of opportunity: every attack in the game.
parting blow: the single “free attack” allowed on one retreating (back turned) foe per round
broken: something no longer in one piece
crunch: the sound of something breaking
Spell Slot: channel in the vending machine the spell scroll is dispensed from
mechanics: people who fix mechanical things (alt. Assassins)
Skill Tree: target of my Skill saw
party balance: a scale used to determine weights of characters (and witches)
game balance: carrying the same amount of books/papers under each arm
Adventure Track: a line used by a railroad
Story Arc: writer’s plan for his novel(s)
kit: an assembly of equipment, usually standardized, that a character carries
rogue: uncontrolled, even by itself
min/max: accounting term
buff: describes muscular person, or the act of polishing
build: what one does to a ship or building
feat: superhero term
Gish: never noticed it in the FF, and never heard it before this thread
sandbox: where children play outdoors
leveling up: what a carpenter/bricklayer/concrete man does
narrator: describes background/action in a story someone else wrote
referee: administers the rules in a sporting event
judge: administers the law in a court
tank: armored vehicle… also person in plate armor (1980s use)
mage: informal name for a Magic-user, wizard, etc (1980s use)
old school: ancient educational center
nostalgia: fond longing for something no longer in existence
eeps: sound baby birds make
chargen: term used in Traveller for character generation
Grognard: French soldier who served with Napolean
thaco: lazy term for a character’s chance to hit something (used by the player to determine the opponent's armor class)

A game of 4E ends up sounding to me like a Japanese superhero TV show.

That’s because the designers “grew up” manga fans.[/quote]

[sepulchre]

Blackbat wrote:

Skill Tree: target of my Skill saw

Brilliant!

That’s because the designers “grew up” manga fans.

I can't believe I didn't see that, no wonder I can't stand that either.

[Malcadon]

That’s because the designers “grew up” manga fans.

I dont know, do Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh! counts as real anime/manga?

On the other hand, you cant apply anime to just Japaneses animation, as everyone and their dog are passing off their shitty works as "anime"! I remember back in the days when it was called "Jajanimation", and it was a fringe interest like D&D when "4th edition" meant the August 79' run of the classic Monster Manual!

I know its not about D&D terms, but the term "anime" really annoys me, for the reasons stated above. I hear a lot of people call the art in the books passing themselves off "the next evolution in gaming", as anime art. The fans would tell you is not anime art, but the truth is - anime is so deluded, you can apply it to crude stickfigure drawings. So the art may not be Japanese in design or style, but garish-styled Korean MMORPG art is still "anime art" buy my book!

[thedungeondelver]

Yet more from my febrile brain:

Gamist
Simulationist

The people responsible for turning what should be time spent gaming into time reducing a fun pastime into boring theory should be dragged out and beaten into a pulp.

[yesmar]

I don't like fluff or crunch. I think of computer games when I hear the term "levelling up." Min/maxing is also a disturbing phrase, as is build.