Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
MMO Terms & Definitions
Skatty2007
Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 231
I'd like to hear what different definitions people have on commonly used terms used in the MMO community. As you can see by the terms below, the opinions on what they can mean willcan vary greatly. I'd like to hear different viewpoints on what people think they mean.
Note: This is not to incite a pissing contest on what is the correct meaning, because frankly, there probably isn't a correct one. Until industry standards are created and agreed upon, everyone will have their own thoughts and none of them will be right or wrong per se. I beg of everyone to not make this a pissing contest! Just a nice conversation on what you think these terms mean and why.
Oh - and feel free to add any more terms you can think of that may have a wide variety of meanings to lots of people. Thanks!
Troll:
Hater:
Fanboy:
Sandbox:
Theme Park:
Hardcore:
Carebear:
Casual:
Skill Based:
Level Based:
I'm not creative enough to have a signature
Comments
Troll: Poster who uses overly provocative words in his own topic. Circles around the argument while bashing whatever's the subject in the forums.
Hater: A person who has formed an irrational, overly negative opinion about game, company, movie, book etc. and ignores all kind of rational explanations and proof.
Fanboy: A person who defends his favorite game even though it'd make no sense to, and refuses to accept anything critical said about the game.
Sandbox: Utopia for most MMO players, not the Eden they think it is.
Theme park: MMO that puts emphasis on one area of gameplay as opposed to trying to do everything.
Hardcore: I Wanna Be The Guy
Carebear: Don't really know..
Casual: There's the wii casual (everything is easy and takes short time to do) and gamer casual (there are actual challenges but doing things don't take hours at time).
Skill Based: You level a weapon instead of a class.
Level Based: You level a class instead of a weapon.
Playing: EVE, Final Fantasy 13, Uncharted 2, Need for Speed: Shift
Troll: A person who is posting with the intent to cause drama.
Hater: A person who loves an aspect despite the obvious positives. Opposite of Fanboy
Fanboy: A person who loves an aspect despite the obvious negatives. Opposite of Hater
Sandbox: A pipe dream that cannot happen in an MMORPG. With a sandbox you make your own adventure which is a complete contrast to an RPG where you are directed in your journey.
Theme Park: Six Flag Great Adventure
Hardcore: People who take the game with more heart than they do in real life. Or a game who demands forces people to choose between it and real life. Opposite of Causal
Carebear:
Casual: People who take the game with more heart than they do in real life. Or a game who demands forces people to choose between it and real life. Opposite of Causal
Skill Based: A Game where progression is done via use of skill
Level Based: A Game where progression is done via use of experience points
Theme park - Anything a dev creates, roads, towns, npcs, quests, combat system, trees, etc
Sandbox - Anything a player creates, pvp, crafting, role play, etc
Second Life is nearly a perfect sandbox.
Dragon Quest, though not an MMO, is nearly a perfect theme park.
Well shave my back and call me an elf! -- Oghren
Many
Sandbox is a mis used term,Theme park as well.Hardcore ,casual,carebear are also 99% of the time used in a selfish manner.
Actually just about every term their is mis used depending on the selfish reason of the user.Example the famous TROLL word,people login to make a post that does not support the topic,they only post to inform someone else they are a troll,so in other words they only posted to flame that person,and not support the topic/post,so they themselves would be the troll.My definition of a troll is those very people that are not there to support or debate the topic and YES topics are there to discuss ,otherwise why did you post the topic in a forum?
Once again the SELFISH terms Fanboy, Hater,MOST use Fanboy on someone who likes a game but they do not and Hater they use if they like the game but someone else does not offer a favorable opinion,so yes it is selfish reasons for forming these terms,in most cases.My definition of a Fanboy is one who no matter what will not accept any fault with the game or rates the game way too high for obvious reasons,example an 8 bit soundtrack,then a fanboy says it has the best sound score of any game they have ever played.
I will use one more example Carebear.Once again they look at the term from a selfish perspective.They think because a low level player can die ,it is hardcore,yet they forget that the person who cannot die in that same scenario would be the Carebear,by their definition,it works both ways.My definition of a Carebear,would be a player who NEVER wants to lose anything at all ever.
My definition on Hardcore would only be in PVE,where by you have a VERY high risk of losing and a high risk of losing a lot,the NPC loses nothing ,he just dies and respawns ,this is why it works in a PVE situation.You can also use Hardcore to someone who plays a lot of continuous hours,you may also call that person an idiot but whatever lol.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Hater: Paid employees of Blizzard.
Troll: A person who knowingly instigates arguments with no other purpose other than to upset people.
Hater: A unconditional knee-jerk reaction of anger/hate towards a particular subject.
Fanboy: A zealot-like conviction towards a particular belief/subject.
Sandbox: No clearly defined purpose or objectives the player is forced to adhere to. Often conjoined with "camping mobs" for level advancement.
Theme Park: Very defined line of objectives to lead player from point A. to point B. Often conjoined with "questing" or GUI's that show player where to go.
Hardcore: Often viewed as players who prefer difficult and/or tedious implimentations of rules regarding the games mechanics.
Carebear: A person who does not like Player vs. Player combat or does not choose to engage in PvP.
Casual: A person who plays a game in moderation, usually due to RL obligations or time restraints.
Skill Based: A Game mechanic system that uses skill advancement in place of level advancement. (Ultima Online)
Level Based: A game mechanic system that uses level advancement in place of skill advancement. (WoW)
"There is only one thing of which I am certain, and that's nothing is certain."
Troll: The ones who use intelligent, usually sarcastic humor to entertain themselves and perhaps others.
Hater: I don't understand hating, thus can't define the word. It's complete waste of time.
Fanboy: Someone who found a game they like and are you could say almost advertising the game and don't take negative feedback for the game easily.
Sandbox: A game focused on letting the player have as much freedom as possible. Can be partly theme park.
Theme Park: A game with mainly guided game play. Can be partly sandbox.
Hardcore: Long gaming career, know their thing, don't fuck around, like big challenges.
Carebear: Helpful and caring to most players. Don't like unfair PvP. Strong sense of moral.
Casual: Don't play every day, longer than couple of hours at a time. Don't know that much about games. Usually play easier and less time consuming games.
Skill Based: -
Level Based: -
In my opinion: Theme parks and sandboxes are usually discussed, or rather argued about in way too black and white manner. They aren't complete opposites. Must realize that there's in betweens of the two, and not say that's theme park and that's sandbox. Carebear isn't a person who wants to dumb down a game, it has completely changed it's meaning in forums. Hardcore players aren't assholes, assholes are assholes.