MMO terms and tabletop, anyone completely ANNOYED by this?

[Fanaelialae]

It sounds to me like your group simply enjoys a hack-and-slash play style, while you'd prefer a more varied experience. That problem has been around since before the advent of MMOs; it's probably been existent for as long as D&D's been around.

Back when my group and I played WarCrack, we'd raid on Saturdays and play D&D on Sundays. Our D&D games often featured little to no combat.

The trick might be to demonstrate to them that they can have fun in more ways than just H&S. If you know a good role player, ask him or her to play a few games with your group. Then reward the heck out of role play; make it as fun and awesome as you can. Hopefully they'll pick up on the fact that they might have more fun trying new things, rather than just auto-attacking.

Of course, tastes vary. If H&S is their one true preference, you're unlikely to sway them.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

The only one that bothers me is mob, because I keep thinking they are referring to a large group of people (possibly wielding pitchforks).

 

[Nagol]

I'm more conecerned when the game designers embed that nomenclature in the game than players using the vernacular as concept sharthand at the table.

When it is bult into the game, it tends to constrain/guide scenario creation into preconceived directions.

 

[the Jester]

Yes, those terms annoy the living heck out of me, too.

 

[Cor Azer]

The only one that bothers me is mob, because I keep thinking they are referring to a large group of people (possibly wielding pitchforks).

That one irks me too, for the same reason.

The other one I dislike is 'toon'. I understand it, despite never having played an MMO, but is it really so hard to say 'character'?

 

[Ulrick]

I don't care for those terms either. I don't like terms like "meatshield," or the extensive use of terminology from Harry Potter (but hey, at least their reading a book instead of playing WoW).

One term, however, that made a game fall flat was "squishies." As in "the tank needs to keep the squishies safe"--referring to the spellcasters in the group. That was just too much.

 

[VariSami]

In only use them in a similar fashion that I use tiers - to classify the capabilities of different characters/classes. While Tiers are determined by power level and versatility, classifications like tank, blaster and skill monkey are tied to the role in the party dynamic. For example, since I am currently involved in a tier 3-4 low-level campaign, I made sure that as much ground as possible was covered by our character choices (though one person insisted on a bard and kept complaining about how weak it turned out to be). I'm the skill monkey. Our Warblade needed to be a tank because I run a Spellthief and then there's just the Bard.

Besides, there's a very similar jargon in D&D to begin with. In what MMORPG can you be a skill monkey, for example? Or a CoDzilla?

Then again, I'm annoyed by their usage in the 4th edition since it classifies characters much too strongly in my opinion and downplays their other roles. This need not be the case but the designers were clearly advocating it. And I'd prefer people not to use the terms during play. They're essentially meta-knowledge that subtracts from immersion. If I ever heard any of them being used in character... I don't even know what I'd do.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

The only one that bothers me is mob, because I keep thinking they are referring to a large group of people (possibly wielding pitchforks).

Somewhat depends on the context. What really annoys me though is when at any time (rpg or mmo) people refer to a singular opponent as a "mob".

 

[Ranes]

I'm no fan of the MMO vernacular. Terms like 'tank' grate even when I play MMOs (though I haven't been a regular MMO player since EverQuest, ten years ago). Perhaps it's because I tend to play traditional RPGs with older players that I don't suffer from exposure to it around the game table. Maybe. To be fair though, my teenage WoW-playing nephews have never used MMO slang when playing D&D with me, for which I am grateful.

 

[nightwind1]

So when introducing new players into a tabletop game (usually D&D, sometimes savage worlds, or L5R) they insist using the words "pull, tank, aggro, dps" . I understand the easiest way is to relate to a game you have played "in this case WOW/ guildwars". But even when I completely try to immerse them in the game using social scenes and other things they always seem to gravitate towards that. It especially annoys me when I put in other way of winning , or making an encounter easier but they just love attacking... over... and over and over.

I, as GM, would BAN ALL SUCH TERMS AND THINKING.

My games are for ROLEPLAYING, not replicating MMO's. If they wan to "tank" or "aggro", let them go play Warcraft.