Forked Thread: Its the terminology that kills me...

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I don't mind the jargon. And I don't think I will ever use the role names during play - maybe afterwards, when we're discussing how the session went, but then we're always doing meta-game talk.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I'm not a big fan of 'class/level' systems but it seems liked if your going to have them one benefit is an easy means of designation. With previous editions, players might say, "That's when my Wizard cast lightning bolt at the orc guard". Now its 'my controller'. Totally ruins the mood and atmosphere for me.

Anyone else feeling this or have you found it pretty easy to get into the spirit of the game with brutes, lurkers, leaders, etc.?

AD

I agree, but in the case of monsters the terms work really well. Monsters have a lot more variety then PCs and I need the tactical short hand.

At some point there may be enough classes for 4E that the role terms will be a really functional piece of vocabulary for describing a party, but with 8 classes that certainly isn't the case now.

It's also a question of register. If we were talking about party composition and tactics I would use the tactical terms and maybe talk about 'my controller,' but if I were describing action I completely agree that it has to be 'my wizard' or even 'my PC' or 'Fargoness Magi Extraordinaire'

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I don't mind the jargon, it is good for beginners to the game, since they give a very simple way to identify what a class is best at and if you don't like it simply ignore it.

Hell, in my games we don't even use class-names, either in-game or out-of-game. We use character names, our own names, or if that character has a specific allegiance/membership then the term for that, ie: Inquisitor or Mercenary.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I find the jargon a little jarring, if only because I don't play online RPGs, so its all a bit new to me.

But as others have said, each game has its own lingo. I've played HERO so much that I often use the term "Brick"...and get the expected uncomprehending stares until I correct myself and say "Tank."

Should I ever find myself playing 4Ed, I'll probably mark myself as a grognard for constantly using the class names instead of the role-jargon.

 

[Jhaelen]

One of the elements of 4E that puts me off the most is the act of identifying the classes as controller, striker, leader, etc.

Well, character roles have been a part of the game since the very beginning. It's just new names for the old roles of cleric, fighter, mage, and thief.
They're just no longer implied/hidden. And that's an improvement because now you can discuss tactical situations out of character using terms everyone will immediately recognize.

With previous editions, players might say, "That's when my Wizard cast lightning bolt at the orc guard". Now its 'my controller'. Totally ruins the mood and atmosphere for me.

I disagree. I don't see that happening. When I'm relating to someone what happened in my last game, I'll still say "That's when my Wizard cast lightning bolt at the orc guard".
I'd only use the 'technical' role terms if I wanted to discuss a tactical situation after the game. They're never used in-game or if I'm simply narrating.

 

[Shadeydm]

I agree with the OP that I find such jargon offputting/distasteful fortunatly no one was using it at the game table the other night.

 

[hong]

ffs ppl

The role names were used in the original thread, as mentioned in the first post, in the context of analysing the way 4E rules work. This is a world away from actual gaming around the table. Not only that, it's also a world away from talking about your 4E campaign, or your 4E character. It's twice removed from actual play. It is the equivalent of ppl on a D&D chatroom using lingo like "level 10 fighter" and "caster BBEG", only the lingo happens to be using new words.

 

[Wormwood]

I've played Champions too much to even notice such things.

(and what Hong said)

 

[Kaisoku]

and "Monty Haul" to refer to GMs too soft on the challenge and too heavy on the treasure.

Fun facts!

The term 'Monty Haul' is based off the host of the show "Let's Make a Deal", Monte "Monty Hall" Halparin.
I think you can guess why the name became the term (massive amounts of easily gained stuff).

I really like this term, because Monte was born in my own home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba (in Canada). Awesome... I'm almost proud... *sniffle*

 

[Badgerish]

I'm happy with the class-archetypes and monster-archetypes because of the underlying reason, they are lumped into groups because they are intended to do similar things.

A hobgoblin archer, a poison-spitting plant and a lightning-hurling cyclops are all classed as 'artillery' because that's what they (mainly) do: stand at the back and use damaging ranged attacks. They all have their different styles, abilities etc but at the end of the day, they do the same 'job'.

I see nothing wrong with adventurers coming up with easy identifiers/name for styles of monsters.