Renaming the G-word (hint: fighter-mages)

[Cam Banks]

Er... the core classes have names that have been in previous editions. So pretty much all of them are good. (I'd argue that "Magic-User" was slightly too verbose, but "Wizard" is fine.)

And if somebody is new to D&D? No, I think the criteria you raise, while perhaps rational when applied to the option of choosing a new term, not only do not apply to many of the core classes, but which only barely apply to the term we're not using. It's not ambiguous, true, but then it is utterly meaningless outside of a geek reference and has no intuitive qualities, unlike pretty much every other suggestion on this thread.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

A non-made up word like "warrior-wizards" is less ambiguous because, as a compound of common words, its meaning is immediately accessible: a guy who fights and uses magic.

Yes, but even then it's less than ideal. By virtue of being a compound word, it indicates two things which are smashed together.

One of the benefits of THREADCRAPPING WORD* is that it is a unified whole. It's not someone who learns to fight, and then learns to cast spells, and then combines the two; it's someone who learns to fight and cast spells. It's not taking some chocolate, and taking some peanut butter, and making a Reese's; it's having peanut-butter-chocolate.

* On an unrelated note, does the OP indicate that I can designate what will be considered threadcrapping in each thread I start from now on? And that it will be enforced by the Mods? That might be useful to know ...



Bad form, everyone. Bad form.

 

[lobsterGun]

One of the benefits of THREADCRAPPING WORD* is that it is a unified whole. It's not someone who learns to fight, and then learns to cast spells, and then combines the two; it's someone who learns to fight and cast spells.

The term isn't exactly clear to anyone outside of the forum scene.

I'm not exactly new to D&D. I've been playing since like 1980. When I first ran into the term "[THREADCRAPPING WORD]" on the forums I had no idea what people were talking about. While I did own a copy of the field folio, I hadn't cone to the trouble of commiting it to memory. It took a good long time before I was able to piece it all together. That's the drawback of the term, it isn't self describing.

The concept of the warrior/mage it fundamental to a fantasy setting. Whatever you call it, it should be self explanatory.

I'm still not too clear on the term PEACH.

And really, I'm not too clear on the concept of threadcrapping either.

 

[F4NBOY]

Battlemage
Battlewizard
Battlecaster
Battleweaver
Bladeweaver
Bladecaster
Blademage
Shieldcaster
Shieldmage
Swordmage
Swordcaster
Swordweaver
Manablade
Manawar
Manawarrior
Manaknight
Manafighter
Manafencer
Spellwarrior
Spellknight
Spellsword
Spellfighter
Spelldefender
Spellfencer
Spellwar
Magefencer
Mageknight
Mageblade
Magewarrior
Magicfencer
Magicfighter
Magicwarrior
Whitchblade
Whitchknight
Whitchwarrior
Warmage
Warweaver
Warcaster

 

[kirinke]

Rogue-mage:
Spell Thief
Merry Caster
Gnome
Kender

 

[Nifft]

it is utterly meaningless outside of a geek reference and has no intuitive qualities, unlike pretty much every other suggestion on this thread.

No intuitive qualities is a bonus. Know why? Because not everyone is smart enough to think exactly like me. Some people are foolish enough to think that "elf" means something other than what I use it to mean! Why, some fools who are new to D&D might think that an Elf is appreciably smaller than a human!

This is a meta-game concept that's meant to apply to a variety of builds, built from a variety of base classes and prestige classes. The word THE WORD I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY. IS IT STILL FUNNY TO MAKE PEOPLE DO THIS INSTEAD? I HOPE IT IS STILL FUNNY is not something you need to know at 1st level, nor necessarily at 20th level. It's an advanced concept for people who are familiar with the system.

It's okay if newbies don't get it. If you're out to destroy THE WORD I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY. IS IT STILL FUNNY TO MAKE PEOPLE DO THIS INSTEAD? I HOPE IT IS STILL FUNNY your target audience isn't newbies anyway. It's folks on the forums who want an unambiguous way to describe a meta-game concept.

Jargon can be useful. IMHO, "THE WORD I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY. IS IT STILL FUNNY TO MAKE PEOPLE DO THIS INSTEAD? I HOPE IT IS STILL FUNNY" is a good example of useful jargon.

If you want to replace it, do so with something that actually provides better functional value to the target audience.

Cheers, -- N

 

[olshanski]

I'm still not too clear on the term PEACH.

I thought the term was an Everquest term, because the only person I heard use it was an evercrack addict (before WOW).

Peach:
Please
Examine
And
Critique
Honestly

I am not too fond of the acronym for a number of reasons:
1) it's stupid
2) Anything submitted to a board is presumably open for examination and criticism
3) How many people give dishonest criticism?

Peach is I guess a way to distinguish threads where someone wants critique vs someone who wants to show off but not get critiqued.

In any case, to get back on subject, We've heard a lot about swordsage, battlemancer, and so on... but none of those are as elegant as the all-time great password as immortalized by the Marx bros.

"Swordfish".

It has the benefit of including the word sword, yet it also rhymes with dish!

 

[Korgoth]

One of the benefits of THREADCRAPPING WORD* is that it is a unified whole. It's not someone who learns to fight, and then learns to cast spells, and then combines the two; it's someone who learns to fight and cast spells. It's not taking some chocolate, and taking some peanut butter, and making a Reese's; it's having peanut-butter-chocolate.

That makes no sense whatsoever. That's like saying "Flblinndle" is better than "warrior-poet" because otherwise I can't tell if he does fighting and poetry at the same time, or at different times.

I guess I can't say that Emeril is a "celebrity chef". I have to start calling him a "Wazzlako" so that I can explain that he doesn't cook and host a show, but instead cooks-and-hosts-a-show.

 

[Nifft]

I am not too fond of the acronym for a number of reasons:
1) it's stupid
2) Anything submitted to a board is presumably open for examination and criticism
3) How many people give dishonest criticism?

On the WotC boards, where discussion can be ... less mature, shall we say, than it usually is here, the acronym was started to request that people actually give honest feedback.

As in, not just "awww, what a cute cat race!"

Why? From what I've heard, it was because the discussion in general seems to have been forced down to the level of "aww, what a cute cat race", because people's feelings got hurt if they were told that they had created something bad / useless / broken / stupid.

Why is PEACH extra bonus super stupid? Because now EVERYONE puts it in their posts over on WotC's boards. In other words, the culture has changed once the problem was recognized, but the acronym stuck around as a cargo-cult totem. You even see people writing "Please PEACH!", which is just painful.

I'm strongly against allowing this particular cargo-cult totem to infect EN World, so I tend to ignore PEACH posts, or post in them only asking that they remove the PEACH (after which I'll actually give the content some consideration and feedback).

Cheers, -- N

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

My issue with the word in question is that it has a very specific meaning within the context of the D&D game ... and that meaning has been been stretched to apply to a much broader application.

I'm willing to accept it in the proper context -- if we're talking about githyanki -- but not anywhere else.