Of gishes and arcane defencers and whatnot: Is 4th ed. language for everyone?

[Achan hiArusa]

Fie on all of you, I shall use the term 'Zerth' instead so that I don't have to touch the taint of evil that the githyanki represent.

 

[Incenjucar]

Gish isn't 4E jargon, it's fantasy jargon.

Just like all the MMO jargon has migrated outside of MMOs.

In a generation, some of this stuff might actually become part of overall language, like blog, though this is unlikely unless it shows up in a popular movie.

 

[cr0m]

It's awesome that the poster who hates the word gish on account of its obscurity used the word shibboleth.

 

[Jack99]

Odd subject for a first post. Maybe we should get some fire and acid ready?

 

[Najo]

Only real place I have seen gish being used is with game designer interviews for both rpgs and mmos. It is a term that is starting to get used amongst players for certain fighter/ arcane style builds. I agree it is a term that is going to become more and more widely used as mmos and games like D&D get players behind the scenes more.

It is like terms like tank, gank, aggro, pull, mob and other mmo dialog is making its way into hobby game speak. It is all metagame speak to quickly relay a concept to those your talking to about game mechanics. None of those things are in-game terms or intended to use among non-gamers. If you do I think it is punishable by death or at least your non-gaming friends not wanting to hang with you anymore

 

[Incenjucar]

In two generations, they'll be using these terms as military code.

 

[Khuxan]

I believe a recent poll established that something around 2/3 of this site have played 1st edition AD&D.

So FM-U should be used because only 33% of people won't understand it?

I like the word gish. It is a word with a specific meaning which has evolved to have a wider meaning, because there was no suitable alternative. I think it's wonderful that versitality and changability, the things that makes English a brilliant language, can be seen at work in the gaming community.

 

[pawsplay]

So FM-U should be used because only 33% of people won't understand it?

Those remaining 33% can be educated when someone says, "Fighter/Magic-User."

I like the word gish. It is a word with a specific meaning which has evolved to have a wider meaning, because there was no suitable alternative.

Other than fighter-mage, fighter/magic-user, fighter-caster, and so forth, of course.

I think it's wonderful that versitality and changability, the things that makes English a brilliant language, can be seen at work in the gaming community.

Change for its own sake is not evolution.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My next Gish will be named Lillian, and she will rock on toast.

 

[pawsplay]

It's awesome that the poster who hates the word gish on account of its obscurity used the word shibboleth.

650k hits on Google, and it's not the name of a Smashing Pumpkins album.