RPG Buzzwords that have effectively lost their meaning due to poor over-use

[dragoner]

Jargon is fine if it can be recognized as shorthand for a larger concept. Jargon is crud when it is used to gate keep or obfuscate.
The problem is the use, not the word. Ask for clarification and move on with the conversation.

It is funny when like writing a doc and it lights up the spellcheck. Though I think in RPG's it's often crud like you say.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Here are a few more:

Bottlepop RPG - I guess it makes sense that there's a genre of light and poppy RPGs, but I see too many being described like this.

Dungeon Theater - a term used too often to dismiss all the descriptive elements in a dungeon or adventure that aren't necessary for game play. Overused!!!

Phys Play - this one just weirds me out, and it's used so often. I guess online gaming is now so common that in-person games are being labeled as Phys(ical) Play? It just sounds a little gross to me. I don't know.

 

[Gorgon Zee]

Every word, jargon or not, is viewed differently to different people. "Jargon" in this context is a set of words we (this group) uses that are not immediately clear to outsiders. Are they helpful? yes, very much. They enable me to get a sense of what is being discussed immediately. Are they perfectly defined? Of course not -- but so what? So long as it helps me understand a discussion, it's good. Looking at the OP's list and a few others, pretty much all of them are useful:

• OSR - Very helpful. As soon as you tell me a game is OSR, I know that unless it hits a lot of good buttons for me, I can ignore it.
• Cinematic - Helpful. It's good to know that a game stresses spectacle over plot and character portrayal
• -punk - Yeah, not so helpful. Although honestly, it might be better than what's happened to the term in the music genre.
• Liminal - Helpful, but mostly because it means the books will have lovely art and not much playtesting.
• Diagetic - I tend to agree that this is unecessary and doesn't help me understand a post.
• TTRPG - If you use the word "game" in this group, we expect it to be a roleplaying game. So if we need a term to contrast with other types of game, this is better than the more general RPG. I don't care that it sounds like online games are not included, because (a) everyone knows they are, and (b) boardgames don't all have boards.
• Agency - Not jargon, but a helpful description, especially in comparison. In think we all have a base agreement on what it means, even when we argue the exact meaning to death.
• Problematic - A super-helpful catchall which alerts me to the fact that I might not want to support the noun being described, without having to present a brief account of the reason which is virtually never sufficient. I much prefer the simple alert, which I can then follow up on if I care.
• Narrative - Yeah, some people still insist on strict GNS definitions of narrative, but most people use it as a signifier that story is more important than rules or verisimilitude. Helpful.

The terms that have been stretched beyond usefulness are fairly few. I can only think of:

• Railroad - People now use this for anything that reduces player agency, which is a little too broad to be helpful.
• Modern - Sometimes in the last 3 years, others in the last couple of decades. Also used for style, but I cannot work out any common style between instances when I've seen it used

So for me, "a modern paperpunk game that eliminates railroading" doesn't help me at all. "An OSR game from a problematic company that focuses on narrative player agency" will definitely give me something to think about.

 

[MGibster]

Dice Queen - having lots of dice shouldn't make anyone a target of derision.

Just this last weekend I had to roll 12d8 to get the damage for a dragon's breath weapon. I'm not sure many dice one needs to be a dice queen. Clearly I don't have enough dice for my own personal needs. Truthfully, I haven't heard any of the terms you listed. Like ever. The world is just passing me by I guess.

Incidentally, 12d8 is jargon, yet everyone here knows exactly what it means. It would be kind of silly for me to have to specifically spell out that I had to roll twelve eight-sided dice. Much easier to just write 12d8.

 

[payn]

Just this last weekend I had to roll 12d8 to get the damage for a dragon's breath weapon. I'm not sure many dice one needs to be a dice queen. Clearly I don't have enough dice for my own personal needs. Truthfully, I haven't heard any of the terms you listed. Like ever. The world is just passing me by I guess.

Incidentally, 12d8 is jargon, yet everyone here knows exactly what it means. It would be kind of silly for me to have to specifically spell out that I had to roll twelve eight-sided dice. Much easier to just write 12d8.

I was hoping it was a jest posting.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Just this last weekend I had to roll 12d8 to get the damage for a dragon's breath weapon. I'm not sure many dice one needs to be a dice queen. Clearly I don't have enough dice for my own personal needs. Truthfully, I haven't heard any of the terms you listed. Like ever. The world is just passing me by I guess.

Incidentally, 12d8 is jargon, yet everyone here knows exactly what it means. It would be kind of silly for me to have to specifically spell out that I had to roll twelve eight-sided dice. Much easier to just write 12d8.

To be fair, I've never heard of any of the terms I listed either.

 

[Sacrosanct]

• Modern - Sometimes in the last 3 years, others in the last couple of decades. Also used for style, but I cannot work out any common style between instances when I've seen it used

Oh, +100. As we gamers age, this is a constant moving target. For me, who started in 1981, modern is WotC on. Which is weird, because it's been almost 30 years now. Just like how it's hard to believe Lord of the Rings movie is 25 years old now...

 

[MGibster]

• Liminal - Helpful, but mostly because it means the books will have lovely art and not much playtesting.

This absolutely cracked me up. I don't think I've heard anyone refer to a horror game as liminal, so I'm not hitting the right places apparently, but if I ever see it your definition is the first that will spring to mind.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

"Liminal" has been a buzzword in the general horror zeitgeist. Things like the Backrooms, movies like Skinamarink (not worth watching, INMSHO) have leaned into it heavily. I think any problems with the term in TTRPGs space is really just spill over from that, not really an RPG issue.

Yeah, I thought about the Backrooms, which are great, about hallways and also about a liminal space -- a space between states/places -- but I can definitely see it confusing the issue for people.

I would think of something like Geist as being a game about liminal spaces, as the PCs are intermediaries between the living and the dead who literally help those on the wrong side of the line move through a middle area -- the liminal space -- to where they belong.

Similarly, the Stygian Library is a great liminal space, in the form of a quasi-real infinite library. So are the Astral and Ethereal Planes, the Wood Between Worlds in the Narnia books, etc.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This absolutely cracked me up. I don't think I've heard anyone refer to a horror game as liminal, so I'm not hitting the right places apparently, but if I ever see it your definition is the first that will spring to mind.

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