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Jargon, decoded

The glossary

304 words from World of Warcraft, MMOs, esports and every game chat you have ever been flamed in — what each one means, and how people actually say it. Every entry has its own link, so you can send it to the friend who just asked what a twink is.

Word of the day

AV

PvP

Also: Alterac Valley

Alterac Valley: 40 v 40 across a whole zone, ends when a faction boss dies. Can last hours or minutes depending on the era.

“AV weekend, honor is doubled, everyone's queueing.”

See also: Battleground, Honor

All words

5 of 304 words for “Mechanic”

  1. Mechanic

    Raiding & dungeons

    A specific thing a boss does that you must respond to: move out of fire, spread, stack, swap tanks.

    “The mechanic is simple: don't stand in the shadow bolt volley.”

    See also: Boss, Enrage

  2. Mechanically

    Gaming slang

    Skill with the controls: reaction time, precision, execution. 'Mechanically gifted' as opposed to smart.

    “Mechanically he's the best rogue on the server; his decisions are another story.”

    See also: Micro, Cracked

  3. Boss

    Raiding & dungeons

    A named enemy with mechanics and a loot table. The point of the instance.

    “Last boss drops the trinket.”

    See also: Trash, Mechanic, Loot table

  4. Cracked

    Gaming slang

    Extremely good, mechanically.

    “That hunter is cracked, kited three people.”

    See also: Mechanically, Diff

  5. Enrage

    Raiding & dungeons

    A timer after which a boss does far more damage, forcing the group to kill it fast enough. Also 'soft enrage': mechanics that get worse over time.

    “We hit enrage at 8%, need more DPS.”

    “Hard enrage at eight minutes.”

    See also: Mechanic, DPS check

WoW

World of Warcraft, especially vanilla, Classic and Forever.

79 words

Raiding & dungeons

Group PvE: pulls, loot rules, wipes and parses.

47 words

PvP

Battlegrounds, duels, twinks and world PvP.

31 words

MMO

Words shared by every online RPG.

47 words

Esports

Competitive play, broadcasts and the meta.

21 words

Gaming slang

What people say in every chat, every game.

79 words

Missing a word, or got one wrong? Tell us. Then go build something and use it in a sentence.