In Game Terminology, Slang, Abbreviation Glossary

Per the latest suggestion thread I am starting this thread as an informational resource for players old and new to reference to see the definition of terms, slang and abbreviation used in various chat channels. Initially, I am going to leave this thread closed to posting so that the other moderators and I can build it up. Once we feel it is fairly complete, we will unlock it to allow additions. We will do our best to update this initial post with any added information. Any posts that are not providing new information or asking a specific on-topic question will be deleted.

If you don't see something you are looking for here, let us know or try GuildWiki. There are a Glossary page and Abbreviation page there that you may find useful.

A

• AB - Alliance Battles - PvP format deciding the location of the faction line on the Factions map. In addition to XP and balthazaar's faction, Kurzick/Luxon faction is awarded. Our alliance is currently allied with the Kurzick side.
• AFK - Away From Keyboard
• AoE - Area of Effect - Refers to spells that do damage over an area, usually recurring damage over a period of time, for example the elementalist fire magic skill Fire Strom.

B

• B/P or BP - Barrage Pet - Team build used for it's ability to get through the Ruins of the Tomb of the Primeval Kings maps more quickly than a more balanced team. Named for the use of 5 rangers with the elite skill Barrage and a pet. Also included is a Minion Master, Healing Monk and Orders Necro.

C
D

• DoA - Domain of Anguish - elite (very difficult) explorable areas only able to be accessed upon completion of the Nightfall campain.
• DP - Death Penelty - Reduction in health and energy suffered after dying (except in presearing). Eliminated by earning experience or returning to town.

E

• EotN - Eye of the North - GW expansion content

F

• Faction - Can apply to either PvP rewarded Balthazar Faction used to unlock items and skills for PvP only characters or for Kurzick/Luxon faction used to earn rare crafting materials or for helping our alliances standing with the Kruzicks.
• Farm or Farming - the process of killing hostile groups in a zone to pick up the drops, often involving targeting a key boss or set of bosses with a desired unique weapon drop.
• Favor - short for "Favor of the gods". Favor is decided by the home region of the winning team in the Hall of Heroes and allows all members of these zones access to the Underworld and Fissure of Woe.
• FTL - For the Loss - Implies something is bad
• FTW - For the Win - Implies something is good
• FoW - Fissure of Woe - High difficulty zone with many high XP reward quests and very difficult foes accessible from Temple of Ages (Prophesies), Zin Ku Corridor (Factions) or Chantry of Secrets (Nightfall) by paying 1 platinum tribute to the Champion of Balthazar while your home region has "favor of the gods."

G

• GG or gg - Good Game - often used at the end a PvP match.
• GL & HF - Good Luck and Have Fun - often used at the beginning of a PvP match.
• GLF - Group looking For
• Greens - Unique weapons usually dropped by named bosses in-game identified by the green colored text on the item name. Other than in starting areas (Shing Jea Island in Factions or Istan in Nightfall) they are maximum damage with "perfect" upgrades.
• GvG - Guild versus Guild - a PvP play format featuring 8 player (4 real players from one guild, including at least 1 officer) teams. Battles take place in the Guild Hall of one of the participating guilds.
• GWEN - Guild Wars Eye of the North - see EotN
• Gwen - NPC who appears as a child in the starting areas of the original chapter and plays a prominant role in the Eye of the North Expansion as an adult.

H

• HA - Heroes Ascent - PvP starting point for the worldwide tournament ending in the Hall of Heroes.
• HoH - Hall of Heroes - championship map for the PvP tournament started at Heroes Ascent. The winner of this match helps determine favor of the gods (needed for Underworld and Fissure of Woe access). The winner is announced in the chat window of every player logged into the game.
• HzH - House zu Heltzer - Capital city of the Kruzick faction in Cantha.

I

• IWAY - "I Will Avenge You!" - A warrior skill that was the basis of a long running dominant Heroes Ascent build. Any recent trends have received the -way suffix because of this (ie - ViMWay, HeroWay, ZergWay).

J
K
L

• LFG - Looking for Group
• LFM - Looking for More

M

• MM - In game (outside our alliance) this means Minion Master - A necromancer specializing in death magic and animation of undead allies. In our alliance it also refers to Maid Mirawyn - an officer in SoE - a mesmer having very little to do with undead minions other than a few friends who, based on her initials, have dubbed themselves her minions.
• Minion cookie - A reward Maid Mirawyn gives to her "minions" (see MM)

N

• newb - short for newbie, new player not knowledgable about the game or skilled
• noob or n00b - derogatory version of newbie - please do not use this term toward guild or alliance members

O

• Orders (Necro) - Necromancer using Order of the Vampire (Elite) and/or Order of Pain to increase damage with heavily physical attack teams (See BP). Often with Monk secondary to give additional healing to the group.

P

• PuG - Pick-Up Group - Party containing players who don't know eachother.
• PvE - Player versus Environment - the mission and quest side of the game.
• PvP - Player versus Player - the competative side of the game most of which is accessed on the battle isles.
• pwn - pronounced "own" - to defeat soundly

Q
R

• Run - Having a team member specializing in speed and/or other skills intended to be able to reach a destination without defeating any hostile creatures along the way. In Prophesies, it was possible to get a run to many key points of interest, but newer chapters have added additional mechanics that prevent being "run" too far ahead of your character's progress in the story line.

S

• SF - Elementalist using the elite fire magic skill Searing Flames
• SF - Abbreviation for Sorrows Furnace - a zone in Tyria known for valuable green (unique) weapons with max stats.
• SH - Elementalist using the elite fire magic skill Savanah Heat

T

• TA - Team Arenas - PvP arena with 4 player teams
• Thread Necromancy - Posting or voting in old "dead" threads for the sole purpose of bringing them back to life (see minion master)
• ToA - Temple of Ages - outpost in Kryta (Tyria) where the realms of the Gods (Underworld and Fissure of Woe) can be accessed.
• Tombs - Tomb of the Primeval Kings - This used to be the access point for the Player versus Player (PvP) tournament leading to the Hall of Heroes (HoH). Shortly before the release of Factions, it was "Corrupted". HoH can now be accessed through the Heroes Ascent outpost in the Battle Isles. This outpost is now the start of a high-end explorable area which follows 4 of the Heroes Ascent maps with difficult creatures typically found in the Underworld. The final Hall of Heroes map ends with 3 mesmer bosses who typically each drop multiple unique (Green) items.

U

• UW - Underworld - High difficulty zone with many high XP reward quests and very difficult foes accessible from Temple of Ages (Prophesies), Zin Ku Corridor (Factions) or Chantry of Secrets (Nightfall) by paying 1platinum tribute to the Voice of Grenth while your home region has "favor of the gods."

V
W

• ...Way - see IWAY
• WBK - Abbreviation of [ToJ.cc]WildBillKickoff's forum name
• WTB - Want to Buy
• WTS - Want to Sell
• WTT - Want to Trade

X

• XP - Experience point(s) - Earned for killing hostile characters who are no more than 5 levels below your current character level. Amount of XP earned is based on relative character level to your target and the number of party members in the area.

Y
Z
Symbols & Numbers

• 1 - Used (often in PvP) as an indication that a player is ready to begin a match, enter a mission or leave town.
• 15^50 - 15% increased damage while health is over 50% - refers to a weapon modifier or inscription.
• 20/20 - 20% chance of half casting time and 20% chance of half spell recharge time for caster weapons, for physical damage weapons it is 20% chance of armor penetration of 20% - refers to a weapon modifier or inscription set.
• 42 - used in place of 1 by MM.