Glossary of Terms
Aug 6, 2010 7:51:38 GMT -5
Post by Cascade on Aug 6, 2010 7:51:38 GMT -5
This is not required reading, but it's darned helpful! This is a list of terms you'll see used at WWM, and other RPGs too. The staff have put together this thread to help you, be you a new or established RPer.
Terms are labeled in bold, with their meaning following. Some terms use acronyms. If the acronym is more commonly used, it will be listed instead of the full term for easy use of the directory.
If you come across a term that we have not listed, please suggest it!
General RP Terms
RP
RPG
Account/Profile
Player
Character
Forum
Board
Thread
Post
Reply
Double Posting
Modify
Spam
Chatspeak
IC:
OOC:
Power-playing (PPing)
God-moding
Metagaming
Mary Sue
Gary Stu
Liquid Time
n00b
Newbie/Newb
Administrator/Admin
Moderator/mod
WWM-Specific Terms
WWM/White Wolf Mountain
The Power
Powers
Side/Alliance
Taggy
Important Characters
The White Wolves (WWs)
White Magic (WM)
The Power Trio
Taboo
Sheba
Geist
The Rabid Starfish
Terms are labeled in bold, with their meaning following. Some terms use acronyms. If the acronym is more commonly used, it will be listed instead of the full term for easy use of the directory.
If you come across a term that we have not listed, please suggest it!
General RP Terms
RP
RP is a very simple term used as an abbreviation for RolePlay. Roleplaying is the act of playing a role, or pretending in a sense. It can be described as writing a story or even acting.
RPG
RPG is an abbreviation for Roleplaying Game. RPGs are usually websites dedicated solely to roleplaying and interacting with other roleplayers.
Account/Profile
Your account is what you use to log into the website, it's yours and yours alone. A profile is where you go to fill out information about yourself that other players can see such as your age, name, location etc. To modify your profile, click the profile link at the top of this page.
Player
A player is a member of the roleplay website.
Character
A character is what the player roleplays. Roleplaying a myriad of characters helps us to explore our creativity and have fun at the same time. Also called "chars" or "charries" informally.
Forum
Forum is another word for Message Board. This website is a forum. A forum is a website used to interact with other people via messages.
Board
Boards are what make up forums. They are the areas in which you post.
Thread
Threads are within Boards. They are a collection of posts and replies. They have titles that the creator chose for them. When making a new thread, name it something creative that gets your point across. Also if you want the thread to only include you and one other player roleplaying, title it and put 'private' after the title. If you want to signal to other players that anyone is free to join, put 'open' after the title.
Post
Posting is the written message you submit into the thread in which you are roleplaying. You can modify your own post in case you want to change what you said or if you made grammatical errors that you want to fix.
Reply
A reply is the same thing as a post, but is a response to someone else's post.
Double Posting
Double posting is posting twice in a row in the same thread. In case of accidental double posting, such as if you accidentally press the post button twice and your post gets duplicated, you can click the "delete" button in the top right hand corner of your post to delete the copy. If you make a post and then realize later that you forgot to mention something, or have something to add, you can use the "modify" button in the top right hand corner of your post to modify it and add the new information. There's no need to post twice in a row
Modify
A handy little button that let's you edit your posts so you don't have to post a second time. The modify button is located in the top right-hand corner of all of your own posts. If a staff member tells you to fix something in your post, or you just want to go back and add something to your post that you forgot, you can use this function to do so.
Spam
Spamming is posting a lot of small, useless posts in a short period of time. It is discouraged both OOC and IC, but on certain threads in Chat and/or Games (such as "the Randomness thread" it is allowed. If you think you may be spamming, ask your self "Is my post in the right place? Does my post follow the theme or idea of the thread? Does my post add anything of value to the thread?" If the answer to any of these questions is no, you may want to post something else instead
Chatspeak
In this day and age many people communicate through instant messaging or texting and to get the message across faster, people use chatspeak. Examples include 'u' instead of 'you' or 'r' instead of 'are' also using phrases such as 'lol' and 'rofl'. This is a literate website so please refrain from using chatspeak while posting in character. If you feel the need to use chatspeak in Out Of Character threads, feel free, although it's usually frowned upon.
IC:
Short for "in character." It is a prefix that distinguishes a player's role-play voice from their normal voice. When a player is "IC" they are narrating their character's story rather than speaking in their own voice. It is usually only required if an out-of-character comment has been made before it and it is necessary to denote that the post is now in character again.Example:
OOC: Hey, does anyone remember what season it is?
IC: Clash look out of her den into the vast forest that surrounded her, wondering what the day had in store. She didn't rise, but merely lay where she was, letting the sun warm her face and give her energy.
OOC:
Out of character. This is a prefix to a player's normal voice, when they are asking a question or making a comment about their role-play. Excessive OOC is discouraged in IC posts, as it breaks the flow of the RP. If a lengthy discussion about the RP is required, you may instead wish to PM the members involved or make a thread in the Plot board.
Power-playing (PPing)
Power-Playing is often used as a general term to describe the actions of a player that gives their character an unfair advantage. It is usually used to describe the instance of the player controlling the thoughts or actions of another player's character. Power-playing includes stating that someone else's character says something, does something, thinks something, or that their character is injured by yours without that player's consent.Example:
Power-playing: Glacial leaped at Emery, sinking his fangs into his throat. Emery howled in pain.
Not Power-playing: Glacial leaped at Emery, aiming for the throat and waiting to hear a satisfying howl of pain from his rival.
God-moding
A form of Power-Playing (see above). Specifically god-moding is having an unrealistically fast, strong, intelligent or otherwise "godlike" character.Example:
Kesenai ran the whole length of the mountain range in ten minutes to reach his territory, where he single-handedly annihilated the pack of 100 evil wolves that had invaded his lands.
Metagaming
A form of Power-Playing (see above). Metagaming is when a player gives their character knowledge of the plot or environment that the character would have had no other way of finding out about.Examples:
-Tiggs knows that there is going to be a sudden flood, so she has her character warn the pack about it a week in advance.
-Cas knows that Minnow's character is secretly a spy, so she has her own character confront him about it even though there was no reason for them to be suspicious.
Mary Sue
Mary-Sues are female characters that are perfect in almost every way. They sometimes combine Power-playing, God-Modding or Metagaming to have some kind of advantage over other characters.Mary-Sues are not disallowed (unless they powerplay, god-mode, or metagame, which are disallowed) but they are frowned upon. No character is perfect, they all have flaws. A character may be perfectly polite, but may lack in other personality traits. Giving your character personality flaws is one of the best ways to make them interesting, unique, and memorable.
Gary Stu
See Mary-Sue. Gary-Stus are the male equivalent.
Liquid Time
Liquid time is a mechanism that allows a character to be active in more than one thread at a time. This can sometimes cause confusion when organizing the order of events. There is no liquid time at WWM, which means a character may only be in one thread at any given time.Note: Pack Alphas may be in more than one thread in order to accept new members into their packs. No other form of Liquid Time is allowed.
n00b
A n00b is a term used for players who are purposely idiotic, rude or disrespectful. A n00b is not necessarily new to RPing, but they generally refuse to listen to advice when it is given and are very set in their ways. n00bs tend to break many rules, and due to their lack of respect, issued official warnings that may result in a suspension or ban.
Newbie/Newb
A newbie or newb is NOT a n00b. A Newbie is a new player who has either recently joined the site or who might even be new to role-playing. Newbs tend to be respectful of the rules, and staff are more than wiling to help a newb should they have questions or need assistance with something. WWM loves newbies/newbs, since they are the life's blood of the site.
Administrator/Admin
An administrator is the highest level of staff who as well as maintaining the site, organizes the moderators and makes critical decisions with the help of his or her fellow admins. An admin is someone who either founded the game, or has been a member for a long time. The admins were moderators before being promoted, and generally have far too much time or effort to put into the site
Moderator/mod
A moderator/mod is a player who has been adopted into the staff and who has the duty of seeing to the general running of the site and helping members with problems. A player is made into a moderator if they have been an exemplary member and the staff require some extra help.
WWM-Specific Terms
WWM/White Wolf Mountain
White Wolf Mountain is the name of this forum. It is also the collective name for the area that we play in. Eg: "Welcome to White Wolf Mountain" works in character as well as out of character.
The area is sometimes separated into the "White Wolf Mountain Range" and "White Wolf Valley". The range is the mountains surrounding the area. The valley is the area that most wolves live in below the mountains.
The Power
An ancient and metaphysical presence that resides deep in the mountain. The Power watches over the wolves of WWM and keeps the valley safe from human invaders.
Powers
Tiny pieces of The Power given to mortals that the White Wolves deem worthy. There are many classes of power, and not all are available at the same time. With practice and hard work, your wolf's power may reach new levels of strength and usability.
Side/Alliance
Alliance is the side your wolves are on. The three alliances at WWM are Good, Evil and Neutral. Good wolves tend to believe in purity and kindness, while evil wolves are prone to liking death, destruction and anything bad. Neutral wolves have no preference, they are neither purely good or purely evil.
Taggy
The affectionate term for the cbox of WWM. It is the little chat box located at the bottom of the forum, above the "Affiliates" section. Here, WWM members and guests like to chat amongst themselves or leave messages for other members. It's a useful little box
Important Characters
The White Wolves (WWs)
The White Wolves include Sheba, Geist, Taboo, and White Magic. They have control over a strong kind of magic, given to them by the mountain. Sheba, Geist, and Taboo are able to gift mortal wolves with special powers to aid them while living within the boundaries of White Wolf Mountain.
White Magic (WM)
Created by the mountain, White Magic was the first of the White Wolves. She is the all knowing entity that sees over the whole of White Wolf Mountain. She is a kind soul who uses her abundant powers to heal those who have fallen sick or become injured. She is also the mother of the White Wolves Sheba, Taboo, and Geist.
The Power Trio
This is the specific name for Taboo, Sheba and Geist. These three give out Powers to the wolves of WWM.
Taboo
Taboo is the kindest and most caring of the White Wolves, and mortals of the good alliance seek her out to gain powers. She refuses to give out destructive powers like fire or lightning.
Sheba
Sheba is the most moderately-aligned of the White Wolves, and she gives powers to neutrals. She is wise and very practical, if a little eccentric, and often gives out powers based on what she thinks will suit a wolf best—sometimes even overriding their request. She is more lenient with the types of powers she gives away, particularly destructive ones, but she will turn away good alliance wolves who come to her to seek those powers.
Geist
Geist is the cruel and sadistic daughter to White Magic. The evil wolves of WWM seek her out to gain powers. She is fond of destructive powers and things that bring pain, but can't stand arrogance. She often demands favors in return for powers, and may play games, lie, or even give wolves mutations or disabilities if they do not respect her, or if she is bored.
The Rabid Starfish
The rabid starfish will gobble up anyone who spam/floods the taggy, for he is its protector. A mascot of WWM, the starfish has had many forms over the years and will probably have many more. Starfish doesn't appear in the WWM world and has no relevance to the plot, but he is still a lovable little character indeed.