Uncomfortable

Playing MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) is fun. You don't just get to hear and see a story, you ARE part of the story. Add to that spells and abilities that your character can possess: like being able to invoke and hurl fireballs, walk on water, shapeshift into a tree that can heal wounds and such, sneak past enemies unseen, or turn an annoying enemy into a harmless sheep - if I could do those things in real life, life could just become a little tad more interesting.

Friends sometimes play online games together for fun. Being able to adventure with someone you know and trust makes the game less of a hassle. And to make things easier the next time they embark on another online adventure, they would naturally want to discuss strategies and such outside the game.

And here's where it gets interesting. Gaming has a vocabulary of its own. There are terms like "DPS" which means "damage dealing" or a "class that excel in doing damage", "tank" which means "a character whose role is to take damage for the rest of the group, or "CC" which means "crowd control" an ability to render an enemy (or enemies) harmless for a set amount of time.

Naturally, for any non-gamer, hearing such terms in a conversation between gamers can really be quite confusing. And it is not seldom that some conversations can lead to uncomfortable situations when such terms and conversation are taken out of context.

Here are just some examples I've picked up from the World of Warcraft forums. If you're a WoW player or just an MMORPG player for that matter, these things mean nothing special. But if you're not familiar with MMORPGs or simply don't have any idea as to what on earth is being talked about here, I'm really sorry but the most respectable thing I could do for you now is to just point at you and laugh.

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"I just need to enchant my legs and then we can duel."

"We were hosting this huge raid, but couldn't find enough tanks and then people started leaving."

"I've never had much to do with damage specs. But now I'm leveling a kitty and I'm really enjoying the rotation."

"Man, remember last night when we raided Mother Shahraz and her cloth pants dropped? And after that we rolled to see who got the shoulder and I won?"

"I was being ganked by two dwarves in the Wetlands last night."

"I snuck up behind three people last night and stabbed them with my daggers. Killed them in one shot."

"We need to recruit more priests."

"Once I popped all my cooldowns, she started going down fast."

"The boss is just a quick tank and spank. Drops pants that'd be great for me."

"I need a new chest. This one doesn't have gem slots."

"That druid's healing touch was great!"

"Stay back or I'll use my bubbles!"

"Some dude ninja'ed my pants last night."

"I'm down on health! Someone give me a flash of light!"

"Ten of us did Kara last night. Man, it was epic!"

"I was bored last night. So I drank ten jugs of bourbon and puked all over people in the bank."

"I'm a twink."

"I hate grinding. It's so tedious and boring. After a while, it just drones on and on. I tried playing music and even doing it with a friend but it's still boring."

"Wanna hang out?" "Nah, can't. I'm doing Twins."

"I can't duel you yet, lost all my CDs."

"I accidentally minimized, hold up!"

"I was camping at the graveyard until I died."

"She ambushed me while I was eating, before I could blink I was already down."

"I understand how to kill people, I just can't do it fast enough."

and last but not least...

"I can't come to the phone, I'm being killed right now!"

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That's all, folks!