Today is the day, you have been hearing about MMORPG's from your friends, you have seen advertisements online, you have talked about it in the water cooler at work, and now you are ready.

Your fingers are sweaty, you have carefully chosen a MMORPG you would like to play, you closed the door so nobody can disturb your gameplay. You register your account and you get stuck choosing your password because you are too excited to think about a password. You are done, your account is made, and you close any other program that is running your computer. You shut the window, and close the blinds. You click the game launcher, and turn up the volume of the speakers, the credits begin on dark screens and tiny game developer intros. You are drooling and can't wait to start your epic adventure that you will remember for years to come.

The amazing computer generated introduction for the game is done, now you are not just drooling, you are at the edge of your seat, you eyes are wide open. You see the login screen, you type as fast as you can, so fast it gives you an error and you retype it again as fast as a lightning. You land at the server selection, PVP? PVE? Role Play Server? ummm whatever... You browse through the races, gosh so many to choose, who will you be?.. you decide on a Rogue, you customize it to look as tough and courageous as you can. You press your teeth, clutch your left hand, and click "Enter World" .



The loading screen makes you wait, 10 seconds 15 seconds, it is like an eternity to you even if it was only 30 seconds. You are there, you are IN, you are the new warrior in the land.

You see a mark on a character in front of you, you read the game tips that are popping on your screen like annoying internet ads.

You embark on your first quest, and you look and wonder at your surroundings.

Then it happens.

You say "Hi" to "sexygirl689" that is killing a monster next to you and she replies "STFU u N00b". She must be Russian or something you think, you walk back to a building and you say "HI" to a huge player, with big armor and shiny weapons. "Hey GTFO I'm looking for ma buddy that is going to sell me an Epic ride". Ummm, maybe GTFO stands for Great True Friend Online you shake your head and move along.


You login the next day and the story repeats itself, you have no idea what T6 is but someone wants to buy it , and you point out that someone misspelled "Owned" by putting a P instead of an O (Pwned). You read "I pwned the mob with 2 hp left, the tank was dead, and my AOE skills all under cooldown" and you read it 2 times more and still you can figure out the complete message.

What happened?

You browse through some game guides online and none explain it, you go through the forums, and it is the same, or even worse. The thing is, there is no guide for MMORPG culture, but: "It is just a game!" yes you are right, but this is online, and people from all over the world have an influence on it, Acronyms are the bread and butter of everyday if you don't know what they mean, you will get stuck.

Now lets start with the basics:

This is some of the most commonly used acronyms, there are tons more, and the vary from game to game, so don't be afraid to ask inside the game the ones you don't know. For more please go to the Sources section of this post or see: RPG Acronyms Help < - -Click.

LOL Laughing Out Loud

KS Kill Stealing. When another player attacks the same creature as another player and receives the reward for the kill instead of the person who originated combat. Newer games have mechanisms for discouraging this behavior.

Loot Currency or items that are dropped by a mob when it is defeated

Aggro An abbreviation that refers to an aggressive monster.

Uber A term used to describe a player, association, item, MOB, etc. as exceptionally powerful.

PWN Usage of the term "own", as in "I PWNed you!"

PvE Player versus Environment. A game environment in which players may attack and kill NPCs and MOBs only.

PvP Player versus Player. A game environment in which players are permitted to attack and kill one another's characters.

Powerleveling The act of helping a lower level player gain experience at an accelerated rate.

n00b From "newbie", meaning a newcomer not yet familiar with the rules, this can be offensive, high level players are called n00bs sometimes for doing dumb stuff.



Making Friends
This depends mostly on your personality, but just saying "Hi" once in a while wouldn't hurt. Even though I started with a negative side, there a plenty of good, friendly players out there that will gladly join you in some quests. Friends are good, remember this is a social game, the more friends you got, the better.

Some friends you meet online will be long term friends, maybe years. So write down where you met them, the perhaps later you can remember them how did you met :P


The Map
Maps are your friends, get familiar with your map, if it annoys you to open your map on the screen every time, you can search for a map online and print it out so you can have it handy.

Making a wrong turn can get you into trouble, I have done it a few times, I wander off and I end up surrounded by level 52 monsters, when I haven't even reached level 10 yet. And that is a pretty bad experience.
The Game Controls
Get familiar with you game controls, learn how to simplify your common tasks with the keyboard. Again, this varies from game to game, so be sure to check the game help to see what you can use.

Being a Newbie
There is no shame on being new, it doesn't matter how high level players say how great at powerful they are, they all started at level 1. Just like you, and there was a time when they were lost as well. Accepting that you don't know it all will serve you well in the beginning. Online games have a lot of content, you can't just study a quick guide and throw yourself in there. MMORPGs are meant to keep you entertained for months,even YEARS.

So relax, enjoy being new, make yourself a cup of coffee and look for some newbie game guides or something to read.


On the next post, I will talk about the character you chose, careers, stat points, reputation, and more :)


Sources:
http://kb.iu.edu/data/adkc.html
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001313.php
http://everquestonlineadventures.station.sony.com/content.vm?page=Glossary