Table of Contents

Abbreviations and Glossary for The  (ESO)Elder Scrolls Online, that introduces you to common terminology used in MMOs and in ESO in particular. The information on this page was compiled by the honorable Neizir on his wonderful community thread.

General

• TESO, ESO, ES Online, TES Online, ESOTU - The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, an MMORPG developed by Zenimax Online Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks, and the 8th entry in the critically-acclaimed Elder Scrolls franchise.
• ZOS, ZOE, Zeni - Zenimax Online Studios, the developers of ESO. Sometimes mistaken as Zenimax Online Entertainment, a company that does not exist.
• Noob/Newb/Nub etc. - A new or an unskilled player, sometimes both.
• MMO, MMOG, MMORPG - Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) Role Playing Game (RPG)
• DK - Dragonknight
• NB - Nightblade
• Sorc - Sorcerer
• Temp - Templar
• BRB - Be right back. Used when one is going away from their computer for a period of less than 5 minutes.
• AFK - Away from Keyboard. Used when one is going away from their computer for a period of more than 5 minutes.
• GTG - Got to go. Used when one goes away from the computer for either the rest of the day, week, month, year, eternity, or at the very least, several hours.
• RP - Roleplaying. It's quite a popular activity in ESO, contrary to popular belief.
• ERP - Erotic Roleplaying, a.k.a Cybering. Not quite as popular in ESO as in other games, but it's there.
• PST - Please Send Tell. When someone uses this abbreviation, they want you to whisper them if you want to participate in whatever event they're holding. For example, DK/Temp LFM FG, PST! (Dragonknight and Templar Looking for Players for Fungal Grotto, Please Send Tell!)
• Alt - An alternate character on someone's account, characterized by either less playtime, lower level or just general classification by the player.
• Main - An account's main character, characterized by either more playtime, higher level, or just general classification by the player.
• WW - Werewolf. Sometimes mistaken for Woodworking.
• Vamp - Vampire. Can sometimes be mistaken for the British boy band.
• VR - Veteran Rank
• Vet - Veteran. Can be applied to long-playing players, players with experience in a particular activity, players at the Veteran Ranks, high-level dungeons, high-level quests etc.
• CP - Champion Points.
• EP, Reds, Cherries, Tomatoes, Apples, Albion - Ebonheart Pact. Very rarely are they called Albion, but it happens. This is because in ESO's spiritual predecessor, Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC), Albion was the "red" faction.
• DC, Blues, Smurfs, Covvies, Blueberries, Midgard - Daggerfall Covenant. Sometimes mistaken for Disconnect, or the universe of superheroes. They also are sometimes (very rarely) called Midgard, because in Dark Age of Camelot, Midgard was the "blue" faction.
• AD, Yellows, Bananas, Simpsons, Tree-Huggers, Hibernia - Aldmeri Dominion. Like the EP and DC, they also have a DAoC counterpart, a faction called Hibernia, which was the faction of the foresty tree-hugging people. Just like their ESO counterparts!
• Lag - Latency or FPS problems.
• FPS - Frames per Second, how smooth ESO runs on your machine depending on your graphics settings and your computer.
• NPC - Non-Player Character. Any "friendly" character that isn't a player. Hostile NPCs are called Mobs.
• /w, tell, whisp, PM - Whisper, a form of private conversation that no-one else but you and the person you're whispering can see.
• QQ - To whine or cry about something, one of the favorite pastimes of many players. It looks like a pair of crying eyes. Interchangeable with T_T, which also looks like a pair of crying eyes, but T_T is mainly used on oneself when one is sad.
• Troll - When you purposefully make up bogus/rubbish information in order to get people to QQ for entertainment. Both hated and enjoyed by many people, but don't do it!.
• Flame - To insult someone.
• 1337 - Leet, short for elite. This term has been around as long as online games have existed. It is used when someone or something is super-duper cool and awesome.
• Epeen, E-Peen - One's big ego, pride, or attitude over the internets.
• Bio, Bio Break - When one is summoned to the porcelain throne by the call of nature. If your vocabulary is poor it means when someone wants to go to the loo.
• L2P - Learn to play. Used when one is poor at playing their class and/or build correctly.
• ROJO - Roaring opportunist + Jorvuld's guidance, set combo used by healers at high level play

[*] B2P - Buy to Play, the business model that ESO uses.
[*] CS - The Crown Store, the ESO cash store. Very easily mistaken for the Champion System.

Crafting and Trading

• WTS - Want to Sell. Used when a player wants to sell something e.g WTS Dwemer Motif for 20k (Don't expect to actually see a Dwemer motif at this price!).
• WTB - Want to Buy, used when a player wants to buy a certain item.
• WTT - Want to Trade. Used when a player doesn't want to use gold to obtain an item, but wants to use an existing item instead as currency e.g WTT Imperial Motif for Daedric Motif.
• G, GP - Gold, one of the three main currencies of ESO, the other being Alliance Points (AP) and Crowns (C). For example, WTB Kuta, 600g.
• C - Crowns, the special currency used in the Crown Store to buy all sorts of cosmetics.
• K - When talking about a sum of gold that reaches into the thousands, for example 6k means 6,000 gold. 10k means 10,000 gold and so on. Can also be used as a shortened form of OK.
• GS - Guild Store.
• BS - Blacksmithing, also used as an abbreviation for the vulgar way to say bull's faeces.
• Alch - Alchemy
• Ench - Enchanting
• Woodwork - Woodworking
• Cooking - Not used as often, but another word for Provisioning.
• Gold Sink - An activity that costs so * much and isn't worth the high price. Examples buying something from someone who is selling it for much higher than the average price, and repairing your gear at low level when you're going to replace it quickly.
• Junk, Vendor Trash - Loot that is only valuable as something to sell to a merchant. Not worth selling to another player, because the item is too common or has no function beyond being sold.
• DE, Decon, Disenchant - Deconstruct. The "Disenchant" bit comes from the MMO term of the same name, where one would destroy a particular item to get its components. It basically means the same thing in ESO.

[*]EU - Europe, European.
[*]NA, 'Murica - North American.

Locations, Dungeons etc.

• Cyro - Cyrodiil
• Crag - Craglorn
• Raid - Another term for Trials.
• AA - Aetherian Archive
• HRC - Hel Ra Citadel
• SO - Sanctum Ophidia
• DSA - Dragonstar Arena
• Dung - Dungeon. Often mistaken for poop.
• Delve - Solo Dungeon
• FG - Fungal Grotto
• DSC - Darkshade Caverns
• WS - Wayrest Sewers
• SC, Spindle - Spindleclutch
• TBC, BC - The Banished Cells. Can be easily mistaken for Blessed Crucible.
• Arx, AC - Arx Corinium
• EH - Elden Hollow.
• CoA - City of Ash
• CoH - Crypt of Hearts. Can be mistaken for the cancelled MMO, City of Heroes.
• DFK - Direfrost Keep
• Volen, VF - Volenfell
• TI, Tempest - Tempest Island
• BHH, Blackheart - Blackheart Haven
• SW, Selene's - Selene's Web
• Crucible, BC - Blessed Crucible. Can be easily mistaken for Banished Cells.
• VoM, Vaults - Vaults of Madness
• LFG - Looking for Group. Used when you want a group for a certain task such as PvP or dungeons.
• LFM - Looking for More. Can be used when you need players in a group or just something in particular.

PvP

• AvA (Alliance vs. Alliance), RvR (Realm vs. Realm), PKing (Player Killing), PvP - Terms used for Player versus Player combat.
• AP - Alliance Points, the currency of PvP. It's earned from basically any PvP activity.
• LFC - Looking for Camp. Should be used when a keep under attack is in need of a camp. Can be mistaken for Liverpool Football Club.
• FC - Forward Camp, which used to be a type of PvP equipment that allowed you to spawn wherever it was placed. FCs are extremely rare now since they were taken off of store shelves in Update 5, with only a handful of players in possesion of them. It was very useful in both attack and defense, but it made PvP much more of a lagfest and it encouraged things like Bloodporting (Killing yourself to spawn somewhere else), as well as making World PvP less common.
• Oil - Either an Oil Catapult or Flaming Oil, types of defense-oriented equipment.
• Luring - A useful tactic where a weak, low-level player stands out in the open, while his much stronger buddies are in stealth behind him waiting for unsuspecting enemies for them to ambush.
• Hotspot - A place in Cyrodiil where PvP occurs often. Examples of hotspots are Alessia Bridge, the Nagastani Fields, and the Chalman Milegate.
• Jumping/Pilejumping/PJing - A very effective tactic where a large force from one alliance attacks another alliance which has been very weakened from just taking a keep from a third alliance. Can also be used on players after they win a fight against a ganker (see below). This tactic was used by the Ebonheart Pact in the famous Battle of the Chalamo on February 7th, 2014, where ESO's first emperor was crowned (There is a book about it in the Inner section of Chalman Keep.).
• Choking - When an alliance severs a Transitus link by taking three resources around one keep to break its link, but not actually attacking the keep, thus disconnecting an enemy alliance alliance from both the keeps the transitus link is connected to, and the choked keep itself.
• Zerging - A tactic which is generally frowned upon by much of the PvP community. It involves a massive amount of players travelling in a huge clump called a Zerg, Blob, Train or a Zergball in order to overpower an enemy keep/outpost/resource. It normally involves no tactics, but actually can win some battles if put up against an average-sized, average-skilled force. Zerging is one of the root causes of lag.
• Wrecking Ball - Essentially a zerg with tactics. It involves a zergball clumping together and buffing themselves so they are mega OP (Immune to CC, Immune to AoE and almost anything) and then charging at high speed towards an enemy. Wrecking Balls are EXTREMELY useful when defending and almost always successful. Contrary to popular belief, a wrecking ball CAN be defeated if you know what to do (Hint: Spread your ass out!).
• Ganking - When a higher-level player and/or his buddies jump out of nowhere to attack lower-level players. Hated by many "gankees", but go ahead and do it it if you want. It's a warzone, there are no rules!
• Inc Short for Incoming Train. Used when a large enemy force is spotted heading for a specific location. For example, if a scout saw a Covenant zerg heading for Blue Road Keep, they would say in zone chat "dc inc brk".
• BRK - Blue Road Keep
• Kings - Kingscrest Keep
• Farra - Farragut
• Drag, Dragon, Dclaw - Fort Dragonclaw
• Chal/Chalm/Chalamo - Chalman Keep
• Ales - Fort Aleswell
• Sej - Sejanus Outpost
• Roe - Castle Roebeck
• Drake, DLK - Drakelowe Keep
• Blood, CBM - Castle Bloodmayne
• ]b]CBB[/b] - Castle Black Boot
• Brind - Castle Brindle
• CFG, Fare - Castle Faregyl
• Bleaks - Bleaker's Outpost.
• Ebonheart War Council, EWC, WAR - On the EU server, this is the main governing body of most Pact PvP as well as one of ESO's largest "guilds" by player count (Technically it isn't one guild, it's one big alliance of several guilds). The EWC and Exile are currently arch-rivals and absolutely despise eachother. Its most notable players are Quicky Ra, Subhuman, and myself, Neizir!
• Exile - The Covenant's main EU PvP guild, containing many formidable and elite players. Also the EWC's arch-nemesis. Most notable players are Abraxus, Hexys, and Lairgren.
• Banana Squad - The Dominion's main EU PvP guild, also containing many formidable foes. The situation right now is that the EWC and Exile are the bitterly hateful rivals while the Banana Squad is just the * little brother watching on and just being very big nuisances to non-Dominionites. Most notable members are Magicka de Hex, Neithi and Frostsoul.

   

PvE

• AvA (Alliance vs. Alliance), RvR (Realm vs. Realm), PKing (Player Killing), PvP - Terms used for Player versus Player combat.
• AP - Alliance Points, the currency of PvP. It's earned from basically any PvP activity.
• LFC - Looking for Camp. Should be used when a keep under attack is in need of a camp. Can be mistaken for Liverpool Football Club.
• FC - Forward Camp, which used to be a type of PvP equipment that allowed you to spawn wherever it was placed. FCs are extremely rare now since they were taken off of store shelves in Update 5, with only a handful of players in possesion of them. It was very useful in both attack and defense, but it made PvP much more of a lagfest and it encouraged things like Bloodporting (Killing yourself to spawn somewhere else), as well as making World PvP less common.
• Oil - Either an Oil Catapult or Flaming Oil, types of defense-oriented equipment.
• Luring - A useful tactic where a weak, low-level player stands out in the open, while his much stronger buddies are in stealth behind him waiting for unsuspecting enemies for them to ambush.
• Hotspot - A place in Cyrodiil where PvP occurs often. Examples of hotspots are Alessia Bridge, the Nagastani Fields, and the Chalman Milegate.
• Jumping/Pilejumping/PJing - A very effective tactic where a large force from one alliance attacks another alliance which has been very weakened from just taking a keep from a third alliance. Can also be used on players after they win a fight against a ganker (see below). This tactic was used by the Ebonheart Pact in the famous Battle of the Chalamo on February 7th, 2014, where ESO's first emperor was crowned (There is a book about it in the Inner section of Chalman Keep.).
• Choking - When an alliance severs a Transitus link by taking three resources around one keep to break its link, but not actually attacking the keep, thus disconnecting an enemy alliance alliance from both the keeps the transitus link is connected to, and the choked keep itself.
• Zerging - A tactic which is generally frowned upon by much of the PvP community. It involves a massive amount of players travelling in a huge clump called a Zerg, Blob, Train or a Zergball in order to overpower an enemy keep/outpost/resource. It normally involves no tactics, but actually can win some battles if put up against an average-sized, average-skilled force. Zerging is one of the root causes of lag.
• Wrecking Ball - Essentially a zerg with tactics. It involves a zergball clumping together and buffing themselves so they are mega OP (Immune to CC, Immune to AoE and almost anything) and then charging at high speed towards an enemy. Wrecking Balls are EXTREMELY useful when defending and almost always successful. Contrary to popular belief, a wrecking ball CAN be defeated if you know what to do (Hint: Spread your ass out!).
• Ganking - When a higher-level player and/or his buddies jump out of nowhere to attack lower-level players. Hated by many "gankees", but go ahead and do it it if you want. It's a warzone, there are no rules!
• Inc Short for Incoming Train. Used when a large enemy force is spotted heading for a specific location. For example, if a scout saw a Covenant zerg heading for Blue Road Keep, they would say in zone chat "dc inc brk".
• BRK - Blue Road Keep
• Kings - Kingscrest Keep
• Farra - Farragut
• Drag, Dragon, Dclaw - Fort Dragonclaw
• Chal/Chalm/Chalamo - Chalman Keep
• Ales - Fort Aleswell
• Sej - Sejanus Outpost
• Roe - Castle Roebeck
• Drake, DLK - Drakelowe Keep
• Blood, CBM - Castle Bloodmayne
• ]b]CBB[/b] - Castle Black Boot
• Brind - Castle Brindle
• CFG, Fare - Castle Faregyl
• Bleaks - Bleaker's Outpost.
• Ebonheart War Council, EWC, WAR - On the EU server, this is the main governing body of most Pact PvP as well as one of ESO's largest "guilds" by player count (Technically it isn't one guild, it's one big alliance of several guilds). The EWC and Exile are currently arch-rivals and absolutely despise eachother. Its most notable players are Quicky Ra, Subhuman, and myself, Neizir!
• Exile - The Covenant's main EU PvP guild, containing many formidable and elite players. Also the EWC's arch-nemesis. Most notable players are Abraxus, Hexys, and Lairgren.
• Banana Squad - The Dominion's main EU PvP guild, also containing many formidable foes. The situation right now is that the EWC and Exile are the bitterly hateful rivals while the Banana Squad is just the * little brother watching on and just being very big nuisances to non-Dominionites. Most notable members are Magicka de Hex, Neithi and Frostsoul.

Characters, Skills, Combat, Abilities etc

• Build - The heart, soul and life force of every character. A character without a build is like a human without a heart. A build combines your primary attributes (Health, Magicka, Stamina), your secondary attributes (Armor, Weapon Damage etc.) your class, your gear, your combination of abilities, your race and your buffs into your character's overall proficiency.
• Glass Cannon - A character that deals a high amount of damage, but has poor survivability.
• Titanium Teddybear - The opposite of a glass cannon, a character who has great survivability but poor damage output.
• Squishy - A character that dies alot. Sorcerers are known for being particularly squishy.
• Mag - Magicka
• HP - Health
• Stam - Stamina
• OP - Anything that is overpowered, for example, the Jesus Beam, Lethal Arrow, Jason Leavey's Hair and Headnetch.
• FOTM - Flavor of the Month. A term used where a new "thing" has been found that makes a certain class uber-powerful and thus half the population of ESO goes and rolls this build to make themselves OP. The well-known PvPer Sypher is known for making FOTM builds which are quite powerful.
• Scales off of - When the values for a certain ability or passive are based on another stat, described as the scaled ability's "primary", so increasing the primary of the ability/passive in particular increases the damage/healing etc. done by it. For example, the values of a spell scale off of Spell Damage. Therefore, Spell Damage is the spell's primary and increasing Spell Damage will therefore increase the values of the particular ability.
• Jesus Beam - Radiant Destruction, the spell notorious for being arguably the most powerful spell in the game.
• Gear - All of your armor, weapons, jewelry etc.
• Dmg - Short for Damage.
• Ulti - Ultimate Ability.
• AoE - Area of Effect. Types of abilities that affect all allies/enemies in a certain area, rather than one target.
• CC - Crowd Control, types of abilities that don't do alot of damage but rather hinder an enemy's ability to do something like moving/attacking etc.
• DoT - Damage over Time. Any type of ability that deals damage over a period of time.
• HoT - Healing over Time. Any type of ability that heals a player over a period of time.
• Tick - The frequency of which damage or healing from DoTs or HoTs will occur, for example, every one second, you are healed/hurt for 1337.
• RNG - Random Number Generator. Luck of the draw, a "random" mechanic, usually used to refer to the difficulty of obtaining a specific drop or the chance of something proccing (See Below).
• Proc - Short for Procedural Random Occurrence. When a buff is applied to your character as a result of RNG. For example, the 5-piece Ashen Grip set bonus has a 10% chance to deal fire damage upon melee hits. When that happens, it is described as having procced.
• Pot, Pots - Potions. Possibly mistaken for the slang use of the drug known as marijuana or cannabis.
• Holy Trinity - The combined term for Tanks, Damage Dealers and Healers. All 3 support one another in some way - Tanks protect, healers heal, and damage dealers kill.
• Tank - A type of player that aims to stay alive for as long as they can and protect a group from damage.
• DD, DPS, Damage Dealer - A type of player that, as their name suggests, deals damage. In groups, these players help the tank kill stuff quickly as the tank will usually have sacrificed his damage dealing capability for survivability.
• Healer - Probably the most important member of your group, this player keeps the tanks and damage dealers alive. In turn, Tanks and DDs protect the healer.
• Drops - Items that can be looted from enemy's corpse.
• Mobs - Groups of normal enemies.
• Trash Mobs - Groups of basic enemies in a dungeon or trial that are not associated with a specific boss.
• Adds - Enemies that join a fight after it has begun, usually by being summoned or where their arrival is scripted. This includes enemies that draw aggro mid fight.
• Tank n' Spank - The most common and traditional type of group combat. The tank draws aggro, the DDs deal damage and the healer keeps them alive.
• Aggro - Aggression. Determines who an enemy will attack. If you stand too close, they will go hostile and begin combat (Only on aggressive mobs, passive mobs like Guar don't attack unless they're provoked).
• Draw Aggro - Dual meaning, the first refers to tanks trying to keep their enemy's attention on them and off of the other party members. Also refers to enemies selecting a party member other than the tank and attacking them. (Sometimes called stealing aggro.) Also related to losing aggro, when an enemy loses interest in the tank and targets something else.
• Leash - A very lazily designed mechanic. It is the maximum range an enemy will follow the player. ESO is unusual in that enemies will chase players beyond their leash, make or receive one attack and then fully heal and return to their starting position.
• Spawn - Refers to either mobs, or the locations those mobs enter the world (the actual spawning). The location can also be called a spawn point. In PvP this also applies to the player when they die.
• Food/Drink - Stuff that buffs your primary attributes and their recovery rate. Almost every max-level PvPer seems to be using Consummate Honey Brittle, which is VERY bizarre considering the stuff is dirt-cheap yet the recipe is quite rare. It also makes you OP, and it can be classed as FOTM for Food.
• Nuke - When you focus not on tactics to kill but on dealing a massive, massive amount of damage. Basically zerging in PvE.
• Kiting is a term primarily encountered in MMORPGs referring to a popular method of killing mobs (monsters) or other players by staying at a distance, using ranged attacks, and running whenever the enemy comes near. Similar tactics may be used in other computer and video games.

1. View the Thread on the Official Forums. Republished with permission