• buff
• debuff
• tank
• aggro
• DPS
• AoE
• Bonus:
  • Tapping
  • Untap

In some cases, you may even be fooling yourself that you’re playing a game.  Seriously, though, I’m a nerd, and listening to people talk like the above makes me want to take their lunch money.

The discussion that spawned this was an article on Slashdot about breaking up some of these concepts, so that MMOs don’t all end up the same.  I’m in full agreement… I want to have fun playing, and I want to at least pretend that it’s not all numbers in a computer somewhere.

(I had to throw in the M:tG terms just because playing that game causes you to talk especially nerdy.)