Beginner's Guide: The Social Side

A large part of what makes Dark Age of Camelot (and any persistent world game) great is the people in it. If you play the game all by yourself, you lose one of the best aspects of the experience. So, how do you communicate with the other people in the game? How do you enhance your adventures by sharing them with others?

Chat Channels

The Dark Age of Camelot manual describes each of the communication options, including how to customize the chat channels. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with how these channels work, as well as how to use keyboard shortcuts to initiate different chat options. You'll find that a familiarity with the various chat options will be very handy as you start interacting more and more with other players. Some of the basic chat channels are:

Sends that player a private message.



Will say something that can be heard by any player in your immediate area.



Will send a message to everyone in your group.



Will send a message to everyone in your guild.



Working in Groups

Sometimes it's fun to go out and hunt monsters and complete tasks and quests alone. However, the rest of the time, it's even more fun to join in a group and go where you probably couldn't go alone. Group interaction is fun, challenging and interesting. Many players find it much more exciting and "on the edge" than playing alone. Plus, you may find that there are certain players you really like to adventure with. Having the support of a well tuned group allows you to fight higher level monsters, get better drops and gain additional experience from group bonuses. For some character types, it also allows you to use your skills in the most effective way.

Once you have joined one, check in with the other members to see what role you might play. Some character types, such as healers, are highly prized by most groups for their buffs, heals and rez abilities. However, with other character types, you might want to check what role you could best play.

Also when playing in groups, stay tuned in. In PvE (Player versus Enemy), don't go pulling random monsters, but pay attention to the group's focus. If there is a designated "puller" watch the monsters they bring in and concentrate on helping control and defeat them. If you are going to pull monsters, be sure that all the other members of the group are healed and powered up - in other words, ready to rock 'n' roll - before you pull new mobs. Group members may say a variety of things to indicate that they are ready, such as: "gtg" (good to go), "rfp" (ready for pull) or just "r" (ready). If someone says, "I need to med" or "OOM (out of mana)," it means they need to recharge their character.

In RvR (Realm versus Realm), pay attention for commands and instructions from group leaders as the enemy can attack at any time, from anywhere! Players in groups may call out when they see an enemy from another realm, usually only by mentioning direction, such as: "behind," "inc (incoming)," "left," etc. Group members may also call out when they are unable to move (stunned or mesmerized), need healing, need buffs, call for someone to assist their target, etc. Paying attention helps ensure your group's survival.

There are many ways to create or join a group in the game. You can use the LFG (Looking for Group) system, the CGF (Casual Group Finder) tool, advertise you're looking for a group or members for your group in region chat, or create/invite manually.

Player Guilds

One of the best ways to be connected in the game is to be a member of a player guild. All players will begin the game in a new player guild with other new and returning players. This is very useful when starting your adventure, but it doesn't have many of the advantages that a player created guild does. Once you do join a player guild you're likely to find a lot of resources at your disposal. For instance, as a member of a guild you may be able to find excellent crafters who will make you weapons, armor and other items for cost or barely over cost. You will also get to know a specific group of people who are inclined to adventure with you, and guild members are great sources of information. Well organized guilds are great at RvR combat and can help by bringing experienced groups into the battles.

These are just some of the reasons for joining a guild. There are others, including the sense of belonging and the greater level of connection within the game. Check out the guilds. Ask members of different guilds how they operate and what they are looking for in members. Often, if you join a guild, you can get hand-me-down equipment that is much better than you could obtain playing solo.

Click here for more information on player guilds.

Trading with Players

In addition to grouping, joining guilds and general chat with other players, you can often do some good business with other players. Crafters are happy to trade their goods for money or other items of specific use them. Often, you'll get a nice unique drop off a monster that isn't appropriate for your character class, but would be great for someone else.
You might offer to trade it for something you can use, for money, or even for goodwill. In general, other players can be your best resources for information, items, enchantments to your items and the true fulfillment of the game experience.

 

Etiquette

Dark Age of Camelot is a social environment, and being a good citizen will get you farther than making trouble. There are rules - both spoken and unspoken - to online behavior, and it's a good idea to know a few of them when you start out.

Kill Stealing and Experience Leaching

Don't attack a monster that someone else is already fighting. Unless you are in a group with someone, it's best to leave them alone in their battles. This includes healing or debuffing. Most players don't mind if you offer them a buff or stat enhancement, but it's best to ask first. The only exception is if they specifically ask you for help. Any other action you take will steal some of the experience they gain, and nobody appreciates that. If you want to fight alongside someone else, ask if they'd like to group with you.  Or, if you see a group you'd like to join, ask.

Yelling

TYPING IN ALL CAPS IS CONSIDERED YELLING AND IS VERY IRRITATING TO OTHER PLAYERS. Be respectful. If you try talking to someone, be respectful of their time. Ask if they are busy before launching into your questions or making requests. Most people are happy to chat, to help and to listen - but not when they are in the middle of combat or engaged in some other task. Also, people often get overwhelmed with chat messages. They may tell you they are really busy. Respect that.

Begging

Don't ask for gold, equipment or buffs. Generally, higher level players are annoyed by other players constantly begging for gold, equipment or buffs. Sometimes, players will offer buffs for free to all takers. It's fine, then, to ask. Or, if you have a friend and you'd like a buff, you can probably ask. But don't just go around asking random players to buff you or to give you gold or equipment.


Glossary

	Expression	Description
	Add	An additional enemy joining a battle. See also BAF.
	AoE/AE/PBAoE	Area of effect spell that damages all enemies within a range from the caster.
	AF	Armor factor; basically your likelihood to avoid a blow.
	AFAIK	'As far as I know.'
	AFK	'Away from Keyboard.'
	AlB	short for Albion, or a player from albion.
	Aggro	Short for aggression; used to describe when an enemy has targeted someone to attack.
	BAF	Stands for 'bring a friend.' Basically, the same as 'Add.'
	Bait	to lure a monster. (see also the more common expression: 'pull').
	BG	can be used to refer to one of the Battlegrounds zones or a player created battlegroup. A battlegroup is a large assembly of groups for the purpose of sharing information or completing a very difficult task.
	Bind	Type /bind to bind to a location. If you die, you will resurrect there.
	Bladeturn(BT)	A shield that protects against a single attack. A pbt is a 'pulsing bladeturn' that resets itself periodically, offering continued protection throughout a long battle.
	BRB	'Be right back.'
	BRT	'Be right there.'
	BTW	'By the way.'
	Bubble/Bub	A blue circle in your experience bar. 1/10 of a level. (Also used to describe a bladeturn spell, because of its bubble-like spell effect.)
	Buff	A protection or stat enhancement spell.
	Camp (also camp out)	To remain in a location, generally killing enemies there. Alternative - To quit out of the game.
	CAE	Cone area of effect, a spell that hits all enemies in a swath directly in front of the caster.
	Cats/Cata	The Catacombs expansion.
	Chant	A type of spell that is used by certain types of classes. Chants take effect instantly when implemented.
	Con	The color system used to determine the general level of a creature, player or item. Ranges from gray (lowest) to purple (highest). Also can refer to constitution, especially constitution lost upon dying as in "I have to go buy back my con, and then I'll be ready to go."
	Conc	Concentration, used by various character types for enhancements and buffs on themselves and other players.
	DD	Direct damage spell.
	Debuff	A spell that decreases some aspect of another player or creature, such as strength, resistance to a specific type of attack, speed, etc.
	Delve	Selecting an object and pressing Shift-I on your keyboard to get more information.
	Ding	Common term used when a player levels. Originally based on the sound the game made when you achieved a new level.
	DoT/dot	Damage over Time; a spell that continues to do damage to an enemy periodically until it wears off. A typical DoT would be a poison spell or attack.
	Drop	Also known as 'loot,' the items and cash dropped by vanquished enemies.
	End	Short for Endurance.
	Focus	Basically a buff for a specific specialty, often found on casters' staves.
	FoP/fop	Font of Power a Perfector Master Ability that drops a node that restores mana/power over time. Also used for 'Full of Power' or 'Full Power.' Sometimes used to let a group know that a caster's power is completely charged up. Also, fom or fm, for 'Full of Mana' or 'Full Mana.'
	Gank	To thoroughly defeat an enemy. See also, 'pwned.'
	Gimp	To reduce the effectiveness of something. Generally used to describe changes made by the developers that seem to reduce some aspect of a particular class.
	Grape	Something that cons purple. You might see a group of purple con enemies and say, 'Grape to me.'
	Grats	Congratulations.
	Gray	Something that cons gray. Useless to fight or use.
	GTG	'Good to go.' Used to let a group know you are ready to fight.
	Hib/Hibby	Short for Hibernia or Hibernian.
	IMO/IMHO	'In my opinion' or 'in my humble/honest opinion.' There are many variations of this.
	INC	Incoming. Used to warn a group that enemies are on the way.
	Instance	An adventuring area that is private to a group of characters, available with Catacombs.
	Instant/Insta	A spell or chant that takes effect immediately when cast.
	IRL	'In real life,' meaning outside the game. Also 'RL'.
	JK or J/K	Used to signify that what was said was meant to be a joke.
	K or KK	OK.
	Kiting	Using stuns, roots, snares and mezzes to stop an enemy in its tracks, then keeping a distance between them and you allowing time for others to kill and heal.
	Lag	Slowdowns in the game due to the online connection.
	LD	Link death. Describes the situation when someone drops from the game unexpectedly because they 'lagged out' or lost connection.
	Leeching	Attacking an enemy someone else is fighting (or healing the other character) to get free experience without risk.
	Level	A measurement of advancement for a character, and a relative indication of its strength and power.
	LFG	'Looking for Group.'
	Lifetap	A specific type of spell that sucks the life out of an enemy and gives it to the caster.
	Loc	Your numeric location ingame. Get this by typing /loc.
	LOL	'Laughing out loud.' Also rofl ('rolling on the floor laughing') and other variations.
	LoP/LoM	Low on Power (Mana), a warning that a caster is not going to be able to continue to cast spells much longer.
	Loop	To circle back and pick up a group member who has fallen behind.
	Loot	See 'drop.'
	LoS	Line of sight. Many spells require that the caster can see the target.
	Lowbie	Someone many levels below... a relative term.
	Mana	Power... used to cast spells.
	Melee	Hand-to-hand fighting. Up close and personal.
	Mez	Stands for mesmerize. Temporarily stops an enemy from acting in any way.
	Mid/Middie	The realm of Midgard or a player from Midgard.
	Mob	Any enemy creature is known as a 'mob.' The term originated as 'MOBile object.'
	Nerf	Same as gimp.
	Newbie	A brand-new player who doesn't yet know the game.
	Newbie Zone	An area where monsters are easy, and generally not aggressive (neutral).
	NP	'No problem.'
	NPC	Non-player character. A character in the game that is not a monster, but is not run by a player, either, such as merchants and guards.
	Nuke	A direct damage spell.
	OJ	Orange con. Also, o/j.
	OMW	'On my way.'
	OOC	'Out of concentration,' meaning that the caster cannot apply more buffs because his supply of concentration points is exhausted. Also 'Out of Character' when roleplaying.
	OOE	'Out of endurance.' Less commonly used.
	OOP/OOM	'Out of power (mana).' Used by casters (including healers) to let a group know that they cannot cast any more.
	OTM	'On the move.'
	OTW	'On the way.'
	Pet	A creature controlled by a player.
	PK	Player killer. Someone who kills other players.
	PL/Powerlevel/PL'ing	Using high level characters in a group with lower level characters to get the lower characters experience fast.
	Pop	A monster has suddenly appeared in the game. Also, 'repop' refers to the reappearance of a previously killed monster.
	Proc	Refers generally to spells embedded in certain items of equipment that have a chance of 'procing' or being cast automatically during battle.
	Pull	To antagonize an enemy and draw them into a group for battle.
	PTM	'Purple to me.'
	PvE	Player versus Environment. Normal monster combat.
	PvP	Player versus Player.
	Pwned	A strange expression meaning that an enemy was thoroughly defeated. Another way of saying 'owned.'
	RA	Realm Ability.
	RDY or R	Ready to start battle.
	Res/Rez	Resurrect. Players with resurrection spells will often come to the aid of other players who have fallen in battle, offering a 'rez.'
	Rez Sickness	The temporary weakened condition following a death.
	RFP	'Ready for pull', meaning ready to fight. Same as 'gtg'.
	RHFS	'Rest here for a second.'
	Roll	To use a random number generator (/random #) to determine who gets loot. "When we beat the boss let's roll on the drops" Can also be slang meaning to be suddenly and thoroughly defeated "I was questing in the frontiers and got rolled by some mids."
	Root	A spell that stops an enemy in its tracks by reducing its speed effectively to zero. The target can still attack, but can't move.
	RP	Generally refers to Realm points; may also mean 'Rally point' or 'Role playing.'
	RvR	Realm vs. Realm combat, unique to Dark Age of Camelot.
	Slash Command	Special commands used throughout Dark Age of Camelot that begin with the slash (/) character. The Dark Age of Camelot manual has a list of slash commands.
	Snare	A spell that slows an enemy down.
	Spam	Broadcasting a message to everyone or sending the same message over and over.
	Spawn	The 'birth' of a monster; same as 'pop'.
	Spec	Specialize, referring to a character's choices of specialization path.
	Stun	Generally a short-term paralysis spell that prevents an enemy from acting.
	Tank	A character with strong offense and defense who can fight monsters directly, often serving the purpose of holding aggro while casters use their spells to further damage the enemy.
	Taunt	A way to get an enemy to aggro. Tanks use taunts to get a monster's attention so it won't attack casters.
	ToA	The Trials of Atlantis expansion.
	TD	Task dungeon, one of the dungeons where players with the Catacombs Expansion can complete Taskmaster tasks.
	Twinking	Equipping low level characters with high level equipment; a way to give them an advantage early in the game.
	Twist	To alternate quickly between instant-casting abilities to keep both active simultaneously where normally only one would be active at a time.
	Warp	To move instantly from one location to another. Also, describes what happens when there is lag, and conditions reset afterward.
	WB	'Welcome back.'
	Woot!	A popular exclamation to express joy.
	WTB/WTS/WTT	'Want to buy', 'Want to sell', 'Want to trade.'
	WTH	'What the hell?'
	XP/Exp/EP	Experience points.
	Zerg	A large, densely packed group of players - term originates from Starcraft.

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