Credits and Legal
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This guide was written by Tim (timski) Howgego, copyright 2001-2003. Errors
and suggestions should be reported to tim (at) capsu (dot) org . Please put
"Jumpgate" somewhere in the email subject field. Contributors are noted with
the relevant text. Special thanks to Armchair, who first tried to write this.
This document is in the public domain: You may copy and repost this guide, but
the content of the document, including the credits, must remain unchanged.
Jumpgate copyright (c) 1999-2003 NetDevil Ltd. Other trademarks and copyright
are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.
Most of the words here reflect those used on EU English channels, although
some historic US jargon has been included, and much is common between servers.
Where possible, I have tried to indicate where a phrase originates. The
following are used quite commonly:
- IRC - commonly used on Internet Relay Chat.
- MUD - commonly used in Multi-User Dungeon chat.
- RP - commonly used in conventional RolePlaying.
- Usenet - commonly used on usenet (newsgroups).
JumpGate jargon sometimes uses common hackish or lamer malformations, such as
the replacement of certain characters with numbers or letters such as 0 for o
or s with z and capitalization for shouting, and various heavily shortened
forms, such as U for you, R for are, and m8 for mate (friend). Such changes
are not included here - most of them are fairly self explanatory.
Squad abbreviations have been excluded: there are too many and they tend to
change at short notice.
Sectors of space are almost always shortened, either by the adoption of their
initials, or the use of one word in a multi-word name, or the use of a number
(for example Outer Third may become O3). Only station abbreviations have been
included.
Equipment and commods are also frequently abbreviated or simplified. Common or
confusing jargon has been included, but many are not included.
Like the abbreviations, sentence structure is essentially lazy. For example,
single words may be turned into a question by simply adding a question mark.
This partly reflects the limit on characters in any one line, partly a
requirement to communicate quickly in the heat of battle.
10 day account
- 1. Pilot registered with no intention of subscribing to a paid account but
instead causing as much trouble as possible for free, normally being banned
before the ten days are up. Also see grief and second account. 2. Noob yet to
subscribe to the game.
303
- A pilot that has picked up a small bounty (normally 303 credits), either as
a result of a failed civ rip or from a friendly fire incident.
A
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AB
- (ABed). 1. Abbreviation for afterburner, sometimes used as "I ABed and
escaped the flux". Also burner. 2. Maximum speed of a ship at full throttle
and applying afterburner, as in "my tens does v550 ab". 3. All boost artefact
MODx which increases PP, engine thrust, cap and shield recharge rates.
active mining
- (active roiding). Process by which a miner circles a roid whilst mining,
increasing the extraction rate.
AE
- All efficiency artefact MODx which increases efficiency of engines, shield
and cap.
AFK
- Abbreviation for 'away from keyboard'. [MUD/IRC]
Aman
- Shorthand for Amananth. May refer to the station, the area of space, or
products made by the Amananthii.
ammo
- Ships using ammunition based guns, such as Raks.
Apy
- (Ape, Apex). Shorthand for the Octavius starter ship, the Apteryx.
armored
- (armoured, armoring). 1. In combat, to reduce a ship's shields to zero and
start to attack the armor belt. Armoring a ship is often seen as a sign of
superiority in a battle and provide a cue to the injured party to flee.
Armoring is sometimes used as a warning. 2. Following a collision, to have
lost all shielding and some armor.
Artefact
- (artifact, arty, artie). Pre-collapse equipment recovered from wreckage
drifting in deep space. Artefacts can be the best equipment pilots can get,
but the majority of artefacts recovered are useless. Note that artefact and
wreckage may be interchangable in certain circumstances. For example, an
artefact hunter first searches for wreckage from which an artefact can be
recovered, but may claim to be flying a pattern to find an artefact, not to
find the wreckage which is actually what they search for to start with. This
is an entirely pedantic point, so don't worry about it.
artied
- Commonly a ship using a high proportion of artefact equipment, but may be
applied to a ship equipped with just one artefact.
B
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Baby Eater
- (Baby Bits, and things in a similar vein). Reference to Octs and their
alleged dietary requirements.
back gate
- (back route, back door). Secondary route into an area of space, used by a
small proportion of shipping. For example, the route between Aman Gate and
Inner Aman is Amananth's back gate.
ban
- (banned, ban stick). Suspension of the player's account for some period of
time, normally for some kind of breach of rules.
Banana
- See Tens.
Battle Tow
- Tow class ship configured for combat and/or battle command and control.
Rarely seen following the introduction of scout, ranger and bomber class
ships.
BBL
- Abbreviation for 'be back later'. Later normally implies sometime later in
the same day. [IRC]
BCU
- Abbreviation for Beacon Control Unit, MODx used to tune or flip beacs.
Beac
- (Beek). Shorthand for TRI Beacon.
beta
- Relating to a pre-release version of JG.
big game flux
- Very powerful classes of flux normally hunted with the aim of power
levelling. Also see fluxing.
Black Market
- 1. Production, movement and/or sale of an item of equipment directly to a
pilot or squad. The equipment is not readily available at the station the
trade is being made. 2. Brokered equipment which is consequently not insured.
blue
- 1. Reference to a non-pure roid that has been heavily mined and appears with
a blue tint. 2. Rare wreckage. 3. More generally, a reference to sol.
Board Whore
- Player who spends the majority of their time posting on forum boards, but is
rarely seen playing the game. Whores may be trolls, however trolling implies
specifically trying to bait unwary board users into making them look bad or
the troll look good, rather than just being on the boards a lot.
BPC
- Abbreviation for Best Profit Calculator, a utility providing a basic way to
determine a profitable cargo to transport between stations.
BRB
- Abbreviation for 'be right back', often used when preparing to reconnect.
[IRC]
broker
- (brokering, brokered). 1. Sale of items to pilots who for some reason cannot
purchase them themselves. They may not be able to purchase them because of a
mission requirement, or insufficient rank or pol. Also see Black Market. 2. A
Quantar mining laser.
Buff
- A loaded tow, derived from Big Ugly Fat F***er.
bug
- (bugged, buggy). 1. Repeatable software failure, normally due to poor coding
or testing. Bugs vary from the serious and fatal (such as a CTD), through the
exploitable (such as instant launch), to bugs that are so obscure most pilot
regard them as intentional features, to the bugs that aren't bugs at all, as
in "damn game, I can't see things on my radar anymore ... press E ... oh, ok".
2. Unintentional new feature [cynical]. 3. The most recent patch from ND
[cynical, but there have been times :-/ ].
bump
- 1. To collide with another ship, particularly on docking, causing a change
in vector which can sometimes be fatal. This can occur accidentally or
intentionally. 2. To collide with any objective in space in a non-fatal way,
as in "I bumped the roid while mining". 3. To move a forum thread back to the
top of the board by adding a new content-free post.
burner
- Shorthand for after-burner. Also AB.
bus
- Any non-combat ship in a combat situation, typically a cargo ship being
escorted.
C
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c[n]
- Reference to different classes of flux numbered c0, c1, c2, and so on. Some
pilots prefer to use the full name instead. A rarely used largely historic
variation is a combination of either name and top speed (a c1 would be a "v250
Squid"), or name and weapon (a c7 would be an "ammo Manta").
camper
- (camping). See Tube Camper and Gate Camper.
Cane
- Shorthand for the Quantar transport, the Hurricane.
Cap
- Shorthand for capacitor, an equipment classification.
CB
- Capacitor boost artefact MODx which increases cap recharge rate.
cc
- Copy, instruction understood. Possibly from 'click click'.
Ceptor
- Shorthand for the Solrain light fighter, the Interceptor.
Cigar Cutter
- Artefact wreckage holding a DSS.
circle
- 1. Common combat technique involving rotating round a foe whilst keeping the
foe in a position where they can be shot, with the aim of eventually reducing
their v to zero. Often used against ammo ships since it makes it harder for
them to return fire. 2. Any circling manoeuvre, including circling a roid
(often active mining) or circling a station.
civ
- Flying with a Civilian registry. Contrast to HG.
civ rip
- (cived). To rip a civ pilot. Normally there is some justification for the
rip, but it may take the pilot unawares and cause diplomatic problems.
Contrast to PvP, pod and grief.
Chirp
- Shorthand for Chiropteran, Oct MF [from JH].
Clarence
- (Hemmy). Lesser known death roid in Callow Passage. [obscure]
cloak
- (de-cloak). The apparent ability of certain ships disappear from the radar
and then suddenly re-appear. In some cases this is due to masking. In the case
of sents it seems to be a genuine ability.
Clone
- Shorthand for the Quantar light fighter, the Cyclone. Also see Death Moth.
Cluker
- (Chicken Missile). Often attributed to pilot RoyofCA, renown for his rapid
exits from battle, the Cluker was an entirely fictional size three missile.
CM
- 1. Abbreviation for Construction Materials. Worth noting because the German
is Bau- und Produktionsmittel, which often comes out as BM. 2. Counter-Mass
artefact MODx.
comm
- 1. Shorthand for the chat interface and system, including different f-key
based channels, as in "all noobs should learn to use the comm early on". From
communications. 2. Commod.
commod
- Shorthand for commodity, materials sold on markets, commonly for use in
production, but not equipped to ships.
Core
- 1. The home core station of a pilot. 2. The nearest core station. Core
stations are OC, QC and SC.
Cori
- (Cord). Shorthand for Corridor station.
Corn
- Shorthand for Cornea station.
Craptor
- Derogatory term for the Octavius bomber, the Raptor, indicative of what most
octs think of its performance in combat.
cruise
- Refers to a ship's v when applying full throttle on a straight course, as in
"this ranger has a v550 cruise".
CS
- Capacitor storage artefact MODx which increases cap energy storage.
CTD
- Abbreviation for crash to desktop, normally due to a technical fault or bug.
Cube
- Artefact wreckage containing a UC.
cycle
- 1. Commonly, the time interval between moments when stations produce items
and place them on the market. Traditionally just over 6 minutes, but now so
buggy it can be difficult to see a pattern. 2. Any server based code loop that
occurs at regular intervals, for example, an hourly stock decay cycle.
D
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death
- Death commonly refers to the death of a ship not a pilot. The actual pilot
always escapes 'death' in a pod.
Death Beacon
- Beac found in a direct line between two gates, and hence posing a
navigational hazard. Historically Beacs used to only be seen visually within
10k range, creating similar problems to Death Roids. Beacs are now easier to
see and this is less of a problem. Locations include Imperial Causeway and The
Split.
Death Moth
- A reference to the wings on the Quantar light fighter, the Cyclone [as I
recall, they used to be more of a liability than they are now].
Death Petal
- See petal.
Death Roid
- A roid found in a direct line between two gates, sometimes between,
sometimes close to one. These roids are frequently hit by pilots who are not
paying attention or travelling too fast or too heavy to be able to adjust
their course to avoid hitting the death roid. Locations include Callow Passage
(two including Clarence), The Reaches (Emma), Lesser Locks (by Main Gate
gate), The Dark, Last Point, Inner Lighthouse (by Wanderer's Pond gate), and
The Stith (Connexion to Last Parsec route).
Deep Space
- 1. Commonly any area of a sector's space not within radar range of main
shipping lanes or structures. Some use the term to refer to areas further out,
past any roid fields. 2. Location of pilots who don't seem to want to be found
[edited from Wraith-].
depot
- 1. The personal storage of a pilot, found at their faction's storage depot
station, as in "I've got a spare Gator in my depot". 2. The nearest storage
depot station.
Dereg
- See unreg.
Dev
- (NetDev). Shorthand for developer(s). Also see ND.
disco
- (discoed). 1. Shorthand for 'disconnected from the server', normally
unintentional. 2. Intentional disconnection when about to enter a fatal
combat, sometimes "combat disco", see Rollio Cord. 3. Bug that often occurs to
other players after they've flown into deep space to avoid some unpleasant
fate. They usually reconnect at a station a few minutes later with all their
artifacts intact or without that temporary bounty they had [quasi-cynical from
Jam].
Dive Bomb
- (DB, Dive Bombing). Combat tactic in which a pilot launches one or more high
powered but poorly guided missiles, such as torps, as they pass close to their
foe, ensuring a hit and giving the foe no warning to evade. Contrast with
missile spam.
DoD
- Abbreviation for die or die, a corruption of PoD, where the target is unable
to pay.
Droid
- Shorthand for a station defense droid, drones that attempt to protect
stations from bountied pilots. Sometimes referred to as "Mk1" and "Mk2", to
differentiate the classes of droid.
DSS
- 1. Artefact data storage system disk, of little value but prone to regular
discovery by artefact hunters. 2. Derogatory term implying a lack of value, as
in "I couldn't give a DSS what you think", meaning I don't care about your
view.
dump
- To leave a sector with a flux on your tail, which then immediately turns and
fires upon another pilot. Primarily to do this with dangerous flux without
warning. As in, "I was busy dealing with the Jelly when someone dumped a Krak
on me". Also see tourist.
E
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EB
- Engine boost artefact MODx which increases engine thrust.
ECM
- Abbreviation for 'Electronic Counter Measures' or 'Evasion and Counter
Measures', a class of equipment which reduces the effective range of other
pilots' radars against you [inconsistent use highlighted by Charmaka].
economy
- 1. The interaction of production, supply and use of commods and equipment.
2. Umbrella term covering cargo missions, BPC based towing or trading,
trucking, farming and similar activities. 3. Related to trading focused on
production, as in "this cargo is for the benefit of the economy", meaning that
the cargo will be needed for production of something. The urgency of the
delivery and the usefulness of the item produced varies. 4. The reason why a
certain item of equipment is not available, sometimes leading to the
conclusion that "the economy needs to be fixed" [slightly cynical].
EE
- 1. Abbreviation for Evenings End station. 2. Energy efficiency artefact MODx
which reduces engine power consumption.
Emma
- A particularly famous death roid in The Reaches. Emma is a large piece of
semi in a dark sector, causing so many loses that many pilots prefer to take
an alternative longer route to Hyp. Also Scorch's Revenge.
eng
- 1. Shorthand for English. Can also be used as "eng?" after text in another
language, meaning can you say that in English please? 2. Commonly used English
language chat booth. [EU]
Enforcer
- Shorthand for TRI Enforcer, a TRI fighter, normally of comparable power to a
sent. OOCly Enforcers are normally flown by OPs or GMs.
EP
- Abbreviation for Empowered Players, pilots who answer /assist requests [US].
EP2
- JumpGate Episode 2, 'Attack of the Conflux'.
ESB
- Engine and shield boost artefact MODx which increases efficiency of engines
and shield.
EU
- European Union server, run by MG.
Exp
- Shorthand for experience points.
eye
- (eyeball). Solrain design of station utilised by WK and Corn. [obscure]
F
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Factionalist
- Squad or sometimes pilot working for the benefit, defence, and/or domination
of their home (normally) faction.
farm
- (farmer, farming). Process by which one high value commod is stockpiled at
one station, while another station is emptied. Over time the price difference
between the stations changes, lowering the price at the over-stocked station
and raising it at the station with a shortage. The stockpile is moved between
the stations resulting both in a profit and in a new farm. When done with very
large quantities in a controlled environment such a process can be
exceptionally profitable, with a single farm netting hundreds of millions of
credits a day for almost no work. Matter Converters are most commonly farmed,
although commods like Gravitational Components, RAM and CPUs can be used to
make a more modest profit. Farming is far more common on US where commodities
are more readily available than on EU.
FF
- 1. Abbreviation for FlashFire, a MODx, or the use of a FlashFire, as in "I
FFed to get away". 2. Abbreviation for FeatherFire, a gun (less common).
FFA
- Abbreviation for free-for-all PvP combat, usually in sim [from JH].
FFS
- Abbreviation for, for f*** sake, normally an exclaimation of frustration
with something or someone.
FlashFire Brake
- (FF Brake). Rotating a ship 180 degrees and applying FF, AB and throttle to
slow a ship down. Commonly used when speed docking or with a heavy cargo ship.
flip
- (flipping). Changing the colour of a beac by re-tuning it, normally as a
hostile act. The term 'flipping beacs back' is often applied to returning
beacs to the colour of the faction space they are in. Colouring grey beacs is
normally just called tuning. Also see ring jockey and ring patrol.
Flower
- See petal.
Flux
- Shorthand for 'Conflux', pink alien shipping. Also see sent.
fluxing
- (fluxxing, fluxoring). To fly around specifically looking for flux to kill.
Also see spawn and big game flux.
G
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gang-bang
- For one squad to attack a small number of pilots in another PvP squad with
over-whelming numbers, guaranteeing a success without a lot of skill. Gang-
bangs tend to be cyclical, with opposing squads waiting until they have
overwhelming numbers before engaging. Also see gank.
gank
- 1. Commonly to attack a pilot who is normally capable of defending
themselves, but currently is particularly vulnerable, as in "let's gank his
Collector Phoon". See gang-bang. 2. Having the bad manners to fly about with
your squad mates and shoot people [cynical alternative from Wyx].
Gate
- Shorthand for jumpgate, the structure allowing travel between sectors rather
than the game itself. Also see infest and petal.
Gate Camper
- Pilot who waits by a gate ready to fire at whoever has the misfortune to
jump in and not respond quick enough (often due to radar lag). This is less of
a problem following the introduction of a short period of immunity for pilots
that have just jumped, although lightly shielded or heavy ships may still be
effectively gate camped. Contrast to Tube Camper.
Gator
- (Insti). Shorthand for Instigator, an expensive PP.
GBS
- Erm, GBS station. PJG used to have a banner that read "we know what GBS
stands for" ;-) .
gear
- (kit). Ship equipment, normally that required for a specific ship. Also see
noob gear.
GF
- 1. Abbreviation for good fight, often heard after a PvP battle [from JH]. 2.
Abbreviation for girl friend.
Ghost
- 1. Pilot who appears to be in a state they are no longer in due to lag or a
disco, such as appearing to have missed a gate even though they have already
jumped, or appearing to have no armor or shield in combat but still being
alive. 2. A bugged flux that cannot be killed and/or appears with negative
armor and/or appears momentarily on the radar but then disappears without
warning (the later may genuinely be cloaked if a sent). Such bugs and glitches
are normally caused by a flux not being transferred between players' clients
correctly. 3. A roid which blends into background, causing pilots to hit it
before even realising it was there. 4. A type of ECM.
GM
- Abbreviation for Games Master, a term variously encompassing server
administrators, devs and those providing or guiding storyline. [RP]
gold
- Perfect quality wreckage.
GP
- Abbreviation for Great Pillars station, sometimes Great Pillers.
Gravel
- Common roids or ore.
grief
- (griefer, griefing). 1. An attack on a pilot at random for no obvious
reason, including disregarding RP. Targets are normally unlikely or unable to
fight back, and griefers will normally avoid more honourable (and dangerous)
PvP focused pilots. Also see civ rip and 10 day account. 2. Arbitrary and
wanton acts which cause OOC damage to other players or impinge
disproportionately on their enjoyment of the game [from MG]. 3. Someone that
does something you disagree with so strongly you feel the need to email MG
about it, post on the boards, or, at the very least, complain about them in
f5:eng or f5:ger depending on which language you like to swear in [cynical
alternative from Jam].
H
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ham
- 1. Related to Hamalzah. 2. Patch 1.0020 introduced "minor changes to ham
sandwich system", which goes some way to explaining how desperate that thread
had become.
hang
- To remain almost stationary in space, but alert and normally waiting for
something to happen or another pilot to appear.
Head Hunter
- Pilot who hunts bountied pilots. A bounty hunter.
HF
- Abbreviation for Heavy Fighter.
HG
- Flying with an Honor Guard registry. Contrast to civ.
Homing
- (home). Using the /home command at any unreg station. Instead of returning
to the last faction station you docked at, your pod returns to the unreg
station that you homed too [from Losar].
hot-dogging
- Flying a curved trajectory with a high degree of precision without
significant loss of speed. For example, to fly around a known death roid.
HUD
- Abbreviation for Heads Up Display.
humping
- 1. Masking against a roid. 2. Rarely, mining a roid.
Hyp
- Shorthand for Hyperial or Hyperion. May refer to the station, the area of
space, or products made by Hyperion.
I
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IC
- (ICly). Abbreviation for 'in character', a comment or action made
specifically by the player's character. Contrast to OOC. [RP]
Infest
- Shorthand for the infestation of a gate by flux, preventing its use.
instant launch
- Ability to relaunch within a second of docking having received new fuel,
ammunition, armor and similar. Avoids tractor lag. Generally considered a bug.
invincible noob
- 1. Noob that has become accustomed to noob protection and will continue to
try and fly missions to places like GBS in spite of a very poor success rate
due to factors such as kraks. 2. Noob who's first action is to switch to HG
because it looks kool or because they thought JG was Quake in space, launch
and fly around a bit, blatantly not responding to polite suggestions that
"flying HG with noob gear is dangerous, particularly for a quant", before
eventually petalling or crashing whilst attempting to dock, all in all looking
anything but kool. Note, HG noobs are increasingly second accounts, and
sometimes simply griefers.
Iridium Tow
- Specifically a tow fully loaded with Iridium, making it so heavy as to take
hours to reach a destination and be almost impossible to defend in the
meantime. The term can be applied to any very heavy or slow moving tow. Also
see stuffed.
ja
- (jap). Yes. From German, but often drifts into eng chat.
Jelly
- Jellyfish, a very weak flux, primarily designed to give noobs something to
rip. The basis of jokes about a pilot's lack of fluxing ability or the
tendency of Jellyfish to spawn alongside big game flux.
JG
- Abbreviation for JumpGate, the game.
JGT
- Abbreviation for bhruic's now defunct JumpGate Tracker, the first widely
used inventory and price tracking utility, also with the first BPC. [obscure]
Johnston Effect
- See pop.
JOSSH
- Abbreviation for Jumpgate Operating System SHell. Technically refers to both
the in-station and web page interfaces, although more commonly the later.
joust
- Combat technique involving a head on attack in the style of Medieval
knights, aiming to inflict more damage on your enemy in each pass than your
enemy does on you.
joy
- Shorthand for joystick.
juice
- Fuel used for brakes and burner.
jump
- To travel between sectors by activating a gate.
Jumper
- Pilot who continually jumps at the same gate to evade an attacker. Largely
obsolete following the imposition of a delay in the re-use of gates.
K
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k
- 1. That's fine with me, agreed. Possibly from 'kool' or 'ok' [expanded by
Charmaka]. 2. After numbers, a thousand.
KH
- Abbreviation for Klatsches Hold station, referring to pilot Gossip in
German, and much to his annoyance regularly misspelled by ND and others as
Klatches.
kill steal
- (kill stealing, kill stealer, KS). 1. To kill a flux that another pilot has
spawned before they have had a chance to attack it and/or kill it and/or ask
if they may kill it. This may seem to the outsider a strange form of etiquette
for dealing with a potentially life-threatening foe, but this form of kill
stealing causes many pilots to get very upset. 2. To kill a pilot who has
already been badly armored by another pilot and is on the verge of being
killed by that pilot.
kiss
- Collision with an object, normally fatal, as in "I kissed the roid".
kit
- See gear.
knife fight
- Dogfight.
KoS
- Abbreviation for Kill on Sight, a particularly hostile diplomatic state.
L
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Lamer
- 1. A player that acts in a stupid or slightly annoying way, and normally
realises they will be seen as stupid by other players. A luser or loser.
Contrast to griefer. 2. Someone that does something you disagree with [cynical
alternative from Jam]. 3. Style of writing, as in lamer-speak, with lots of
misspeklings, CAPITALISATION, k-emphasis! and replacement of l3tt3rz with
other characters - a style seemingly defined by B1FF or JeffK.
Laming Griefing Ganking W*nker
- People who have the bad manners to attack people they are at war with in
unreg while they were only fluxing [cynical form Wyx]. Also see lamer, grief
and gank.
LF
- Abbreviation for light fighter class ships.
lift
- As strip but often without malicious intent, as in "someone's lifted all the
FM CMs for a BPC cargo run to GBS".
LL
- Abbreviation for Lothars Landing station.
lo
- Shorthand for hello or German, hallo [from RobiHood].
LOL
- Abbreviation for 'laughing out loud'. "LOL" was once recorded as a macro and
used (seemingly) to spam up station chat booths. [IRC/Usenet]
loop
- Collection of sectors often flown in a circle, often when fluxing, for
example the "Cornea loop" refers to the four sectors 'behind' Corn, less
obviously a loop since the addition of Hirbel's Channel.
M
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mask
- To hide a ship from the radars of others by stopping very close to an object
such as a large roid or a station. Also see cloak.
Matt Farm
- Shorthand for a Matter Converter farm.
MF
- Abbreviation for medium class fighters.
MG
- Abbreviation for MightyGames, the game's European publisher/hoster.
mil
- Shorthand for million.
missile spam
- (missile jockey). Launching multiple high powered missiles, specifically MS,
to kill another pilot without requiring much PvP skill. Contrast to dive bomb.
Mk[n]
- 1. Shorthand for the Centerfuge range of PPs, as in "MkV" for Centerfuge Mk.
V. 2. Station defense droid.
MODx
- (modX). Class of equipment commonly with specialist roles, such as cameras
or targeting computers.
mom
- Please wait a moment, as in "mom flux" - I will talk to you once I've killed
this flux. [EU]
MS
- Abbreviation for the Morning Star missile. Also see missile spam.
Mule
- Second or inactive account used specifically to store items, normally
essential or rare equipment, often used to instantly re-equip pilots after a
death. Most mules are storage tows.
N
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n
- The universal negative, no, also covering German nein.
NAP
- Abbreviation for Non Aggression Pact, a diplomatic state where those
involved effectively ignore one another with regard to combat.
NastiFlux
- See big game flux [from Nohbody].
ND
- Abbreviation for NetDevil, the game's developers.
nerf
- (nerf bat, nerfstick). 1. To be or to be made worse, as in "they nerfed the
nix" or "the turkey is nerfed". 2. To rebalance correctly, as in "nerf the
tens" [from Charmaka]. Also see proxy nerf.
nick
- (nic). Character name as shown in the game, shorthand for nickname. The
actual IC name may be something slightly different or longer.
Nix
- Shorthand for the Octavian fighter, the Pheonix.
noob
- (often n00b). Newbie, a new and/or inexperienced player. Newbies are
sometimes taken to be players under level 10, but this varies greatly. 'Fake
noobs' are normally second accounts, although the term may apply to a player
who plays a series of 10 day accounts without ever subscribing. 'My noob' is
normally a student being mentored by me. Also see invincible noob. [usenet]
noob gear
- (stock equipment). Starting equipment, provided to new pilots and any pilot
after a death.
noob protection
- 1. Game features designed to protect new pilots, such as not spawning or
attracting flux, or not being able to be ripped by other pilots (if civ) for
the first few levels/hours of play. Such protection can make noobs feel
invincible. 2. Protection afforded to lower ranking pilots as a common
courtesy by higher ranking pilots. Often simply not attacking noobs, but
sometimes armoring where another pilot would be ripped.
Nova
- 1. Nova Mk. I, a high powered but difficult to use gun. 2. Medals awarded
for achieving high pol with faction(s), including SuperNova medals, for
example, "I'm collecting Novas".
NP
- No problem.
Nuke
- 1. General term for a Glaive, Maul or Saber - missiles armed with a potent
warhead, originally designed to damage infests. 2. Related to rad roids, as in
"nuke shard", a mining medal [from Charmaka].
P
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pattern
- Series of points in space designed to give sufficient radar coverage to
locate wreckage within the sector, as in "I got all the way to the end of the
pattern before I found the DSS".
PB
- Powerplant boost artefact MODx which increases PP efficiency.
PCS
- Abbreviation for pre-collapse shield, an artefact.
PCE
- Abbreviation for pre-collapse engine, an artefact.
PCP
- Abbreviation for pre-collapse powerplant, an artefact.
petal
- (petalled, petalling, Death Petal, Death Flower). 1. The solid support
structure that appears to hold gates in position. 2. To hit and be killed by
the structure in (1), as in "I petalled", sometimes used as "clipped the
petal" implying an unseen wing hit a petal rather than the ship being
propelled straight into a petal. There are various obscure references to
flowers, most of which refer to petalling, such as "eat Lotus". 3. To kill
another ship, including flux, by forcing them to collide with a petal, as in
"the Jelly petalled".
PGA
- Abbreviation for Power Grid Analyzer.
Phoon
- Shorthand for the Quantar fighter, the Typhoon.
Pipe
- Artefact wreckage containing certain MODx. Also plugs.
PJG
- Abbreviation for the now defunct PlanetJumpGate website.
PKSwitch
- Shorthand for player killer switch, the in-station registry change between
civ and HG [from Nohbody].
Plugs
- See pipe.
pod
- 1. Device that returns you to the station after a death, as in "pod ride
home". 2. To kill another pilot. Also see rip. 3. PoD. 4. UFO artefact
wreckage.
PoD
- Pirated for credits, normally with the message 'Pay or Die', first used by
squad The Dark Path.
pol
- Shorthand for Political Rating or Status.
pop
- 1. The explosion resulting from the retrieval of an artefact from wreckage
or a pure having been mined out. Also called the "Johnston effect". 2. To
crash a ship, specifically a tow, normally by missing the station docking
tube, as in "don't pop with all those gators on board".
POS
- 1. Abbreviation for Player Owned Station, an EP2 feature. 2. Abbreviation
for Pilot Owned Station, the RP version [from Hollis].
potato
- (Holy Potato). Station constructed around a roid, specifically Quantar
stations 3. and Cori.
power levelling
- Process by which new characters of experienced players seek to rapidly
acquire experience and rank (level) and may temporarily ignore secondary
aspects of gameplay like RP. Examples include "levelling a storage tow" by
fluxing big game flux. There are a few examples of players power levelling
right up to level 50.
PP
- Abbreviation for PowerPlant, an equipment classification.
ppl
- Shorthand for people.
proxy-nerf
- To make something worse by changing things that it is compared with rather
than the thing itself, for example the Gust, which was proxy-nerfed by
improved shielding on fighters, which it has trouble penetrating [from
Charmaka]. Also see nerf.
Pure
- A roid made up of one mineral commodity only. Pure roids pop once mined out.
PvP
- Abbreviation for Player vs Player combat. Normally, but not always, the
players involved consent to the combat, for example by flying HG.
Pyramid
- Artefact wreckage containing a shield, engine, PP or CM.
qbld
- Abbreviation and channel for the Quantar build drive, a system designed to
complete Quant FMs. Similar systems were subsequently developed by other
factions (abld, hbld, obld and sbld).
QC
- Abbreviation for Quantar Core station.
QD
- Quantar Depot, Quantar Storage Depot Station (SDS). Also see depot.
Quake in space
- A phrase used to imply JG as primarily a combat shooter or quick PvP game.
Various other well known game titles may be substituted for Quake to imply a
different gameplay bias.
Quant
- Shorthand for Quantar. May refer to pilots, the area of space, or products
made by the Quantar.
R
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Rad
- (Radio). Shorthand for Radioactive roids or ore. Also see nuke.
RAH!
- (anything but all caps may be considered as an insult, expansion to a full
line common). 1. Octavian greeting. 2. Abbreviation for Run Away and Hide,
Octavian secret code used to signal the arrival of more than 3 enemy ships
[cynical from Giomani].
Rak
- Shorthand for Barrak, an ammo gun.
RCM
- Radar and counter measures artefact MODx which reduces the power consumption
of radar and ECM.
re
- Used to make pilots aware of your presence, commonly either following an AFK
or a disco, often with the expectation that other pilots will wish to talk to
you. Either shorthand for 'returned to game' or based on the IRC/MUD 'rehi'.
rebel
- Pilot or squad working against TRI.
Reg
- Shorthand for 'regulated space', those sectors and stations under the
control of TRI. Contrast to unreg.
rgr
- Shorthand for 'roger', meaning message understood and about to be acted on.
Rings
- 1. The hexagonal targeting rings that are used to guide ships into a
station's docking tube. Often used to report progress of a ship, as in "the
tow's in the rings and about to dock". 2. Less commonly, a beac.
Ring Jockey
- Pilot who spends most of their time tuning beacs.
Ring Patrol
- Commonly squad based flipping of beacs, either to keep home space the
'correct' colour, or to draw out a factionalist enemy.
rip
- To kill, normally another player in space combat, but the term is also
applied to other space threats. Also see civ rip.
Rock Licker
- (Rock Sucker, Roid Licker, Rock Kisser, and similar). Degrogatory term for
Quants, although not taken as an insult by the majority of Quant pilots
[ammended by Charmaka]. Sometimes refers to miners in general.
ROE
- Abbreviation for rules of engagement.
roid
- (roided, roiding). 1. Shorthand for an asteroid of any type including
asteroid fields. 2. To mine asteroids, as in "roiding". 3. To radar mask. 4.
To die by hitting a roid at speed. 5. To kill a flux by forcing it to crash
against a roid, as in "I roided the Squid".
Rollio Cord
- Process by which player sees a situation they cannot deal with and manually
disconnects themselves from the game rapidly by physically disconnecting their
computer from the internet, forcing a disco. Derived from the frustration of
US pilot rollio, who would announce a PoD and find the target had discoed
seconds later; hence the phrase 'in an emergency pull cord for rollio'. The
practice is less common now that discoed pilots remain in space for a few
minutes after an in-flight disco, but can still be used to shake off flux.
[obscure]
rookie
- See noob.
RP
- 1. Abbreviation for 'RolePlay'. 2. Used to imply an event or activity been
done IC, as in "there's an RP at hyp atm".
RTFM
- Abbreviation for 'read the f***ing manual', rarely used except in the case
of particularly inane noob questions. [Usenet]
runner
- Pilot undertaking FMs using brokered commods and flying between stations
empty to complete the project in the shortest time possible.
Scorch's Pet
- Nickname for the Quantar Gust, ship of choice for the game's creator.
Scorch's Revenge
- See Emma. [obscure]
SD
- 1. Solrain Depot, Solrain Storage Depot Station (SDS). Also see depot. 2.
Abbreviation for ScrewDriver missile.
SE
- Shield efficiency artefact MODx which reduces shield recharge power
consumption.
seafood
- Reference to flux.
sec
- 1. Shorthand for sector. 2. Instruction to reveal your location, as in
"sec?", normally in response to an "I'm under attack" type message which does
not reveal your location, making it unlikely that anyone will be able to help.
3. Mom.
second account
- (s). Additional account(s) taken out by pilots who have already developed
one character. Second accounts occur for a variety of reasons, including for
use as storage tows and griefing.
Seeding
- (seed). Using a civ ship to run interference between two or more HG fighters
in order for someone to get a bounty [from Losar].
Semi
- Shorthand for Semifluxor roids or ore.
Sent
- Shorthand for sentient Conflux, flux which are more powerful, skilled,
faster and unpredictable than most. OOCly sents are piloted by humans,
contrasting with most flux which are computer controlled. Sents are not to be
confused with Sentinels, which are a type of radar.
Sim
- Shorthand for simulator.
sitting duck
- Cargo ship, specifically stationary in space making them very vulnerable to
attack. Sometimes applied to ships that look like they don't know where to go.
six
- The exposed rear of a ship escaping from battle or threat of battle, as in
"I've got a nix on my six".
Smurf
- Derogatory term for Sols, after a fictional race of blue creatures.
Sol
- Shorthand for Solrain. May refer to pilots, the area of space, or products
made by Solrain.
spam
- Unwanted and/or frequently repeated text on the same channel. Examples
include five line advertisements for something nobody wants repeated every 30
seconds and 'flooding' with a dozen lines of ".". Spam tends to result in
important messages being lost in amongst a screen full of rubbish. Somewhat
different from missile spam. [Usenet/Monty Python]
spawn
- 1. To generate one or more additional flux in the sector by activating a
gate. Also used in the form "that flux is my spawn". 2. To generate a new pure
or wreckage in a sector to popping one already there.
speed dock
- The art of docking at a station very rapidly, normally in the course of
evading an attacker. Speed docks often involve approaching the tube at full
speed, turning and applying reverse thrust to bring the ship to a momentary
stand right in front of the tube entrance before thrusting into dock, all in
the blink of an eye. Speed docks may involve a FlashFire Brake or hot-dogging.
spin move
- See FlashFire Brake.
splash
- 1. To dispose of a cargo by voluntarily crashing with it. Commonly crashing
a loaded tow into a station. Often used in combination with stripping to
prevent a certain equipment being available, particularly at an unreg station
where the /home command may be used to empty a station at speed. 2. Any
collison causing death, as in "splashed against a roid".
stat padding
- Taking actions specifically aimed at improving a pilot's statistics.
Examples stretch from the tame launching and immediately redocking to improve
your insurance rating, to the lame firing at a noob second account to improve
a gun accuracy or kill board statistics. May be a sign of a Stat Whore, but
not always.
Stat Whore
- 1. Pilot who specifically aims to collect medals, which can sometimes
spotted by a tendency to always have only a Ring of Commitment medal missing
from their next Star Skill set :-/ . 2. Pilot who specifically aims to get
their name at the top of one or more leader boards.
Stealth Bomb
- Launching missiles at an enemy without targeting them, giving them no beep
warning and a nasty surprise when the missiles hit. Guidance 0 missiles
(Smacker, Spear) are best used with this technique. [from McFretN]
stock equipment
- See noob gear.
Storage Tow
- Second or inactive level 30+ account used specifically to store items,
normally essential or rare equipment, often used to instantly re-equip pilots
after a death. The storage tow is almost a standard requirement for a large
squad. The term has largely replaced mule, since these days mules are normally
tows.
strip
- (stripper, stripping). 1. Removal of carefully stocked equipment from a
station with the intention of making it more difficult for pilots based there
to re-equip. An extreme form involves splashing. Contrast to lift. 2. To
influence production by removing certain commods from a station.
stuffed
- Fully or heavily loaded, normally referring to a cargo ship.
T
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tag
- 1. To fire upon a flux which is being towed, causing it to attack you and
ignore its former tower. 2. Normally in the plural: Designation as either civ
or HG, as in "I would've attacked but I still had my civ tags on" [from JH].
Tens
- (Tensity, Tense, Tensi, Tensy, you get the idea). Shorthand for the Solrain
fighter ship, the Intensity.
thx
- (tnx, TY). Thank you or thanks.
Torp
- Shorthand for torpedo, highly damaging but poorly guided missiles such as
Lances and Katakas.
tourist
- Pilot who enters a sector known to spawn dangerous flux but who has no
intention of killing them. Often leads to dumping.
tow
- (Tow, but not TOW). 1. Shorthand for a Cargo Tow, a class of cargo ship.
Also see storage tow, iridium tow and buff. 2. Trucking, as in "towing cargo".
3. To lead a flux, allowing a second pilot to kill it without having
(initially) to deal with it attacking them. It is now common for the pilots
involved to wing.
TP
- Abbreviation for TriPoint station.
tractor lag
- Delay in-station imposed by the operation of fuel, cargo and armor repair
trucks and similar. Contrast to instant launch.
trade
- 1. Actions of a trader. 2. To use the in-station trade window to exchange
items or credits with another pilot. Also see broker.
trade lag
- 1. Describes the tendency for the list of names in the Trade window to lag
behind a pilot's arrival at the station. 2. Time wasted getting a large
quantity of something brokered.
Trader
- (trading). 1. Trucker. 2. Cargo pilot primarily engaging in production,
station stocking, the economy, or sometimes stripping. 3. Smuggler or pilot
engaged in the Black Market.
tranny
- 1. Any transport class ship (excludes tows). 2. To undertake transport
missions, as in "I'm running trannies between QD and 3. to get some pol back".
TRI
- Abbreviation for 'The Reconstruction Initiative'.
Trucker
- (Truckerz, Trucking). Pilot with a tendency to run back and forth all day in
a large cargo ship. The term often implies somewhat mindless flying, such as
following the results of BPCs, cargo missions, or someone else's instructions.
Also see trader and farmer.
Tube
- Commonly station portals which ships dock or launch from. Tubes can also be
found on certain other structures such as custom producers or refuel stops.
Tube Camper
- Pilot who waits close to a station's launch tubes ready to engage another
pilot who may be disorientated or experiencing radar lag. A particularly
unpleasant variation involves 'placing' a nuke in the launch path of a heavy
cargo ship. Contrast with Gate Camper.
tune
- To claim or set a beac. Tuning non-grey beacs is normally called flipping.
turkey
- 1. Shorthand for the Octavian transport, the Wyvern. 2. Any cargo ship,
particularly a heavily loaded one. Sometimes used in combination with stuffed
or salad.
turret fighting
- Combat style that involves stopping or moving slowly in the same vector, and
using the ship as a weapons platform by constantly rotating it to fire upon a
foe. Often favoured by heavy or well shielded ships.
U
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UC
- Artefact (universal?) component, potentially usable to produce other
equipment, but often regarded in a similar way to DSSs.
UFO
- 1. Design of wreckage holding certain MODx artefacts. Also pod. 2. Female
pilot using a gender specific nick, an abbreviation for unmistakable female
offworlder. [obscure]
uber
- 1. Overpowered or particularly large, for example "uber roid". 2. Of Sol
origin [from Charmaka]. Contrast to nerf.
Unreg
- Shorthand for unregulated space, those sectors and stations not under the
control of TRI and fall outside of the bounty system. Also neutral or
deregulated space. Contrast to reg.
