The Daily Grind: What game terminology gets your goat?

@(Unverified)

What does scrub mean in gaming?

@bobfish
Same as noob.

@(Unverified) Definitely did not find its origin in gaming.

@(Unverified) Out way before the internet even. Ppl were being called scrubs in the late 80's.

@dudemanjac

Yea, that is what confused me, it means someone who acts like he's somebody when in reality he is a nobody.

So I can see how it might be relevant to gaming, but its not really the same thing as a noob.

@(Unverified)

Some bit of history for you.

You give away your age (lol) with that bit of typing not knowing where it came from. I will give away a hint of mine also. The term "Scrub" is quite old and was not from gaming, it in fact has its derogatory roots in european history around the 1800's, no video games back then that i can think of. Think servant.

However the term was also used heavily in the military as a derogatory term for other branches (not an individuals particular branch) mostly in bars to accelrate rituals....... It is also used to denote people of lesser standing by affluent rabble and folks generally wanting to incite anger. it also has some deep roots in the Navy.

As for gaming i have also seen the term typed and as is always the case the people using leet speak or certain terms (scrub as your example) have no idea what they are typing, assume a meaning, and look even more idiotic for it. (Grin)

And knowing is half the battle!

@bobfish

In WoW I believe it meant anyone who obtained epics outside of traditional raiding and/or rated PvP. Suggesting they don't have the skill level and entitlement to be wearing such. Or to even forming opinions about the game on the WoW forums.

@Graill440 we are not talking about the root use of a word or it's historical reference, you want that go read a history book instead of game. The article is asking for the gaming reference associated with a word.

Scrub happens to be a pvp term used to describe someone who thinks he knows how to pvp and really doesn't, this is different then a noob as noobs don't pretend to know anything and can be excused for their lake of skill and knowledge where as a scrub claims he is leet but is not. Generally a lot of scrubs came out of WoW, where their experience in Battle Grounds made them think they could play in other games with less restrictive rule sets with more skillful players and be competitive, which is not the case. The washout rate is high among scrubs once they realize the truth and that they cannot compete at those levels of pvp.

@Utakata @Draq

Thanks, then the use of the word Scrub in gaming is accurate and matches the modern slang definition for it.

@bobfish
actually scrub is a bit more complex than that...

as Sirlin defines the term, a scrub is a player who is handicapped by self-imposed rules that the game knows nothing about.

so the differnece betweena noob and a scrub, is that a noob just just started playing a game, so he cannot possibly know how to play well. while a scrub may have been playing for a long, long time, and still suck at it, more often than not due to.

as Sirlin puts it, in street figther you can beat a noob just using throws. understandable, because an unexperienced the noob doesnt know how to counter that.

in the case of a scrub you could also beat him in the same manner, with only one difference. the scrub would complain you are doing nothing but "repeating a cheap move over and over again" and refuse to learn how to do it and how to counter it, hence always losing against it.

the term "scrub" describes more a player mentality than a skill level...it refers to people that chose to suck because in their minds they settled self imposed rules that some things are "cheap" and refuse to play their best...

@bobfish In the words of TLC, "A scrub is a guy who thinks he's fly and is also known as a buster. Always talking bout what he wants, but just sits on his broke *ss." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av7m_Pgt1S8

@Graill440
Yo Joe!

@Fabius Bile Thats not correct about the "noob"

A Noob is someone who has played for a long time but is very bad. ( like someone who just bought the game.

A Newb is someone who HAS just bought the game and is ofc bad.

Iv always thought of a Scrub as more of a Noob than anything. Just another word for it.

@klunks

toon is still weird to me in the games I play *except* maybe Champions...

@klunks
I use toon when playing a game like WoW where you can get a good toon in a month, don't really have the same connection with that character as I do with say my Darkfall character. I think it's just because of the time I have invested in each makes the difference.

I got used to gank though because it's an actual move to finish off your enemies in Darkfall.

@A sneaky zebra

Exactly. The time spent playing your character makes the difference. I never called my WoW character a toon. I spent so much time playing him, that he was more of an alter ego.

I hate "toon". Hate it hate it hate it.
My characters are characters. They have depth, they have names, they have stories. They are not just pawns I move around the board or paper dolls I play dress-up with, and they are not silly cartoons.

@klunks

Toon.
I utterly DETEST that term!!