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Abbreviations

The following are common abbreviations that the people in our forums or on ESO might use to save typing time. Note that not everyone uses these, and they should not be used too excessively.

[ A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K| L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | X ]

A

  • AFAIK: As Far As I Know
  • AFK: Away From Keyboard
  • AI: Artificial Intelligence — the computer player
  • AIM: AOL Instant Messenger — popular instant messaging service
  • AoE: Age of Empires (1997)
  • AoE II or AoK: Age of Empires II: Age of Kings (1999)
  • AoE III: Age of Empires III (2005)
  • AoEH: Age of Empires Heaven — a fansite for Age of Empires and the oldest site hosted on the HeavenGames network
  • AoE3H: Age of Empires III Heaven — the site you’re reading this at
  • AoKH: Age of Kings Heaven — a fansite for the second game in the Age of Empires series
  • AoE: TC or AoC: Age of Kings: The Conquerors Expansion (2000)
  • AoM: Age of Mythology (2002)
  • AR: Axe Riders
  • ASAP: As Soon As Possible
  • ATP: Advanced Trading Post, a card that makes Trading Posts stronger and cheaper
  • ATT: Attack, the damage dealt by a unit

B

  • BAK: Back at Keyboard
  • BB: Big Button
  • BBR: Big Button Rush
  • Boom: A surge in economic growth, most commonly achieved by producing large numbers of villagers from multiple Town Centers
  • BRB: Be Right Back
  • BRT: Be Right There
  • Blood: a custom scenario where you get upgrades for the amount of kills
  • BT: Build Time — the time it takes to create a unit
  • BTW: By The Way

C

  • CiS: Chuckles in Silence
  • Co-Op: A game style – multiple players control the same civ – to do this, two players must ensure both have exactly the same settings for civilization, color, and team number
  • Cour: Coureur des Bois — the French’s powerful villager unit
  • CPU: Central Processing Unit (generally a computer)
  • CU or Cya: See You
  • Cuir: Cuirassier — French unique heavy cavalry, infamous for its strength

D

  • D/L or DL: Download
  • Dev: Developer — a title of the creators of games
  • DM: Death Match — game type where all players start with enormous amounts of resources
  • DX: Direct X

E

  • Eco: Economy — your ability to spend resources
  • ERK: Eagle Runner Knights
  • ES: Ensemble Studios — the developers of the Age of Empires series
  • ESO: Ensemble Studios Online — matchmaking service for Age of Empires III

F

  • FB: Forward Builder – a Settler who builds close to the enemy
  • FF: Fast Fortress, getting to the Fortress
  • FFA: Free for All – no teams (there is only one winner)
  • Flame: An insult
  • Flood: An attack using a mass of one unit type
  • FR: Fire Rate
  • FWIW: For What It’s Worth
  • FYI: For Your Information

G

  • GB: Gigabyte — an amount of space on a computer; 1000 megabytes
  • GD: General Discussions — a forum to discuss the game and the latest news regarding AoE3
  • GF: Girlfriend
  • GF (…, 6400, 6800, 7800, etc.): GeForce graphics card
  • GG: Good Game
  • GH: Great House
  • GL: Good Luck
  • Goon: Dragoon — a ranged cavalry unit
  • GTG or G2G: Got to Go

H

  • HAND: Have a nice day
  • HC: Home City or Heavy Cannon
  • HF: Have fun
  • HG: HeavenGames — the parent entity for AoE3H
  • HP: Hit Points

I

  • IC: I See
  • ICQ: I Seek You — a popular instant messaging service
  • ICS: Internet Connection Sharing
  • IE: Internet Explorer
  • IIRC: If I Remember Correctly
  • IMHO: In My Humble Opinion
  • IMO: In My Opinion
  • IP: Internet Protocol — unique number for each PC used to connect for multi-player games, which usually changes each time you connect to the internet (especially for dial-up users) — to find out what your IP is on Windows, go to Start -> Run and type winipcfg, or going to a DOS Prompt and type ipconfig for Windows NT/2000 users

J

  • Janny or Jan: Jannissary — Ottoman unique heavy infantry

K

  • KB: Kilobyte — an amount of space on a computer; 1000 bytes

L

  • L8R: Later
  • LBow: Longbowman — British unique light infantry
  • LMAO: Laughing My @$$ Off
  • LOL: Laugh Out Loud
  • LOS: Line of Sight — the distance a unit or building can see into the dark fog of war

M

N

  • NIC: Network Interface Card
  • NP: No Problem
  • NR: No Rush
  • NRN: Not Right Now
  • NS: Netscape
  • NT: No Text or a reference to the Windows server operating system, Windows NT

O

  • OD: HG Main’s Outside Discussions Forum
  • OP: Term frequently used to refer a civilization being “Over-Powered”, or at an advantage at all times with no counter strategy available
  • OT: Off-Topic
  • OS: Operating System, such as Windows or Macintosh
  • OTOH: On the Other Hand

P

  • PAoE: Planet Age of Empires, now a sub-site of Planet Age of Mythology
  • PC: Personal Computer
  • Pwn: A slang form of own. Used to mean someone was beaten badly.

R

  • Rax: Barracks
  • Rdy: Ready
  • RM: Random Map
  • RMS: Random Map Script
  • ROFL: Rolling on the Floor Laughing
  • ROFLMAO: Rolling on the Floor Laughing My @$$ Off
  • RoR: Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome Expansion Pack (1998)
  • RR: Rifle Rider
  • RTFM: Read the Fine Manual
  • RTM: Released to Manufacturing (Gone Gold)
  • Rush: Generic term for an early attack that attempts to catch the opponent unprepared — typically attacks are concentrated on resource gathering sites to slow the opponent’s economy and advancement to subsequent ages, damaging their economy; it’s typically difficult for the attacker to continue if the rush fails, as they sacrificed their own economy in the process

S

  • SD: Scenario Design
  • Skirmies or Skirms: Skirmishers
  • Sling: Team strategy in which one player tributes resources to a teammate to enable an earlier attack than would otherwise be impossible

T

  • TC: Town Center
  • TM: Trade Monopoly
  • TP: Trading Post
  • TTA: Through the Ages, an Age website
  • Turtling: Walling in and concentrating on defense so a player can boom successfully, preventing a rush; usually toppled when the enemy doesn’t bother attempting a rush and booms, saving resources
  • TWC: The WarChiefs

U

  • UP: Under-Powered, referring to civs that are claimed to be too weak and at a disadvantage in all cases
  • UU: Unique Unit, a unit special to a certain civilization

V

  • VGG: Very Good Game
  • Vill or Villy: Villager unit (Settler, Coureur des Bois, Settler Wagon)

W

  • W2K & Win2K: Windows 2000
  • Win9x: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE
  • WinME: Windows Millenium Edition
  • WinXP or WXP: Windows XP
  • WC: WarChief
  • WP: Warrior Priest
  • WTF: What the ****
  • WW: War Wagon — German unique ranged cavalry

X

  • X-Bow: Crossbowman
  • X-Pack or XP: Expansion Pack
  • XP: Experience Points — points you earn in game by killing enemy units, buildings, etc; represented by a colored number whenever earned
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