24 replies to this topic

[Langley]

Every time you use an unintuitive made up name for a blaster, and act like everyone knows what you mean, you are alienating someone who just joined our community who doesn't know what the fuck you're talking about. This has always been a problem, as far back as when FA called his Rapid Fire Rifle a 'Doomsayer' and it stuck. I admit, it is partly the fault of this site's founders for having to name every damn gun they used. Lately though, it's been getting worse. It was annoying when people said Quad Shot, Master Key, and Absolver, when what they really meant could be expressed using only a couple extra words*. Now these kinds of bullshit made up names bounce around in the Facebook and Reddit echo chambers and fester, and then they show up here where no one has ever defined them or heard them before. On NerfHaven, no one is subscribed to your youtube channel. Just say what you mean, and stop acting like we're the assholes for not knowing what you're talking about, or I will word-filter all of your fancy made up words into oblivion.

Here's a simple test: Did someone else make up the name for the thing you're talking about? Could you find out what the name means in less than a minute by searching NerfHaven? Is the name kind of obvious shorthand, that you could figure out without looking it up? If you answered no to any of these questions, don't use the name. We're stupid, and quick to anger, and our banhammer is swift and unrelenting, so just spell it out for us and everything will be fine.

* Modded Triple Shot, Rapid Fire Rifle/Roughcut integration, Titan with a turret.

[Cartaya]

I'm starting to understand what you mean better. In my case, for example, I guess I do try to shortcut too much with a Name of a series of blasters rather than a page of mod descriptions. I figure if they want to know, they'll ask or look it up.

I don't mean to be stupid, I just want to understand and be more compatible, I am sorry.

See you at Armageddon XVI

--Cartaya

[The2ndBluesBro]

Just my $0.02 : I don't particularly get why the masterkey one is a problem, considering most people know a masterkey is an undermounted shotgun of some type. Also the names help add flair to each project.

[cheerios]

Just my $0.02 : I don't particularly get why the masterkey one is a problem, considering most people know a masterkey is an undermounted shotgun of some type. Also the names help add flair to each project.

I'm not into mil-sim or real weaponry, so the name "masterkey" is just as informative to me as calling your blaster "the super punisher-wrecker I like butt plugs in my butt 9000 awesome gun." Made up names for your blasters doesn't help anybody in identifying what it actually is and what you did to it.

Edited by cheerios, 22 June 2015 - 12:22 PM.

[sublimedom777]

Just my $0.02 : I don't particularly get why the masterkey one is a problem, considering most people know a masterkey is an undermounted shotgun of some type. Also the names help add flair to each project.

If your project needs flair maybe it isn't that good to begin with? These niche nicknames place your ego above the comprehension of folks not in the know.

Also, the only reason I know about a real masterkey is because a friend was very into real guns. Not everyone into this very silly hobby is into firearms.

[Langley]

Not to mention that no one in the history of ever has used a roughcut to breach a door.

[The2ndBluesBro]

If your project needs flair maybe it isn't that good to begin with? These niche nicknames place your ego above the comprehension of folks not in the know.

Also, the only reason I know about a real masterkey is because a friend was very into real guns. Not everyone into this very silly hobby is into firearms.

Was the Doomsayer bad to begin with? Also, we keep telling everyone to search for everything before making new topics etc. so a couple searches on this site or google in general will bring up the Nerf Jargon reference thread, allowing any new nerfer to understand any and all terms they don't know coming into the hobby. Plus, every hobby has its own jargon, and it contributes to a sense of belonging to the community when you understand all the terms and are "in the know" so to speak. However, we should change the name of our jargon reference page, since while the name seems adequate, the wording/spacing/whatever causes someone looking for it to not only search "nerf jargon" on google, but also narrow the search results to just nerfhaven with the "site:nerfhaven.com" tag. Further, the Quad Shot was the original name for the blaster anyway when it was made by Lanard, and is a more suitable name for the particular 4 barrel mod. In that case, "Triple Shot" is just confusing as it implies the gun has a 3 shot turret, which is barely accurate even before modification.

Edited by The2ndBluesBro, 22 June 2015 - 02:41 PM.

[Langley]

Plus, every hobby has its own jargon, and it contributes to a sense of belonging to the community when you understand all the terms and are "in the know" so to speak.

The community of people who talk a lot about nerf guns on the internet, and who come up with these silly names only overlaps with the community of people who actually play regularly at events hosted via NerfHaven. They aren't the same community. Even at Apoc, if I asked everyone there what an absolver is, maybe 1/2 will know what I'm talking about. The more jargon we have the harder it is for someone to casually get into nerf on their own, and the more basement dwelling internet trolls we end up with on the forums. I'm trying to provide a place for people to get the information they need to go and nerf, not a place for people to have a big internet circlejerk. That's what the admin forum is for

And yeah, it was kind of annoying that people would post 'HALP ME MAK DOOMSAYER PLZ'. Doomsayer was the name FA gave to his gun, which is.....whatever, but people started calling all RFRs by that name. But it was fine because it was only one thing and you could search for it easily.

Now if you make something really original, and it becomes so ubiquitous that people are talking about it as a distinct thing all the time anyway (slugs, RSCB, SNAP) then it should have a name, but even then it's not always going to be the name you gave it.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'll stick a strongarm to my alpha trooper and call it a buttplug, and just start telling everyone about how I painted by buttplug and added a red dot sight and some 3d printed parts to my buttplug and how I'm totally going to pwn everyone at the next big HvZ event with my buttplug OKAY THIS IS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW?

[The2ndBluesBro]

The community of people who talk a lot about nerf guns on the internet, and who come up with these silly names only overlaps with the community of people who actually play regularly at events hosted via NerfHaven. They aren't the same community. Even at Apoc, if I asked everyone there what an absolver is, maybe 1/2 will know what I'm talking about. The more jargon we have the harder it is for someone to casually get into nerf on their own, and the more basement dwelling internet trolls we end up with on the forums. I'm trying to provide a place for people to get the information they need to go and nerf, not a place for people to have a big internet circlejerk. That's what the admin forum is for

And yeah, it was kind of annoying that people would post 'HALP ME MAK DOOMSAYER PLZ'. Doomsayer was the name FA gave to his gun, which is.....whatever, but people started calling all RFRs by that name. But it was fine because it was only one thing and you could search for it easily.

Now if you make something really original, and it becomes so ubiquitous that people are talking about it as a distinct thing all the time anyway (slugs, RSCB, SNAP) then it should have a name, but even then it's not always going to be the name you gave it.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'll stick a strongarm to my alpha trooper and call it a buttplug, and just start telling everyone about how I painted by buttplug and added a red dot sight and some 3d printed parts to my buttplug and how I'm totally going to pwn everyone at the next big HvZ event with my buttplug OKAY THIS IS WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW?

Yeah I understand what you mean, I guess it's one of those "respect both opinions, but agree to disagree" issues (for me, anyways)

[Langley]

Incidentally since I just saw this come up in a thread and it's relevant to this discussion, I'm going to go ahead and filter clipazine to magazine because that word is stupid and confusing and if anyone gets into an argument about whether clip or magazine is 'correct' I'm just going to suspend their account anyway. It doesn't matter whether you call it clip or magazine, everyone knows what you're talking about and calling it clipazine is a great way to actually make it confusing.

[Snoop Doggy doge]

The term mentioned above was created to make fun of people debating whether or not it's a magazine or a clip. I think both can be used interchangeably in the hobby.

Edited by Snoop Doggy doge, 22 June 2015 - 06:31 PM.

[Avatar of WoeBrian]

As someone who has been mostly inactive, only to attend a war/gathering when time permits, this is very helpful. When I first attended Armageddon 14(2013) after being inactive since 2004, I didn't realize how much the community had changed. All the new nicknames for accessories/homemades/other cool stuff took me a bit to get used to. I called my speedloader(not a big deal but just a small example) a "flip barrel" for the longest time until someone corrected me.

[Cartaya]

Incidentally since I just saw this come up in a thread and it's relevant to this discussion, I'm going to go ahead and filter magazine to magazine because that word is stupid and confusing and if anyone gets into an argument about whether clip or magazine is 'correct' I'm just going to suspend their account anyway. It doesn't matter whether you call it clip or magazine, everyone knows what you're talking about and calling it magazine is a great way to actually make it confusing.

I hate that argument too, who cares. We need a dictionary of nomenclature everyone can agree on, but would they?

Edited by Cartaya, 22 June 2015 - 11:38 PM.

[sublimedom777]

Was the Doomsayer bad to begin with? (*1)

"Triple Shot" is just confusing as it implies the gun has a 3 shot turret (*2)

*1 - This is perhaps part of the era that Langley is calling the problematic era where veteran members insisted on naming their works.

*2 - Triple Shot is the official name of the blaster by Lanard. Get over it

The term mentioned above was created to make fun of people debating whether or not it's a magazine or a clip. (*3)

*3 - The problem here is that the aforementioned idiots didn't realize they were the butt of the joke. Thus we wind up with another "Fight for your Right" - The Beastie Boys, without having a marginally enjoyable song about it.

[2TAGS]

The unnecessary blaster naming is what keeps me from even bothering to post. The first time I saw "masterkey" on this site;I literally laughed out loud . I was thinking are you serious people? And I don't think it deserves 2 cents of thought to argure about everyones acronymmed war name .

Edited by 2TAGS, 23 June 2015 - 06:12 AM.

[Langley]

I called my speedloader(not a big deal but just a small example) a "flip barrel" for the longest time until someone corrected me.

I used to call them flip barrels too. I don't know when or why everyone started calling them speedloaders (which I think used to be what we called the different contraptions people would come up with to reload multi-shot turrets).

The unnecessary blaster naming is what keeps me from even bothering to post. The first time I saw "masterkey" on this site;I literally laughed out loud . I was thinking are you serious people? And I don't think it deserves 2 cents of thought to argure about everyones acronymmed war name .

I think the 'masterkey' thing is more slang bleeding in from the facebook groups, I don't think anyone here started that crap.

[The2ndBluesBro]

I'm pretty sure masterkey and speedloader are both realsteel slang.

[jwasko]

I think the 'masterkey' thing is more slang bleeding in from the facebook groups, I don't think anyone here started that crap.

I blame Groove

But it was probably Solscud's who "made it a thing". Just not sure if he posted this here or elsewhere first...

But if we can get back to doing something actually involving foam blasters, I think we got the take home messages.

Edited by jwasko, 23 June 2015 - 03:08 PM.

[NerfMonkey]

Just say what you mean, and stop acting like we're the assholes for not knowing what you're talking about, or I will word-filter all of your fancy made up words into oblivion.

Please do this anyway.

[Groove]

...it is partly the fault of this site's founders for having to name every damn gun they used.

I blame Groove

I'm partially to blame, but I will say that this was common practice during the golden/silver age of Nerf when the community was much smaller and weapon choices were extremely limited. Other well-known Nerfers in the community at the time (VACC, Evil Angel, baghead, Falcon, et al) did the exact same thing with their Crossbows. Times change, and I think Langley's request is perfectly reasonable. You can call your guns whatever you want in your head or your own little pocket universe, just not on this board.

...That being said, can I call my new rig the "Mk. IV"? It sounds way cooler than, "Tornado Bow + Splitfire with integrated Fleshlight and optional Dildo saddle."

[jwasko]

I was specifically blaming you for the bringing the term "masterkey" over to nerf, Groove.

On the other hand, yes, everyone wanted a name that was either as cool as "Guru" or, failing that, something that was at least funny (like "Binky" I guess?). I can't fault you guys for being imaginative, though.

Edited by jwasko, 04 July 2015 - 09:32 PM.

[Astech]

Just my $0.02 : I don't particularly get why the masterkey one is a problem, considering most people know a masterkey is an undermounted shotgun of some type. Also the names help add flair to each project.

Not a chance. I've browsed around anonymously for years, and been a member here for a while now, and I didn't have any idea what a masterkey was until you post. The thing about Nerfers is they're a wide group, and any kind of shorthand messes with someone, or a demographic of someones. The name, as has been stated, should be so blatantly obvious that anyone knows what it is at first glance. The ESLT and HAMP push it, but they're both extremely common compared to"masterkey, which I doubt is in the mod directory.

Yes names add flair, but they shouldn't do so at the cost of clarity.

[Draconis]

The difference with homemades is that someone actually created those designs, and should have the opportunity to name them. Unless the person is MiG, because he just chooses terrible names.

[The2ndBluesBro]

Not a chance. I've browsed around anonymously for years, and been a member here for a while now, and I didn't have any idea what a masterkey was until you post. The thing about Nerfers is they're a wide group, and any kind of shorthand messes with someone, or a demographic of someones. The name, as has been stated, should be so blatantly obvious that anyone knows what it is at first glance. The ESLT and HAMP push it, but they're both extremely common compared to"masterkey, which I doubt is in the mod directory.

Yes names add flair, but they shouldn't do so at the cost of clarity.

We could start a topic for people to contribute their already known but not too well known names like the masterkey and we could add them to the jargon directory.

[Griever 2112]

screw it, I'm adding to this...

Regarding the nomenclatures that are given to items and blasters, I have tried to learn them since starting this hobby. The first time I saw 4B I had no idea what someone was talking about, then I went looking for it. I get it that yes, we want to make it accessible to newcomers and such, but sometimes a little effort in learning things, rather than being spoon fed the info is required. Yes calling the Rapid Fire Shotgun a Doomsayer all the time can be confusing, but that is what it is most commonly associated with, so who's fault is it, the person who decided to call his blaster something, or the ones who just keep calling everything like that the name. I've come up with names for my stupid things, but I also incorporate the name of the actual blaster into it. Is anyone going to care what you call your personal blaster, no, but that's also saying, no one cares what you named your boat or your car, or whatever else you made. It's not for everyone, its for you. Drac renames everything of his Fang something or [insert vampire thing here] Do most of us care... no. Does he, yes, because it is his and it is something he made and worked on.

That's just my opinion, take it or leave it.