Guild Wars 2

I’ve never heard it before and it took me forever to figure out that it doesn’t mean “cartoon” and means “my character”.

But it sounds so stupid, how did it catch on? Does it come from something else??

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=toon+mmo+meaning

The thought process, I imagine, went something like this: Character > Cartoon Character > Cartoon > Toon.

It really does sound dumb.

google have the answer for almost anything. Supposely derived from cartoon

Toon is a term popularized by the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit; it commonly refers to distinguish characters appearing in cartoons from regular humans. Related to this usage are:

http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/77192/what-is-the-source-for-calling-your-characters-toons

So basically people only use it if they don’t want themselves connected to their character in any way, or if they play kids games or are immature?

Ahhhhh
Like I’m not trying to be rude but it just makes me think of Roger Rabbit or something “lol look at my toon”

“My character” is actually the concept of your character. Toon refers to the graphical representation. The correct term is actually avatar (like the movie by the same name – literally it means a visual representation of an abstract concept or a god). But that sounds a bit too fancy, so gamers started referring to it as toon.

Gamers are lazy folks. We’ll pick whatever is easiest to say. Character = 3 syllables. Avatar = 3 syllables. Cartoon = 2 syllables. Toon = 1 syllable.

Just easy to spell while playing and it comes from Cartoon

I’ve been calling them toons since the EQ days. It was what I was taught and back then no one said alt.

It’s one of the most annoying words among the gamer subculture for me. It’s not “cartoon” in the colloquial sense, and only by the most literal definition could you call it that, so using a contraction, an incredibly colloquial device, to give an incredibly literal definition basically defeats the purpose of using a contraction and just looks stupid altogether.

It’s like “rig”. It’s a computer, not an 18-wheeler.

And for the record, both character and avatar are acceptable (and moreover, not antiquated and foolish) substitutes, and unlike someone has already insinuated, character can in fact refer to your on-screen personage as opposed to purely to your own conduct. Example: Darth Vader is a character. xXxDVadezxXx is my character.

Throw in “rolling” a character. I was surprised that many younger players have no context to understand that phrase.

You know, when players use terms I don’t like (like slang for homosexuality), I am told ‘language changes, deal with it!’. Now I say the same. I use the term ‘toon’ to mean my character. With it, no one has to look twice to see if I say char or charr. To me (I’m 50 years old, been playing longer than a lot of you have been alive), it is simple, to the point, and it works. I don’t have a ‘main’ to have an ‘alt’. It was ‘toon’ long before anything you like was even thought of.

I remember my husband getting ripped apart for using ‘toon’ in a post. His entire post was disregarded, and all comments were attacks because of that one word. How pathetic can you get?

If I have to deal with your slang, your text speak, your misspellings, and everything else, you can deal with my ‘toon’. If you can’t, then, maybe you need to go make your own game, play a single-player game, or learn to deal with it. If that is the worst problem you have in this game, consider yourself lucky.

I’m older than you Keysha and I dislike toon simply because animation in the US is considered to be only a medium for children thus a grown man running a “toon” can be taken out of context as some sort of admission of trolling for children. Honestly it happens. Try going to watch a Pixar, Disney or Dreamworks animated film during a matinee without kids and not notice the suspicious stares from the adults with children.

I feel that “avatar” is a bit pretentious, very Second Life, very respectable, so I fall back to old pen and paper “character” from my AD&D days in college. After all it is a MMORPG.

Well, as to the comparison to the word “Rig”, the reason you call it a Rig is because that is a proper usage based on definition;

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rig

Now as for the term “Toon”, that is what everyone referred to their character as on the MMO that I came from. To Keysha’s point, no one gets all bent out of shape when people use the term “App”. The full word is Application. Even Program would do nicely. I have been gaming for years myself. If anyone has any delusion that their “Character” and their chosen “Game” isn’t a glorified, interactive Cartoon, I feel for you. You can spin it any way you like, and tell me how much your avatar is a reflection of YOU (Hey, I feel a special connection with my character too. Some people have known me as that name for ages across various MMOs) but at the end of the day, it’s a bunch of animated digital artwork interacting with other animated digital artwork. The same definition can be applied to a fully rendered Disney/Pixar Movie with real people doing voice-overs, and I would still call any character in a Disney/Pixar movie a Cartoon (Toon) : )

I’ve only played Guild Wars 1 before this and that’s where I learned to call them toons. If it was controversial in that game I missed it. I was really quite surprised to learn a couple of years ago that anyone even cared about this.

The Oxford English Dictionary has no entries for rig that even come close to justifying the colloquial utilization of it in relation to a computer. The best it in particular comes to that is in describing an amateur radio operator’s equipment, which is what I can only imagine our modern slang term evolved from. Still doesn’t change that it sounds stupid and if you use it in a conversation with me I’ll likely think you’re an idiot.

The issue with “toon”, as with “rig”, is not so much the fact that it’s an incorrect colloquialism but the fact that it just plain old sounds ugly and not only that, is largely irrelevant, and associated with an almost completely different medium. An episode of The Simpsons could be rightly called a “toon”. So, apparently, according to you, could your character. Not only is it ugly, it’s also obfuscating. Ultimately a pointless affectation of a phrase and, like “rig”, one which will, for me, call into question the intelligence or linguistic skills of the one using it.

Most contractions and short forms have a purpose. For this reason I’m okay with shorthand and contractions, for the most part, since they, for most people, facilitate writing in an online environment. There terms in particular, however, have no discernible usage beyond being literary curios, words that one can use to appear to belong to a certain group that might seem desirable to one. Thus, not only are they worthless, they are annoying.

I don’t know where it came from, but I think I started using it because it is – quite frankly – easier to say than “character” or “char.” It just rolls off the tongue better. I still say character sometimes though.

I do think this dude has an interesting point:

I attribute the rise of the term “Toon” during this period as not belonging to a single game or experience, but instead to the increasing disconnection between player and character identity.

http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/77192/what-is-the-source-for-calling-your-characters-toons

And if I think back to when I’ve used each term (toon and character) I think I am more likely to say character if it is a singular character that I play (e.g. stronger connection perhaps?) vs. if I’m talking about one of many characters (e.g. “one of my toons”).

Hey one persons ugly is another persons beautiful toon is how I’ve always described my “characters” or “alts” I don’t know why its even an issue really. Not saying I only call them toons Ive been know to us the word character too lol (laughing out loud)

Either way, it’s a pretty affectionate way to refer to your character. Kind of like calling your wife or daughter “honey” — because she’s sweet. “Toon” may stem from those of us that grew up with cartoons which brings back fond memories of Saturday mornings, and also because your character is animated.

I know I’ve used to term “toon” in my MMOs like over 10 years ago. Somewhere around there anyway.

The Roger Rabbit reference brought up above also makes a lot of sense. I DID grow up in that era.

I never say toon because I don’t like the sound of the word.

Also it always makes me think of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and therefore cartoon characters, specifically the older Warner Bros slap-stick ones, which are great in their own way but not something I’d associate with my GW2 characters.

My first MMO was Ultima Online where they were called avatars, following on from the single-player Ultima games where that was both a name and a description of the main character. But many people also simply called them characters.

I didn’t encounter toon until GW1 where I was told it came from World of Warcraft and caught on there due to the graphics style.

Character is my preferred term because it’s fairly universal so I think it’s safe to assume everyone will know what it means and it’s accurate to the way I play the game. I don’t have an avatar – which would be a projection of myself into the game, none of my characters look like me and they don’t always act like me either. Toon would be completely wrong to me, they aren’t cartoon characters. They’re just characters that I’ve invented to insert into the story and world to play with.

I never had a problem with toon or rig but I have to wonder, how did the word “sick” go from something that is negative to something that is awesome? For example, if a person really likes this game, they might say "Guild Wars 2 is sick (awesome).

I use toons when talking about all my characters. If I talk about one of them I use his name – unless I speak about my Charr character, him I refer to as “that worthless pice of ****”
Yes, I’m weird. Live with it

The earliest use of ‘toon’ that I could find with an RPG was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toon_%28role-playing_game%29. This came out 4 years before Roger Rabbit.

I guess, what I am trying to say is going to be ignored. My point was, if things you say that we find annoying or irritating should be ignored, then maybe, just maybe, you should do the same, instead of trying to force people to do things in a way that suits YOU.

Keysha.2815:

You know, when players use terms I don’t like (like slang for homosexuality), I am told ‘language changes, deal with it!’. Now I say the same. I use the term ‘toon’ to mean my character. With it, no one has to look twice to see if I say char or charr. To me (I’m 50 years old, been playing longer than a lot of you have been alive), it is simple, to the point, and it works. I don’t have a ‘main’ to have an ‘alt’. It was ‘toon’ long before anything you like was even thought of.

I remember my husband getting ripped apart for using ‘toon’ in a post. His entire post was disregarded, and all comments were attacks because of that one word. How pathetic can you get?

If I have to deal with your slang, your text speak, your misspellings, and everything else, you can deal with my ‘toon’. If you can’t, then, maybe you need to go make your own game, play a single-player game, or learn to deal with it. If that is the worst problem you have in this game, consider yourself lucky.

I rarely use it, but that term has been around for a long time.

“Toon” originated from WoW, in reference to the cartoonish art style (and characters sometimes being referred to as “cartoons”

I’m boring, I just call my characters characters.

Vermillion Hawk.9037:

It’s one of the most annoying words among the gamer subculture for me.

It’s like “rig”. It’s a computer, not an 18-wheeler.

I slightly agree about the toon thing, although language adapts over time. Cartoons are used to describe almost any form of any entertainment media now, instead of just the traditional animated cartoons. I think my bigger pet peeve though is that as a language becomes more decisive in a culture, the changing of definitions aren’t supported to suit the evolution of the language.

Just my pet peeve talking, but I disagree with the rig analogy – a computer can be legitimately referred to as a rig.

(n) apparatus for some purpose; equipment; outfit; gear

Robert.4197:

I never had a problem with toon or rig but I have to wonder, how did the word “sick” go from something that is negative to something that is awesome? For example, if a person really likes this game, they might say "Guild Wars 2 is sick (awesome).

That…that…that…

That’s a really good question. I think I’ll do some research about that some afternoon when I’m lonely and bored.

I can’t help but read some of the responses here and think “First World problems”. People taking issue with the word toon to describe their character is actually a thing?

Vermillion Hawk.9037:

The Oxford English Dictionary has no entries for rig that even come close to justifying the colloquial utilization of it in relation to a computer. The best it in particular comes to that is in describing an amateur radio operator’s equipment, which is what I can only imagine our modern slang term evolved from.

It actually comes from the old sailing days, when you had to rig your ship by setting up all the masts, sails, ropes, and pulleys and put them into their proper place so you could set sail. Likewise, to assemble a radio or computer, you have to rig all the different components and cables together into their proper places and connectors so you can use the radio/computer.

That’s probably why the term is used more among people who assemble their own computers, rather than buy them pre-built.

Still doesn’t change that it sounds stupid and if you use it in a conversation with me I’ll likely think you’re an idiot.

Well I think it made you sound stupid when you said it made you think of a tractor trailer (“big rig” – I hadn’t even thought of that alternate meaning of the word). But I won’t hold that against ya.

(Incidentally, “big rig” also derives from the same sailing term. To make a tractor trailer, you have to rig the tractor to the trailer.)

hannah mee.7925:

Robert.4197:

I never had a problem with toon or rig but I have to wonder, how did the word “sick” go from something that is negative to something that is awesome? For example, if a person really likes this game, they might say "Guild Wars 2 is sick (awesome).

That…that…that…

That’s a really good question. I think I’ll do some research about that some afternoon when I’m lonely and bored.

Well I just woke up and did a search on Google and this is the first thing that popped up http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/75017/origin-of-current-slang-usage-of-the-word-sick-to-mean-great

I really hate when people call their character a “toon”. Also when they call their profession a “class”.

Please use the correct terminology when you play the game.

Of all the sorry crap for people to get uptight about…

I use toon and I intend to continue. Say it out loud, its a lovely sound. People who are really upset by it have issues and should probably disconnect from the internet.

This reminds me of the old saying, I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet. Except here it would be: I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who…… called his toon a toon?

First world problems. Really. Some people lives are too easy if they complain about stuff like this.

Robert.4197:

hannah mee.7925:

Robert.4197:

I never had a problem with toon or rig but I have to wonder, how did the word “sick” go from something that is negative to something that is awesome? For example, if a person really likes this game, they might say "Guild Wars 2 is sick (awesome).

That…that…that…

That’s a really good question. I think I’ll do some research about that some afternoon when I’m lonely and bored.

Well I just woke up and did a search on Google and this is the first thing that popped up http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/75017/origin-of-current-slang-usage-of-the-word-sick-to-mean-great

Heh, first thing I noticed is FumbleFingers marked the question as a duplicate – I wonder if he answered it before. I absolutely enjoy his posts on StackExchange.

For what it’s worth, Hugo is brilliant too and his answers are some of the most qualitative you’ll find.

narwhalsbend.7059:

I really hate when people call their character a “toon”. Also when they call their profession a “class”.

Please use the correct terminology when you play the game.

Calling the professions classes I can understand because that’s the normal terminology in most games.

I usually remember that one but I have caught myself calling the personal story quests ‘missions’ because that’s what they were called in GW1. I always correct it when I notice though because I think it avoids confusion and ensures people learn the correct terms.

I find the term “toon” to be very annoying. It seems out of place. That said, it is much easier to type and is often more accurate than other words (like alt) which might be one of the reasons it caught on.

Also, nobody wants to have to type out “avatar” in-game.

It’s the same as “alt” alternate character in other words

ketchup.2783:

this is not world of warcraft, people

Yet.

Also, thank goodness it isn’t World Of Warcraft. Just about everyone I know plays that game, and I could never see the appeal to it. It’s too cartoony, for one.

laokoko.7403:

Toon is a term popularized by the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit

The operative word there being “Popularized” – i.e. brought into the vocabulary of the public in general (as opposed to, say, the gaming community).

By contrast, the RPG games community (many of whom, unsurprisingly, were also early MMO players) was well familiar with and using, the term several years before that, thanks mostly to Greg Costikyan’s 1984 RPG of the same name (characters in Toon don’t “die” – they just “fall down” for a short while). So much so that, when “Who Famed Roger Rabbit?” came out, I was utterly convinced that that the writers must have picked up the term (and probably the whole idea for the film) from the game.

(Yeah, some of us have been around for quite a long time…)

I heard it first when I played GW1 on US-Servers (after the merging with EU-servers). So I think it’s rather a US-thing.

I play RPGs since about 20 years and usually refer to my characters as ‘character’ or ‘char’. Toon is rather new to me and it sounds silly.

The term I know since the movie Roger Rabbit though. I think many use the term ‘toon’ since it’s very short and consists of only 3 different letters, so it’ fast and easy to write.

It’s used because it’s shorter to type out. Instead of typing out “character”, people just use “toon”. It’s a lot easier especially when running or when you’re in combat moving around a lot.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1h77ly/why_call_them_toons/carkhp6

This is the furthest I’ve seen someone go back & provide evidence of usage of the term in online games.

TL;DR an early (1991) online game called “Imagination Network”, although the term itself was first used in the real world thanks to either the board game “Toon” or the film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” in the 80’s.

The first MMO I played where the term Toon was used widely for Character was Anarchy Online, back around 2001. I also remember it being used in SWG around 2003. I didn’t hear it much in Early WoW, but by the time of Burning Crusade I noticed some guildies were starting to use it. I understand it’s widely used there today.

Interesting to see that it went even further back.

I like ‘toon’. Easier to type when you’re being chased by risen penguins than ‘character’ or ‘avatar’ or even ‘chars’. We could call them ‘dolls’, I suppose. That rolls off the fingertips quite smoothly.

Alternate suggestions:

aaf = animated action figure
lap = little animated person/people
mub = made up person/people
emelbe = mlb – ‘my little buddy’
slip = Freudian
dup = dolled up pixels
repel = realistically endowed pixels emulating life

See also: animated self simulation.

“Help, my animated self simulation is being chased by risen penguins.”

Same thing with DPS.

People say I’m “DPS.” When it means ‘damage per second.’

’I’m a damage per second.’

The correct term should be damage dealer. Aka DD.

’I’m a damage dealer.’

But when so many people use it. It becomes the set in stone lingo.

Kind of how certain English words change meaning over the years due to popular use conforming in a certain way.

Never really use it i call them chars or charracters. Maybe heroes to switch it up.

Ice of Dragons.1637:

Never really use it i call them chars or charracters. Maybe heroes to switch it up.

You would be a confusing a lot of people if you played Guild Wars Nightfall.

Danikat.8537:

narwhalsbend.7059:

I really hate when people call their character a “toon”. Also when they call their profession a “class”.

Please use the correct terminology when you play the game.

Calling the professions classes I can understand because that’s the normal terminology in most games.

I usually remember that one but I have caught myself calling the personal story quests ‘missions’ because that’s what they were called in GW1. I always correct it when I notice though because I think it avoids confusion and ensures people learn the correct terms.

Exactly. I still don’t understand wtf GW or Anet was thinking here. A class, or character class, are the attributes and capabilities that make up a character.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_class

A profession is a crafting or gathering ability you use to make money.

Anytime I see anyone use the terminology that is specific to GW and argue that people are wrong for using this terminology that we’ve been using since before GW even came to exist, I just assume they are a noob and have never played any other MMOs.

Profession is what it was called in the first Guild Wars. So, some people still call classes “professions” even though in GW2 profession is the in-game terminology to describe crafting trades.

Swizzle.7982:

…..
It really does sound dumb.

Only if you take the concept of an CRPG character way more seriously than you should….

If implying your “character” is a “cartoon” upsets you, that would be taking it way too seriously.