Talk:Mob (video games)/Archive 2

If we cut to what is sourced

A mob or MOB is a non-player character (NPC) or monster in a computer game, for example a role-playing video game or MMORPG or MUD.[1]

Perhaps the most commonly-held belief about the origin of the term is that it derives from mobile or mobile object.[2] One possibility is that the term comes from the variable name given by Dr. Richard Bartle in 1980, when he added "mobiles" to MUD1.[1][3]

Source code in DikuMUD uses the term "MOB" to refer to a generic NPC.[4] DikuMUD was in turn influential in the creation of Everquest.[5]

...is all we would have left. While I am not sure that would be a bad thing, I hesitate to toss all the other work, and I hesitate to leave it in unflagged.

Lead section expansion?

Does the lead section really still need expansion? It seems like a fine lead to me. If it does, what sort of thing does it need? —chaos5023 (talk) 18:16, 23 March 2010 (UTC)

wp:lead might be a good place to start. In general, the lead should have a summary of the article...generally without duplicating the sources already cited below it, in the body. I support dropping the expand lead flag.- Sinneed 12:20, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

No smalltype on ref quotes?

Is that considered best practice? I've always used the smalltype because that was how it was done in the article I learned to do refs from. —chaos5023 (talk) 00:41, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

If it were a best practice, it would (or should) be in the template. :) That is what they are for, to lend consistency and simplicity.- Sinneed 00:55, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

On the other hand I know of no prohibition either. This isn't something I'd fight over, but if it is just a consistency issue I'll lobby for the full size quote.- Sinneed 00:56, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

I don't have any strong feelings about it or anything. I was just wondering if I should de-smallify cite quotes in the course of events and such. I do agree that it seems as if, were smallified quotes supposed to be standard, one would think it'd be in the template. —chaos5023 (talk) 04:14, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

A couple of quick searches at the cite web template gave no clear guidance, except that the example use of quote did not use the <small></small>. I think each editor has to decide how they go, then go. :)- Sinneed 04:32, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

Yeah. I'm going with the desmallifying; it seems best. In addition to the points you brought up, it's infinitely more maintenance-friendly to leave formatting details like that to the template. —chaos5023 (talk) 05:10, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

wp:RS

I spotted 2 sources right away that will probably have a hard time finding support as wp:RS. One is a wiki, and it fails. Like wikipedia, anyone can edit it. Another is the non-english language site td.muds.net:4015, as it appears to be self-published... it also includes quotes from a previous version of this article. wp:CIRCULAR. IMO you should remove these.- Sinneed 12:26, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

Done. Too bad about the circular reference; I'm failing to find anything reliable-looking about the backronyms. For the WoW monsters-not-NPCs usage and "named mob" I was able to dig up a couple wow.com articles. —chaos5023 (talk) 13:12, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

WoW Insider isn't the best reference because it's in blog format, I suppose, but as far as I can tell it looks like a reasonably professional media outlet, with editorial oversight, owned by a Srs Bzns Organization (AOL). So I think it's supportible to assign it some weight. —chaos5023 (talk) 17:29, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

Pronunciation seems dated

I realize that the pronunciation given is backed up by a source and perhaps was quite common back in 1995. However, I've played a lot of MMOs in the last ten years or so and have never, ever heard anyone pronounce the word any way but /mɒb/ (IPA). I realize that's probably because few people realize it's an abbreviation of 'mobile,' but the why doesn't really matter. Does anyone else agree that maybe the pronunciation needs updating? -- Fyrefly (talk) 19:22, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

I agree. In fact, I came to the talk section specifically to mention that I've never heard it pronounced /ˈmoʊb/. I think it should be changed. Damienivan (talk) 21:40, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Can we come up with a reliable source citation discussing the "modern" pronunciation? What would be best, I think, would be a brief discussion of how its original derivation from "mobile" led to the correct pronunciation being considered "/ˈmoʊb/", but drift since has rendered it almost always "/mɒb/". The problem is, since we only have a citation for the "/ˈmoʊb/" pronunciation, the latter part would be pure original research as matters stand. —chaos5023 (talk) 04:54, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

You could, perhaps, mention a few games that pronounce it as "/mɒb/", including Minecraft and World of Warcraft, saying something around the lines of "The pronunciation of the term is contested. The term was originally represented to be an abbreviation of "mobile" and is thus defined to be pronounced "/moʊb/", but many modern gamers, including the makers and players of Minecraft and World of Warcraft, use the pronunciation "/mɒb/" instead." (citing sources, of course)

Or, better yet, look for an academic journal on video games that uses this pronunciation. However, it could also be a cultural thing - I live in the US, and I have no idea if people from other countries use "/moʊb/". Compynerd255 (talk) 20:04, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

Not all mobs are monsters but some are animals

NOT ALL MOBS ARE MONSTERS. SOME MOBS ARE ANIMALS AND OTHERS ARE MONSTERS. YOU DON'T EDIT IT.69.115.55.166 (talk) 14:53, 9 April 2017 (UTC)