What is the Origin of the Term, "Nerf"?
By
Abigail Frost,
Posted on: 2006-07-13 08:39 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Well, that's a given. But Nerf was simply a "safe" toy to begin with. They're designed for kids to play with without getting their noses flattened.
Some people prefer to play hardball, and take offense to the devs "nerfing" the game...
It pretty much has to do with the whole Nerf concept. A nerf anything is weaker than it's Real Life equivalent. Think about a real sword vs a Nerf one. It used to mean that a power or ability was reduced to uselessness, but as all terms used on the internet, it's meaning has been broadened to include any reduction no matter how insignificant.
I believe it stems from fantasy MMORPGs (or MUDs even) when a player's weapon would be reduced in effectiveness in an effort to balance the game.
It comes from the phrase "You turned my sword into a nerf bat".
Thus "nerfing" something became synonymous with making something weaker.
"Hit with the nerf bat" is a derivitive, but still sees its origin in the original 'sword' phrase, and can be applied to systems outside of the normal weapon and loot ones.
Personally, I hate the word, and try never to use it when talking about the game to players. It carries a very negative stigma that I like to avoid whenever possible.
Positron
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Personally, I hate the word, and try never to use it when talking about the game to players. It carries a very negative stigma that I like to avoid whenever possible.
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So does this mean no more nerfs? Or are you just going to use a different word for it? 
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Personally, I hate the word, and try never to use it when talking about the game to players. It carries a very negative stigma that I like to avoid whenever possible.
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So does this mean no more nerfs? Or are you just going to use a different word for it?
[/ QUOTE ]You Floamed my Regen scrapper!
In the Arena of Logic, I fight unarmed.
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Personally, I hate the word, and try never to use it when talking about the game to players. It carries a very negative stigma that I like to avoid whenever possible.
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So does this mean no more nerfs? Or are you just going to use a different word for it?
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From now on, any action that may be seen as a nerf by the playerbase shall be referred to as "French"...
Oi the conotations.....
If it helps to date it I know we were using the term back in the early days of Ultima Online about what happened to characters between beta and live. So back before then probably. Most likly from MUDs.
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Personally, I hate the word, and try never to use it when talking about the game to players. It carries a very negative stigma that I like to avoid whenever possible.
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So does this mean no more nerfs? Or are you just going to use a different word for it?
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From now on, any action that may be seen as a nerf by the playerbase shall be referred to as "French"...
Oi the conotations.....
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I thought they preferred "small tweak"...
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Thus "nerfing" something became synonymous with making something weaker.
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I think it implied more than that; it meant "making something useless." (Hence the negative stigma.) That's part of the problem with the word as it's used today; while it's applied to any weakening of a power/ability/item/etc., it's always presumed that it's a negative change. It's hard to imagine a "good, necessary nerf." The very word almost removes the possibility that an effectiveness reduction of this-or-that thing is actually beneficial to the game.
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It pretty much has to do with the whole Nerf concept. A nerf anything is weaker than it's Real Life equivalent. Think about a real sword vs a Nerf one. It used to mean that a power or ability was reduced to uselessness, but as all terms used on the internet, it's meaning has been broadened to include any reduction no matter how insignificant.
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Even broader - I've seen the term used even when a power was getting strengthened - called a "Good Nerf" or a "Positive Nerf".
It's become synonymous with the word 'change' now.
My memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
"The tip of a shoelace is called an aglet, its true purpose is sinister." The Question
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I thought they preferred "small tweak"
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Only if it referers, IIRC, to regen.
Orc&Pie No.53230 There is an orc, and somehow, he got a pie. And you are hungry.
www.repeat-offenders.net
Negaduck: I see you found the crumb. I knew you'd never notice the huge flag.
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It's become synonymous with the word 'change' now.
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That's just sad.
well i cant see what else you would call "nerfing" burn
posi might not remember it but its one of those powers that we "use" to use
since hes not nerfing things..maybe he can tell us when he plans on fixing the power he messed up then?
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Even broader - I've seen the term used even when a power was getting strengthened - called a "Good Nerf" or a "Positive Nerf".
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Ahm...
My post? Up there? Ignore it. Apparently I am not "down with the street," as it were.
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It's become synonymous with the word 'change' now.
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That's just sad.
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My favorite use of the word nerf was the person whining that, because the changes to domination weren't enough for him in I7 on test, they "nerfed" domination.
Current Badge Hunter: Plot Device (Rad/Thermal/Dark) - 1,268 Xbox Live: Friggin Taser
King of Electricity, Lead Inmate running the Carl and Sons asylum, the "Man" behind the Establishment, Given Honor in Hat Form By Paragon City (Favorite Forum Poster 2006!), Master of Ceremonies of the Fair Use Law podcast
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If it helps to date it I know we were using the term back in the early days of Ultima Online about what happened to characters between beta and live. So back before then probably. Most likly from MUDs.
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You are correct. The term "nerf" was in widespread use in the early days of the MUD.
I feel so old now... 
M'Teru couldn't get the job done. So she sent Mot to Astoria. Bad call.
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well i cant see what else you would call "nerfing" burn
posi might not remember it but its one of those powers that we "use" to use
since hes not nerfing things..maybe he can tell us when he plans on fixing the power he messed up then?
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Looks like someone needs to read the guide before nerf whining.
Current Badge Hunter: Plot Device (Rad/Thermal/Dark) - 1,268 Xbox Live: Friggin Taser
King of Electricity, Lead Inmate running the Carl and Sons asylum, the "Man" behind the Establishment, Given Honor in Hat Form By Paragon City (Favorite Forum Poster 2006!), Master of Ceremonies of the Fair Use Law podcast
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Even broader - I've seen the term used even when a power was getting strengthened - called a "Good Nerf" or a "Positive Nerf".
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In my experience, anything getting strengthened was a buff, ie "*insert ability name here* got buffed to double damage". Recently domination was buffed.
However "good nerfs" would apply to things like lowering the strength of something in the game that's their opponent. Reducing the AV regen rate recently would be a "good nerf" or a "positive nerf".
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You Floamed my Regen scrapper!
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LOL!! That is too funny!
From Wikipedia's entry on Nerf (Computer Games)
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A nerf is a change to the rules of a computer game that weakens a certain object(s). For example, if a game designer changed a powerful sword into a 'nerf' sword made of soft foam, the power of the sword would be dramatically lowered. This classic example is believed to be the origin of the term 'nerf'.
The term 'nerf' comes from the childsafe Nerf toys of soft foam and plastic, which are often made in the shape of guns, bats, or other weapons. The term originated in the MMORPG Ultima Online. For a long period of time, the sword skill was incredibly powerful. The designers eventually lowered its effectiveness, causing massive player outcry. They claimed that it seemed as though they were hitting with "Nerf Bats", immortalizing the term [citation needed].
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well i cant see what else you would call "nerfing" burn
posi might not remember it but its one of those powers that we "use" to use
since hes not nerfing things..maybe he can tell us when he plans on fixing the power he messed up then?
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I would call Burn's change many things:
Power alteration
Reduced in effectiveness
Strength modification
Debuff to the power
etc.
Just because I don't use the word "nerf" does not mean things will never be adjusted in a downward direction.
Positron
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Even broader - I've seen the term used even when a power was getting strengthened - called a "Good Nerf" or a "Positive Nerf".
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Ahm...
My post? Up there? Ignore it. Apparently I am not "down with the street," as it were.
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Nah - I just hit 'reply' before reading everything .. You are still "Down With The Street", my good man.
My memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
"The tip of a shoelace is called an aglet, its true purpose is sinister." The Question
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Personally, I hate the word, and try never to use it when talking about the game to players. It carries a very negative stigma that I like to avoid whenever possible.
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So does this mean no more nerfs? Or are you just going to use a different word for it?
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Developers typically already do. Things are "rebalanced" or "tweaked" or "altered." It's pretty much all synonymous, but like Positron says, "nerfed" automatically illicits negative viewpoints. It's a very evocative term.
But rest assured, things will be "rebalanced," "tweaked," "altered" and even "nerfed" for years to come in any MMOG you play. Sometimes reductions in effectiveness/powers are just necessary whether we like it or not.
Yea- and I'm
horizontally challenged 
vertically enabled
etc
Fitting that Posi knows the origins of 'Nerf'
I never really gave much thought to the meaning behind "Nerf" until I was reading this book, "Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early 1970s". In the chapter about Soft Rock, I read this...
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Just as Parker Brothers had to reformulate the Nerf Ball in 1971 because it was flammable, the early seventies' soft-rocking bellbottomed-male Caucasians defused rock and roll's incendiary character, rounding its edges and making it safe for children.
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I was 10 years old in 1971, so I remember when Nerf Balls first came out - they were all the craze. I never knew they had to redesign them to make them safer.
This sure sounds like a connection to the term "Nerf" we use in MMORPGs today, doesn't it?