In gaming parlance, the acronyms gg stands for “good game,” but it can mean so many other things. Gadget geek? Good going? Girl Genius? Whatever the usage, it’s a term that’s here to stay as one of the staples of a gamer’s vocabulary, spawning other words such as gg’ed, ggified, gfg, etc.
I’m a “girl gamer” type of gg myself, and since this is an intro post, let me tell you about the many acronyms that occupy my life. I’m a college student who tries to dabble in fields ranging from music to physics to art, but for some strange reason I spend most of my time gaming. I practically live at a certain computer gaming shop: if I’m not at home or in class, you can probably find me there.
Among my (far too many) games, DotA, aka Defense of the Ancients, stands out as the most addictive. Technically it’s not even a game — it’s a custom map for Warcraft III: Frozen Throne — but it has spawned a larger cult following, more tournaments, and more hours spent in obsessive play than a lot of other games out there.
DotA isn’t very complicated, and you can actually learn it in a few hours. But what with the teamwork aspect (your team of five versus another team of five), the variety of characters to choose from, the different combinations of heroes and skills in a team, the items and their effects… the possibilities are endless. What more, it’s fun! My friends and I have spent many exciting (not to mention noisy) hours playing all sorts of DotA matches, screaming all the while: “KILL HIM OMG I DON’T WANT TO DIE!”
I asked a few friends what they thought of DotA and the answers were mostly the same:
me: survey: what is dota for you?
friend1: life
friend2: :))
me: WTF
And again,
me: survey: what is dota for you?
friend2: DOTA is life -mond
me: LOL
me: why do you all say the same things
friend2: haha
friend2: because it is life
They weren’t totally serious, of course. Like all games, DotA is played (mostly) for fun and as a stress reliever. It’s the game where I first started using “gg” very often — both nicely and, well, not so nicely.
As a parting shot (link?) I’d like to point you to a funny post about DotA and what it really stands for. It’s not fully in English, but don’t worry; you don’t have to be fluent in Tagalog to understand the humor.