Frag (video gaming)
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Frag is a computer and video game term, used in first-person shooter (FPS) deathmatch. A frag is a killcount; one gets a frag if one kills ("frags") another player. In some games, one also loses a frag as a penalty for killing oneself (called a "suicide", even if unintentional), for example, by falling a long distance or discharging a rocket directly into a nearby wall. There can also be a punishment for killing teammates, like losing one or three frags. The origin of this term is most likely related to the military definition, possibly stemming from Doom deathmatch in which the object is to kill other marines. It is also believed to be an abbreviation of "fragmentation" in reference to the "gibbing" of players killed by explosions.
One does not usually lose frags for being killed by another player. This leads to the game theoretical consequence that one should engage in combat with another player unless severely outmatched because the potential benefit (one frag) outweighs the potential harm (lost time for respawning and the opponent, who may not be ranked first, getting a frag).
In this context the term "frag" is used to replace 'killing' or 'dying' as these terms are final - whereas first person shooters usually allow respawning (instant or almost instant resurrection). The usage of the term fragging is also a response to advocates of computer game censorship, who argue that violence in games can cause violence in real life. The term 'fragging' rather than 'killing' thus becomes a semantic indicator of the distance of the violence from any real act.
Fragging is sometimes contrasted with gibbing. When one shoots another player's character, they have been fragged. When one shoots another with a rocket launcher or repeatedly shot with a weapon after the player is killed, and little bits of one's body go flying everywhere, they have been gibbed. Both can be referred to as 'frags', however.
