Hate (MMORPG terminology)
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Hate, Aggro, or Threat are terms for the MMORPG internal measure of how much a non-playing character (NPC) wants to target a playing character (PC). The game keeps track of several quantities in calculating hate:
- How much damage has been done to the mob by the PC.
- Debuffs placed on the mob by the PC.
- Heals to other PCs or NPCs (such as pets) who are attacking the mob.
In many cases, the amount of hate generated by the above actions is proportional to the measure of the effect. For example, a single spell that does two thousand (2000) hit points (HP) of damage would generate more hate than a series of four spells that do five hundred (500) HPs of damage.
A hate list is maintained by the game, and contains every PC that has damaged the NPC. This allows the game to select the next target if the primary target PC dies or leaves the encounter. The more hate a PC generates, the higher on the list they are moved. For example, the tank is at the top of the hate list, followed by the primary healer, followed by a mage. The mage lands a spell that does significant damage while the healer has been idle, then the mage moves into second place on the hate list behind the tank.
Many times in these games, hate is used as a mechanic that must be mastered to overcome a challenging encounter. The encounter may require that a group of players alternate the top spot on a mob's "hate list", or the mob itself might wipe its hate list (removing all PC's from the hate list), requiring the tank to regain the mob's hate. There are also mobs that behave in a manner inconsistent with their hate list, frequently targeting other players besides the one on the top of their own hate list (The Lava Surger, from World of Warcraft, is one example of such a mob). This behavior is known as "dumping aggro", where "dumping" specifically refers to the withdrawal of the mob from one PC and the subsequent attack by that mob on another PC.
Hate can be managed in several ways:
- Tanks usually have the ability to generate hate in a much greater quantity than they should from their damage. This is known as taunting.
- Damage-over-time or Heal-over-time spells, which spread their damage / heals over a fixed, non-instantaneous timeframe. Because the instantaneous effect of the spell is small, the hate generated is much lower.
- Memwipe spells that erase the mob's memory, clearing its hate list.
- Stealth classes like thieves sometimes have the ability to hide, which removes or decreases their hate. Similarly, some classes can feign death which has the same effect.
- Rooting, an aspect of crowd control, can control hate by fixing the mob in place. In this case, often the nearest PC becomes the target at the top of the hate list.
