Why are they called raids?

[Danikat.8537]

Does anyone know where the term raid comes from? I know it originated with other games and became the standard term for difficult instanced content for large groups, which is why they're called that in GW2. But where does the name come from originally?

I imagine it's a bit like dungeons - where it started off with games where you're trying to get out of (or in to) a literal dungeon and then the name caught on and was expanded to cover all similar content even if it's actually a temple or a town or space station or whatever. But I don't know the history of raids as well, so I'm not sure if it is the same.

[Loosmaster.8263]

@Danikat.8537 said:Does anyone know where the term raid comes from? I know it originated with other games and became the standard term for difficult instanced content for large groups, which is why they're called that in GW2. But where does the name come from originally?

I imagine it's a bit like dungeons - where it started off with games where you're trying to get out of (or in to) a literal dungeon and then the name caught on and was expanded to cover all similar content even if it's actually a temple or a town or space station or whatever. But I don't know the history of raids as well, so I'm not sure if it is the same.

Origin. The term itself stems from the military definition of 'a sudden attack and/or seizure of some objective'. Raiding originated in the class of text MUDs known as DikuMUD, which in turn heavily influenced the 1999 MMORPG EverQuest, which brought the raiding concept into modern 3D MMORPGs.

[Dawdler.8521]

Also important to differentiate a raid and an armed robbery.

In the later the evil villians are stealing money and items in a violent attack often involving assault and murder.

In the former the good heros liberate loot in a planned raid often involving defending yourself with lethal force.

[Gulbasaur.1865]

@Loosmaster.8263 said:Origin. The term itself stems from the military definition of 'a sudden attack and/or seizure of some objective'. Raiding originated in the class of text MUDs known as DikuMUD, which in turn heavily influenced the 1999 MMORPG EverQuest, which brought the raiding concept into modern 3D MMORPGs.

I love stuff like this, thank you. There's a lot of shared language in gaming and lots of it goes way back in terms of modern RPG gaming. I mean, lots of them go back to D&D or MUDs. D&D cribbed heavily from literature like Conan the Barbarian and the works of Tolkien (who pretty much codified elves and dwarves as we know them now), who cribbed from Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic mythology stylistically.

[BlueJin.4127]

@Dawdler.8521 said:Also important to differentiate a raid and an armed robbery.

In the later the evil villians are stealing money and items in a violent attack often involving assault and murder.

In the former the good heros liberate loot in a planned raid often involving defending yourself with lethal force.

So, since the players start the fights by charging in and attacking monsters that were just sitting in their own homes minding their own business, then players kill said monsters and take their money and items... we should rename raids to armed robbery. :D

[Andy.5981]

The word Raid is a corruption of the old English word rād, which means to ride. The word is cognate (shares the same origin) with the old Norse word reið. Not surprising really since Scotland and Northern England were regularly attacked and settled by the Vikings.

It got corrupted to the Scottish/Northern English word Rade during the 15th Century. At that time it meant a riding journey or expedition. By the 17th century it had died out but was revived by the Poet Sir Walter Scott in the 19th Century most notably in his work Rob Roy, where it was given an extended meaning of attack or foray.

Well that's what I found out by digging around a little.

[Steve The Cynic.3217]

@BlueJin.4127 said:

@Dawdler.8521 said:Also important to differentiate a

raid

and an

armed robbery

.

In the later the evil villians are stealing money and items in a violent attack often involving assault and murder.

In the former the good heros liberate loot in a planned raid often involving defending yourself with lethal force.

So, since the players start the fights by charging in and attacking monsters that were just sitting in their own homes minding their own business, then players kill said monsters and take their money and items... we should rename raids to armed robbery. :D

We do that throughout any and all maps of any and all MMORPGs(1), in fact, whether the content on the map is group, mass-group or solo. It has always puzzled me that the Trooper class in SWTOR must gather his equipment by armed robbery (accompanied by murder) rather than checking it out of central Republic military supplies.

(1) Except the ones like Runes of Magic where it is possible to fight at least somewhat effectively with your bare hands, in which case it is unarmed robbery, with murder sprinkled on top.

[Dawdler.8521]

@"Andy.5981" said:The word Raid is a corruption of the old English word rād, which means to ride. The word is cognate (shares the same origin) with the old Norse word reið. Not surprising really since Scotland and Northern England were regularly attacked and settled by the Vikings.

It got corrupted to the Scottish/Northern English word Rade during the 15th Century. At that time it meant a riding journey or expedition. By the 17th century it had died out but was revived by the Poet Sir Walter Scott in the 19th Century most notably in his work Rob Roy, where it was given an extended meaning of attack or foray.

Well that's what I found out by digging around a little.Well Sweden took it back a couple of hundred years ago anyway. It's still called "räd". Though unlike reið, it doesnt have a... uuuuh... saucier... meaning as well.

[Westenev.5289]

Raid. Noun."a rapid surprise attack on an enemy by troops, aircraft, or other armed forces."

~ Google

Sounds pretty accurate, wouldn't you agree?