Quick definition:To attack a player by surprise or with superior numbers, usually when the target is alone or unprepared, so that the fight is heavily one-sided.
Meaning
To gank is to attack someone in a way that gives them little chance. The classic case is several players pouncing on one, or a strong player targeting a weak or distracted one. It often happens when the target is travelling alone, busy fighting something else, or low on health.
Opinions on the practice depend on context. In team battle games, ganking is a normal tactic: players travel to another lane to surprise an opponent and gain an advantage. The word is used with approval for a clever ambush and for the planning that goes into one.
In open online worlds, it carries a more negative meaning when strong players repeatedly prey on newcomers. Some games respond with protected zones, separate servers or rules against attacking much weaker players. As with much gaming slang, it can be used as a noun, a verb or a complaint.
Origin:Gank is widely said to be short for gang kill, and it spread through online multiplayer games, particularly role-playing and team battle games in the 2000s. The precise first use is hard to trace, and some players describe the word differently, but the shortened form is the most common explanation. Example:While Sam is travelling alone through a forest, three opponents leap from the bushes and defeat him in seconds. His teammates later joke that he was ganked. He changes tactics, sticks with a partner and waits at the edge of the map to ambush the same group on their return.
Did you know?The word is used in team battle games for a planned surprise attack on a single opponent, which can be a respected tactic. In other contexts it is a complaint about unfair attacks on weaker players.
