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Frag
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Frag is roughly equivalent to "kill", with the main difference being the player can respawn (play again), i.e. the "kill" is only temporary. In games it is mainly used as a kill count and score system. The term is used in various first-person shooter (FPS) modes, i.e. deathmatch. The usage is different in different games, modes and implementations. This article describes the most common uses.
Players receive a frag for killing ("fragging") another player. In some games, the player also loses a frag as a penalty for being killed in ways other than by another player; this can be a suicide, either intentional or unintentionally -- e.g. by falling a long distance or discharging a rocket directly into a nearby wall. There can also be a punishment for killing teammates, e.g. subtracting one or three frags from the score; negative score values are possible in most implementations. 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.
A player will die when the health value reaches equal to or less than 0, if the value is reduced to a very low negative value, the result may be gibbing depending upon the game -- which counts as a normal frag in regard to the score system.
In most games, when a player is fragged, the player will lose all equipment gained and the screen will continue to display the visible (still animated) scene that the player normally sees, and the score list is usually displayed -- the frags. The display does not go black when the player dies. Usually the player can choose to instantly respawn or remain dead; when the player respawns the health value will be reset to the initial default value, and default equipment will be received. A player will usually respawn at a random selection of predefined locations.
In this context the term "frag" is used to replace 'kill' 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.
Because a player will in most games not lose frags for being fragged it can be a tactical choice of a skilled player to perform an indirect suicide when badly wounded, as in getting fragged by a low scoring, weaker player in order to avoid allowing a high scoring player (who is the actual competition) getting a frag and thus also being transported away and with full health -- despite losing equipment.
A telefrag is a frag involving teleporters, when one entity teleports into space already occupied by another. 'Telefragging' will frag the player who is in the space the teleporter transports to and not frag the teleported player. A telefrag will result in the fragged player gibbing in most games.
No credit (frags or other form of score) is given for wounding another player in most games. This opens the possibility of "stealing" one or several frags, i.e. the act of one player killing a badly wounded player without the former being responsible for hurting the wounded player. E.g. by a third player entering a duel and fragging the two already badly wounded player(s), or simply hunting down a wounded sole player (without being responsible for hurting that player). The two players in the duel are given no credit for hurting each other while the third player is given all credit. This makes it especially attractive for skilled players to seek out less skilled players who are already engaged in battle and frag them.
Some games will credit a player with a frag for pushing another player off a cliff, however most games will merely subtract one frag from the score of the player who died -- with no credit given to the killer. Manipulation of the environment of the map which results in the death of a player may be counted as a frag in some implementations. Examples include pushing buttons to operate moving walls, causing a player to be crushed, or falling into a hostile environment (e.g. lava).
Many games will broadcast messages to all players with information about which player fragged whom. These messages include which type of weapon used, in most games.
The word "frag" can also refer to a (fragmentation) grenade. When players inform their teammates that the are throwing a grenade, they will often use phrases like "frag out!" or just "frag!".
