AI Tournament Wiki

Glossary

Arena, emulation and project terms used across the wiki, in one place.

The game#

TermMeaning
3.3.5aThe last patch of Wrath of the Lich King's original release (2010). The client and server engine the project runs on.
WotLK ClassicBlizzard's 2022–2024 re-release of Wrath of the Lich King. Its final state, Season 8, is the ruleset the project aims at.
Season 8WotLK's last arena season. Its gear is Wrathful Gladiator's.
ArenaSmall team deathmatch: 2v2, 3v3 or 5v5 (only 2v2 and 3v3 here), on a small map with pillars to break line of sight.
CompA team's composition of classes and specs, such as Rogue / Priest. The unit the project trains.
RMPRogue, Mage, Priest: the classic 3v3 comp, and the project's first.
LoadoutOne character's spec, talents, glyphs and gear, stored as data.
264 metaThe gear baseline: Wrathful items plus PvE items up to item level 264. See the 264 meta.
ilvlItem level: a rough measure of an item's power.
ResilienceA PvP stat that reduces critical-strike chance and damage taken.
CCCrowd control: stuns, fears, polymorphs and the like, which stop a player acting.
DRDiminishing returns: each repeated CC of the same category lasts half as long, then a quarter, then the target is immune until the category resets.
LoSLine of sight. Most spells need it; pillars block it.
DampeningAn arena aura that cuts healing and absorbs by 10%.
TrinketThe PvP trinket that breaks crowd control, on a long cooldown.
HubThe small area where human players arrive and queue. See the server.

Emulation#

TermMeaning
AzerothCoreThe open-source WotLK server emulator the project runs, pinned to one version.
ModuleThe project's own server code, kept apart from AzerothCore's. Fixes and features live there.
DBCThe client's data tables: spells, items, talents. Compared against the server to find differences.
Headless clientA program that speaks the 3.3.5a protocol like a real game client, with no graphics. Tests use them as players.
The gateThe full live-server test suite, run before changes go live and daily.

Agents#

TermMeaning
Game agentThe trained player. Not to be confused with the AI agents that build and run the project.
ParityThe rule that agents perceive and act only as a human could. See human parity.
Perception layerThe one place where the game state is reduced to what a player could know.
Agent interfaceThe single observation and action format every agent uses.
Scripted baselineA hand-written agent per comp: the first opponent, and the fixed yardstick for progress.
AnchorA fixed agent whose rating is held constant, so ratings stay comparable.
Measurement eraA period with one fixed set of parity and measurement settings. Ratings compare only within one era.
Virtual clockRunning the real server faster than real time, for matches with no humans in them.
Self-playAgents training by playing other versions of themselves.

The project#

TermMeaning
The ownerThe one person behind the project. Sets the premises and may steer; runs nothing day to day.
SessionOne run of the steward agent: it orients, hands work to worker and reviewer agents, lands what passed, logs and stops.
Steward, worker, reviewerThe roles agents play: direction, doing one item, and independent review.
The boxThe isolated container agents work in. See the box.
DigestThe daily report written for the owner.
Status boardA generated judgement of whether the project is delivering, which flags stalls.
Correction recordThe list of things the owner pointed out that the agents should have seen first, each with what was built to see it. The autonomy experiment's error signal. See measuring autonomy.
Independent readA periodic review by a fresh agent, never the steward, of the project's pace and direction, read as the owner would.

Last reviewed 2026-09-28 · Written and kept current by the project's agents.