Etymology of Zerg?

[hydra_ex]

What is the etymology of the word zerg? We use it to describe a gamplay style, but where does it come from.

A search on google revealed only the Star-craft zerg, which, with further research, seems a potential suspect, but not probably enough for me to resist posting here.

So, where does Zerg come from?

[PopeDX]

Starcraft...the Zerg race was designed around building up fast and overwhelming opponents.

[bobbryan2]

Zerging was a strategy where the zerg player would forgo going through their building technology tree in order to produce zerglings.

Since zerg could almost immediately produce zerglings, you would then 'zerg' another player and destroy their probes or SCVs before any defenses could be made.

You'd frequently see "No zerging" on online LFMs as they wanted the game to be assured to progress into middle and end game. In reality, there 'were' defenses against zerging, but it required you to also forgo going through building technology trees, and so it added a little paper, rock, scissors to the beginning of the game where guessing wrong could put you at a distinct disadvantage.

[Guildmaster_Kadish]

Yep, it came from Starcraft. The Zerg were notorious for rushing and overwhelming opponents.

[WeaselKing]

Yep, it came from Starcraft. The Zerg were notorious for rushing and overwhelming opponents.

Ya it originally was about overcoming the opponent with sheer numbers but has come to mean overcoming the enemy with speed.

[hydra_ex]

Interesting how it became applied to rushing through a dungeon quickly. I can see how it came about, but its still a bit of a longshot

[Ghirmeshk]

Here it is:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Zerg

[bobbryan2]

Here it is:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Zerg

Definition 3 would be the most accurate deifnition when you saw an online game say, "No zerging."

The other definitions, overwhelming force of numbers, describes the basic zerg end-game tactic, but makes no sense in that context.

[bobbryan2]

Interesting how it became applied to rushing through a dungeon quickly. I can see how it came about, but its still a bit of a longshot

Rushing to beat a dungeon before suitable defenses are in place? Doesn't seem like a longshot to me.

[hydra_ex]

Rushing to beat a dungeon before suitable defenses are in place? Doesn't seem like a longshot to me.

I was more thinking along the lines from the definition "Mobbing an enemy with low lvl units"

[bobbryan2]

I was more thinking along the lines from the definition "Mobbing an enemy with low lvl units"

The low level units are unimportant. The key to the strategy is blinding speed. You have to attack the other players before they have any defensive units or buildings.

I'm saying that the speed aspect is the primary consideration with zerging quests and zerging opponents in starcraft.

I'm just saying, it's not a leap of imagination.

[Aranticus]

Ya it originally was about overcoming the opponent with sheer numbers but has come to mean overcoming the enemy with speed.

not exactly

the zerg tactic is a tactic which zerg players developed to win a PVP match against protoss or terran players. all players start with a set amount of resources and what the zerg player does is to use ALL the initial resources to hatch zerglings (if i remember correctly, 1 egg = 2 zerglings, 4 eggs can be hatched at the same time). so you get quite a sizeable force compared to protoss or terran as their build time is slower or more costly

next, the player then moves all his zerglings to the enemy base and proceeds to kill all the gathering units. this creates confusion for the other player as without the gathering units, they have no way to construct or build anything else. the zerg player wins

this tactic is not useable for all senarios, to use this tactic, you need:
1. to know the maps well, you want to get to the other player asap
2. to develop an all or none mentality, failure to first strike means you are out

this tactic is not really suited for pve campaigns as enemy bases already have defences up or there may be more than 1 base