Plasma rifle, or plasma gun?

[wallabra]

1 hour ago, Doomkid said:

i call it blue balls slapped menacingly on a demon's face

 

This just sounds so... round... out of context...

[wolfmcbeard]

Honestly, I use plasma gun when referring to the og Doom weapon (1,2, and 64), newer Dooms and other games I'll call plasma rifle.

[Loud Silence]

Orplasm.

[silentzorah]

Sparkle Cannon.

[Cruduxy Pegg]

Sound Blaster :P

[Fuzzball]

I'M SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU BECAUSE THIS GUN IS TOO FUCKING LOUD

[Archanhell]

Plasmatic Electric-inducing Nitro-boosted Intense Shocking.. Rifle.

I don't have to mention how that is shortened.

[antares031]

I used to call it "Gem Gun" when I was young, since it DID look like shooting blue gems, from a kid's perspective.

Edited August 25, 2019 by antares031

[Zulk RS]

Funny. I thought it shot water. Yeah, I don't know why that made sense to 6-year-old Zulk.

[Mortrixs19]

Laser gun

[XLightningStormL]

From a logical sense "Plasma Rifle" doesn't make sense, it's an energy weapon, rifles refer to the use of rifle ammunition (duh) and most importantly, the big kicker: the use of rifling (aka those "cool helical grooves in the barrel")

Also the game calls it the Plasma Gun, and Sandy Petersen wrote the manual, which varies in inconsistency from Doom and Doom II so we can safely say that the manuals don't count that much in this case ;)

[Avoozl]

Well the chaingun in the game is a smaller handheld version of a minigun with 9mm rounds and it doesn't exist, and the real life chaingun is a completely different gun.

Edited August 25, 2019 by Avoozl

[Immorpher]

1 hour ago, XLightningStormL said:

From a logical sense "Plasma Rifle" doesn't make sense, it's an energy weapon, rifles refer to the use of rifle ammunition (duh) and most importantly, the big kicker: the use of rifling (aka those "cool helical grooves in the barrel")

Also the game calls it the Plasma Gun, and Sandy Petersen wrote the manual, which varies in inconsistency from Doom and Doom II so we can safely say that the manuals don't count that much in this case ;)

My, not as well founded reason for calling it a plasma gun, was that on screen it doesn't seem like it could mechanically be held in the same way as a rifle. Unlike the Turok plasma rifle (as their manual says as well) which actually just looks like a rifle which happens to shoot plasma. But you're still right in that case, as they shouldn't have rifling. Since plasma is not a solid, the angular momentum rifling would introduce would do more to destabilize a plasma ball than stabilize it. So there should be no rifling in such weapons.

[TheMightyHeracross]

6

[Dark Pulse]

1 hour ago, XLightningStormL said:

From a logical sense "Plasma Rifle" doesn't make sense, it's an energy weapon, rifles refer to the use of rifle ammunition (duh) and most importantly, the big kicker: the use of rifling (aka those "cool helical grooves in the barrel")

Also the game calls it the Plasma Gun, and Sandy Petersen wrote the manual, which varies in inconsistency from Doom and Doom II so we can safely say that the manuals don't count that much in this case ;)

I see we've got our "closest to the core" volunteer.

 

Does anyone else want to join him?

[maxmanium]

I call it a plasma rifle, but when you pick it up it says plasma gun, so...

[Get Phobo]

I call it the plasma gun or plasma cannon. Never understood the rifle thing. It's not a rifle.

[Chow Yun Thin]

I'm going with plasma rifle if only to stand apart from [noun and/or adjective]-gun.

[CyberDreams]

Plasma Rifle. That's what the manual's call it as well as the strategy guides so i'm going with that. Not going to lie, i have called it Plasma Gun in the past though and still sometimes do.

Edited August 25, 2019 by CyberDreams

[Urban Space Cowboy]

"Plasma gun" is the phrase used by the actual game, so all other arguments are invalid!

 

I was going to say "plasma rifle" was from Blake Stone, but I checked and that game has a plasma discharge unit. Sounds so Hard SF.

[wallabra]

"Gun" is then legitimate, or at least so has this thread developed to.

 

But it just sounds so... generic.

[LadyVader1138]

Plasma Rifle sounds better. That's all I really have to say about this.

[Ashley_Pomeroy]

Personally I think this kind of binary thinking is a relic of the anglocentric hegemony - the weapons of Doom exist on a spectrum.

 

If the plasma gun wants to identify as a plasma rifle, despite the lack of rifling, it's not up to us to define its identity.

 

I call it Plasminx.

[LadyVader1138]

35 minutes ago, Ashley_Pomeroy said:

Personally I think this kind of binary thinking is a relic of the anglocentric hegemony - the weapons of Doom exist on a spectrum.

 

If the plasma gun wants to identify as a plasma rifle, despite the lack of rifling, it's not up to us to define its identity.

 

I call it Plasminx.

The temptation to start making jokes is immense.

[MaxRideWizardLord]

It cannot possible be rifle if it doesn't shoot the rifled ballistic rounds.

 

/thread

[Gez]

Lots of people will say it can't be a rifle because it's unlikely the cannon is rifled; however if we're being pedantic it also can't be a gun because it doesn't use gunpowder.

 

"Gun" is also a terribly generic and vague name, that applies to anything from a pistol to ship-mounted artillery. Whereas "rifle" implies a certain size category, a size category in which Doom's slot 6 weapon fits comfortably. So, plasma rifle it is for me.

 

Though, to be honest, I generally just use "plasma". Likewise, the rocket launcher I generally just call "rocket".

[idbeholdME]

Gun because that is what is actually used in the game. Same reason I also call them Heavy Weapon Dudes and Shotgun Guys.

 

But I just say "plasma" for the Plasma Gun and "dude" for Heavy Weapon Dude.

[Gez]

https://github.com/id-Software/DOOM/blob/77735c3ff0772609e9c8d29e3ce2ab42ff54d20b/linuxdoom-1.10/d_items.c#L95

https://github.com/id-Software/DOOM/blob/77735c3ff0772609e9c8d29e3ce2ab42ff54d20b/linuxdoom-1.10/doomdef.h#L205

[Rathori]

I think I'm gonna call it a Plasma Musket from now on.

[Optimus]

I always remembered it as Plasma Gun as that's what the ingame message said. Originally I thought it changed to Plasma Rifle from Doom 3 and on, but no. I learned that the original Doom manuals call it Plasma Rifle. I even got mad at a Sporcle Doom quiz, where I lost time as I repeatedly typed Plasma Gun in a question and it just didn't took it. Then I thought "The author must remember Doom 3 or 4, bad quiz". Till I learned it was in the manual since the beginning.