Talk:Jax/@comment-76.103.60.226-20120311235005/@comment-50.44.15.7-20120315001151

^Derogatory derivative. Some gaming circles actually distinguish between the two.

n00b used to be the variant reserved for assholes who played the game, sucked at it, and refused to improve because they thought they were good enough. It was purely an insult; you never called yourself a n00b except ironically or out of ignorance.

Newb means exactly what you think it means. "New player". Not necessarily frowned upon; we all had to start somewhere.

Among the circles I frequented, that was the usage, though your mileage may vary. I started online with the Quake 1 crowd, where a lot of 1337 $p3@k originated, along with usage of those terms (where the terms actually originated is impossible to discern. I imagine Usenet might be a good guess though).

This useless information brought to you by.....