Random Thoughts.....What Are You Thinking?

Proc is a term inherited from MUDs, multi-user dungeons -- a precursor to the MMOGs of today. When an item in a MUD would have a special effect attached to it, the MUD's programming would use "SPEC_PROC", short for "special procedure", to attach the effect to the item by linking it to a procedure programmed elsewhere in the MUD's code. Because of this internal naming, "Spec Procs", and later just "Procs", refer to any unusual effect on an item.

As multiuser gaming on the Internet became more mainstream, the etymology of many terms inherited from the earlier days of online gaming became blurred, and "proc" was no exception. Even today in the face of easily verifiable evidence showing the true origin of the term, some people continue to attribute the origin of the term as a broken acronym meaning "Programmed Random OCcurance", or an abbreviation to the similar term "process".

These days, "proc" refers to both the effect attached to an item, and the action of that effect occuring; as in "The proc on Silent Fang will silence your target for 6 seconds", and "The paladin spent the fight waiting for Seal of Command to proc on his opponent".

Not really. Looking excuses to use this pic.