The Elden Ring subreddit recently got a trending post that shows the confusion that Chinese player U/Upper-Succotash8757 has to contend with when navigating the world of Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree, and it’s all due to the word “Edge.”
If you know, you definitely know. If you don’t, however, reading a message like the one below will certainly cause a burst of confusion:
There are no edges in that area, and even if there were, what the hell can “time for edge” even mean? The bad news is that the example above is probably the least confusing use of the word that UpperSuccotash mentions in his post.
U/Upper-Succotash8757 understands English, so the problem doesn’t stem from a language barrier. Even English speakers looking for alternate meanings for the word “Edge” in the upper layers of the Internet will likely just show you pictures of an arguably very edgy-looking guitarist, but that’s probably not what these messages are referring to. Let’s try to solve the mystery, shall we?
The history of troll messages in Souls games
The messaging system from the original Demon’s Souls immediately set the series apart from every other game in existence. The limited wording options allowed for the creation of cryptic messages that helped players without ever taking them by the hand. As expected by anyone who knows gamers — and the Internet at large — it wasn’t long before players began messing with the system to create jokes, deadly traps, or sometimes a beautiful mix of both.
It all began when Dark Souls players started placing a message saying “try jumping” at the edge of basically every cliff that would lead players to their deaths. The trolling naturally evolved into a more sexually-charged tone with a message in Anor Londo that said “amazing chest ahead” in Gwynevere’s bed-chamber, a room that features zero item containers.
Then we got Elden Ring, which became a hit larger than all Souls games before it combined. With it, we witnessed an expected boom of dumb and likely confusing messages. Among the most popular ones, there was “fort, night” in reference to the ever-popular Battle Royale title, and many variations of “dog,” which players put near turtles, naturally. There was also “edge, lord,” which players wrote down to make fun of NPCs who looked to be playing the role of Dark Knight with a level of seriousness that even hardcore LARPers would laugh at.
But two years is eons in Internet time, and the word “Edge” has since gained a completely new meaning. Between the release of the original Elden Ring and its DLC, we saw the rise of a new meme: “Edging.” It has nothing to do with NPCs who try too hard on the looks department but instead with the act of pleasuring yourself while holding off the orgasm for as long as possible.
Nothing about the word “edge” screams sexual, and even people who speak English and aren’t in on the meme might get flabbergasted at seeing a message that says, “try edge, then regret.” Too bad, because if you go by the messages alone, Shadow Of The Erdtree takes place on the Lands of Edging, and that doesn’t seem to be about to change.
Such messages will probably cause more harm than laughter, as what most players get out of them is just even more confusion. Still, once I remember the nature of this series, I can’t help but laugh very hard at it all.
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