Actually the term "Mob" comes from the original text based Multi-User dungeons (MUDs). Basically you had two types of creatures in the game. Statics, and Mobiles. A mobile was a creature that would move around the text based world. This was later shortened to "Mob" and eventually every creature, mobile or not, became known as one.
Wow, I'd wondered the same thing several times before. I've always thought that it was an acronym for something, but turns out it isn't =). Thanks for clarifying that.
Wow thanks! Been playing this game for almost 2 years myself and always had wondered! I kept wondering why they referred to a "bad guy" as a mob if there was only one of the creature. Glad you asked!
Probably from multiple sources. 1. MOB = movable object block, a term used in some programming languages for graphics that move. I recall in the old Commodore64 days that this was also termed a sprite, a term obviously inappropriate in EQ.
2. Mob from The Mob (Cosa Nostra, or organized crime)