Playing video games is not as simple as it used to be back in the day. There were party or solo games, a controller (often with a chewed up wire) and at the end of the day, just you and the console. There were no die-hard passionate fandoms, or mental health conditions, or mass cheating bans to worry about. Yet change isn’t always bad.
As we all know, in this world of rapidly accelerating telecommunications technology, we have managed to reach out to others who enjoy our passions across oceans and continents. We’ve made every day a party on the internet and turned every opinionated rant into a full-blown civil war. We have created communities and fanbases and many, many pretentious fanboys (and girls). No regrets, since things are better this way. Gaming has become a recognized hobby and an enjoyable pastime with the quick development of consoles, social media, and internet connection.
With a fascinating age of gaming culture upon us, there will inevitably be newbies (or people new to the industry) entering at almost any age and from almost any background. This concise guide was put together to teach and revise some of the most common, basic, and important gaming key terms to latch onto out there.These are handy when it comes to reading up on gaming news and guides, surfing through forums and chat rooms, and trying to make do with fitting into the culture a bit later in the day. No shame, my friends. We were all you once.
AAA:
To be brief, a triple-A game is usually a wonderfully crafted, critically acclaimed release with a big fanbase and an even bigger budget. A favorite example of mine would be BioShock Infinite.
Bots:
Instead of playing versus other live human players such as yourself, artificially intelligent bots are programmed to play against you. This is often offered as an alternative option to live multiplayer, is common in single-player games, and can also be great practice in tutorials for when you want to face off against the real players.
Build:
This term describes a specific character’s collection of items/skills etc. for a particular purpose.
Camper:
A nuisance in online shooting games, a camper is one who (often from inexperience) remains stationery in one point of the map and often shoots passing players while idling around. Don’t be that person. It’s bad and makes people hate you.
DLC:
This stands for downloadable content, which can include additional features, levels, stories, characters or costumes to a game.
For instance, Dawnguard is a DLC for the open-world RPG Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, where you get to indulge in some good old-fashioned vampirism. This option is not offered in the original game and is purchased separately.
Easter Egg:
A usually irrelevant but interesting hidden feature of a game. They’re a good foundation for memes and are often subtle references to politics or pop culture. You can often find them on social media or YouTubers mocking them for the sake of it.
FPS:
This stands for first-person-shooter, a common gaming genre where you play in the first-person and — shocker — shoot at targets. The most common display has a selected firearm as the main visual interface.
An example of an FPS would be the well-known series Call of Duty or Counter-Strike.
Glitches:
This word is mainly used both in gaming culture and even professionally to describe certain graphics lag or bugs in a game. Yes, quality assurance isn’t always very reliable or assured.
Common examples include your protagonist floating through a wall in the game, walking under water when they should be swimming, or displaying unfinished objectives for quests you’ve obviously completed. Or the speedrunner’s favorite, a glitch that chucks you to the end of the game. (Speedrunner: someone who tries to beat a game as fast as possible).
MMORPG:
Which stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. This genre is a mixture of RPG and adventure and contains an enormous platform for players, both bots, and humans alike. A great and popular example of this is World of Warcraft.
MOBA:
Which stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. This genre is similar to an MMO, but what takes it apart is the concept of strategy gaming based on fighting within an arena. An example of this would be the universally popular League of Legends or its rival, DOTA.
Mana:
A common term used for a unit of magical power in an RPG game, also known as MP. These points are assigned to a character and sometimes indicate how strong their spells are.
Metagame:
Commonly referred to as meta in multiplayer games, this term is quite complex to understand. Its philosophy claims to define it as a “game within a game,” where you, as the gamer, would prepare your character by maintaining a high level of skill and accordingly strengthen them to match the opponent’s weaknesses, because you are approaching the game from outside its own environment. Or, to phrase it differently, it’s stuff about the game but that isn’t in the game, like the competitive Pokemon scene.
NPC:
This stands for non-playable character, or a character within a game that is artificially intelligent and program controlled in an RPG. This can be anyone, from your villagers to your spouse to your mentor and companion in the game, and depending on the developer, can be as interesting as real people or boring as hell…like real people.
Ping:
This term is used as a unit in milliseconds, and it means the amount of time it takes for information within the game to reach the server and back. A low ping usually indicates good chances of a smoother multi-player experience.
PvP:
This stands for player versus player, which is a term used to categorize games where people play against each other in live action. Basically, competitive gaming.
An example of a recent PvP game would be Fortnite: Battle Royale.
Sandbox:
This term is used as a reference to open-world games where you can explore to your heart’s content, build or destroy whatever you like, or even walk around aimlessly if you please. It’s your sandbox; you can do what you want. A good and well-loved example of a sandbox game is Grand Theft Auto.
Spammer:
Another common reference to online shooters and another nuisance. Spammers are players who go berserk on their opponents and will shoot at anyone and anything without prior thought, aim, or skill. Their kills are ultimately worthless because it was based on luck and rather persistent distal finger muscles.
XP:
A shortened but universally understood term for experience points, which you collect as you progress through a game and become better at whatever it is you’re doing. Some games offer thresholds for a specific number of XP, and thereafter, you can level up your character and get access to other features such as new weapons, skills, or locations.
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This set of terms are just the tip of the iceberg, the most commonly used among the thousands of terms gamers have put together to communicate their needs more expressively. This list should have you getting a better grasp of the world of online gaming a bit more. You can always refer to these definitions until you get the hang of it, lest you find yourself at risk of being dubbed a n00b.
What are any other terms you deem important enough for this list? Leave us a comment below!
