A

- AFK

• Away From Keyboard, when talking about one's online status.

- Avatar

• A player's representation or character in any given game.

B

- Balance

• The state of a game, and/or strategies, used regarding the viability of various options within the same game

- BM

• Bad Mannered/Bad Manners, a common short form to point out rude player behaviour in online games.

• example: "That guy is so BM"

- Bot

• Short form for 'robot'. Generally used in reference to non-player-characters. (see NPC)

- Buff

• A game balance term. A buff is when a certain item/character/strategy is improved. (see Balance, Meta)

C

- Camping

• When a player sits in one spot on the map for extended periods of time waiting for an unsuspecting player to kill.

• Most commonly used in shooter games.

- Cheat

• A series of commands that allows players to break the conventional rules of the game to gain an advantage.

• Players employing cheats are known as Cheaters.

- Console

• A medium through which a game is played. Popular consoles right now include:

• Playstation 4

• Nintendo Switch

• Xbox One

D

- Debuff

• A condition that lowers a player's statistics or inhibits their in-game character

• example: Slow debuff inhibits a player's movement speed

- Development hell

• A term to describe a game that has been in development for a long time with no foreseeable release date

• Usually means the rights of a game are split between multiple studios which hinders development of said game

• example: "That game got announced 10 years ago, must be in development hell"

- DLC

• Downloadable Content

• Content that game developers release post-launch to add elements to the base game

- DPS

• Damage Per Second

• May also be referring to characters whose role is to do damage in a team setting

E

- Elo

• A ranking system used by several competitive online games to determine rank

- Emulator

• A program designed to replicate software from various consoles onto a computer

F

- Farming

• The state of a game, and/or strategies, used regarding the viability of various options within the same game.

- FPS

• First Person Shooter

- F2P

• Free to Play

G

- Game over

• When a player runs out of time or life in a game

- Gank

• A popular MOBA term, when multiple players gang up on a smaller number of players

- GG

• Good Game

- GLHF

• Good Luck Have Fun

- Griefing

• When a player is deliberately hindering or setting back the progress of another player

- Grinding

• The act of completing a mundane task over and over, usually for in-game financial gain

H

- Hitbox

• The method in which a game determines the area in which a player-character is able to be hit (with bullets or kicks)

- Hitscan

• A shooter term, refers to when a weapon's projectile arrives at its location instantly

I

- Indie

• Short for independent

• Usually used when referring to independent game developers, hence the category of Indie Games.

J

- JRPG

• Japanese Role Playing Game

• Used to differentiate with Western RPGs

K

- KDA

• Kill/Death/Assists

• A record of a player's performance in game

- Kit

• The allocated abilities of a specific character in game

- Kiting

• When ranged characters utilize their superior range to avoid melee characters

L

- Lag

• Latency experienced by online connections in games

- Let's Play

• A style of video content popularized by YouTube gamers who play through the game for people to watch

- Level

• Sections of a game with specific challenges and/or themes.

- Loot Box

• An in-game collectible that contains in-game content such as cosmetic changes and even gameplay changes

• Banned in certain countries for similarities to gambling. (see microtransactions)

M

- Main

• A specific character the player has decided to invest their time into learning

- Meta

• The state of the game, and the most viable strategies to use in a game,

• Also known as Metagame

- Microtransaction

• Use of real world money for in-game items and/or currency.

- MMO

• Massively Multiplayer Online Game

- MMORPG

• Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game

- MOBA

• Multiplayer Online Battle Arena

- Mod

• A third party modification to a game that changes various aspects of the base game.

N

- Nerf

• A game balance term, when a certain item/character/playstyle is weakened.

- Noob (Newb)

• Short form for newbie. Referring to a player who is inexperienced.

O

- Overpowered

• A game balance term, when a certain item/character/playstyle is too strong

P

- Patch

• An official change to the game that changes various aspects of the game, usually in reference to game balance.

- Ping

• Latency experienced in online games. Similar to lag.

- PvE

• Player versus Environment

- PvP

• Player versus Player

- Publisher

• The company that distributes and markets the game.

• The publisher and the developer may be separate companies.

Q

- QTE

• Quick Time Event

• When a player is prompted to press a specific button in a certain amount of time

R

- Raid

• When multiple players work together in a PvE environment for a large reward

• Commonly seen in MMORPGs

- Respawn

• When a player recovers from a game over state and reenters the game

- Rougelike

• A genre of game that involves procedurally generated levels and permanent death mechanics

- RPG

• Role Playing Game

- RTS

• Real Time Strategy

S

- Skin

• A cosmetic item that changes the appearance of in-game elements

- Speedrun

• A community in which players try to complete a game in as little time as possible

T

- Teamkill

• When all members of a team are killed.

- Tilt

• A state in which a player is underperforming

• Adj. Tilted

• example "That guy is tilted as heck."

- Twitch

• A popular gaming streaming service online.

• see: twitch.tv

U

- Underpowered

• A game balance term. Refers to when an item/character/playstyle is not viable in the metagame.

V

- VR

• Virtual Reality

W

- Walkthrough

• A guide for other gamers to follow if they are having trouble.

- WASD

• The most common movement control scheme on the keyboard. In which W & A control forwards movement and S&D control lateral movement.

X

-XP

• Experience Points

Y

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Z

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