Hot answers tagged terminology
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The term "Cheese" comes from the adjective "Cheesy". The not-so-subtle innuendo there is that a victory via so-called "cheese" did not come from the players own skill, but was merely because the loser was unprepared for the "cheesy" tactics that lead to their loss.
What qualifies as "cheese" will undoubtedly vary from player to player, but generally the ...
71
Simple answer
Pixel shaders are tiny programs that can do operations on a single pixel on the screen, as opposed to geometry shaders and vertex shaders which work on the geometrical primitives (triangles) that make up everything you see on the screen. The most common use for pixel shaders is 'shading', approximation to real world lighting. Commonly used ...
70
Kiting refers to keeping an enemy chasing you while also keeping it at a range where it cannot attack you. This is often paired with attacking him back using your own long-range attack, but that is not necessary (see the comments below for an example).
The effect looks like you have the enemy on the end of a string, kind of like a 'kite', because you are ...
54
I would have to strongly argue against those who say that "cheese" is an exploit in the game.
A cheese strategy is usually an all-in strategy.
Reaper rushes, zergling rushes, roach spam, proxy gate rushes are something lots of people consider cheese strategies.
If a cheese strategy is countered, then the game is usually easily won. Cheese builds in SC2 ...
46
Replay value is simply a generic term for "What could motivate people to play the game again after playing through it once?"
Neither the time to play through or the graphics have anything to do with that.
Examples for factors that add to replay value:
Branching story where players might play again to experience the other branches.
Extensive character ...
45
This term spans wider than Eve. Urban Dictionary defines "care bear":
Lightly derogatory term for an MMO player who avoids PVP combat, heavily preferring cooperative or solo PVE combat, chatting, or developing tradeskills/running quests. Depending on the game and the individual, this PVP avoidance can show up in several ways: by playing on strict ...
40
Savescumming generally refers to the practice of reloading a saved game prior to a random event, repeatedly, until a favorable outcome is achieved.
The term originated in the Roguelike community, as the genre is known for the frequent occurrence of perma-death as a feature - in that community, any use of saved games to recover from a fatal mistake or poor ...
39
8-bit and 16-bit, for video games, specifically refers to the processors used in the console. The number references the size of the words of data used by each processor. The 8-bit generation of consoles (starting with the Japan's Famicom, the equivalent of the US Nintendo Entertainment System) used 8-bit processors; the 16-bit generation (starting with ...
39
All MMO's have massive amounts of data in databases or caches. They can either purge very old data, cache old data, optimize new data, make backups.
And this is just from a software point of view. From a hardware point of view they can make update server hardware, perform defragmentation, etc.
Check this link for futher reading.
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ED - Enhanced Damage or Enhanced Defense
MF - Magic Find
SoJ - Stone of Jordan
ft or FT - For Trade (the opposite of ISO, below)
ISO - In Search Of (what people say when they want to trade for something)
SC - Softcore
HC - Hardcore
cube/cubing - Use of the Horadric Cube
Ammy - Slang for Amulet
torch - Hellfire Torch
wp - Waypoint
eth - Ethereal
e-bugged - A ...
34
Gib is short for "giblets" - which are chunks of meat, or more specifically:
the edible offal of a fowl, typically including the heart, gizzard, liver, and other visceral organs.
This term was quite popular among the early id Software games, Doom and Quake in particular, where a particularly damaging blow to an enemy or another player usually yielded ...
33
A timing push involves making an attack at a certain point in your build order, such that the attack coincides with the completion of a researched upgrade, or a certain mass of units.
For example: you might see a Terran Bio timing push, where the Terran player moves his forces out such that Stimpack technology will have just finished as they reach the enemy ...
32
The term "Frag" comes from the shortening of "Fragmentation grenade".
Fragging is a macabre ritual of Vietnam in which American enlisted men attempt to murder their superiors. The word comes from the nickname for hand grenades, a weapon popular with enlisted men because the evidence is destroyed with the consummation of the crime.
The original meaning ...
31
"Metroidvania" is a term used to describe a sort of exploratory 2D platforming game. It comes from the original games of the Metroid series and some of the middle-era of Castlevania games (most notably "Symphony of the Night", which is what primarily gave birth to the term).
The most defining feature is usually the world. Rather than have set stages or a ...
31
The genre has a few popular names, including:
Hack and slash
Action RPG
Dungeon crawl
Diablo-like or Diablo-esque
And sometimes even the term "roguelike" is used - there is a vast difference between the roguelike genre and games like Diablo, but the latter are obviously influenced by the former.
The most common term I've encountered is "hack and slash". ...
30
So map control is a very ephemeral concept, but at its core is the idea that you can control space (area) on the map and prevent things like: expansions, harassment, scouting.
Since map control is largely concerned with covering area, having map control usually means having units which are very fast and thus can respond quickly. Additionally, it often ...
30
I think there's a difference between the dry definition of a port and the thing that people complain about.
The term "a port of a game" means a game was developed for one set of platforms, and it was later released for other platforms. Technically, a game released for multiple platforms from the get-go - such as Crysis 2 you have mentioned - shouldn't be ...
28
Interp is short for interpolation, a computer science term (technically math, but that's unrelated).
In Counter-Strike and CS Source the server interpolates based on your previous position your next position. Since the server determines 'where' you are the decision of this calculation determines where you can get hit from. Likewise your client also ...
28
H to the Usky Husky came up with it when casting a game. It describes the standard terran 1/1/1 build which is 1 barracks, 1 factory and 1 starport.
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It's almost certainly derived from a pan-Polynesian idea of "that which makes something effective" - usually, what makes magic effective. "Mana" tends to travel in the company of the idea of "taboo", the complex of rules that distinguish something as sacred. Mana comes from obedience of taboo, from the performance of certain rites, from pleasing the spirits ...
27
A rail shooter is a shooter game in which you don't have control over your movement, at least for the most part. The movement of the character is pre-determined, although some rail shooters will give you some movement control. Although this normally amounts to nothing more then choosing which path to take.
Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles is a prime ...
25
2.5D usually refers to "gameplay in an otherwise three-dimensional video game that is restricted to a two-dimensional plane."
It can also refer to the viewpoint the player has. Such as an isometric-type view on a 3D world.
Wiki - 2.5D
25
The phrase '3-minute mage' is derogatory for the same reasons that a player that relies exclusively on cheesy rush builds in SC2 is derided.
In short: It's very effective against unprepared and unskilled players who don't know what they're dealing with. It gets you to a moderate level of success quickly and then... plateaus.
At which point, any player good ...
24
To quote Artosis
Maynard was a pro SC player from USA right when the game came out. He popularized over producing workers in your bases and doing what was called a "Maynard Transfer" each time he expanded by sending 12 scv/probe to the new base. This was shortened to maynard.
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A meta-game for any game is the way that the game is played. Knowing the metagame is not just knowing the mechanics of the game, but knowing what to expect your opponent to do. It is the relative frequency of each possible tactic, maneuver, build, etc.
One of the easiest to understand examples of this is with Magic: the Gathering. Knowing the metagame in ...
24
I'm not sure what Hp10pL is, but:
AD - Attack Damage - The stat that directly affects melee auto-attack damage. Many melee/fighter/tank champions will want to get AD gear to increase their damage.
AP - Ability Power - The stat that directly affects ability damage. Many mage/ranged champions will want to get AP gear to increase their damage.
...
24
I'd say puzzle game, and more accurately sliding blocks puzzle game.
Examples of sliding puzzles
Fifteen puzzle
Inakube
Klotski (mentioned here by Hex)
Minus Cube
Jumbly
Sokoban (mentioned here by Konrad)
Otherwise, there's also a list of puzzle game types on Wikipedia, but I think that the previously given term is the best match.
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Definition
A hitbox is an invisible box-like area that when penetrated, counts as a "hit". It's different than the model (the visible character and his colors that you see). The hitbox is meant to compensate for lag and movement. When a character is moving, his hitbox is usually farther from the model. When a character is still, his hitbox is located ...
23
A linear game follows a strict path for the player with little, if any, deviation. Basically, you traverse from stage 1 to stage 2 all the way to the final stage. Take, for example, Ghosts and Goblins or Magical Pop'n.
A non-linear game deviates in some fashion, either throughout the whole game or just for a portion. For example, the classic Megaman series ...
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