Questions tagged [terminology]
For questions that ask what a gaming-specific term means, or what the terminology is for a gaming-specific concept.
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What does the term “save scumming” mean? [duplicate]
What does the phrase “save scumming” mean? What is the origin of the phrase?
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How do I read PVZ Endless Mode Sequences?
A lot of PvZ endless strategies have a description in the form of a sequence to make it easier to understand. A sequence might be C2: I-N | I-AA' or something like that.
I've got the basic ...
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What does saying "X" mean in the faction chat?
I see many people "x" in the chat, but I cannot find a clear answer to what it means. Asking in the chat also does not give me any answers.
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CS 2 "sub-tick" rate
The new update for Counter-Strike have just been announced and I found myself particularly intrigued by the "sub-tick" rate feature. The launch trailer video suggests that the refresh rates ...
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What's the term for the combat used in games like Ghost of Tsushima and Spider-Man?
Is there a term for the combat mode used in games like Ghost of Tsushima and Spider-Man? Specifically, where attacks are telegraphed, and choosing and timing your response are important. These games ...
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What is the term for a game where crossing the stage fills out the area unoccupied by units?
What is the name of this 2d game (genre) where the unit controlled by the player (here a blue circle) tries to cross the stage without getting hit by the enemies (here in red) and if it succeeds, any ...
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Are blocks in hand considered items?
I am having difficulty understanding some differences between an item and a block. This is what I understand so far:
Inventory
Block
Item
Understanding
Stone
x
In placed position, it is a cube / ...
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2
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What FPS subgenre is DOOM Eternal?
I'm trying to figure out how to find more games similar to Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal. The problem is lots of google results seem to return FPS games like Call of Duty and Battlefield.
Although Call ...
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What's the terminology for pressing down (inward) on a thumbstick?
On a controller that has thumbsticks, when it is possible to press down into the thumbstick - not D-pad down, as in UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT, but down on the Z-axis - what verbiage would one use to describe ...
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What characteristics define the "arcade" genre or style of console games?
In the 1980's, an "arcade" game was one that you played by feeding quarters into it in a public place. Businesses known as "arcades" built up collections of these coin-operated ...
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Are the games in the "strategy" genre always categorized under either the "turn-based" (TBS) or "real-time" (RTS) subgenres?
Are all strategy games categorized under either "turn-based" (TBS) or "real-time" (RTS)? Are there strategy games that are neither turn-based nor real-time?
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What is the technical name of this type of chart?
I see this type of chart in many different video games that gives a breakdown of performance in various categories. Is there a technical name for this type of chart?
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What exactly can be considered a base game?
I'm kind of new to gaming and I am somewhat confused about all the terminology regarding to types of video game releases. I would appereciate if anyone can clarify somethings for me.
As I understand ...
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What are "Top Up" games?
Someone in a Discord group I'm in mentioned "Top Up" games as being even worse than Diablo Immortal and other Gacha games in their microtransactions, but when pressed he couldn't explain the ...
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Is there such thing as an "All Glitches" Speedrun?
I enjoy watching videos about speedruns, but I'm not super knowledgeable on everything so I don't know if this exists or not.
I just wanna know if there are kinds of speedruns where the goal is to ...
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What is the origin of "s-tier" in video games? [duplicate]
It occurred to me the other day that I don't remember ever hearing the term "s-tier" (meaning the best in a tier list, far better than anyone else - the highest tier) before Super Smash Bros ...
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What's the earliest known use of the term "farming"?
The first time I saw the term farming in a videogame context was bonewall farming / "bonefarming" in Diablo 2. It makes sense in this case since you "plant" a bonewall then "...
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When did "stack" became synonymous with an instance of an effect? e.g. "Three stacks of vulnerability"
This might be a bit of a crossover question with linguistics. "Stacking" itself is a rather old concept, but referring to instances of buff/debuff as a "stack" seems to have ...
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General term for the technology that allows games to be replayed?
Apparently there is some way to store play (i.e. inputs, timing etc) of a Doom level (Ultimate Doom and Doom II) as text file, so that the precise replay can be replayed on anther person's computer ...
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Name for games that have abusive in app purchases
I am looking for a new game and finding searching hard.
The problem is that most games have in app purchases these days. So I eliminate a lot of quality games by trying to filter those out.
But at the ...
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What is a spike in Tetr.io?
I play Tetr.io a lot.
If I send a large amount of garbage, it shows a number, followed by “spike”. What is a spike?
I have found nothing, here on the Arqade, or on Google; just videos of people doing ...
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What's the difference between a grab and a command grab? [closed]
What are the differences between a grab and a command grab?
user273012
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What is a wipe in Escape from Tarkov?
Battlestate Games recently tweeted there will be wipe in the upcoming 0.12.11 patch. Viewing the responses shows that players are incredibly excited for it, but it's unclear what a wipe actually is ...
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What does 'Xbox exclusive' mean?
While E3 was going on, I saw articles pop-up with titles like 'Starfield will be Xbox exclusive!'. I was disappointed, because I had hoped it would come to PC, as well. Later on, when I was watching ...
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What does it mean for a game to be a skinner box?
I've recently seen the term skinner box thrown around more often as a derogatory term by reviewers for free-to-play games that use predatory practices to encourage players to spend more money than ...
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What do Rocket League players mean when they ask to "sign"?
I watch a lot of Rocket League pros on youtube. Most of the time, I see their competitor ask for a "sign". What does that even mean?
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Definition of Mobile Games
How does one define "mobile games?" Like, I have seen people call Granblue Fantasy a mobile game, but it is played on a browser. Similarly, Shadowverse was playable only on mobile, but ...
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What is an any % speed run in Diablo 2?
I know what speed runs are, but what does 'any %' mean when speedrunning Diablo 2?
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What does "GDLK" mean in the videogame documentary "High Score"
High Score is a Netflix documentary about the history of video games.
Its thumbnail is just a box with GDLK written inside. I was a fool looking for several minutes for the name "High Score" ...
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2
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What is "CHAD" in the context of Albion Online?
I keep hearing people referring to "dungeon CHADs" in Albion Online. What are they talking about? Is this is an acronym for something?
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Explanation for frequent usage of name “Abaddon” [closed]
Not sure if this is the right Stack Exchange to ask this in, but I don't think there's a "Pop Culture" Stack Exchange, so here goes:
Why is it the case that there are so many instances in ...
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What defines a JRPG, and how is it different from an RPG?
I've always wondered if JRPG, or Japanese Role-Playing Game, has any concrete definition for it.
I'm only curious now because lately I've seen a lot of people referencing Genshin Impact, a F2P MMORPG ...
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What real-life fruit do the Berry names reference in Pokemon?
I have been making a lot of curry in Pokémon Sword/Shield, and the names of some of these berries don't make any sense. I mean, I know Pecha Berries are meant to be peaches, and Pinap Berries are ...
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What is ray tracing?
I'm not a big tech person so the first time I've heard about it is in Cyberpunk 2077 discussions. Apparently only the really high end GPUs can support it properly.
What exactly is ray tracing? How ...
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What does "odds" mean in Path of Exile?
I am a beginner. I saw this word on a Reddit /r/pathofexile post.
I've searched on google for a long time, but I still don't know its meaning well. Can you explain it to me?
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Is there a term for controllers with the game built in?
There exist games which don’t play on a console, and don’t have their own display — rather, the controller has a video out cord which you can plug into your TV.
Is there a term for this type of game/...
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What is a lava cast?
I see references in youtube videos to "lava casts" which seem to be large, quick-to-build, wedge-shaped structures made of cobblestone, often used for griefing on anarchy servers. I can't find a good ...
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What is "bobbing" or "head bob"?
I was looking through Minecraft's menu options and I saw a toggle for "View Bobbing" and I didn't recognize what it meant. I've also heard of the phrase "Head bob" from this STALKER post, which sounds ...
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What is arbitrary code execution (ACE) and how does it affect speedrunning?
There has been a lot of records being set in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time within the last couple of weeks or so. A lot of these records keep stating that "ACE" is the reason for this. I have ...
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Where does the term "sex kick" come from?
According to the SmashWiki, a sex kick is an aerial attack in which a foot or arm remains extended for a few moments after the initial thrust. The origin is claimed as:
The term was coined by ...
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Origin of the term 'OHKO'
'OHKO' is the acronym for 'One Hit Knock Out' and has appeared in many video games over the generations. It is commonly used in games such as Pokemon, where it is abbreviated as 'one-hit KO'.
...
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What does DX mean in remastered games?
Today, a remake of the original Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game was announced, called Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX.
This got me thinking about how I've also seen the "DX" title in lots of ...
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Where can I learn the jargon of the Diablo 3 community?
I have played Diablo 3 a few times. Always just "offline" with my own heros. Recently I started again and noticed (again actually) those messages from other users.
Alas, the flawed English in use isn'...
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Where does the term "dropship" come from? [closed]
I'm talking about those things:
They fly about in the sky, and when they land, enemy soldiers come out of them and try to kill you. Almost every video game has them, yet there is no such thing as a "...
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Why is the abbreviation of Nintendo Game Cube GCN? [closed]
Playing Mario Kart Tour, there's something I find weird.
All Gamecube courses are marked as GCN, and I can't figure why Nintendo GameCube was abbreviated to GCN (GameCube Nintendo really doesn't ...
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What is a "G.O.A.T" game?
Earlier this week, I received an email advertising the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on the Nintendo Switch. I usually ignore these emails, but the subject threw me off.
It said:
The hunt ...
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What exactly is a softlock?
I've heard the term "softlock" used a lot, especially in speedrunning contexts, and I have picked up an intuitive vague definition from context. It seems to mean getting the game into a state where ...
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What's the difference between MMORPG and RPG?
MMORPG:
an online role-playing video game in which a very large number of people participate simultaneously.
RPG:
a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting.
...
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What do you call the kind of shooter game in which the background moves on its own?
On old gaming consoles (first gen) there were games made like FPS, but in which the background moves from right to left, and the scene could stop for some time and then go on. Also, the player could ...
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