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'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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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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What do we call the line of a character in a video game when he makes an attack?
Here's the line is referred to as a sound effect, but it's too vague in my opinion, because it's something that's voiced by a character and not just a sound. Is there a more specific word in the ...
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What do we call the voice prompt we hear after a kill?
What do we call the voice prompt we hear after a kill? For example: "Double kill", "Killionaire". What do we call those? I am pretty sure there's a slang or a word people use in-game that refers to it....
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What are 'units' in Dota 2?
I read sites about Dota 2, and there they often mention 'units'. I'm confused because 'units' here doesn't mean 'distance units', but can mean many things. So, could you explain what the term refers ...
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What is lane priority?
What exactly is lane priority? This has become a common term in professional League of Legends casting, and I've seen it more on streams of high elo players.
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Is there a term for accidentally saving a game when you're about to die?
I'm sure everyone has at least once had the pleasure of saving their game only to discover upon resuming play that they were just about to die from an attack they hadn't seen. And then you load your ...
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Killzone 2: Objective Points vs. Mission Points?
In Killzone 2 Skirmishes, there are Objective Points and Mission Points. What is the difference between the two? Or, what is the definition of each?
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What does it mean to "shff fh nair into knee?"
I was reading a Smash Ultimate combo guide and someone told me that the best Captain Falcon combo is:
shff fh nair into knee
What on earth are they trying to say? And is it even a real thing?
Are ...
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Where does the term "thirsting" come from?
After having played Fortnite Battle Royale for a while, I have heard the term "thirsting" come up numerous times. It's typically used when playing in squads, where the act of "thirsting" is killing a ...
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What does map ban mean?
Watching StarCraft: Brood War leagues like ASL or KSL, I see that in the information panel of each player there are maps that under the category "BAN".
What does this this 'ban' mean, ...
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What is a “DRPG”?
For example, the Metacritic review for Labyrinth of Refrain calls it a “DRPG”. I have found other video games tagged as “DRPG” in blogs, but with no explanation of the term. They all seem to be ...
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ELO in Super Smash Bros. Melee
I see a lot of people talking about ELO in Smash, (bronze, gold, plat, etc.) but I never understood what it meant. Does anyone have any answers on how to get an ELO? Like is there a competitive scene ...
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Why are people who spend a lot of money on video game micro-transactions called "whales"?
Pretty much every game that involves micro-transactions has a large amount of their micro-transaction revenue coming from a very small percentage of their players, the so-called "whales" that spend ...
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What does the term 'Spot Healing' mean in World of Warcraft?
Watching a World of Warcraft stream, the caster mentioned that the healers were "spot healing" the tank.
What does the term 'spot healing' mean?
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What does t bag mean?
After reading some terminology questions I felt the need to add to the collection the term "t bag" / "t-bag" / "teabag". It is often heard and seen, usually but not limited to multiplayer games.
So, ...
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What's the difference between "nerf" and "debuff"?
What's the difference between "nerf" and "debuff"?
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Why is movement in Fortnite called "rotations"?
The word 'rotations' is being thrown around all the time.
Why is it called "rotations"/"rotating"?
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