Glossary of Gaming Terms

Game Related Terms & acronyms
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 * Admin: 1) a gameserver administrator (as in "being an admin" or "having admin", or to adminstrate a gameserver for the purpose of adjusting game parameters, or controlling lamers. 2) to referee a clanwar.
 * Aliasing: to play under a different name than normally to hide your identity
 * Alias clan: A clan made up of aliasing players, frequently known players from known clans.
 * backdoor: a secret piece of programming code (that typical users are unaware of) which creates an easy alternative way to do something, either by an illicit user, or by the coder directed at the typical user.
 * Alpha: An alpha-test version of a game... There are several conflicting classic definitions of alpha. One is the first complete integration of all major code components. The other is an in-house product, not released to the public even in a limited way, also known as IR for Internal-release.
 * ban: to prohibit certain players from a gamesserver by banning their IP address.
 * BW: bandwidth
 * banner: across the game screen, e.g. banner say
 * benchmark: In gaming, usually a standard performance test to compare video performance (usually frame-per-second FPS). The old standard has long been Quake III, but it looks like standard Unreal Touranment 2003 benchmark demos (that ship with the game) might become standard.
 * Beta: A beta-test version of a game. An incomplete or incompletely debugged version of a game that is released to the public (either in a limited release beta, or a full public beta) for the purpose of large-scale debugging as well as exposure of the game.
 * binds: keystroke commands, often referring to in-game chat messages such as frequently used taunts. See also "keybind"
 * bot: 1) an auto-aim (or aimbot) cheat 2) a non-player character controlled by the gaming application
 * BT: beta test, or beta tester. Also BTing.
 * BV: Behind View in the first person (as in a FPS game)
 * Cache: Originally a temporary holding area (memory or disk) for files or data, as in disk-cache or CPU-cache. In gaming, often refers to a semi-permanent holding area for files downloaded by clients from gameservers.
 * CCG: Collectible Card Game
 * CD Key: similar to serial number; in addition to installation, it may also be used to prohibit players with the same CD Key to play in the same multiplayer game.
 * Channel: Can refer to IRC (internet relay chat) channel for a Clan, or a VOIP channel.
 * Chobo: n00b.
 * Clan: An officially organized team of players that can play other teams. Members can be known as "clanners".
 * Clanserver: a gameserver owned by a clan. May be open for public play at times, or may be PWd for private functions such as practices, scrimmages, or clanwars.
 * Clanwar: an official gaming match between two clans.
 * Clantag: identifier that goes before or after a player's alias. Usually an abbreviation, often with symbols or separateors, and all clanmembers will wear the same tag. e.g. if Joe and Fragger play for a clan called "cell block 4", their in-game aliases might be: [CB4]Joe and [CB4]Fragger.
 * CL: Clan Leader
 * Cleanup: A player in a game with damage that finishes off opponents that other teammates damaged already, to gain a score they don't fully deserve. Often done by players who camp until midround, then emerge.
 * Console: 1) a dedicated gaming machine (see Console Games). 2) a command-line interface that can be used in-game on games on personal computers.
 * Console games: games on dedicated gaming machines such as Nintendo, Sega, etc. Not to be confused with PC games.
 * Corona: A video setting that is often able to be enabled/disabled. Coronas are the hazy halo surrounding a light source.
 * CV: center view
 * DC: Dreamcast
 * Decals: Semipermanent graphics that occur in the game. Typical ones include footprints, blood trails, bullet/explosion impacts, etc. Usually is a video setting that can be enabled/disabled.
 * Decal Stay: A video setting that determines how long decals remain visible before disappearing. Longer decal stay requires more resources from the computer.
 * Dedicated Server: A gameserver which is not running a playable game clientside. Therefore more server resources are freed.
 * Demonstration Server: A gameserver run by a GSP as an advertisement of its products.
 * Demorec: demo recording-- to record a movie of the game from your POV. Can be used for fun, or for anti-cheat verification.
 * DL: download (direction of data travel from server to client)
 * DP: Dual-Processor
 * Dynamic Lighting: A vidcard setting to enable/disable lighting effects that change in time, e.g. flashes from explosions, or lighting from flashlights.
 * FF: Friendly Fire
 * Final: The final release of a software product, either an entire game, or a game component such as a Map.
 * Flash: Macromedia Flash, esp. for web browser-based games, but also for sigs in gaming forums.
 * FOV: Field of View
 * FPS: First Person Shooter ( A shooter game where you have the POV of the character... for example you may see an arm or sight, but not the entire character. e.g. Quake/Doom/UT)
 * dedicated server- a game application that acts only as a server, so that no player could actually play on the server itself. This is a more efficient way to operate a server, especially for twitchy games.
 * FPS: Frames per Second
 * Frag: 1) To kill another player/bot 2) Score (as in frag-count)
 * FS: Full-screen mode (i.e. not windowed)
 * Full Conversion: Using the engine of a game to create an entirely different game. Counterstrike on the Half Life engine is a classic example, but can include commercial licensing such as Alice or Star Trek Elite Force, which are both based on the Quake engine.
 * GC: 1) ghostcam 2) game cube.
 * GF: Geforce
 * Ghostcam: a moving POV of the gaming area that a player can view after their character's death. For example, in official clanwars for FPS games, Ghostcam is disabled to prevent viewing the other clan's strategies.
 * GPF: When your PC-friend gamers crash, it's frequently due to a "General Protection Fault"
 * GSP: Game Service Provider. A company which offers gameservers, bandwidth, and auxiliary services (such as VOIP, clan website/forum, etc.)
 * Hacker/Hack: a cheater/cheat. e.g. "buyhack"
 * Hanji: hostage camper/lamer in rescue scenario games.
 * Hidden View: In FPS games, an option where your first-person view of your arm & item (weapon) is not visible.
 * HP: hit points or health
 * HUD: Heads Up Display. Just the extra info on your screen, for example score, time, health, location, talking text, etc.
 * HUD Transparency: The HUD may be made partially transparent (either permanently or on demand) so that gameplay behind these graphics are still visible.
 * Invert(ed) Mouse: moving the mouse up moves the game down, and vice-versa, originally common for airplane-stick games, but used by many FPS gamers.
 * IR: Internal Release. See also: Alpha, Beta. A version of a new game that has not been released to the public in any way including a limited-beta. An IR can be missing components, or can have all components, but is a product not deemed ready for public betatesting.
 * Janitor: see Cleanup
 * Keybinding: Configuring a keystroke to execute a command or set of commands
 * Kick: To disconnect a player from a game. Can be done by correctly-functioning or malfunctioning software, by PL, or by players or an admin. Contrast with Kickban (ban), Tempkickban.
 * Kickban: See ban.
 * L/P: login/password
 * Ladder: a ranking system for clans or players. For example http://www.rs2-accounts.com/
 * Lag: choppiness in gaming internet connection caused by delay (high ping), loss of data (packet loss/PL), or high CPU load on the server. Often used as an excuse for poor gaming scores,or for choosing another server.
 * Lagger: a player whose lag causes problems for other players by lagging the entire gameserver.
 * Lamer: anyone who mildly or severely abuses game play to reduce the enjoyment of other players. Ranges from camping, TKing, to cheating.
 * LAN: 1) local area network 2) a LAN-party for a multiplayer game
 * Map: The gaming environment or scenario.
 * Mapper: Someone who writes maps.
 * Manual Mod/Manual Install: Usually a zipped version, rather than a PC-only .exe version of an installer, which mac users can't use (unless they have Virtual PC).
 * Mesh: The texture or "skin" applied to items in the game, be it background, players, or objects.
 * Mod: modification, for example an add-on to a game, or a total conversion of a game's engine to create a new game. Contrast with "patch".
 * MMOG: Massively Multiplayer Online Game
 * MMPORPG: Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game
 * MP: Multiple Processor, usually means Dual Processor, also DP.
 * Multiplayer: generally refers to Internet-based multiplayer
 * NES: Nintendo (8bit)
 * N64: nintendo 64
 * Optical: Usually refers to optical mouse.
 * Patch: An addition to an existing application. For example 1) a bug fix for a game or auxiliary anticheat program 2) An updated version of the game itself. Contrast with "Mod"/"Full Mod" which contains all the necessary files to convert one game into a fully different game (i.e. "Full Conversion")
 * Ping: latency or delay in milliseconds of internet data between the client player's machine to the gameserver. A low ping is ideal for "twitchy" games.
 * Pipe: 1) From *nix, the "|", to combine commands in-game. 2) bandwidth or a path for data, as a texture pipe in a vidcard.
 * polys: Polygons, as in how many polygons must be drawn to render a frame; higher poly counts means a higher load on the vidcard, and probably a lower FPS.
 * PL: packet loss-- loss of internet adta between client player's machine to gameserver... can be download (DL) or upload (UL) PL.
 * POV: Point of View
 * POTW: picture of the week, esp. for screenshots
 * Port: 1) To rewrite code for another platform. For example porting PC games to Mac. 2) tcp/ip ports, as in opening ports in firewalls for game clients and servers, or special functions such as webadmin.
 * Private aimbot: an aiming cheat that has NOT been released to the public in any cheat forum. There are not too many cheaters with their own private bots, but these are more difficult if not nearly impossible to stop using anti-cheat programs.
 * Proxy: to have a 'fake' IP address for either privacy or to get around being banned.
 * PS: play station
 * Public aimbot: an aiming cheat that has been released to the public. Generally these are also available to the anti-cheat community who can write an anti-cheat patch for most public cheats.
 * Pubs: public gameservers. No PW required. Can be filled with noobs or clantags, or both.
 * PW: password
 * Radar: either part of game HUD, or a cheat
 * Redirect: When a server redirects the client to download custom game files from a different location. This provides less internet load on the gameserver and speedier downloads especially if the game supports file compression on redirect.
 * RPG: Role Playing Game... a term still used from the old days of Dungeons & Dragons
 * RTS: Real Time Strategy
 * RW: Roger Wilco, a popular VOIP application.
 * Rush: A style of play that emphasizes fast forward attacks. In contrast with "campers." Hence "rush map" is a map which facilitates fast and active play.
 * Screenshot/Screenie: A snapshot picture of the game. Can be used for proof of a score, bug, or unusal situation, or just for humor.
 * Serverside: inside the game, as in "see you serverside".
 * Skin: The visual look of the player character, or of anything in-game that is rendered graphically... also Mesh.
 * SN: Serial Number
 * SNES: super nintendo (16 bit)
 * Spawn: 1) The moment that play begins with your character, var: "respawn" 2) The place in the map or gaming area that characters tend to spawn at.
 * Spawnkill/Spawnkiller: Player that camp spawn areas of the opposing team to get an easy frag.
 * Spray: Lack of precise aiming, e.g. "spray and pray"
 * Split: To play a clanwar split between two servers, usually when clans from different ping regions (e.g. west coast vs. east coast) play each other.
 * Strafe: to move sideways while remaining facing forward.
 * Teamsay: in-game chat that only your team can see.
 * Tempkickban: To temporarily ban a player's IP, usually only for the current game-in-progress.
 * TK/TKer: Team Kill/TKer. A player who damages or kills their teammates rather than the 'enemy.'
 * TPS: Third Person Shooter (a shooter game, where you can see your character. e.g. TombRaider)
 * TS: TeamSpeak, a popular VOIP application.
 * Twitchy: games where split-second timing is important. e.g. e.g. shooting games like FPSs are twitchy, whereas RTS games are not.
 * webadmin: web-based administration of a game server
 * UL: upload (direction of data travel from client to server)
 * VOIP: Voice Over IP, an application to talk to people while playing your game.
 * WA: War Arranger. The member of the clan responsible for organizing matches (wars) with other clans.
 * Windowed: playing your game within a window, rather than full-screen
 * ZP: zero ping-- an application that calculates 'hits' and 'misses' clientside rather than serverside to allow players with poor ping to play twitchy games. Variations may be called by similar names such as "UnLag".

Also, game names in each community are abbreviated, but I won't list them here. I also tried to steer away from typical in-game 1337 chat, which tends to vary from game to game. --Rs2play 05:37, 23 November 2008 (GMT)