Questions tagged [terminology]
For questions that ask what a gaming-specific term means, or what the terminology is for a gaming-specific concept.
473
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Why are bosses called 'bosses'?
There were bosses in games ever since 1975, and I don't think I really have to define 'boss' here. But how did the word get stuck? And when was the first time when the challenging enemy was referred ...
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106
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7
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What does 8-bit / 16-bit actually refer to?
When talking about retro games, terms like "8-bit music" or "16-bit graphics" often come up. I myself often use these terms, but I'm not exactly sure what they refer to. What do they mean?
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Where does the concept of "Mana" as a resource come from?
In today's field of gaming, the humble mana bar has become nearly as widespread as the health bar. Everywhere from MMOs to flash games, to traditional turn-based RPGs, Mana exists as a finite ...
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95
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4
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What is kiting?
What does the term 'kiting' mean when used for games? I've seen the term thrown around here and there in reference to a few different games. Are there specific types of games that it applies to?
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92
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What's the difference between "Bug" and "Glitch"?
I heard about 2 terms defining a game error: "Bug" and "Glitch".
What's the difference between them?
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What's the difference between a "Roguelike" and a "Roguelite" game?
What exactly defines a Roguelike game and what is the difference between them and Roguelite games?
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81
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9
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What exactly is a "cheese" in Starcraft 2?
I seem to see commentators mention "cheese" with regards to Starcraft 2, but I'm not quite sure what they mean.
If a particular build/tactic is called a "cheese", does that mean it is a considered to ...
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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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74
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3
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What does "Game of the Year" actually mean?
Often times, many games have an additional variant named "Game X: Game of the Year edition" or "Game X: GOTY edition". Within the same year, there are multiple games that seemingly have GOTY versions.
...
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65
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What's the difference between "Free" versus "Free to Play" on Steam?
On Steam, there are the labels "Free" and "Free to Play" - what is the difference between the two?
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What is V-Sync and when should I enable it? [duplicate]
Most modern 3D games have a graphics option "V-Sync". It's usually an on/off setting. I'd like to understand settings I tweak with, and this one kind of eludes me.
What does "V-Sync" mean, and when ...
- 3,314
62
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6
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What is ping, and why is it important?
I've seen the term used in many online games but I'm not sure what it means.
What does 'ping' mean? Is it better to have high or low ping?
- 35.8k
62
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5
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14k
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What is Direct X, and why do games keep on requesting different versions?
I am not very experienced with computers, and was wondering what Direct X actually does, on my PC.
Why do various games request different versions? Should the latest version cover all of them, or do ...
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55
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3
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What is a "pixel shader"?
I have noticed that some games quote the requirement for "pixel shader 3.0 or better".
What is a pixel shader and is it some software requirements or hardware requirements?
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What do those abbreviations mean in League of Legends?
I'm quite new to League of Legends (LoL) but try to improve through reading guides. All too often I stumble upon abbreviations I am not sure what they mean.
Some of those are:
AD
AP
ArPen
AS
bot
...
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