Listen up, noobs!

The world of gaming may be a weird place consisting of mostly 12-year-old’s who will wreck you at Call of Duty, but it’s all in very good fun.

If you’re a hardcore gamer, you’ll know that gaming is more than just a fun pastime; it’s a universe filled with words that make non-gamers think we aren’t speaking English.

Here is a quick guide to the most commonly used terms among gamers:

1. Noob

Getting the obvious out of the way, “noob” is a shorthand term for “newbie.”

Not really used to describe someone who is new to the game, but rather someone who plays like they are. If someone calls you a noob, they’re saying you suck.

“Scrub” is a commonly used synonym for noob.

2. FPS

Short for both first person shooter and frames per second, which is the rate at which images (called frames) are shown in an animated display.

Console games average at 30 FPS (with a few exceptions). That’s as much as you can have without experiencing frameskip – when certain images are skipped to improve performance at the cost of visual smoothness.

Around 60 FPS is where the real fun begins. Go on YouTube and search “30 vs 60 FPS” to see what I mean.

3. MMO

Massive multiplayer online. The name says it all; a genre of game that features a large online world with multiple players in the game at the same time. Examples include: World of Warcraft; The Elder Scrolls Online; Grand Theft Auto Online and Minecraft Online.

4. Easter Eggs

Not the chocolate ones you hunt for in your backyard. These are hidden features in games such as hidden characters, secret levels or simply hidden references to other games.

5. AAA (Triple A)

A term that describes a game made on a massive budget with a huge sponsor/(s) backing it. The annual FIFA games are a prime example, with a huge publisher (EA Sports), plenty of product endorsements, and of course, celebrity appearances.

How EA Sports is still in business after spitting out the same game every year is beyond me.

6. Glitch

This one should be obvious, but just in case…

A glitch is a bug in the game’s code that can cause a few problems for your gaming experience, such as: getting stuck in a wall; hitting an invisible wall; encountering frameskip in a certain area; or characters not behaving as they’re supposed to.

7. NPCs

Non-player characters; those random people you meet in a game that hand you quests to complete, have automated responses to everything your character says to them, and are incapable of solving their own problems.

8. DLC

Short for downloadable content. Pretty much self-explanatory; things you can download for the game.

DLCs vary across the gaming world: they can be a new weapon set; a new map; an extra campaign featuring a new story; or simply a new set of outfits for your character.

Unfortunately, they are a huge source of income for developers, and as such, most of them don’t come cheap.

9. RPG

A role-playing game is a game that puts players in the role of a character that can interact with the world and build their stats.

Typically describes games like Warcraft, Final Fantasy and Skyrim.

Japan is really good at making over-complicated, convoluted stuff, so they are awesome at making RPGs.

10. Camper

The scourge of online shooters. “Camper” is a word describing a douchebag who stays in one spot (like a small room) and just kills anyone who invades his personal space.

One of the worst things you can run into in an FPS, is an expert camper. Should you encounter one, be cool. Use finesse instead of brute force.

Side note: snipers are supposed to camp. Deal with it.

11. K/D

Refers to one’s kill to death ratio. K/D is usually expressed as a decimal number, obtained by dividing a player’s number of kills by their number of deaths.

In many games, this is extended to K/D/A, which is the number of kills, deaths and assists a player has. Either in total, or for one match.

12. Ping/Lag

In the world of online gaming, your ping is the time (in milliseconds) it takes for information to travel to the server and back. If your ping gets too high, you will begin to experience lag.

Lag means your real life actions will take longer to translate into the game. Think of it as you mashing the “X” button, and only double-jumping 3 seconds later.

Not fun.

13. Pre-order

Pre-ordering is way up on the list of things you should never, I repeat, NEVER do. In this modern world, developers have given you the chance to put in an order for their games before they’re released and get them before anyone else.

Awesome, right?

WRONG!

They expect a little (a lot of) extra cash for delivery/shipping, and since you’ve never played the game, you don’t know if it’s any good.

If it is, then sweet. Bully for you. If it isn’t, then you have effectively paid R1000+ for a terrible game.

DO NOT PRE-ORDER.

There, you are now aware of some very basic gaming terms.

If your friends have been calling you a noob every time you play a few rounds of Tekken and you’ve been taking it as a compliment, I am sorry to have destroyed your illusion.

-Tyler Roodt

Categories: Education