Abbreviations & Acronyms

[Kazimir]

Please stop using acronyms for everything. I'm specifically thinking about the game genres. If you're going to explain a genre with an acronym - at least make sure that it is clearly explained, so that the use of it is understood. There are so many genres/categories that you can't keep up with everything.

For example, if I would have used the acronym AA for the title of my thread, who would have understood it as Abbreviations & Acronyms? It makes sense to me, because I know what I want to talk about, but everyone else would not have understood it.

So please, stop using acronyms or at least include a tooltip so that when you hover over the acronym, the whole name is displayed.

Thanks in advance.

[Drab]

Can you give an example?

[Cathulhu]

This should help you then:
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/135507548120407092/

[IFIYGD]

Are you talking about genres in Store searches, or people using acronyms in discussion comments? Steam can't do anything about people using acronyms in comments. If you are talking about acronyms like FMV, RPG, aRPG, FPS, RTS, etc.- Google is your friend. Google "Video Game Genre Acronyms" and you'll find pages and pages like this one: https://ag.hyperxgaming.com/article/8983/gaming-acronyms-every-gamer-should-know
that list some of the most commonly used acronyms in gaming.

I get the frustration- Gen X mom raising two Gen Z kids. The first time one of them said "Based" to me, I had no idea what it meant, and had to ask for an explanation. Urban Dictionary has become my most looked at bookmarked site, lol. But the info is all out there, whether it is found in Internet searches or by simply asking someone to explain what the term or acronym means.

[Zekiran]

I think around here there's a lot of common confusion about

EA


Does it mean EA Games? Electronic Arts after all pre-dates most people even using this site by a decade.... But no: it usually refers to EARLY ACCESS, games which are being sold before they're fully released.

I can understand the frustration, OP - original poster - but it's something that you'll want to get used to and try and figure context out from the content of posts. People will never stop using abbreviations.

[Kazimir]

I know there are search engines on the internet - lol. But I figure that me and many others should not need to waste time on searches, when it's just easier for Steam to provide an explanatory description that is available to all when labeling/categorizing products/services that are in here.

I don't care about users using acronyms; if they want to be unclear, it's up to them. I'm only thinking about the info that Steam is providing about the games.

[Crazy Tiger]

Do you mean acronyms like RPG, FPS, RTS and the like? Cause they've been industry acronyms for decades now.

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

Here's a few.

Edit: Oops, I went overboard and included various silly things.



727 - an osu! meme.

⑨ - a Touhou meme. Refers to the character Cirno.

AAA - a designation for high-budget games, usually opposed to "indie". While there used to be categories like "AA", they've mostly become obsolete as "AAA" became the sole antonym. Mid-budget games don't really get a name for them.

a.k.a. - "also known as"

ALTTP - The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past.

AMV - anime music video.

ARPG - an RPG where actions (usually meaning combat actions) have to be taken in real-time. There are "Japanese" and "western" varieties of this; the "Japanese" variety is exemplified by the Ys games, where you generally go around and press buttons to attack things; the "western" variety is exemplified by the Diablo and Torchlight games, where you direct your character to target things with their attacks.

BotW - either The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or Bottom of the Well, an area in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

CR - Crunchyroll if you're an anime fan; Continuing Resolution if you're a politics geek, Challenge Rating if you're playing D&D.

CRPG - "Computer RPG". Similar in meaning to "western RPG"; see WRPG.

CSGO - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

D&D - Dungeons and Dragons, a TTRPG that's been around for a long time. Basically, make-believe, but with rules and dice rolls, and set in a Medieval-European high fantasy type of setting.

DDR - "double data rate", a thing having to do with computer RAM, or Dance Dance Revolution, a rhythm game.

DM - direct message, a.k.a. private message, i.e. a one-on-one internet chat, as opposed to saying something in an internet chat with a lot of people. Sometimes pluralized as "DMs". Alternatively, "dungeon master", the term for a GM in a D&D game; DM can also be used as a verb.

DMG - Damage, or if you're talking about D&D, Dungeon Master's Guide.

Dota or DOTA - "Defense of the Ancients", a Warcraft mod that popularized the MOBA genre. It spawned a sequel that is just called "Dota 2", without standing for anything.

EA - Electronic Arts, a major game developer/publisher, or Early Access, a game on Steam that's currently being sold with the intention of being finished later.

e.g. - "exempli gratia", which means "for example".

EGS - EasyGameStation, developer of Recettear and some other games, or Epic Game Store, an online game store.

EV - electric vehicle, or effort values in Pokémon. Not to be confused with Eevee, an actual pokémon.

Flash - a software platform used to make simple scripted programs/animations/games/movies, which was widespread a decade ago but has since decilned in popularity and has been discontinued by its official manufacturer. Often stereotyped with stiff-looking vector-based animation.

FPS - First Person Shooter, a game genre that includes such games as Doom, TF2, and Portal, or frames per second, a unit of framerate or refresh rate for a display or a game's running speed.

GB, GBA, GBC - Nintendo's Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Game Boy Color, respectively.

GC, GCN - Nintendo GameCube.

Gd - gadolinium

GG - "good game", a post-game parting message in multiplayer games, or GamerGate, an internet flamewar, or GamersGate, a Swedish online game store (whose existence predates the aforementioned flamewar by years).

GGG - "green gate glitch", which technically doesn't have to involve a green gate. A speed trick in Super Metroid.

GM - General Motors, a car company, or if you're talking about TTRPGs, the "game master", the person responsible for leading a collaborative storytelling effort that is a TTRPG. For example, they describe the setting and what various secondary characters do, while the other players control the main characters. "GM" can also be used as a verb - e.g. "I've GMed a few times before."

GOG - an online game store, best known for selling DRM-free games.

GT - Ganon's Tower, a dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past, or Gold Torizo, a boss in Super Metroid, or Gran Turismo, a racing game series.

GTA - Grand Theft Auto, a game series where you play as a criminal, or Graduate Teaching Assistantship, a real-life job where you're not a criminal but your pay is criminally low.

GTFO - a vulgar expression directing someone to leave. Sometimes humorous.

GTG - Gerudo Training Grounds, a mini-dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

HoH SiS - a meme. Usually associated with JoJ.

HOH - alternate chemical formula for water.

HotS - Heroes of the Storm, a MOBA by Blizzard.

HP - Hit points or health points, a way of indicating a character's status in a videogame. Or Hewlett-Packard, a computer manufacturer.

i.e. - "id est", which means "that is".

IV - Roman numeral for four, or "intravenous (drip)", a kind of thing that hospital patients might be hooked up to, or individual values in Pokémon.

JoJ - memetic misspelling of "job". Usually associated with HoH SiS.

JRPG - "Japanese RPG" or Japanese-style RPG. An RPG typically characterized by a stronger focus on story, among other common features. Contrast WRPG.

lol - "laughing out loud"; an expression of mirth.

LoL - League of Legends, a MOBA game.

LTTP - The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past.

MAD - an American humor magazine, or "music anime douga", the Japanese term for an AMV.

MeeM - a memetic vocalization/misspelling of "Medic" from TF2.

MOBA - "multiplayer online battle arena", an arguably misleading name for a game genre that consists of two teams of players, generally backed up by weaker AI-controlled units, fighting over a territory containing some objectives, usually from two opposing ends. Examples include League of Legends and Dota 2.

N64 - Nintendo 64

NES - Nintendo Entertainment System. The original "Nintendo".

OoT - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

osu! - not an abbreviation. It's just a rhythm game.

PHP - a scripting language for websites, or if you're talking about D&D, a Player's Handbook.

PM - "post meridiem", meaning the afternoon/evening/nighttime hours, or private message.

PS, PS1, PSX, PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5 - Sony's PlayStation/Playstation 1 (PSX also stands for this), PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, respectively.

RPG - if you're talking weapons, rocket-propelled grenade. However, you're probably talking games, in which case this refers to "role-playing game", a genre with a pretty wide set of definitions. Originally inspired by TTRPGs like D&D, the genre typically implies that there are some abstracted character advancement systems (e.g. leveling up by grinding) and often involves a fantasy setting. There are many subgenres.

RTS - "real-time strategy", a strategy game where the player must make decisions in real time. For example, Age of Empires or Starcraft. Compare turn-based strategy, where each side takes a move one side at a time.

Shmup - "shoot-em-up", a game genre that includes such games as Gradius, Raiden, and Touhou.

SM - Super Metroid, or Super Mario (usually followed by something else). Also sometimes SMet, when Super Metroid.

SNES - Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

SRPG - strategy RPG. Typically a subgenre of JRPG, but where battles take place on a grid where position matters a lot, rather than just a simplified one-side-versus-the-other display. Sometimes called tactical RPG or TRPG, not to be confused with tabletop RPG or TTRPG.

TF2 - Team Fortress 2.

The Baby - meme name for a character in the Metroid series. Often repeated.

TitS - unfortunate acronym for The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky.

TTRPG - tabletop RPG, the oldest style of RPG. Basically consists of make-believe but with rules and some means of determining outcomes. Typically, TTRPG games (called "campaigns") are overseen by a GM.

WoW - World of Warcraft.

WRPG - "Western RPG" or western-style RPG. An RPG typically characterized by a stronger focus on a free-roaming game world and character customization, among other common features. Contrast JRPG.

WTF - a vulgar expression of disbelief or confusion.

WYSI - "When you see it", an osu! fandom meme.

WYSIWYG - "What you see is what you get", a design concept for software to make things, like word processors.

XB, XB360, XB1/XBone - Microsoft's XBox, XBox 360, and XBox One, respectively

XD - when you laugh really hard. Also a Pokémon game.

XP - Experience points. Also, Windows XP, a PC operating system. Also when you stick your tongue out at something.

XSEED - not an abbreviation. A game localization company.

YTP - YouTube Poop. Imagine using video editing software with videos other people have made in order to make them say and/or do funny things or stretch out/compress the timing or overlay music or write stuff on them, and imagine having a thirteen-year-old's sense of humor. Surprisingly entertaining, despite being nonsensical.

YTPMV - YouTube Poop Music Video. A music video created using YTP methods. Often a "stupid statement dance mix".

Z3 - Zelda 3, or The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past.

[Kazimir]

@Quint the Alligator Snapper: thanks for the list - it will come in handy. :oD As an example - CRPG is one of the abbreviations I didn't know about; Computer RPG, huh?

My post is not a cry for help from the community, it's a request to Steam to help out, because their action taken in this matter would help everyone, not just me. I assume that it would be in Steams interest to educate new players to the wonderful world of gaming.

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

Oh I should have elaborated on that. The western RPG genre came into its prime on the PC, while the JRPG genre came into its prime on consoles, which is why "CRPG" is roughly synonymous with WRPG.

[Walach]

Цитата допису Quint the Alligator Snapper:

*snip*

I... I never knew what a.k.a, or as I use it "aka" meant...
Why didn't I know that one? :O

And yes, You REALLY went overboard, but sometimes it's a good thing. :)

[Kazimir]

This is the cool thing about a big functioning community; if the owner of the issue can't answer - surely someone in the community knows the answer. Thanks, guys!