Character
Traits and options that affect the "self" of a player's depiction, whether it is visual presentation or verbal association, are listed and described within this category.
Customization
Players can affect the appearance of their created character(s).
The depth of the customization varies from game to game, but any game with this tag has at least a rudimentary system to choose the visual depiction of the physical attributes of a created character.
Emotes
Characters can visually display actions that convey a particular meaning to other players.
Leveling
Experience points can be earned by the player to advance his or her character's overall level.
The numeric value of the attained level is directly tied to this increase of experience gained.
Some games give a character level based on the added total of skill levels, but for our purposes, the Leveling tag only describes a metric of experience-gained character advancement.
Mounts
Animals or vehicles that act as transports for a character under direct player control are available.
These mounts may or may not affect the overall travel speed of a character but will always give the appearance of that character being placed in or upon something.
Pets
Creatures that can be seen by other players as following the character that owns them.
These pets may or may not offer bonuses or have combat capabilities.
Skills
Abilities that a character can learn and/or possess to interact with the game world.
These skills can be either PvP-related or PvE-related.
For our purposes, the Skills category does not include abilities that are tied to an item and are not retained by a character regardless of item usage.
Titles
Words or phrases which can be displayed as appearing as a part of a character's name.
These can be placed before or after the official name, or even underneath the name, depending on the game's layout.
Items
Objects that a character can interact with during gameplay on a level of personal ownership or individual access.
Cosmetic
These are wardrobe options that allow a character the ability to select and change the appearance of outfits worn.
Some games have the cosmetic apparel as wearable items stored in inventory, while others allow them to be chosen from a display menu.
Crafting
This is the ability of a player to create items that are usable in the game out of materials that are gathered within the game.
These items can be weapons, tools, consumables, or decorative.
The option to sell or trade these items depends on the particular game.
Equipment
Pieces of armor, weapons, tools, or other usable paraphernalia that a character can actively wear, wield, or work with.
Some games cause equipment to take damage due to use or character death and may allow for repair of such items.
Housing
Personal character spaces that are owned by individual players.
The ability to decorate such housing can vary between game from limited selection options to actually placing items at the player's choice within the housing zone.
Inventory
Space allocated for a character to carry items on his or her person and is accessible as that character traverses the game world.
Some games may cause inventory items to be dropped or damaged on character death.
Trading
Players can directly give or swap items with other players.
This may occur as free gifts or equal value exchanges for items or game currency.
PvE
Player-versus-Environment. This section details the attributes of games that have to do with a player engaging it in its developer-created mechanics.
Achievements
A displayed acknowledgement that a character has attained or completed certain objectives. Achievements often yield additional rewards to a character for finishing them, such as titles or items.
While achievements can certainly contain PvP objectives, we regard it as a PvE element as success is determined against developer quotas and not necessarily opposing player strategies.
Dungeons
Instanced zones designed for progression via combat and/or problem-solving.
Many dungeons allow for the formation of a small group to work together, but a number of dungeons in various games are designed for a single player.
Maps
Visual displays that a player can access which details the region a character is currently in to help navigate movement.
The complexity of a map system and the accessibility of zone maps a character is not varies from game to game.
Quests
These are tasks or missions given to a character, usually by NPC's.
Such tasks, when completed, often provide a reward to a character which can include experience, game currency, items, or some other such in-game benefit.
Raids
This is the ability for players to form larger than normal-sized groups.
The purpose for raids is to complete content that is designed specifically to present tougher situations that yield rewards equivalent to the difficulty that was overcome.
PvP
Player-versus-Player. This section details the attributes of games that have to do with a player competing against other players.
Arena
These are instanced engagements of a single player or limited number of players against an equal number of players in a fight to the death.
The winner is determined by the last side with a surviving member.
Card Battles
Digital cards can be collected or earned by the character to build a deck for use in competitive play.
Some games use this as a primary form of combat, while others reserve it as a bonus feature.
Dueling
The allowance of players to engage their characters in non-deadly and unranked combat with other players.
Dueling tends to take place in a game's open world where traditionally it is not designated a safe zone.
Pet Battles
Creatures belonging to a character can be used to engage in combat with creatures belonging to another player or NPC.
This is separate from player combat and may yield special pet-related rewards.
Players are generally unharmed as a result of pet battles and the pets are usually only injured, but not lost, as a condition of defeat.
Rank System
A metric that allows comparison between players and player groups in regard to where they stand against others in ranked player competitions.
Many games reset this metric after a certain duration of time, concluding it as a season with potential end-of-season rewards.
Team Matches
This is an instanced battlefield that allows opposing teams of equivalent numbers to face off against one another to complete and/or control certain objectives.
Kill count may or may not contribute to the overall score, depending on game.
The winning team is determined by which team reaches a certain score first or has the highest score by the end of a countdown timer.
World Skirmish
If a game allows open world player-versus-player combat, the players can attack or be attacked randomly in the regular areas of play.
Some games may restrict open world PvP by designating certain zones within the open world as combative while other zones are regarded as safe.
Utility
These are functions and tools within the game that each player is able to make use of to add to his or her gameplay.
Auction House
A place where players can list an item they own for sale at a price usually designated by the player.
These items stay listed for sale for a specified period of time and can potentially have a cost to the player for listing.
It allows players to continue to sell items even when they are offline.
Bank System
This can be an actual building serving as a bank or a privately owned storage chest.
This system allows players to store additional items in a specific location where it is kept safe from other players.
Items that are "banked" cannot be used during gameplay unless the player returns to this location and removes the item from storage into the character's inventory.
Friend List
A manageable list for adding and removing other characters that a player considers friends within the game.
It allows a player to see which of those friends are online and in certain games may even be a pre-requisite for sending private messages to another player.
Guild System
An organizational structure that allows players to ally their characters with other characters for various purposes within the game.
Character memberships persist until the player removes the character from the member list or the guild is disbanded.
This may allow for special rewards and unique achievements that are only available to those within this type of group.
Different games may use words other than "guild" such as clan, community, alliance, or so forth to describe this type of group.
Mail System
The capability for players to send and receive text messages to one another through an in-game delivery system regardless of whether the recipient is online.
Some games may allow items and/or currency to be attached within a mailing to be delivered.
Games which have features that send messages from the game to the player but do not allow players to directly send messages to one another in the same system are considered by us to have a notification system and not a proper mail system.
Other games have mailboxes for NPC's to send messages to characters but not player to player, so we consider that type of feature an enhanced NPC dialogue system and not a proper mail system.
Party System
The capability for players to form temporary groups amongst a limited number of characters to work together.
Parties can usually be formed in the open world or instanced environments.
The maximum number of players allowed in a party can differ between games but is usually either four or five.