So, you’ve started playing games, you are getting used to the mechanics, gameplay elements, and you are getting settled in faster, it feels good!
But there’s more, for you to successfully call yourself a gamer; you need to be in sync with the community, and the community uses a number of “code words” to communicate in lobbies or even just on social media.
So, what does OP mean in gaming?
If you play big multiplayer titles like Fortnite, League of Legends, or even CS: GO, you are going to come across a lot of code words typed or said in chat and lobbies; you might have heard the term OP a lot, since it is frequently used, like a lot! Which simply stands for overpowered.
Does overpowered have its own gaming definition too? No, not really, it pretty much tallies with the dictionary definition, according to the dictionary it simply means “defeat or overcome with superior strength” which in the context of gaming mean the same thing.
But it can be used in a different way; for example, a teammate might say “This new riffle is so OP.” This simply means the riffle is too powerful than it should be; the most important thing is to be able to read context.
What Can Be OP?
In gaming a lot of things can be considered OP, from the character to game objects and weapons like the shotguns and Assault Rifles in Fortnite, and Akshan in League of Legends, anything can be considered OP it just depends on the way you look at it, whenever an in-game object or character is stronger than you feel it needs to be, it is considered OP.
Where ever you come across the term OP in gaming you might also see a term called “nerf”, nerfing can occur when ever the game developer or developers reduces its power to make it less OP, for example when ever a specific shotgun that used to deal 329+ per shot damaged was now reduced to deal 200+ that process is “nerfing” and the shotgun is now considered “nerfed”, and when the game developer does the exact opposite to a game object or character it is considered a “buff”, these terms are used hand in hand with OP, so that’s why you must understand what they all mean.
On quite the contrary when you come across a regular OP on social media posts like reddit and twitter, don’t be in a haste to assume it means overpowered as it can just mean original poster, you can tell using context though, I realized a lot of people do frequently mix it OP in social media, since a lot of gamers hangout on social media too, so be wary of how it used and how you reply.
Conclusion
While you study and get used to all the terminologies used in these online games, cause, trust me they are a lot of them, take your time to chill and relax go with the flow, and when you don’t know what one specifically means, you can ask, if the person is nice or just google it, in time you yourself will become a solid part of the community and the game you are engrossed with, and who knows maybe you can even teach a newcomer someday, we all were one.
