Have you ever been in an Online competitive game where your team started spamming: "We need a DPS!" or "Dive Meta! right from the get-go? If you are like many others entering the online scene a little late in the game, no pun intended, then you probably had no idea what they were talking about. This article is going to help alleviate a little of the confusion by breaking down some of these commonly used anagrams and other slang terms into simple definitions. If you are looking to get into more competitive video games in the future, and maybe go for a spot on a professional team for games like "Overwatch," "DOTA 2," or "Call of Duty," then this article is a must!
If you are just a casual gamer and just want to make sense of the chat section, then this should help you out all the same.
Dps (damage per second)
Dps is an acronym for damage per second. The link provided will take you to an article about a dps change to a certain character in "Overwatch." What it means depends on the game you will be playing. For instance, in "Overwatch," dps characters are usually classified as an attack, defense, or tank character that can supply consistent damage over a good amount of time. This means that if you need to push to a certain objective, or even defend said objective, then the dps can help take out enemies quickly and efficiently. However, in a game like "Fortnite" dps is considered for each and every gun, trap, or other forms of attack.
Say you have a rifle that does a base damage of 10. That means if you hit someone, that's 10 damage done. If the same rifle shoots 3 shots a second, then the damage per second, or dps, is 30.
Flanking
Flanking is simply slipping behind the enemy team, which creates a two point attack position. Once you or a teammate have flanked the enemy, the enemy team now has to fight the fire from in front of them and behind them.
This causes confusion and all-around chaos for the opposing team which, if your team is coordinated in your attack, means a clean sweep to the objective for you.
Meta
Meta's are classified as a certain type of team build. The main 3 types of Meta's are attack, defense, and dive. The attack meta is usually focused on damage, lots of health, and healing to compensate.
If there is a team availability of 6 members, then usually there are 2 dps characters, 2 tanks, and 2 healers. The same goes for defense and the only thing that really changes in the 6 member configuration is possibly 3 tanks, 1 support, 1 healer, and 1 reliable dps. Remember, tanks can act as dps as well to help carry the load. The dive meta is where things get a little different. Dive meta's usually contain any and all characters that are able to flank. Whether they are all attack characters, all tanks, or any combination, they can all work as long as your team stays grouped together and coordinates attacks.
Funneling in
Funneling in is a term that you will hear more than you ever wanted to in your life.
Usually, you start hearing this term when your team is losing the match, whether for a few moments, or the entire match, someone will inform you to stop funneling in. Funneling in means that instead of your team regrouping and coordinating your attacks, teammates will just charge in by themselves and try to be a hero. Ultimately, they just end up dying over and over again. If you hear or see this term pop up, the best thing to do is go back to spawn and regroup.
Counter
For the final word we will look at counter. Counter means to block or distort an enemy by finding the character who can effectively kill or deter them. At least in gaming that is what it means. Therefore, using "Overwatch" as an example again, if your team is having problems being pushed back, or even completely eliminated by an enemy Pharah and you do not have a dps to counter said Pharah, then one of your dps teammates should switch to Soldier: 76, or another good Pharah counter. If your dps can counter Pharah effectively and consistently, then that Pharah might switch to another character, which could turn the match around.
