Step 1 of 5

Step 1 — What these games are and what an account involves

This step describes the kind of game the rest of the course is about, separates the three different things you agree to when you join one, and defines the words that the next four steps will use without explaining again. You do not need to install anything to read it.

What kind of game this course is about

A large online multiplayer game is a program you install on your own computer that is useless on its own. The program draws what you see and reads your keyboard and mouse, but the match you are playing happens on a computer owned by the publisher, somewhere else, at the same time as thousands of other matches.

That arrangement has a name worth learning early. The program on your machine is called the client. The publisher's computer that runs the shared match is called the server. Almost every confusing thing about these games — why you must be online, why the download keeps growing, why your account exists at all — follows from the fact that the client and the server are two separate things owned by two different parties.

The genre this course uses for its examples is vehicle combat: games in which you control an aircraft, a tank or a ship rather than a person on foot. The mechanics differ from title to title, but the structure does not. You install a client, you create an account, you join a match on a server, and you keep the client up to date for as long as you play.

The three things you are signing up to

People talk about "getting a game" as though it were one decision. It is three, and they can be separated. Understanding the separation is the single most useful thing in this step.

First, a piece of software. A client is an ordinary application that occupies disk space, uses your processor and graphics hardware, and can be uninstalled. It is subject to the same questions you would ask about any large program: will it run on this machine, how much room does it need, and can I remove it cleanly.

Second, an online service. The matches, the matchmaking that puts you into them, and the progress attached to your name all live on the publisher's servers. A service can change. Features are added and withdrawn, servers are moved between regions, and the terms you agreed to on day one may be revised later. You are a user of a service, not the owner of a copy.

Third, an account. This is a record on the publisher's systems tied to an email address and a password. It usually outlives your interest in the game. It holds whatever you have earned or bought, and it is the thing that matters if you later need support, a refund, or a deletion request.

How the software actually runs

Most large online games are not installed once and left alone. They arrive through a small program called a launcher, which downloads the real game in the background, checks that your copy matches the server's expectations, and replaces parts of it whenever the publisher issues an update. The launcher is why the install size you saw advertised and the space the game eventually occupies are rarely the same number.

An update to an online game is usually called a patch. Patches are not optional in the way that updates to an offline program often are: if your client and the server disagree about the rules of the game, the server will refuse to let you in. In practice this means that returning after a few months away starts with a download rather than a match.

The size of that download is the reason Step 2 asks you to write down your data allowance. A first installation of a large vehicle-combat title is commonly measured in tens of gigabytes, and the publisher's own system requirements page is the only reliable place to find the current figure for a specific title. We do not quote a number here, because it changes with every patch.

How these games are usually paid for

There are three common commercial arrangements in this part of the market, and a title can use more than one at once. This section describes the shapes in general terms. For what any specific title costs, the vendor's own site is the only source worth trusting, and prices for Australian buyers are normally shown in Australian dollars at checkout.

A single purchase. You pay once and receive access. This is the traditional arrangement and is now the less common one for large online titles.

A subscription. You pay a recurring amount, usually monthly, for access or for benefits that make progress faster. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled, which is the detail most worth noting before you start one.

In-game purchases. The client itself may be obtained at no cost, with money spent inside the game afterwards on vehicles, cosmetic items, currency or time-saving boosts. This is the arrangement that most often catches households out, because the first cost is zero and the later costs are many and small. Step 3 is devoted to it.

No arrangement is inherently better. What matters is that you know which one a title uses before you install it, and that you have decided your own limit beforehand. That is why the homepage checklist asked for a figure in Australian dollars, including the entirely reasonable answer of nothing.

The words you will meet

These terms are used in Steps 2 to 5 without further explanation. You do not need to memorise them; the glossary is repeated on the checklists page.

Client

The program installed on your own computer that draws the game and sends your inputs to the server.

Server

The publisher's computer that runs the shared match and decides what actually happened.

Launcher

A small program that installs the client, keeps it current, and starts it.

Patch

An update to the client, usually required before you can play again.

Tutorial

A guided first session built into the game that teaches the controls, usually without other players present.

Latency

The delay between your computer and the server, measured in milliseconds. Lower is better, and distance matters, which is why servers hosted far from Australia feel different from ones hosted nearby.

In-game purchase

Anything bought with real money after installation, including virtual currency that is later spent inside the game.

Classification

The Australian rating assigned to a computer game for sale or hire here, explained in Step 3.

The example title used in this course

From here on, where a step needs a concrete title, it uses War Thunder. Its vendor describes it as an online multiplayer war simulator in which battles are fought using planes, helicopters, tanks and ships, created and published by Gaijin Entertainment. It runs on desktop and laptop computers under Windows, macOS and Linux; the vendor's offer does not extend to phones, tablets or consoles.

That paragraph is the whole of what this course asserts about it. Where you see a claim about any title that goes beyond what its vendor states — about quality, popularity, cost or safety — treat it as an opinion and check the vendor's own pages.

The following link is a paid affiliate link: if you sign up after following it, LUKREX s.r.o. is paid a commission and you pay no more than you otherwise would.

Visit the War Thunder website if you want to read the vendor's own description while you work through this course. You can also complete every step without doing so.

What you gain and what you give up

Joining an online game is a trade, and it is fair to see both sides of it set out plainly before Step 2 asks you to check whether your hardware can take part.

None of this is an argument against playing. It is the list of things you should be able to answer honestly before the end of Step 5.

The example household at Step 1

Notice what the example household did not do. It did not look up the game, check the computer, or discuss money. Those are Steps 2, 3 and the rest. Step 1 only asks you to understand the shape of what is being proposed.

Before you move on

Step 2 turns the general picture into a question about your own equipment: can this computer, the one actually sitting in your house, run a title of this kind at all? It is the step that saves the most wasted time, and it needs nothing but the tools already built into your operating system.

Checklist for Step 1