Step 4 of 5

Step 4: Your first sessions and other players

The first few times you play an online game are when most people either settle in or give up. This step covers the settings worth adjusting first, a gentle way to learn the controls, what team play asks of you, and how to handle other players when they are unpleasant.

Setting up before your first match

When a game starts for the first time, it usually guesses suitable settings for your computer. The guess is often reasonable, but spending ten minutes in the settings menu before your first match makes the experience calmer. You will not be learning the controls and fighting a stuttering picture at the same time.

Most games group their settings under headings such as Graphics or Video, Audio or Sound, Controls, Gameplay, and Social or Chat. The names vary, but the same handful of options appear almost everywhere. You can change them again at any time, so there is no need to get everything right at once.

Graphics settings in plain words

Graphics settings trade appearance for smoothness. A smoother picture is easier to play with, especially for a beginner, so when in doubt, choose smoothness.

• Preset or quality level. A single setting, often Low, Medium, High and so on, that adjusts many detailed options together. Start here. If your computer only just met the minimum requirements in Step 2, begin at Low.
• Resolution. How many dots make up the picture. Your screen's native resolution looks sharpest; lowering it makes the game easier for your computer to draw but slightly blurrier.
• Display mode. Full screen, windowed or borderless window. Full screen often performs best; a window makes it easier to switch to other programs.
• Frame rate. How many times per second the picture is redrawn, shown as frames per second (fps). Higher is smoother. Some games let you show a frame-rate counter so you can see the effect of each change.
• Vertical sync. Matches the frame rate to your screen to prevent a "tearing" effect. It can add a slight delay; try it on and off and keep whichever feels better.

A sensible routine is to choose a preset, play one practice match, and then move the preset up or down one level depending on how it felt. Change one thing at a time so you know which change made the difference.

Sound, controls and accessibility

Sound matters more in online games than people expect, because many games use it to tell you where things are happening. Turn the music down a little so that effects and voices are clear. If you play with headphones, check that the game is sending sound to them rather than to your speakers.

In the controls menu, look for mouse sensitivity, which sets how far the view moves when you move the mouse. Beginners often find the default too fast. Lower it until small, deliberate movements feel controllable. Many games also let you rebind keys, which means choosing which key does what. You do not need to change these straight away, but it is useful to know where to look if a key is awkward to reach.

Check the accessibility options too. Many games offer subtitles, adjustable text size, colour-blind modes, reduced screen shake and options for holding rather than repeatedly pressing keys. These are there for everyone. If something makes the game more comfortable for you, use it.

Learning without pressure

Most online games include some way to practise before you play against other people. Look for a tutorial, which walks you through the basics step by step, a training or practice mode, or matches against computer-controlled opponents, sometimes called bots. These let you make mistakes with nobody watching.

A good first-week pattern looks something like this:

1. Complete the tutorial, even if it feels slow. Tutorials often explain features the game never mentions again.
2. Play two or three practice matches, focusing on just one thing each time: moving, then aiming, then using the map.
3. Play your first matches against other people with the expectation of losing. Every experienced player lost their early games.
4. After each session, write one thing you understood better and one thing that confused you. Look up the confusing thing in the game's official help pages before your next session.
5. Keep sessions short at first. Three short sessions teach more than one long one, because you return fresh.

Be cautious about advice from unofficial websites and videos that promise shortcuts, especially any that ask you to install extra programs, "mods" or tools. Some games treat these as cheating and suspend accounts that use them, and unofficial programs are a known way for harmful software to reach a computer. If a game supports modifications, it will say so in its official terms or help pages.

What team play asks of you

In a team game, a match is won or lost by several people together. That changes what "playing well" means. A beginner who stays near teammates, follows the general direction of the team and avoids rushing off alone is usually more useful than one who tries something spectacular.

Many team games give players different roles: some are suited to the front, some to support from behind, some to scouting. Learning the role of whatever you have chosen is more valuable early on than learning every detail of the game. The game's own help pages usually explain the roles.

Watch the mini-map, the small map in a corner of the screen showing where your teammates are. Glancing at it every few seconds is one of the habits that separates beginners from experienced players, and it costs nothing to practise.

Chat, and the tools that control it

Online games usually offer text chat, voice chat or both. Chat can make team games more enjoyable, but it is also where most unpleasantness happens. While you are learning, it is entirely reasonable to switch voice chat off and limit text chat to your own team, or to turn chat off altogether.

Every reputable online game offers three tools for dealing with other players. Find them in your first session, before you need them:

• Mute stops you hearing or seeing a particular player's messages, usually for the rest of the match.
• Block stops a player from contacting you again, including outside matches.
• Report sends a complaint to the game's moderators, usually with a reason such as abusive language or cheating.

Use them without hesitation. You do not need to argue, explain yourself or win the exchange. If someone persistently harasses you across platforms, or threatens you, the eSafety Commissioner explains what you can do, including how to report serious online abuse.

A word on personal information: other players have no need to know your real name, where you live, your age or your other social media accounts. Be wary of anyone who offers in-game items, currency or "help" in exchange for your account details or for moving the conversation to another app. Step 5 covers these scams in more detail.

An example: team battles in World of Tanks

To make team play concrete, here is how the ideas above apply to one game. We are paid when readers create and activate an account through our link to it; see the Affiliate Disclosure. You can skip this section without missing anything.

The vendor describes World of Tanks as built around team battles against other players from around the world, and mentions destructible objects and 30 maps remade in HD. For a beginner, that suggests three practical points from this step. Team battles mean staying with teammates and watching the mini-map matter more than individual heroics. Maps that are remade in high detail mean the graphics settings section above is worth working through before your first battle. And because you will be matched with strangers, finding the mute, block and report tools early is just as relevant here as in any other online game.

The summary we work from does not describe the game's tutorial, practice modes or chat options, so check its official help pages for those before you start.

Looking after yourself while you play

Games hold attention well, which makes it easy to sit in one position for longer than you meant to. A few simple habits help.

Set your chair so your feet are flat on the floor and your forearms are roughly level with the desk. Put the screen at about arm's length with the top near eye level. Every so often, look away at something in the distance for a little while to rest your eyes.

Stand up and move between matches rather than queuing straight into the next one. The natural break at the end of a match is the easiest moment to stop, and getting into the habit of pausing there makes it easier to stick to the time limit you set in Step 1.