A five-step course for Australian readers who have never played an online PC battle game

1. Step 1 — What a free-to-play online battle game actually is
   Vocabulary, business model, and what an account is for.
2. Step 2 — Working out whether your computer can run it
   System requirements, your own specifications, and your connection.
3. Step 3 — Reading the terms, the classification and the spending rules
   Account terms, Australian Consumer Law, classification, randomised items.
4. Step 4 — Setting up an account and checking that it works
   Email, passphrase, verification, first launch, a short test.
5. Step 5 — Living with it: updates, money, time and other people
   Patch sizes, a monthly limit in AUD, session length, chat.

Every step ends in a checklist. All five are gathered, printable, on the checklists page.

It is for an adult in Australia who has watched someone else play one of these games, or has been asked by a family member whether they are allowed to, and who would like to understand the thing before committing a weekend to it. No prior knowledge is assumed, and terms are defined the first time they appear.

It is not for someone who already plays and wants tactics or build guides. It is not a troubleshooting service for a specific machine, and it is not a substitute for a publisher's own support material. It is also not a place to sign up for anything: no account here, no email list, no progress to save, no certificate at the end.

• Explain what "free-to-play", "client", "matchmaking" and "in-game currency" mean.
• Read a published list of system requirements and say whether your computer clears it.
• Find a game's classification and consumer advice, and know who issues them.
• Read the parts of an account agreement that affect you, instead of all of it.
• Create an account with a passphrase you have not used anywhere else, and verify it.
• Set a monthly limit in AUD and check what you have actually spent.
• Know which Australian body to contact when something goes wrong, and about what.

Before reading about any particular title, confirm three things: you have a desktop computer — Windows, macOS or Linux — free for an hour at a time; it has roughly 60 to 100 gigabytes of spare disk space; and you know your home connection's monthly data allowance. This category is built for desktop computers and is not played on a phone or tablet. If any answer is no, the reading is still worth doing, but the practical steps will have to wait.

Each step follows the same hypothetical household: two adults and a thirteen-year-old, one five-year-old laptop and one second-hand desktop computer. They are invented for illustration — not real people, no names, and nothing reports what any product did for them. They exist so that an instruction such as "check the classification first" has something to attach to.

Reading this course costs nothing and asks for nothing. Beyond that, the free-to-play model means games in this category are generally available without an up-front purchase, with optional spending inside them. We do not state any particular title's terms, because publishers set those and change them; Step 3 shows where to find them.

World of Tanks is named in Step 1 as an example of the category, and in Step 4, where creating and activating an account is the subject. It is named because the affiliate programme behind it funds this site. Everything stated about it here comes from that programme's own description: it is a game you create and activate an account for, and the commission is paid for that. Anything else — cost, requirements, contents — is for the publisher's site to answer.

Visit the World of Tanks website

Paid affiliate link. If you create and activate an account after following it, PADOLO s.r.o. is paid a commission. Your side of the transaction is unchanged.

The course links these where they help rather than listing them as decoration. The Australian Classification Board classifies films, computer games and some publications. The ACCC administers competition and consumer law, including the Australian Consumer Law. The eSafety Commissioner is the national online safety regulator. Scamwatch publishes information about scams. The Australian Cyber Security Centre publishes device and account security advice. The OAIC oversees privacy law.

It is written by the editorial team at PADOLO s.r.o. There are no individual authors and no guest instructors. Where a statement is a matter of fact — who classifies games here, which regulator takes online safety reports — it links to the body that says so. Where it is judgement, it is written as guidance. Method, review schedule and the commercial relationship behind the site are on the About page.

Do I have to do the steps in order?

You do not have to, but each step assumes the vocabulary of the one before it. Reading Step 3 first tends to produce more questions than answers.

Will this site remember which checklist items I have ticked?

No. The checklists are printed boxes on a page, with nothing behind them. This site sets no cookies and stores nothing in your browser, which is why printing a checklist is the one way to keep your marks.

Can I finish the course without spending any money?

Yes. Nothing in the course requires a purchase, and the checklists are written so that every item can be completed without one.

Is this an official source for any game?

No. Inert Value is an independent publication by PADOLO s.r.o. It is not a publisher, a reseller, a partner or an authorised source for any title it names, and no publisher has reviewed or approved what is written here.