I'm writing this because there seems to be a massive misunderstanding of what these terms actually mean.  Specifically I see gamers up in arms about something being called cheap and acting as though it were being labeled as OP or Broken when that isn't always the case. Cheap simply means that something is easy to pull off or that you can get more results from less effort.  Environmental hazards are a clear example of this.  If you can pull the trigger on a pea shooter pistol and blow up an explosive barrel to net an instant kill or even a multi-kill, that's cheap.  Stated as fact cheap has nothing to do with any abstract Honor Code or level of skill on the part of the player.  It only cost you one low damage bullet to possibly kill several players.  That's pretty cheap, or to put it another way, it's very cost effective. Is it avoidable?  Sure, stay away from the barrel.  If it were unavoidable somehow THEN it might be broken. Is it OP?  Nope.  Explosive barrels deal a ton of damage but they only cover a specific area.  The power is offset by its inability to effect anything outside that area. But OP doesn't mean Broken either.  For example if a SMG has a high rate of fire, high ammo capacity, is extremely accurate and deals almost as much damage as an Assault Rifle at Rifle ranges, then it definitely has more power then it probably should.  It's unbalanced but may still be countered by a shotgun or long range rifle.  If it can also kill at marksman distances or take out shotgun users before they can get a second shot off, then it might actually be broken. These are the simplest, clearest examples I can come up with but it's the same for melee combat or spell casters.  If a character has abilities that require little effort or risk but put out big rewards, they may be cheap.  If said character has abilities that cover or counter a wide range of combat scenarios with only one or two minor drawbacks, they just might be OP. However there are gamers who do not use the term cheap as a point of fact. They throw around the word cheap as a possible insult to another player's Skill.  Take this into consideration then. Part of figuring out a game's META is finding the cheapest and easiest ways to Win.  Solid game METAs are established by the highest tier of gamers who dedicate hours upon hours to the game in question.  Another major task of these top tier META gamers is finding a way to counter those very same cheap and easy tactics. So yes, lots of things are in fact cheap. And Yes, cheap things do have counters. But that doesn't make them any less cheap. Good day and Happy gaming.