Where do you stand with camping, snipers and heavy weapon strategies?

[Twatybollocks]

Ever since online shoot-em ups have been going there are a bunch of gamers out there who believe both sides should run out at each other and duke it out in the open. If you don’t (to them) you’re not a proper hardcore gamer and you get flamed/abused and even accused of cheating.

However, if it’s allowed in the game should any strategy just be accepted? After all we are talking about a game where the main aim usually involves taking out the enemy?

I’m off the mind that any strategy is fine as long as it is not dragging the game down and making it boring. You need to be able to adapt in any situation and in CounterStrike for example you may be forced to camp for a round just because you’ve got your asses kicked so much you are all running around with a pistol wearing just your undies. This happened to me the other night in Aztec because the other side had every possible route covered with the most expensive sniper weapons. So we camped, made them come to us and won. As soon as we could afford better gear we switched tactics and took the fight back to them.

Snipers may be frustrating, as can those who get the rocket launcher but you can adapt to take them out in a variety of ways, so it should be allowed IMHO.

[Paradigm^]

I'm gung-ho. Admittedly I don't play CS or any realistic-type game where dying actually has any meaning - but I despise campers. You do not stay in one place and jump out from a corner. By all means, be sneaky, but hanging around with your crosshair focussed on the only way in is just bad, bad form.

Sniping, however, is a different matter completely. Snipers are good, and can be hugely effective in team games. But again, a sniper should not continue to sit at his sasfe, high vantage point if the rest of his team are getting mullered below him.

Jump in. Join the fight. Sitting in the same place is for wusses: I want to see bullets fly.

[FoxDhoj]

I do a bit of both, depending on the situation. For example:

On Halo 2, if I get a sniper/beam rifle/similar, I will snipe (which I enjoy - but occasionally I'm not in the right mood to snipe, so I snipe badly), but if I can't get hold of a sniping weapon, I try to make do with what I have, but I'm always going for a better weapon (I'm fed up of SMG's and Plasma Rifles all the time).

In a custom gametype called Zombies (no shields, humans have shotguns/magnums, zombie has a sword - one person is the "zombie" and everyone else isn't, if a zombie kills a human, the human changes to the zombie team), I camp with others in one of the rooms, and barracade the door with boxes and the like. This means that it makes it harder for the zombies to kill you and makes the duration of the game longer and more enjoyable.

In another custom gametype called Fight Club (King of the Hill, no shields, plasma pistols, no shooting - only meléeing), I despise people who camp. In this gametype, you are only allowed to attack others when in the hill. Some people camp for a while (near the hill), and when somebody runs past them and onto the hill, they follow them and assassinate them. Can get frustrating if repeated.

There are plenty of other things that annoy me on Halo 2 (like the rocket launcher guy who camps on the bridge and blows up your Warthog in Burial Mounds), but I will not bore you with them.

[Playbus]

CS is really the only online FPS I play, so I will refer to that.

Nothing wrong with sniper rifles, but I like servers that limit each team to only having 1 or 2. It does suck a bit when an entire team has them.

Personally I only ever use the scout when sniping.

Camping is fine as long as it is in line with map objectives. IE Spawn camping is usually* bad, but guarding hostages or the bomb is fine.

*obviously if the bomb is planted at a spawn point then that would be different

[Lewiji]

CS here too;

Sniping and camping are two completely different things that people get mixed up.

A sniper will move with the rush of the team taking high points and covering the team's back.

AWP's are a bitch, but I can deal with them.

Camping however-I don't see how camping makes the game what it's meant to be-Fun. Sitting in one place for half an hour picking off people who run past...Not fun. It ruins it for others.

[Woloch]

the only game i've ever played enough to actually care was bf1942.

in that game, to snipe you had to be pretty damn good, so snipers actually deserved respect. as for campers, a lot of people whine when people camp the spawn point at the airfield with bombers or whatnot, but i think it's fine because it's not like anyone is forcing you to spawn there.

the only time i think camping is wrong is when people can only spawn in one place and other people are putting bombs right there are detonating them whenever anyone spawns. this can lock down a whole team, especially when the bombers rotate so they never run out of bombs.

[Zweee]

cs:
It all depends on the situation.

In a public server camping is a bit of a shitty thing to do, unless your camping for a reason, IE as has been said camping the bomb or hostages. Just sitting in one place like a terrorist spawn on a bomb map is pointless and dull.

However, in matches camping can be one of the greatest techniques. As your usually talking to the people on your team, if one of them says, "hes gone that way" You can just sit in an advantage point, crosshairs on the door and wait. Bang, dead. Great time to camp.

Sniping, yes nothing wrong with it. If it was so bad they wouldnt have included the guns in the game. They are there for a reason, so people can use them. Also if it annoys you so much there are plenty of servers that have weapon restrictions on where only the scout is enabled, or sometimes none of them.

Having said that, having a good awper on a team for matches is possibly one of the most useful players, as they can take out several people before they knoww hats hit them.

[Lewiji]

The one thing that annoys me is AWPers who moan.

We have dust3 on our server, doesn't quite live up to the name but a fun map. There was one bloke who had a huge score simply because every round without fail he went to a point where it was impossible to see or shoot him. Eventually I gave in and used a scout on him.

He was furious. He said that I shouldn't be using a sniper if I complained. I said I never complained about snipers, just AWPs and the place he was hiding. He reckoned that I was being "unfair". I told him the scout was much fairer than an unseeable AWP, and he left. What a dork.

Edit: I think it was flapjackboy who made a good point the other day:-Sure, an AWP is a useful asset to an organized game, but in a pub it's pretty lame, since you're running around with a gun designed to penetrate tank armour ffs.

[Cynic]

I don't snipe, but its a ligitimate strategy thats has both stregths and weaknesses

On CS source beatng Snipers is easy if you know how

[da-geezer]

Lewiji touched upon my point two posts up...

I've absolutley no beef with camping at all. I used to be fairly well known for it on the old Quake 3 Wireplay servers back in the day. It's a bit of fun, it's handy to see how other players do their thing, and you can reach some really creative places if you try. If people complain about campers, they're just as bad as the 12yr old kiddie getting annoyed about enemies sticking to one gun. If you're a half decent player, you'll be working out how to deal with the camper. Campers very rareley re-camp the same spot.

If however there's a "no slow play" or "camperz will be kick-o-rised" server rule, then yes I won't camp. At the end of the day, by connecting to the server you're accountable for playing by the admin's rulebook.

And just as an afterthought, Heavy Weapon Guys in TFC are classic. Nothing quite like holding yer finger on the mousebutton and not even stopping. Even if you do get pwned fairly quickly.

[Lewiji]

I'm still not sure how people can find camping fun.

Nothing beats the adrenaline, the racing heartbeat of rushing into the enemy armed with a deagle, 1 clip, knowing that if you die the whole team lose.

Camping...It's just not the same. You sit and wait for someone to come into your crosshairs. Personally, I get no enjoyment out of it...It gets you a score, but I'd prefer to have 0-10 at the end of a game and enjoy it, than have 20-0 at the end from sitting somewhere in a tent.

[Twatybollocks]

Camping has its time and place. True if you just sit there every round waiting for the enemy to pop into your sights then you are spoiling the game for everyone.

At the same time just running straight at the enemy will usually mean you end up eating dirt while some guy is teabagging over your head saying, "You like the taste of my balls eh? You like the taste of my balls?"

I think if you try different things in different rounds it's more fun and you are less predictable.

For example, in CS:S on the Dust2 map the other night I had a really cool time doing a camping trick. After a few rounds I realised while our attention was drawn on one front, several of the enemy were out flanking us and coming around the other way so I went in, had a bit of a fight, then retreated to camp. I hid in a good spot and my cover was really helped because one of our team was just stood there in the open. You know the sort, they've joined the server then need to go the bog or something.

So one of the CT's came running down into camp, whacked the guy without really looking around and ran off. I jogged along behind him and had a pistol with a silencer I'd picked up. I soon noticed I was being joined on the left by the REST OF THE CT'S! I crapped myself and slowed down a bit but it soon became obvious they had heard me, but just thought I was one of them running along with them.

So I took careful aim and popped a cap in the heads of three of them before they realised what was going on. I got killed then but it really spooked them out!

Next round I didn't end up hiding in the camp, but a bit away with a perfect view of the area I hid in originally. A few of them cautiously headed towards this area and I picked them off from a distance. The next round I didn't bother at all, just went straight into the fight.

Camping and hiding can be cool if used sparingly.

[gxfu]

Well, it matters on the position;

In Halo, whenever we are in a big level, I like to hide in a tank. When an unsuspecting enemy pops on the radar, I carefully adjust and either 1) run over him or 2) blast him.

In other sniping levels, it's not wise to walk around with a gun; take a rocket launcher/ sniper rifle and blast away.

In closed rooms, an assault rifle or grenades are your best bet.

At least that's the way I think of it.l

[Lagmeister]

Camping used correctly i.e. Not being a fuckwit and just sitting in a corner for all time, is a great tatic when you are coordinated with the rest of the team. But that always gets you stick from the people you kill.
For example, I was playing office once, and I killed half of the ct's just because they were running about, I heard them comming and hid to jump out and annihalate them in a manner more fitting to a slaughterman, then someone shouting that I was a haxor and a n00b, joined T's so I joined CT to balance it out, the first thing I managed to do is knife him because he wasnt paying attention and I actually know how to be quiet when I manage to get in by myself. He then tried to get me banned from the server and ended up getting a ban himself, now thats justice.
This story brought to you courtesy of random story inc. a story for every occasion

[Seriphyn]

Camping should be called strategic placement. Yes. Anyway, sometimes you just hate campers. But then you try it for yourself, and then you love it coz you're raking up so much kills. I think there should be an option to kick players who are camping for more then one minute. Or turn them into a llama like in Jailbreak 2004

[Twatybollocks]

I was camping for about a minute at a bomb site the other day and the Admin starting taking health off me!

[Lewiji]

Yes, camping is fine if you see a load of enemies coming and wait for them so you can ambush.

It's the ones who camp in the same area every round that do my head in.

[JackS]

SOCOM II:

Campers = OK only if the map is a draw when time runs out (unlike some maps where terrorists win)

Snipers = Fucking cool. I myself am 2nd in the SOCOM II sniper league and there is nothing cowardly about it. If you miss and they find you, you're screwed really.

Heavy Weapons = Ok realy, the M60 has shit accuracy and the RMG (mounted guns) give your position away so meh

[Lewiji]

The only thing that bothers me about the "heavy" machine gun in CS is the sound :(

It sounds a bit like a large spring being shot into a block of dull wood repeatedly and it just goes on forever (the people who use the machine gun tend to use the "neverending spray" technique)

[da-geezer]

(the people who use the machine gun tend to use the "neverending spray" technique)

Oh yes. And get killed without even killing an enemy.

That's bang for your buck.

[Lagmeister]

I dont know why people buy that gun, its only ever real use is to spam a room full of individuals at close range, and its more than likely you will be dead by the time you get there.

[Twatybollocks]

It can be quite handy in Office but you can get the same effect with the auto shotgun, or as I like to call it, "The N00b Cannon."

[Timmeh]

I've got no real problem with awping or camping, campers heads don't move around (:D) and awpers can usually be snuck around and shot/knifed in the back.

The only thing that annoys me is when an entire team camps from the start with no intention of completing the objective of the map, like all the T's camping inside the double doors and watching the bridge room on de_aztec (anyone for 'nades :)). I have no problem, though, with the CTs camping, or a few people staying behind... or the T's sitting around the bomb.

AWPs: They're part of the game. Yeah, they're big and hurty, but they cost a load, and if someone gets behind you, you're buggered. I'll admit, I'm a pretty big awp whore (as lewiji's found out a few times *cough*), in clan matches, I'm normally the one who other people'll buy an awp for, but I don't care if I get awped... hell, it's a part of the game. If anything, the one thing that pisses me off about CS are the whingers

"omfg camp0r!!!1!11twelvety!!"

"omg fx0ring n00b cannon!!"

if anything, autosnipers are worse than awps...

[Lewiji]

Yeah, AWP's aren't too much of a problem if people realise that if you get hit by one while you're moving it's not a one hit kill. An AWPer has to stay stationary at some point, so as long as you know where they are, they're pretty easy to take out.

Campers are OK if you know where the camping spots are in the maps and look round each corner.

It can get annoying, but you're right, it's a part of the game you have to deal with and you shouldn't whine about it.

[Fozma]

What fucks me off in CS is when, e.g your playing 8vs8 on siege or whatever and your on the CT team and losing by a narrow margin and a pair of players will decide they don't like not getting kills and sit at the CT spawn point, waiting for the T's. This means that when the main group attacks the base, they are 2 men down and subsequently get slaughtered. Once that is done, the T's come out to search for the survivors, the 2 campers manage to take a few of them down before dying themselves. Idiotic.
Camping on Halo 2 doesnt annoy me as much because, 1 its much harder to camp as all weapons have tracers and also the action is much more directed which makes it less of an issue. What i mean by this is that say your playing Team Slayer on Ascension, it's vital that you hold at least one of the sniping spots (the tower or the ramp type place) this isn't as much camping as holding an area that is strategerically preferable for your team.

[noouch]

There is a huge difference between camping and strategical placement. Camping is what it is: camping. Sitting in one place the whole round waiting for some idiot to come by and shoot him. Strategical placement is when you stay put for a tactical reason other than simply increasing your score.
Sniping also has its place if a map has enough possibilities to avoid the sniper.

[Rush]

Camping/campers on Halo 2 pisses me off greatly. Now I'm not talking about people that snipe or even people that camp certain positions. I'm talking about people who grab a sniper, run off to some remote spot and not move for the rest of the game. Or if you play a game with rounds, the first thing they do is grab their sniper and set up camp. Absolutely annoying. Instead of giving the sniper to someone else so they can move around and generally be more useful, they grab it first thing, and bitch incessantly if they don't get it. You know who I'm talking about. The guy in the postgame lobby that is bragging about his 27 kills when you really never saw him once all game and didn't move at all after finding his spot.

[Twatybollocks]

Sorry to bump and old thread but I thought it better than starting another.

Where do you stand with decoys? There's an increasing trend to use spray tags in CS:S of T's or CT's against a wall and then hide a few feet away and wait for the enemy to 'rush' the decoy. Allowed or naughty?

Also, can someone advise me about a couple of hacks I saw last night in CS;S? First of all some guy was wall hacking and as soon as we accused him of it he changed his name to nothing. Not 'Nothing' but there was no name there. He wasn't kicked and he kept on changing sides every couple of rounds but I think it's because he did the name change trick, anyone know how the hell he did this and what (if anything) you can do to report it?

Second, there was a guy on using a weird auto snipe hack. He was zooming around the map head-shooting everyone in site but above his head where these huge purple flashing blocks and around him the ground was shaking and bits of rubble where flying everywhere. It was like a 'god mode' hack. As soon as one of us managed to kill him he said, "Show's over folks' and left.

Again, anyone come across this and is there anything you can do about it if you are not an admin and there doesn't seem to be one around?

[Timmeh]

CS:S VAC and VAC2 will be out soon... that'll catch loads of cheaters. Hopefully, then, most of these hackers'll either get the message and learn to shoot or get VAC banned.

[Twatybollocks]

Any ETA when these will be out?

[Lewiji]

Valve say: soon ;)

The nothing name is probably a non-breaking zero width space. (They're used in non-cyrillic alphabets)
---
�
---
You probably cant see anything there unless you are using a font without ZW spaces, but I typed it using Alt+0157. You can use it to get around the character limit :p

Oh, and there was an exploit where if you turned sv_cheats to 1 outside of a game then connected, you could do some client side commands and spawn a few items on the server (eg impulse 102 which spawns skulls)