The Armchair General: Noobs, Tactics & Etiquette in a FPS World
By Gunner (15 February 2004)
With the paucity of new games to review (always the same after the madness of Christmas), I’ve had a chance to get down to some serious FPS fun and thrash my shiny new DSL connection.
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IN PARTICULAR I WAS keen to see how real world tactics would translate into a FPS world. The game of choice was the excellent Call of Duty (however I did dabble in Unreal and a few others), a game that I was particularly keen on given its WWII theme. After playing a while there was a couple of things that became immediately evident. One was that players who fought as a team tended to win, real world tactics could be applied, and players will always take advantage of the quirks of a game engine.
To get rid of the quirk first, there is the technique of the "Leaping Morris Dancers". Most FPS engines allow you to jump, however some players use this control option to leap about in an attempt to make a more difficult target. This has largely been fixed in a recent patch to the Call of Duty game none the less it does goes to show the difficulty of achieving a degree of realism in a game.
Most multi-player games nowadays also come with an in game chat, which is particularly useful for the casualties to converse while the battle continues around their still warm bodies (in COD the most popular Search and Destroy game has games 3 minutes long where once killed you are out for the duration of that game). Fine idea in itself; however I wonder how many online clans have considered using this feature to pass on information to the still living team members? Maybe not blatant messages, but how hard would it be to have a coded message advising the quadrant you were killed in and the amount of enemies in this area?
Some tactics work very well in the context of the game environment and here is just a few I have observed in my recon into the FPS world: -
Shoot and Scoot - Teams move from cover to cover, with one moving while another covers the movement. Individuals die quickly on a battlefield.
Suppressing fire - Some teams lay down fire on known hide outs and ambush points in an endeavor to either flush them out or to hold and pin them down while other team members move to a position to take them out.
Supporting Arms - With a couple of snipers placed well back but in a position to cover the battle area, teams can advance knowing someone with a wider view is covering the front.
Camouflage - Just like in the real world, this can come in the form of hiding in brush and foliage in the prone position in the hopes of going unnoticed or there is the more cunning method of lying amongst the fallen so the casual glance assumes you are no threat.
Taking the high ground - Whether it's a tree, a water tower or a buildings roof height means you have a wider view and the opportunity to take out the opposition unseen (of course once you are spotted the tree and water tower option give sod-all places to run to).
Habits make you die hard - Just because one attack route and assault method worked once, does not mean it will work twice in a row. If you are predictable you give the opposition an opportunity to learn and to overcome. Equally, your favorite hiding place soon becomes a death trap if you over-use it.
Psychology wins battles - Hammer the opposition hard enough and often enough their collective mentality becomes defensive and self preservation kicks in.
Know your terrain - Good teams understand every map and have different methods of attack for each.
Information wins battles - The more your team is informed and aware of the bigger picture, the better it can make decisions in support of the wider battle.
Because multi-player games are now spawning clans and teams, it's worth considering if some thought should be given to the rules of the game. I don't mean the game itself but how the team conducts itself when it plays. It was interesting to note for me how well some clans worked not just as a team but also with a degree of honour. This is displayed by how willing they were to even up the sides if the skilled players were obviously making the game a cake walk for one side and also in the way they conducted themselves in the chat areas. Others were not so good. I wonder how many clans operate a code of conduct? For those who don't, here are some ideas to consider: -
Noobs and noobies are all possible team members. We were all new to the game once and by encouraging and helping new players we cement our own reputation and enrich and grow the online players.
We will endeavour to identify new players and encourage them to pair with experienced team members ("noobies follow the leaping fool he will show you the way!").
We will not stand over the bodies of fallen players and riddle their bodies (sure a couple of shots to make sure they are not possum is cool, however for some players death is a relatively new experience so don't make it worse for them).
Compliment good shots or acts of bravery and acknowledge those who compliment you.
Insults, swearing etc. demean the team as a whole.
Our team members' online names will not be designed to offend (is it me or are server administrators a rare species - come on fellas, racist and smutty names and chat messages should be dealt with harshly).
Above all, the multi-player experience should be fun for all.
That's it for me this time around and if you happen to come across a player online called Gunner (GP), make it a quick kill!
