Those Damn Campers

Any fan of 1st person shooters are well aware of a certain type of player.  A player that can ruin a good killstreak, a kill to death ratio, or the overall mood of the game.  I'm am talking about "Those Damn Campers".

Camper: Noun: A person who hides in a 1st person shooter and waits for someone to walk by so they can kill them.

I cannot tell you how many online matches I have been in where people complain about people camping when the match is over.  Some would argue that (like the picture above) it is a legitimate strategy.

In a real war camping would be essential since in real life you get no respawn.  In real life all you get is one life.  However in an online match where you get an unlimited amount of lives the more experienced players who run and gun tend to see this tactic as beneath them.  I too have had my frustration with people who do this.

One thing I have learned over the years there will always be those players who feel the need to hide instead of run and gun for numerous reasons.  It could be that they want a good kill to death ratio, or maybe they are not a good enough player to run and gun with the more experienced shooters, or feel like it's a strategy that will get them kills regardless how those kills were attained.

I have learned that as 1st person shooters become more and more popular, that "camping" is here to stay and is a tactic that will always be around.  It has indirectly become apart of the game weather you like it or not.

Having said all that it brings up the issue of why people still take the time to get upset over people who play like this.

People are not going to stop doing this so the only thing complaining about it does is annoy the other players who have to hear people ranting about it.  My advice would be is if you get killed by a camper just let it go.  If you feel the need to have to kill that player, flank them or react in a way where you can get your revenge.  Complaining about it gets old.

There is one type of camper that breaks a golden rule of online gaming etiquette.  That would be what gamers call the "Spawn Camper".

Spawn Camper: Noun: A person who hides in the enemy respawn area to get quick easy kills.

Almost nothing is as frustrating as getting killed in an online match, respawning, and getting immediately killed again by a spawn camper.  To me, that is a cheap way to play.  Not giving the other player a chance to respond or even know that the enemy is there is not a fair way to play.

There is just something about not giving another player any sort of chance to react is just wrong.  But just like regular camping is has become apart of the game and is not going to go away.  In fact, it proves a difficult issue to resolve to game developers.  There is literally no way to combat it in the eyes of the developers.  Just know that spawn camping isn't good gaming etiquette.

No matter how much you play you are almost for sure to come across people who play this way.  No matter how much you cry about how much they killed you it is irrelevant.  Sorry, but to be blunt the best and only thing I can tell the complainers is to get over it.