Review [Issue 63] Tent Things Regarding Camping

[St.Guardian 514]

 

Indeed, loyal readers or those who are just bored I did make that pun in the title, it wasn't a typing error. Yeah yeah, attack me all you want, I'll simply deal out s'more camping puns. Anyways, in this article, I will be discussing my opinion on the infamous art of Tanki camping. I am in no way condoning or condemning the actions of campers nor am I one. Let's fire off!

 

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1. Campers Are Not 'Kid Noob Hy6s'

 

All right, first point. Campers are not, as many tankers establish, 'Kid Noob Hy6s'. Not only is this tautology (noob and

Hy6 basically mean the same thing) but it is probably the most far fetched, over exaggerated opinion ever spreading in Tanki. Definitively, campers are probably just as experienced in the game as other tankers are. It could be that they specialise and are ineffectual in certain aspects of gameplay.

 

For example, they are probably better in waiting for opportunity rather than rashly seeking a flag capture, but they may also be relentless towards opponents and oblivious to whether a team mate needs assistance. In DMs however, campers are strongest and really flaunt their self-sustaining nature, and this is the absolute proof that campers have skill as they usually wind up near the top of the tab button.

 

Those guys in StarSeries sure did know how to make camping look good and easy.

 

 

2. Nonetheless, They Are Annoying

 

However, I'll give you all this: campers do get on our nerves and they certainly know they do. I mean really, there is no

day in Tanki that a tanker doesn't get upset over a loss against a camping XP in Parma or a team that won't leave the

protection of their base in a Barda XP/BP. There is just something so painful about getting helplessly pierced by the

enemy while you can't see them or counter fire. Trust me, the worst part occurs when you have a chance to put and end to their camping spree - but you can't do it in time or your team is too segmented to help. In fact, it is probably this psychological warfare from oppression, to anger, to confusion that all of campers' victims seem to suffer from.

 

I again empathise though as all of us have been on the receiving end of a camper's sneaky projectile. Reminiscing, I recall a Sandbox CTF from around halfway back in my 'Tanki Career' (about 16 months ago). As usual, it was a matter of pure camping versus all out attacks from my desperate team. To make it worse, the enemies were behind the house in our base most of the time. Eventually, I got so enraged by their seemingly cheap strategies that I almost broke my keys when I typed into the chat, "NOOB CAMPERS GO ONTO EBAY TO BUY SOME REAL SKILLS". You know what the enemies did? They just camped even more as they now had a passion to beat my team and my situation was worsened. Inevitably, they won by a massive margin.

 

What a low (or should I say high) blow. Their base is overrun and you keep bashing them? Give 'em a break, man.

 

 

3. Camping Requires Skill Despite It Being Distasteful

 

Yes we all probably think that such an activity is 'cheap', but it is a lot harder than most persons think. In actuality,

finding the best spot to camp (such as an inconspicuous gap between buildings or a deep, green area of the bush) is tedious. Just finding the perfect position is hard enough, and what's even harder is maintaining that spot and effectively killing enemies without making lifelong enemies. Campers actually do get into feuds with other campers, believe me. Moreover, said feuds don't end in "oh let's be the best of friends". They can escalate to a point in which each camper focuses whole-heartedly on the demise of the other, going so far as to place mines around every known route and the entire battle is put into an imbalance of flux. 

 

 

4. There Are Skill-Proving Ways To Beat A Camper

 

Shocker! There are ways to pulverize them! Too many tankers just can't think straight enough in the heat of a

battle or a base takeover to decipher how to accomplish this. Firstly, if you wish to beat a camper you have to have to 

think like one. Approach the camper in a sneaky way and rarely leave cover. It helps to be able to visualize 'geometrical lines' on the battlefield which represent the enemy's boundaries of fire from their safe zone. You should stay outside of these boundaries and just when the camper leaves their own protective zone to attack you, catch them off guard.

 

I would say that it is pretty hard to break a camper's rhythm by brute force alone; one would need to employ the tactical aspect of battle such as drugging utilising smart cooldowns. For example, if you notice that a camper has a Double Power and/or a Double Armour equipped, do not rush to kill them before they do too much damage. Let them have their fun - they will regret it. Wait about 20 seconds and then attack the camper with your own drugs. As a colleague of mine said quite thoughtfully, "Use drugs with Hammer." High damage per second turrets work great for this as it really shocks and puts down the camper easily.

 

Using skill and the new ricochet effect to bring down another camper.

 

 

5. There Are Different Categories To Which Campers Belong

 

Not all campers think and play in the same way after all. There are defensive, offensive, recon, and diverting camping

styles and there are probably even more diverse classes to which tankers fall into. I'll explain the four core types briefly:

 

1) Defensive: These campers particularly enjoy staying in the vicinity of their base and they are typically stationed near surrounding props. Their sole purpose is to damage enemies before they enter the base.

2) Offensive: Offensive type campers' only goal is to wreak havoc from a position within the enemy base. They do this by destroying opponents who are defending, camping or re-spawning.

3) Reconnaissance: Campers like these shoot enemies and move away quickly while relaying information on enemy locations. They move inconspicuously, staying behind one prop no longer than 30 seconds lest they attract attention.

4) Diversion: Campers in this class have one job: distract and frustrate the enemy. Typically, this is done by staying within the enemy base and luring enemy players away from their respective roles.

 

These branch off into a few specialty styles such as Drop Control Camping (to maintain a particular drop zone) or Location/Route Camping (securing an area in a map for attacking teammates to use). So next time you see a camper, don't just assume that they are blindly killing as many persons as possible: they are provoking you with a purpose. Again I can empathize with getting aggravated at them, because if they're leading 14-2 in flags, why would they want to continue spawn killing the my team? They should give us a chance to recover and give themselves a challenge at least.

 

Defensive campers rock! As long as the enemies don't surprise attack me from behind.

 

 

6. Campers Are Not Cowards

 

Currently, here is a very blurred line from tactical awareness in shielding yourself and being too timid to stay out of cover. Though it may be true that some care too much about their D/Ls and thus can be detrimental to their team, it should not be stipulated that campers fearfully look for the easiest way not to get destroyed. After all, fear keeps humans alive, but it also deters a persons' sense of reality, no? I think the idea of campers being cowards stemmed from players who were simply aggravated my campers and wanted to think of a reason to bash them and make themselves seem higher than the camper.

 

Players make excuses like these all too often nowadays, or even go so far as to claim that the enemies are 'hacking'. I don't know about you, but I think that this is destroying the links between the community by making players unnecessarily blame each other, even though it can very well be true sometimes. Remember, you are playing the game, there are not others playing for you.

 

 

7. They Are Not Selfish

 

This is very much related to the aforementioned point: you can't just see a few boulders fall on a small amount of

animals and pronounce the entire mountain a bad place! The concept that campers are all self-obsessed is complete fallacy. They just prefer to work solo and rely on their own experience in the game. What about duelers who literally live to play the game by themselves in a heated 1v1? There is nothing wrong with that.

 

However, it could be said that some campers ruin the context of the art of camping by focusing on purely killing the enemies and not directly helping teammates which, in fact, could be more pivotal in turning the battle to your team's favour. This problem is more located on the entire battle players spectrum as almost all tankers love to kill an opponent cyclically even though it may achieve very little.

 

 

8. They Are Exceedingly Helpful To A Team

 

This is probably a more obvious point, but despite campers being a nuisance to their enemies, they are effective in the

purpose of any battle. It is just a different cause to achieve the same effect that many tankers strive to achieve, like instead of exposing oneself to the enemy and moving to avoid fired shells; they hide themselves and rely on the map structure. Specifically for battle practicality, it should be based on purpose and not mindset: what tankers strive to do rather than how they do it.

 

In case some of you have not noticed, but all of the top teams in Tanki Online rely on it and it is a major form of battle play; especially during major times of stress where one wishes to destabilise the enemy and tip the battle in their favour. In effect, campers cause the capturing of many flags by occupying many of the enemy players' time. They also allow for the best offensive drop control in the Tankiverse, because by maintaining control of an area with a Double Power and Speed Boost, you slow opponents' movements and lessen their damage output.

 

What greater way to assist your team than function long range and closely protect your base...with the perfect camouflage? 

 

 

9. Campers Do Not Always Have The Highest D/Ls

 

Indeed, I just stated that. A D/L all depends on the effectiveness of a tanker in making the most of his time alive.

Some campers whose purpose is to distract by chaos (or those who just aren't doing it properly) may actually have completely degraded, lower-than-Fen's-height D/Ls. Not this alone, but also campers who wish to divert the enemy's attention to themselves often have pretty average D/Ls.

 

One can not assume that all campers have high D/Ls, nor should one assume that they are for pomposity. Druggers have high D/Ls, but not because they stay in cover. In fact, it is the exact opposite that allows most of them to maintain a high amount of kills for every life they have. They use Double Armours, Health Kits and Double Powers to maximise their time alive essentially by increasing their health pool while staying out in the open to attract enemies - and more enemies means more kills.

 

 

10. Camping Is Not Unfair

 

Now we arrive at the last point. Universally, everyone has the ability to camp, and it is just a type of strategy employed

by probably one in every five tankers. It is simply that some players decide to minimise their exposure to the opponents without getting their hulls weighed by a flag, and you shouldn't condescend at the activity. It's like a different way to play a sport, such as the good old Fosbury Flop which was different but revolutionary.

 

Of course you could get frustrated because everyone will feel anger at a situation which is oppressive and out of their control, just remember that you shouldn't channel this anger into hatred towards the person. The anger could also cloud your judgement in battle, so by controlling it or merely channeling it into a passion to win, you fabricate a partially 'happy' solution in which both players have the strong will to defeat each other, but not despise each other.

 

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You might ask how I know so much about campers. Let's just say I... know a few :P. Anyway, thank you for taking a segment of your time to read my opinions on such a controversial topic. Are you a camper? Do You Agree? Please post any feedback below!

 

Edited June 20, 2017 by Hexed

[Hex 11,520]

Edited April 4, 2017 by St.Guardian

[xyz2001xyz 0]

U missed one thing......

 

 

The campers that stay at the front, and do not move when u have the flag  :mellow: .

I have been in many a situation where a drugging vulcan+titan has prevented me (deliberately) from capturing the flag, most in one map, highland.... -_-

[Sword-of-Damocles 83]

I want solutions about  how to rekt campers not your explanations damn it

[Viking4s 10,791]

I want solutions about  how to rekt campers not your explanations damn it

lol - good point though

[Shaftermath 185]

Thank you for writing this article about the one true art form ;-)

 

I don't recognise myself particularly in your four categories (Defensive / Offensive / Reconnaisance / Diversion), but you've made me think about what my strategy actually is.  First and foremost, it's to win the game for my team (I rarely go Deathmatch, and probably won't until they reinstate the proper Madness map). I camp to either shoot flag-carriers in CTF, to secure areas around a control point in CP, or to blast as many bad guys as possible in TDM.  I like an area where I can cover routes used by the enemy, especially those which approach my position.

 

I shouldn't say this, but the tanks I fear most are Magnum (in expert hands) and Ricochet (as it's too disruptive to a shaft).  Oh, and anything up close and personal, in which case I've had it. Viking hulls have the armour to survive one shot, but the speed to get close, so they're the ones I try to pick off first.

[eSport 486]

Great, finally I know I am a skilled camper xD.

Had so much time of people calling me "noob camper, mult" etc

Thanks man for best article

[NewbieCake 3,067]

I can camp, but honestly it's so boring. I'm more of a mid-field player who can somewhat play aggressive, provided my teammates can provide adequate fire for me.

[TTK_229 1,080]

My favorite styles of camping/using shaft are countersniping, where I find and eliminate enemy snipers (Important while playing with noobs, especially on lower accounts) and offensive camping, where I tend to move to a decent spot, fire off three quick kills, and move around. This works because countersnipers will have a harder time finding and killing me.

[troc_roc 0]

IMO, campers are necessary, especially in CTF. My style is usually attacking. When I'm running with a flag, friendly campers snipe the ones chasing me. Without campers protecting the flag how can your team cap. When I am able, I thank a base camper by dropping a flag so he can cap, or for an Isida who helped me get back to base.

 

And if I spot an enemy camper doing a lot of damage, I make it my business to get rid of him.

 

As for campers in other battle forms.... All's fair in battle. lol

[boeingmaster 0]

I am a camper that gets called ****** and ***** and ***** all the time. In a battle in Monte Carlo, I killed 93 tanks while only losing 12 in less than 30 minutes.

[Merovingian 656]

I want solutions about  how to rekt campers not your explanations damn it

You have been heard!

See here : [Guide] How to Deal with Campers!

[ThirdOnion 4,898]

Several problems with this article:

 

1. Camping requires no skill.

2. Campers are selfish.

3. Campers are cowards.

4. Campers have the highest D/Ls.

5. The best way to bring down campers is not with skill. It is with Magnum. Of course then you are a camper yourself and cri everytime.

6. Campers are Hy6 kids.

7. omg pun in the title i hate puns pls b0ss why u gotta do dis to me man REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[Mjro7 2,837]

Nice Article I Like it )