Now I write knowing that this may incite a flame war on my page, but I think its time to address the actual issues with one of the most popular online games of today. Just to make it clear, I'm only covering the COMPETITIVE ONLINE aspect of this game, not the campaign or spec ops. It seems to me that Infinity Ward made this game to cater to gamers that were sick of campers. Campers, for the uninitiated, are players that wait in a single spot for enemies to walk by before attacking; rather than seeking their enemies actively like most people do. I assert that in doing so, they made the game's multiplayer almost hostile to the cautious individual.

NOTE: For the record, I am not ranting from the position of someone unhappy with the game because of bad individual performance. My kill death ratio is reasonable (1.72), and I am normally within the top four position of any game. I state this not to brag, but to dispel the idea that this comes from a player that dislikes the game because he is not good at it.

The Desire to Win

The goal of any player in a competition is to win. Winning of course releases chemicals in the brain that equate to pleasure and a boost of self esteem.

In any given online match of Modern Warfare and other similar first person shooter experiences, it's much easier to achieve a higher score when everyone is out in the open. Because he/she can spot enemies easier, the individual's chances are higher than they would be if everyone was hidden.

Going against this grain labels any given player a camper, and he or she becomes the target of either hostile words, or in-game aggression from other players.

The Position of Most Players

Argument 1: Those that do not abide by this unspoken rule have no "skill" and should not be playing the game. They camp because they cannot kill someone in an open confrontation.

The following argument is one that I have heard online from players who despise campers. Take it in the context of an argument against my defense of camping in the conversation. I normally get it when I say "Commanding officers do not call each other from across the battlefield and whine "No fair, your guys are camping"". Seriously… what smart soldier would willingly run and expose himself/herself to oncoming gunfire if it did not, in some way, help his allies. There are sandbags for a reason.

Argument 2: This is not the military, it is a game, and being a form of entertainment, no one should be camping because it takes the fun out of the game and does not require any skill. When I bought this game, I was not joining the military, but purchasing entertainment. I do not need to play by rules that one in the military might follow. There is respawn here for a reason.

The Position of a Camper

Against Argument 1: Skill is never well defined in these online arguments. Players will invoke the word but when asked what it means they never give a reasonable answer. Instead, the answer always corresponds to how skill would be defined if the definition itself was innately charged to fit their viewpoint. For example "skill is being able to kill another player in head to head combat with nothing but your shoestring". The end of that statement should be disregarded as an indulgence for my sense of humor, but all jokes aside, this answer necessitates that the definition of skill take the exact form of their own argument. I was not aware that definitions needed to be so heavily polarized.

According to Dictionary.com skill is, in actuality:

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/skill)

1. The ability, coming from ones knowledge, practice, aptitude, etc., to do something well: Carpentry was one of his many skills.
2. Competent Excellence in performance; expertness; dexterity: the dancers performed with skill.

The neutral definition of which, in the context of online gaming, would be: The ability to perform well in relation to others players: He was skilled, and always had higher scores than his competitors.

The skill of a player then is his ability to get high scores consistently; not necessarily while running around. Whether the player does so using "noob tubes" or any other "cheap" method is irrelevant; because the skilled player should be able to adapt to maintain consistency. (For the record, I myself am not a fan of noob tubes, but its not my place to tell other players to stop using it. Just adapt, blast shields work wonders)

Response to Argument 2: The position that its just a game hurts itself more than it attacks camping. Since its just a game, another player should not be so concerned about my methods of play. If "its just a game" then it should not be taken seriously,and all of the yelling that I hear online over any number of issues, lag, camping, etc., should not occur at all.

So lets be honest. Some of us (me included) have a habit of taking games like this more seriously than they should be taken. Arguing that "its just a game" implies that you are outside the group of those that care, and so you should not be concerned with how I am playing in the first place.

On it not being the military, I agree that its not. If I had the guts to join the military I would do so, and would not be making this argument, but somewhere doing actual work like the men and women that actually make a difference in armed services around the world. It is a game, and as such the above argument applies.

My skill is still not determined by how I play the game, but instead the score that I get in relation to other competitors. Most people just want campers to run around because its easier to kill an exposed player. For those of us that prefer strategy in order to positively augment our performance; running around does not always seem like the best option. If I know I can get more kills, and increase my score by waiting for others to pass, I will do so. They should have checked the corner. Regardless of what they say my skill is reflected by my numerical score, and no amount of their whining can change the number. If I run out, die, and respawn in an unfamiliar position, I only hurt myself. The intelligent choice is obvious.

MW campaign against Campers

Now even though armed forces may indeed use the detection devices found in the game, one borders on ridiculous. I can accept most of them just fine: UAV, Thermal scope, Heartbeat sensor etc. All of these can be circumvented using perks. The kill cam however just screams ridiculous. Why should a sniper take the time hiding at a great vantage point, when the moment he makes his first kill he has to move for fear of vindictive enemies? Any player knows that watching the kill cam can be infuriating, and human nature almost demands blood for blood. To top that off, it's perfectly possible in MW2 to spawn five feet away from the position of your killer, making it all the easier to act on the desire for revenge. Not only did Infinity Ward make it so that no where is safe for a cautious player, they also support vindictive behavior with a 50 point payback bonus.

I could have seen the kill cam as a death streak, but after every kill a player is almost required to move if he/she wants to keep the deaths to a minimum. The moving of course only makes it easier for other players to spot and kill them. While vindictive behavior cannot be avoided in such competitive play, spoon feeding positions of other players doesn't have to help. Franchises like SOCOM (I have not played the most recent one) helped in a much more reasonable fashion. If you are sniped, the camera simply turns in the direction of your killer from the position of your body. You might not be able to see the sniper, but at least you have some idea of where to look.

I hope that I have proven two things. (1) That skill does not directly correlate to the way a player chooses to play. Runners and campers are not innately skilled simply because of being a runner or a camper. (2) That the recent trend by Infinity Ward to end this type of cautious play is ridiculous when considering the faulty arguments supporting the anti-camping position, and if anything, hampers the overall online potential of the game overall: by making it almost impossible to be anything but a runner.

That's the bulk of my problem with MW2, and players who have issues with campers on any game. Campers keep doing what you do. Of course, in a game like MW2 where your every move is relayed to your enemies, adapt and give them hell.

NOTE: I am in no way assuming that my position is unassailable. I only write this because the hatred of campers makes no logical sense, and pointing this out online only elicits inane yelling that does not help to prove any point. "NO SKILL" is one such common chant.

"If you want to argue about it, my GT address is BigDaddyVoid. Do not contact me with stupid arguments like the ones refuted above unless you have made them stronger.