Ok . So last night I had an all night sesh on a number of games ... Animal crossing , resident evil and left 4 dead... in that order. And one thing that has been bugging me for a while on one level or another really came to a head last night. Now I love left 4 dead. Quite a lot. Many a night its ruined my love life. I also really like to play it online. it (next to burnout paradise) really is a near perfect online experience. Both in the co-op and competitive ways. But thats the key to l4d , its about co-op. But other people dont seem to grasp that. In my time playing l4d ive been shot for fun, by people on my friends list ironically, Kicked for no reason (i understand why people have the option to kick players, but its open to abuse as a system. A group of friends can come into a game set up by a player, say on expert and vote to change the difficulty and then even kick the player who set up the game. Not good when your after the last few achievements.) and left pinned by special infected in situations where all other players were free to help. Now im not saying that the people who play l4d are all like this. Most are not. But a larger number are like that then are in most other games ive played. Why i couldnt tell you, but heres a few rules i came up with i trhink might be a good set to play by. 1. Dont kick someone just because they shot you once. by mistake. especially when 1. you ran in front of them as they were shooting. 2. you shot them 10 or 20 times yourself already 3. if they used the last health pack to heal your sorry ass when they needed to heal too . Its just nasty. 2. dont shoot a player for entering your game. Over and over. killing them. with no reason. If you dont want someone in your game , MAKE A BLOODY FRIENDS ONLY ONE! attacking people who enter a game via quick match makes you a total.... (word deleted) They dont always get to choose what game they end up in.... or EVER . so dont act like they just plopped in your breakfast. 3. Dont attack someone for not following your grand plan. If they dont have a headset or have a plan thats slightly different from yours , it doesnt mean they are going to somehow ruin the game for you. Teams are ment not be that , a team. And not a dictatorship. which brings me to... 4. Dont follow everyone elce and just kick someone just because the others voted to do so. You are allowed to have a mind of your own. Kicking people blindly is just a type of bullying and just shows your weak willed. 5. dont run off leaving one player behind, especially without warning. Its how teams get owned (no i ment to spell that correctly). At least try stick at best in groups of two. That way theres always someone covering you. 6. dont shoot someone for picking up a the last health pack . I best explain. in one game, even though i had healed this player twice before, once we got to the safe room. i picked up a health pack, healed myself, picked up the next and last pack, spun round , only to be met with the very player i had helped shooing me in the leg. At the same time as i selected the health pack to use on them. I subsequently changed back to my shotgun, smacked them in the head with it , and then healed them , while calling them a moron. They lesson to take away is. Dont just guess at a player. What they do might actually be for your interests. 7. If a player is manically flashing a torch at you , then flashing at something or some place. Maybe they are trying to tell or show you something. Last game i played I was on a team that just.. kept.. dieing .. over .. and over.. I always seemed to be the last to die. normally a smoker involved (much hate). So i attempted to get the players that were calling for help during the final even to go upstairs so that i could time the calling for help just right. But no matter how much i attempted to get the other player to go upstairs they just stood looking blank and pressed the call button anyway. The same mistakes happened again and again.... which brings me to point ... 8. DONT USE ALL THE GRENADES RIGHT AWAY. Too many a team have i been on when every grenade has been tossed before the first tanks even arrived. You would think that people would realise that the later into your final event you get the bigger the numbers of infected that show up. Dont use your molotov all on the first batch.. use just 1 or 2 and then use the rest for after the 1st and 2nd tank attack. And save the pipe bomb till last. for the run to the boat , and when your whole team is messed up beyond repare. That way you might actually get away and not get rushed by 200 infected for the 3rd time. 9. Dont think your way is the only way. especially as its not worked the last 2 times. If someone elce seems to be doing something different, try going along with them , you never know they might have a good idea. And if it doesnt work out at least you've both learned something and given the other player the time of day. When you do that they tend to remember and thank you. Then they are more likely to both heal your sorry ass when your down or pinned and go along with you and your ideas more willingly. Lastly. 10. if you see someone putting down lots of cans and tanks during the stages before the game starts on survival. dont got round moving them somewhere elce. especially if the somewhere elce is all togeather in the same place, using all the items in one go and making them useless in the long run. Maybe they are setting a few traps around the area. Me , i like to stagger the placement of my tanks and cans. Especially on the lighthouse. so that i can fall back one level of the lighthouse at a time and so that when a tank comes i have a few place where i can hit him with a big explosive charge and still have some left for other attacks / tanks. this really just ties into 9. but still. Most of all , dont be a **** . play togeather and have fun, and remember its about being a team. oh lastly . dont fear the witch. if someone shoots her. dont panic or hit them. she only goes after those who bother her and if thats not you , why do you have a reason to complain, heck maybe they even chose to bother her themselves so that she wouldnt attack you. you never. know.