Halo 3 - Bad Habits in Team Games

Adam Taylor — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:06:31 +0000

Halo 3 Bad Habits in Team Games

This article aims to improve your skill at Halo 3 by getting you to think about bad habits that you have developed and how to avoid the pitfalls that these habits cause. Some of the points I bring up may seem redundant or may seem like I'm saying the same thing I already said but there are subtle differences between each point on the list and maybe one point will make more sense to somebody than another so a little rehashing is probably good.

Bashing your team mate because his voice is a little on the high side

This really pisses me off. Don't yell at your team mates just because they're non-pubescent. Establishing a temporary friendship with your team mates will definitely give you a better advantage than if you go "YOU DON'T HAVE HAIRS ON YOUR PENISES".

Using grenades too close to team mates

It may be tempting to toss a grenade at a group of three opponents but keep an eye on your team mates. All too often a team mate will be closely engaging the enemies and you will drop his shield. This happens most commonly while throwing grenades at red dots on the radar that you cannot see. Instead wait until you are sure your team mate isn't rushing to the location because you may make him into an easy kill. If your team mate is too close you should save your grenade and engage with your weapon.

Side note by MordaciousBeast: Yell "Frag out" or something to let your teammates know you are throwing grenades (unless you're in a situation where no allies are nearby). This will (hopefully) cause them to back off, giving you more of an area into which you can safely cram the little "bundle of joy" you are about to throw. Of course, you still shouldn't throw them where they will harm an ally, no matter what the circumstance.

I think your actually pretty safe using plasmas around teamates. but never use frags or spikers around them unless your in wide open areas.

edit: If your team mate is good, and strafes a lot to avoid fire, throwing a plasma grenade at someone near them is a terrible idea. I accidentally stuck my friend twice in the same game making this mistake. (although we still won, it wasn't fun to know I had made such a mistake)

my technique, by placebo memory: if you want to throw grenades while your teammates are engaged a technique i find very useful is throwing the grenades behind the enemy. make sure you are accurate enough with your toss to try this so you dont accidentally drop one into a bunch of friendlies. the prime situation for this is when both teams are engaging each other in a hallway of some sort, such as the rocket tunnel on the pit or upstairs in construct. when you are with your team toss a few grenades (stickies are amazing for this) behind the enemy. you will get some very easy kills as people naturally start to retreat when their shield gets low and walk right into your overthrown grenade.

Mal-communication

Communication can single handedly be the most important part of a team based game. Be descriptive, but keep it short and clean. Know terms to use ahead of time, and try having a name for most of the places on a map, or else you will end up stuttering before you manage to tell your teammates the situation. Avoid saying "Guy by my X". Things you want to mention in your description are: Opponent's Health (Full Shields, One Shot), Opponent's main weapon (Sword, Rocket), Opponent Location (To nearest weapon spawn or "landmark") and other possible obstacles (Health Regen, Other nearby teammates, Waiting around a corner)

String all the details into one fluid sentence, and dont stop until you're done. Talk over someone else's chit-chat if its worth it. At the end of the day, you should sound something like this: "Sword, One Shot, by rocket spawn. Watch out for nearby teammates"

Your are the one who just went through the situation, so you know it better than your teammate. Don't hesitate to give "advice," as in recommending a grenade into a corner or watching for a close-range weapon.

* Following the stated rules will ensure the best possible outcome for your team. Trust me, the top players dont just stay quiet all game.

But with talking comes the responsibility of listening. Listen closely to teammates, and decide if it's worth the risk.

Overcome your fear of speaking, and "staying to yourself," because it doesnt help.

Written by: Maka91

ace: communication is key whether it is nonverbal or verbal. i am a sniper so i try to never loose sight of my teammate. i have been playing with my best friend for quite some time now and we have gotten to the point were we know what each other is going to do without talking. we also know watch each others weaknesses so we know exactly how each other died. yes we talk but i would say 70% of our communication is nonverbal.

Wandering off

In team based games, you must work as a team. Stay in close proximity to your team. One of the worst things has to be a teammate who refuses to stay with his team. He instead spends his time entering enemy bases, dying, and giving the information of their location to you. Which is useless most of the time. Curiosity killed the cat, and lost you $10 at a local tournament. Whatever is around the corner can wait.

Do not get caught in a situation by yourself, that's how you lose games!

Written By: Maka91

Working as team is helpful, but don't stand right next to each other. You're probably going to be caught in the splash of a rocket. Work together and spread out to assault a base or an enemy. - Headhunter

This might seem really unfair, but if your entire team sticks together, you can take out any lone wolves without losing anyone. Basically gang bash the lone wolves or the smaller teams. Headhunter

Ace: My friends were over and we were playing a two on two match. My partner (not my usual partner who is the bomb) was horrible and kept revealing his position by running out in the open with only an assault rifle in his hand. The only thing you can do is just stay in sight and shoot the person he is fighting with either a sniper or battle rifle. We won the battle only because I saved his butt multiple times. The main point of teams is to make sure that you are never out of sight of your teammates. If you are you can't pump in those valuable last second shots to kill your opposition. Even if your teammate dies you should still be able to kill his combatant (unless he is a complete nub and can't get them down past half).

TK: Sticking in close proximity is an excellent idea, but avoid the grenade splash. It's an easy double-kill for the opponent if you're always shoulder-to-shoulder with someone. The best strategy for my team is to always know where each other are and feed off of that information, but we at least stay within the radar. Your radar (on average) spans for 25ft. That's an easy run for any player to go help their ally, especially if there's a good vantage point. If there is no radar (i.e. MLG games) then always try to keep at least one ally in your conscious vision at all times. This means even if you don't see them immediately, you know they're within your area of assistance. And when all else fails, ask. If you're feeling alone or you want to know where your allies are, simply ask for a location.

Rushing the Red X

Although it might be tempting to try to pick up the scraps of one of your teammates for a free kill or two, rushing the red X is a bad strategy in team games for a couple of reasons:

* Unless you are very close to that spot, the enemies shields will be recharged by the time you get there. This isn't really a problem in free-for-all because you don't get the red x, so if you see somebody get killed, you are probably close enough to get that scrap kill.
* In a team game, any team worth its salt is going to be working in pairs and maybe more so your chances of getting even one kill before you get killed is slim.

Avoid doing this by simply not chasing the Red X. Keep playing your game and don't allow the lure of quick kills to blur your vision to the goal at hand - to win the game for your team. If you are within 1 second of their location, scrap it up, otherwise just continue on with what you were doing.

Ace: Yes, chasing is generally a bad idea but if you do it right (when you have all the right information, ie; not going in against a sword or rocket or shotty) you can own. As you are heading toward the red x chuck grenades if there are no more teammates in the vicinity. You can usually kill the opposition without even engaging them with your weapons. If your teammate died in the open and he says he got killed by a sniper don't go in the open. But if he died from a bruteshot and he did any amount of damage start a chuckin' some grenades, and then engage.

Feeding the Other Team

In my opinion, this is the single worst habit to have in a team game. It is also the most common bad habit that people you get randomly paired up with in team games will likely have. For those that don't know, "Feeding" refers to trying to break an enemy stronghold by yourself or when outnumbered and after failing, trying again and again. They[1] say that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing more than once and expecting different results. This could not be more true than in this situation. If you keep rushing into a heavily guarded area by yourself, you are going to die 99% of the time and most of the time, you will not even get one kill before you die. So here's what happens, you run into the area by yourself and to try to help you out, your team starts to follow you in. You arrive first and die, then one of your teammates arrives a second or two too late and dies as well, then a third teammate gets there a second too late again and he dies. By now you are respawning and you see that your teammates are in there so you rush again but they are dead by the time you get there and you get killed again. This continues until your team regains its composure and stops rushing in there but by then the other team has scored at least 3-5 kills or maybe more if you keep doing it (hence the name feeding because you are just feeding into their trap and feeding their score) and your team will be disorganized. I've seen more big swings in momentum in team slayer as a result of this than anything else and is a really easy way to blow a solid lead.

Avoid this by never going into an enemy stronghold without a strategy involving your entire team. In order to rout them from their stronghold, you will need to attack as a team and work as a team. This bad habit is (like I said above) a very quick way to lose control of a game and cause a rapid swing in the score.

*
o Example - One team match I played was Team Slayer on the Pit. Both teams went for the standard 'rocket rush', where players swarm the rocket alley. One of my teammates picked up the needler, whilst I detoured to pick up the sniper rifle. Our team also gained the rocket launcher quickly. Amazingly, the other team continued to rush into the rocket alley upon respawning, despite the fact that a needler, sniper rifle and rocket launcher (and later, a shotgun) were concentrated into that area. The score was 25-3 in our favour before they learned that they weren't going to get through... - WC Spook

Feeding, obviously, is suck enough as described above, but to make a bad situation worse, I've seen countless players take key weapons and equipment to the enemy base on a suicide mission. This throws the entire balance of the game, often so badly that odds of a win are laughable. The reasons for this general failure generally breaks down as such:

Misusing Weapons: While the Shotgun/Sniper combo truly is love, it is not the combination of choice to storm a base with. Especially if you've a great deal of ammunition to burn through. Not only is your team now deprived of a key weapon, but the enemy now has 2.

Weapon Hogs: The sort who will jack every power weapon they can get their hands on but don't use them to their potential. This could fit into the above category, but I believe it deserves its own notation. In fact, its a nasty habit in and of itself. (You can't use the Rockets and the Sword/Sniper/etc at the same time. Share and you can bring both powers to bear simultaneously.) This is the most unforgivable. Not only are they selfish in jacking all the fun toys, but they're not bright enough to make any advantage from them. And worse, give them to the enemy. (Often with ammo to spare)

Vehicle Sprint: Basically, you jack the nearest vehicle to rush to a key weapon or area and spend the vehicle to do so. I'm all game for trading a Warthog in an attempt to capture the flag, but when you abandon Banshee's near the enemy stronghold, you've just made an error. (This isn't to say its never worth it, but weigh it. If the gains don't equal the price paid, don't do it. Obvious, but always worth stating.)

Other: Noobism, momentary stupidity or simple mistake (Hey, they happen.). Learn from mistakes, both your own and others', pick up and hope the enemy hasn't learned a thing. Or simply overlook that second missile pod your teammate was so kind to deliver them.

Regardless of the reason, this is perhaps the nastiest of habits. In teams, real teams, this isn't nearly such a problem, but when teammates come random, they tend to bring this bad habit with them.

-HaloDraco

Not choosing your battles wisely

It is just plain foolish to engage 2 enemies by yourself unless you have some major advantage (like being able to assassinate one of them at the outset of the battle, or having a power weapon that gives you a big advantage). The article Thinking In Single Encounters by Refanius explains this very well. What I got from his article was that unless you really think that you can outright win an encounter (battle), that is kill any and all enemies and still survive, then you probably should avoid the battle or do something to give yourself an advantage. More specifically, fair fights should be avoided if possible and you should really only try to fight with those that are somehow disadvantaged compared to you. It sounds cheap because it probably is, but it is also a very effective way to keep yourself alive to fight another battle.

* edited by mohemian*

That is one of the worst things to do, but if you know what you are doing, how good your team is, and somewhat of an idea of what the other team is like, here is my idea: *Plan 1* Plant most of your team around the stronghold in hiding or positions they can enter the hold easily. Send at least one man in to get their attention and drag them out, and then snipe, grenade, or assasinate from there. *Plan 2* Throw a bubble shield in entrance, get them to go in and out of the bubble, and work your way in another way, since they just might be occupied with the bubble shield.

Side note by MordaciousBeast: Just because you see an enemy doesn't mean you have to shoot. Regardless of your weapon and style, you will be much more useful if you remain hidden until the time is right.

If you see someone with a power weapon it would be a good idea to either run away and alert your team or exploit the power weapon's weakness. (like long range the shotty/sword/mauler/hammer guy).

this has only a little to do with the topic but honestly i never seen a team sit in a base for too long people just get plain bored and have to come out even if there in the lead so use that to your advantage and also try to lure them out.

Impatience

In any game, team games especially, you can give yourself an advantage by forcing the other team to play your game and your type of strategy. This requires patience. It may seem boring to sit there "camping" or fortifying a position with your team and waiting for the enemy to come to you but at the same time, it is extremely effective. It may also seem boring to proceed cautiously with a teammate around a map in order to team kill somebody, but again it is very effective. You double your chances of surviving an encounter by having a teammate around, triple it by having 2 teammates around, etc. With 3 people shooting BRs at a single enemy, he will be dead in just over 1 second if nobody threw a grenade at him, less if they did. He won't even have time to fully drain one of your shields let alone kill somebody. You may not rack up kills and you may get a lot of assists but are you trying to have the most kills or are you trying to win? Your rank only increases with wins.

Have the patience to force the other team to come to you, especially if you have the lead. If you don't have the lead, have the patience to wait for your teammates before engaging the other team.

More info of impatience from Ace Elitoidier: When you see someone in front of you with his back facing you at a sniping position, do you start shooting at him with your AR like a maniac or crouch slowly towards him and assasinate him? Of course the latter you might say, but most people do not have the patience to walk so slowly towards your enemy sniper and try to assasinate him. Most likely you try to kill him with an AR and he turns around and gets a bullet in your noggin'.

Good point..which bring up this one.Snipers when you dont see a guy around scope out!You will lose youre motion tracking when youre scoped in and could miss a guy just outside your scope.--Emohawk34

Playing with a "self" mentality instead of a team mentality

Is this Lone Wolves or Team Slayer? Is this Lone Wolves or Capture the Flag? If you get 60 kills in a capture the flag game and your team still loses, nobody will care about, or be impressed by your score. All that matters in a team game is your team score. You don't go up in rank by getting a bunch of kills by whoring power weapons in the middle of the map, you only increase your rank by winning.

Stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about how to help your team win. This can be as simple as using your head when it comes to picking up weapons. If you are not a very good sniper, then don't pick the thing up because chances are that at least one person on your team is a decent sniper. Go practice in free-for-all games until you get better at it. If you are not a very good driver, be a gunner. I can't count the number of times I've been in a game of CTF on Valhalla and when the game starts somebody grabs the power drain and the missile pod and jumps through the man cannon into the middle and starts shooting at infantry. If this is you, you likely managed to cost your team a capture (or bomb plant) within the first 5 seconds of play. You will go into the middle with your missile pod and dump out all the rounds, maybe getting one kill (if you're lucky) before you are picked off by opposing players with ARs and BRs as the missiles are pretty easy to dodge when you are on foot. Now you've left the base with nothing effective to defend against a warthog attack. Start thinking about your team and leave the defensive weapons for those playing defense. This is why it is effective to tell your team what your strengths are in the pre-game lobby. I'm not talking about "I'm the best sniper in the world so nobody better touch it or I'm going to team kill you.", I'm talking about "I'm a good sniper", "I'm great at retrieving the Spartan Laser at the outset", "I'm good at defense", "I'm a good warthog driver", "I'm an ace pilot with the banshee", etc. That way your team can form a quick opening strategy that plays to everybody's strengths. It won't work every time but you'll find it is far more effective than being selfish.

I just thought i would put this in to add to the "self" mentality. It's a quote I've been told a lot by my coaches. "It's amazing at what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit." --Sarg338

The team i was with lost HUGE 2 another because they just wouldnt stop taking weapons they just werent good at.

Edit by MordaciousBeast: There's no "I" in "team", but there's no "team" in "Winner". After all, what are you playing for, your own rank or somebody else's? You must distinguish between helping the team and helping the teammate. Do what it takes to win, regardless of your teammates' opinions and well-being.

Not playing with your microphone turned on

There are only 3 reasonable excuses to not have your mic turned on during a team game:

* You have no mic or it is broken. I've played like this, it sucked, so well... GET A NEW MIC ASAP!
* You are deaf/mute.
* You are a kid whose parents are actually taking an interest in the way you are raised and don't want you exposed to the truly vile things that that are said when people are anonymous. (I direct you to John Gabriel's Internet Theory[2] )

If you don't fall into one of these categories, then turn your mic on when playing team games. You give the other team an immediate advantage when you don't turn your mic on because organizing strategy becomes difficult or impossible. Of course, turning the mic on doesn't do anything if you don't use it! Turn it on, then use it!

By Matthew21210: if you either fall under those categories or are too cheap to buy one, at least have the god given sense to set voice "through the speakers" and listen to your teammates closely.

This is the biggest team killer of all time.If u dont have ears u wont have life.--Emohawk34

I agree, i hate it when teammates who dont have mics just wander off and basically give or "feed " the other team kills.--L77

Ace: the problem i have when i play is that everyone online wants to do their own strategy and never listens when you say something. its frustrating because strategy can own the opposing team who has none.

I am going to add to this and Ace. It's one thing if your team doesn't even have a mic, but it's so much worse when they don't listen. Classic example, team slayer on narrows, "Hey guys, I have Sniper rifle, bring them to the top. Shotgun is in our base, grab it and grab invisibility". I see a red X, then another 5. I'm pretty pissed because no one grabbed shotgun and they all kept rushing in to get BRed to death. I had to go down the top and snipe from the middle, eventually they brought them back to us but there was a wasted 6-7 kills.-ToM1714

Crusader054 - I freakin hate it when idiots tell me im a 4 year old woh needs to take a nap just cause my voice is a bit high pitched so i turn my mic off alot unless im playin with friends

Arrogance about your ability

I know that you are the best Halo player out of all of your friends and internet friends but unless you are on a top 10 team on the MLG circuit, then there are A LOT of people out there who are better than you so set the ego aside and just try to do your job. A less obvious but possibly more dangerous form of arrogance is the arrogance that is formed from an early or big lead. An arrogance that the other team is a bunch of noobs and they can't possibly come back to beat you is the first step toward blowing your lead. We've all been in miraculous games where we've come back from a seemingly insurmountable lead. I was in a game where we were down 35 to 12 and we managed to gain a lead at 46 to 45 (we lost 50 to 49). What allowed us to come back from a 23 kill deficit? Arrogance by the other team. We stopped committing the bad habits listed here and started working as a team. They just started running out at us, one at a time trying to be the hero on their team and one by one we cut them down and before they knew it, they were on the brink of a loss and the last couple of minutes of the game were truly intense.

I'd like to think that despite their win, the players on that team and on my team learned something in that game. Never underestimate your opponent, never show any weakness, never show any mercy. Do your job and stay humble, the wins will come.

Edit by True Musician: Just to fortify what has been said here with personal experience, I was just recently in team slayer where it was 3 on 2 after some guys quit early on Narrows, and I was on the team of two. We were down by like at least 13, and they had around 40 kills already. Having fun while being somewhat serious, I was telling my random teammate in matchmaking "We're coming back dog, we're coming back." The next thing I knew, I grabbed the Sniper and got the Shotgun and we started just doing the best we could. I am sure the other team became very arrogant of their ability and just started being stupid, because we came back, and I got the kill that would've tied us at 46-46 right as the game ended. The quote above, "Do your job and stay humble, the wins will come", I can't express the beauty enough. Always respect the opponent, his abilities, and your own abilities. This will create a much more satisfying game experience and keep you from making any pointless and avoidable mistakes. And besides, you would rather overestimate and murder some opponents than underestimate and end up losing.

I was Playing a Game of team slayer, the score was 38 to 27, We had the 27. there was a minute and thirty seconds left. The Team of three that I was on decided we werent going to lose. We used our tactics and gave it our all, We never backed down in the fight. They got cocky then we pulled out a 40 to 38 win. A wise Man once told me "The careful and calm apprentice can always beat The Cocky And rash Master." People, Be The wise one

I know exactly what you guys are talking about. I was playing split screen online with my two friends-narrows 3 v 5. we were the 3. the other team kept rushing our position and we ended up winning 50-29. and 27 of those kills were from one very good person.

Me and a buddy were playing team slayer, fairly new at the game type, having usually played either lone wolves (separately) or doubles. Anyway, we were playing, and the other team jumped to an early lead. Unfortunately, the teammates we had with us were the type that hopes to rank off of other people's skill. (You know the type, that as soon as you get to a deficit, they quit and go find another game.) So, after two minutes of play, our teammates leave. I happened to be in a semi protected place. (Valhalla, near the wall on the right side of the map, still in that little pass.) My friend died and spawned there with me. When our teammates had quit, we were down 25-11. But the other team continued to rush us in the same direction, and with well placed grenades, we were able to substantially cut down their offensive, one of us jumping out to weaken shields, then jumping back to cover while the other jumped out to finish them off. Each of us ended up with several overkill achievements, and won the game 50-34. All because the other team thought to themselves 'Its two people, if we swarm them, we'll win.' Both of us laughed hysterically at the end of the game, cuz no one ever tried to circle around us. Arrogance cost their team the game. -SGT PoOkiE88

I was playing a game of ctf and right away 2 of our guys got disconnected.So from the beginning we were at a disadvantage 3v5. Well we held them off for a little bit but soon enough they got our flag. They had made it all the way back to their base and i start hearing "flag dropped" and "flag picked up"(or what ever it says) well i just figured they were being dicks but then all the sudden 3 of their players quit and we won the 3v2 match. after the match i watched the video and what had actually happened is the other team had 2 groups of friends well the guys who got the flag started getting cocky and was dropping the flag over and over and one of the guys from the other group got mad and ran him over with a mongoose. Then it became an all out brawl between 2 groups of friends and in the end the group of 2 booted the group of three.....

there is a few morals to this story 1 dont get cocky because you can piss off your own team as well as the other team 2 if your team mates are being dumb don't kill them 3 even if your down at the beginning you never know what could happen -anonymous

I was playing team slayer at snowbound. We started playing and after 5 seconds 2 of our teammates quit. So here it was 2v4 and they had two people on there team that had won over 70% of there games, one being a MLG pro (MLG Cloud). We thought we were done for, but i (and apparently my sole teammate) are not quitters. The thing that sucked was my only teammate Didn't have a mic, so i had to make all the communications. I didn't think we had a chance, i didn't quit because i didn't want to loose EXP. Anyway, at first we were frustrated with our 2 quitters and we were losing by like 15. Then we got our composure and somehow methodically came back. Then it became 40-38 us. My adrenaline starting rushing when i realized what we were doing. They got 3 unanswered kills and were leading 41-38. I got all of their shields down before i died with a grenade, and told my teammate to rush in. Instant triple kill with a grenade. So now its tied at 41 all. We stuck around the shotty respawn, because we new they were going to go for it. I got it before them and chilled in the back in a hidden corner right above the shield door, where the huge explosives are. My teammate lured them out and i picked them off 1 by 1. Eventually it was 48-47 us and i finally was killed. I picked up a BR and got a kill before being shot with a shotgun. My heart starting beating twice as fast, it was now 49-48 us, i went in and got double teamed. I threw a frag and severely lowered one of there shields before i died, it was the one with the shotty. I relayed that to my teammate who went in for the winning kill, right before he would have been killed from a sticky that the shotty guy threw before he died exploded, to little too late. We won, and Cloud actually asked me if i wanted to join the MLG. I accepted, and that game was easily the best game in my gaming history. In all i had 32 kills, and my teammate had 18. The two that quit had told us "good luck" before they purposelessly quit, and i informed them of the victory. This shows you anything is possible with teamwork. To watch this video visit my fileshare, my gamertag is MLG Fendabenda (including the space between MLG and Fendabenda). -MLG Fendabenda

I was playing a FFA on high ground and the other guys were teaming on me for achievements. The leader had 21 kills, I had 5. They definatly got arrogant, because they would shoot me, drop my shields, than walk away. They killed me agian, but when I respawned i hopped in a ghost. Long story short, I got a killtacular, my overkill achievement, and a double splatter spree. I won- Scout no. 66.6

Arrogance about your ability (meld into team killing)

I would also like to add to this, in a sort of ridicules fashion. About 2 weeks ago, i was in my, maybe, 3rd match on narrows, and i was stuck with a group of angry friends, or maybe noobs, it was hard to tell. but anyway, they all started to think it FFA and so killed each other. Eventually, they noticed me hiding in the lower bridges alcove, and they TKd me. i said cease fire at least three times, and then they started to spawn kill me, ignoring the other team completely. by now, i think it was 20-4 (my kills) and then i was TKd again and got frustrated and i booted one. i was a bit startled to find out that it was a 5 on 5 game, and they were all on the same box.... but , thats beside the point. so, now it's 1v5 and the other team was laughing like crazy and ignoring me. by the end of the game, i lost 30 27 i think it was, but i ended up getting MVP because all they could do was start trash talking to me about how they "owned" me, even thow they won by a very slim amount. this is specifically because they underestimated me to the point where they almost lost. now, ironically, the only person on there team who had more than 10 kills almost tied my kills by 2 points, i had 23, he had 21, because he was the only one who put up a real fight, and didn't underestimate me. the ironic part was his name was All Gear No Skill :p - Tekky99 (also my gamer tag)

Team Killing

I'm surprised no one put team killing as a bad habit until now. I suppose team killing is another form of arrogance or sick kind of fun. Most reasons for team killing:

* You think the guy who got a good weapon/vehicle is a noob and you can use it much better than him. (Basically you just want his gun)
* Your team is leading on the other team and you think that killing your own teammates will be fun to put in your file share.
* You want to score points. E.g When the Flag Carrier is almost there you kill him and take the flag to the destination.
* Accident
* There is one thing almost as bad as team killing, it is team damaging. You damage your teammate because of one of the above reasons and when an enemy comes you die. The worst part is that you can't boot that guy. An example would be taking off you shields before entering a battle.

Results:

* You kill your teammate and he damaged you in the process, an enemy comes and kill you then picks up/rides your teammate's former weapon/vehicle.
* Your team loses the match because one retard killed someone on your team who then takes revenge. The cycle continues until one of you boots out the other. When the cycle ends, your team loses loads of points and a team member.
* An idiotic reason to kill someone. Maybe, by the time you pick up the flag/bomb an enemy would have appeared, killed you, and restored the flag/taken the bomb.
* Understandable and if you get booted it is really unfair. Accidents: Missing with the sniper and hit your friend on the head with it, threw 'nades like a maniac into a large group of Ally and Foe etc. etc.
* Oh, the result is one guy from the other team kills you.

Team killing is not only stupid but a waste of time which you could be owning your enemies. Some people are so infernally convinced that they can fly better than others that they kill the guy in the Banshee and 99.99% of the time destroying the Banshee and wasting ammo. Readers, if any of you is a team-killer, please stop. Stop because your teammate is getting killed. Stop because your flag carrier needs you to pick him up. Stop because people like you are the reason I am typing this here.

Created by: Ace Elitoidier ( That's my Gamertag by the way )

Here is some more info on team killing. A bad team killer or some one who accidentally tk's and then fails to appoligize multiple times may also cuase a chain reaction. I've seen games lost over this when even a non tk'er (me) is forced to defend himself from a chronic team killer (or CTK) some times before a fight even starts. This is coming from experience. I'm likely the most TK'ed person I know.

There are times when you absolutely cannot avoid team killing someone, at least by accident. It's sure to have happened at least once to anyone on Xbox Live. I'd hate to blame other players in sniper games, but I hate it when I'm zoomed in, have a bead on my target, and one of my allies gets in the way of my shot. I think I've team killed by accident with the sniper rifle a handful of times, and more recently, being that my mic is broken(one of the things listed above) I have no way to apologize. Sometimes, I get booted, sometimes I don't. So, while you yourself is responsible for team killing, you also need to warn your teammates, keep them on the ball. Never go rushing into a close range fight where two of your guys and two of their guys are and shoot your rocket launcher or missile pod. It may kill your opponents, but it may also kill your teammates. Instead, throw some grenades where your enemies may be falling back, or try to join your team with an assault rifle or whatever else you may have at hand.

Sniping is the easist way besides grenades to tk without meaning to.If u get sniped by a teamate don't cuss them out or tk back!Give them a chance.If they're truly trying to tk then just aviod them and give 'em a bad review.DON'T LOWER YOURSELF TO HIS OR HER LEVEL!--Emohawk34

Halo 3 gives you the option of blocking players. you can access it through "rep", using "avoid this player", it's the last of the three options. If you block them out, matchmaking will not put you in games with people you've blocked --stompbox26

If your playing Grifball and you accidentally Team Kill, don't beat yourself up. Also, if you get betrayed, don't yell at the person who did it. In that game, especially at the beginning, it is virtually unavoidable. 99% of the time a betrayal will be an accident. Sure, it sucks when you have the bomb and are trying to jump into the goal while your teammate is trying to clear the path for you and he ends up killing you. But remember, he was trying to help you out, and gravity hammers are unpredictable. Plus, if he did a decent job clearing out the opposition, he'll end up getting your team the point. And if you're the one who accidently killed the bomb carrier in front of the goal, don't apoligize just yet. Pick up the bomb and try to score. Once you die or score and die, then apoligize. Oh, and if you get betrayed with an energy sword, then you can yell.

I hate it when your about to fire a shotgun at an ememy and some how your team member gets in the way. I apologised to him but he abused me for the rest of the game just trying to "take" my kill- MYROFLCOPTER

I would like to add a sort of, confession, and advice. i was playing a custom game and i was a zombie, we all had gravs. i walked over to a porthole in the top of the bunker of a modified high ground, and i saw a team member. im usually very kind, and so i moved over to let him take a whack at it. i moved over, he hit it and then i, on the rebound- this whole time telling him what i was doing- hit the area, and bounced off, waited for him again, and then he ignored what i was doing, and rushed in, and i TKd him. I apolagized all over the place, he just told me to shut up, he came back and TKd me, so i said fine, do u forgive me, and he didnt answer and so i walked back, he TKd me, and again i walked back, and he TKd me. so, i went away and i got accidentally TKd by somone else, and then i went back there and the twerp in the beginning TKd me again, and told me i was a noob and it was my fault. i finally got pissed and TKd him and it started a TK war, which luckily ended in us forgiving each other, but all i can say is this. if somone TKs u, and u try to avoid them and somone else TKs u, all you can possibly hope to do is avoid it. i could have easily avoided this by not geting to close to my friends, but i was being stupid and arrogant because i was bored and feeling like picking a fight. DO NOT DO THAT! - Tekky99

I was playing Grifball last weekend, and I got teamed with some random people. First, one of our guys left. Then, this other guy, his gamertag is I ArtVandelay I, started chasing me down. He kept TKing me, and in the end we lost 5-0. Another time there was this guy, can't remember his name, and he started killing people on his team, which was my team, for the bomb. But, in the end, we won. People also need to learn when betrayals are accidents. I accidentally ran over a team member once, I apologized, and he booted me. Which sucked. - JRCB

Summary

Failing to avoid these bad habits in team games will likely lead to your team losing the game unless you are matched up against a team that you are just far superior to in ability. As games are ranked (even the social games match you up based on experience) this is not likely to happen very often so the only way to consistently win is to avoid these problems and to learn to work as a team. A good team strategy and the ability of players to stick to that strategy (or adjust it, if it is not working) can overcome a lot of shortcomings of each individual player. For example, a team that has 4 players with excellent slaying ability that all play as individuals will likely not beat a team where all for players have mediocre slaying ability but play as a team. Use common sense and throw your selfish attitude out the window any time you enter a team game and you'll see that you'll win far more than you lose.

Suggestions for a Large, Web-Based Company, Pt. 1

Adam Taylor — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:53:03 +0000

I have decided to write a few suggestions for any large company that wants to help make the internet more open (as I mentioned Google does in an earlier post). These suggestions would, I believe, greatly benefit a large amount of internet users. This “series,” as most bloggers call such strings of related posts, will start here with part 1; other suggestions will be added later on.

1. Open SSH Tunneling

For those of you who do not know what SSH Tunneling is – “An SSH tunnel consists of an encrypted tunnel created through an SSH protocol connection. Users may set up SSH tunnels to tunnel unencrypted traffic over a network through an encrypted channel.” (Wikipedia)

If I am to expect any group or company to even consider setting up an SSH tunnel large enough for the public to use, there’d have to be a few reasons to do so, of course. Now, a few things a tunnel like this could do would violate some stuff that an entity like Google may not want to violate, but for smaller operations, there’s a lot of good stuff an SSH tunnel can facilitate. It would allow users to be sure that their data being sent through a network was secure, do bills or other financial business on public networks, and, on the somewhat questionably legal side, bypass any proxy or web filtering installed on that network.

Setting up the service, however, would be relatively easy. Some servers and bandwidth would need to be allocated – enough for large amounts of people to route some small internet traffic through – but setting up the software shouldn’t cost anything, as OpenSSH is reliable and free. Then some documentation would need to be written to explain to users how to get it set up using PuTTY and their favorite web browser.

Some restrictions would have to be enforced, of course, to ensure that the few don’t spoil it for the many. In most situations, there should automatically be a no-smut policy, preventing users from accessing pornographic content through the tunnel. This restriction would take a little work, though, because it shouldn’t just block anything with mature rating by obscure groups (like deviantART – come on now), but just porn websites and the like. Also, there would probably need to be a data transfer limit. I’m not suggesting bandwidth caps per say, but some way of warning/banning users if they download too much (documents and small files would be fine, but no torrenting or downloading huge Linux ISOs) through the tunnel, so when someone else wants to use the tunnel, they won’t have to complain about the slow speed the entire time.

That’s all I have for the first part of the “Suggestions for a Large Web-Based Company” series; look for future installments coming in 2010.

Honestly, I don’t particularly expect any major (or minor) groups or companies to seriously consider these posts, or even pay attention to them – I’m just getting my opinion out, here – but if someone agrees with me and decides to set up a service like this, please give credit where credit is due, for the idea at least, if you heard it here first. Also let me know, I’d love to see it in action.

My Open Source Projects

Adam Taylor — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:51:50 +0000

As most of our reader(s) should know, I am big on making programs that are Open Source, and supporting others’ Open Source projects. My first post on here (I think the first big one, I could be wrong) was a kind-of “call to arms” piece, basically preaching Open Source. I’m trying to lean away from the preaching so much, mainly because it’s annoying to read, and because, as with everything that is preached, preaching something to get followers often pushes people away from the target.

Even without so much “in your face”-ness, I still wanted to advocate for Open Source, and show my contributions; and I decided the best way to do that would be to start submitting Open Source projects and getting them out there for people to look at if they wish. At some point, I will have a project page on this site so people can browse my projects individually, but for now, I will just share my SourceForge link and my projects can be found from there.

My SourceForge page is here: https://sourceforge.net/users/d3m0l1sh3r .

I don’t have very many projects up yet, just 3 games I’ve written recently, but I will have more pretty soon. I have been waiting to add more because first I have to dig through my old files to find any older code I’ve written, and then I have to clean it all up; I’m slowly discovering how crappy some of my older code really is.

Just check them out and look around if you’d like, there will be plenty more added in time!

10 Best Android Apps

GF_Jesusfreak — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 04:57:20 +0000

1. Dolphin Browser- This browser allows you to use pinch to zoom, multiple tabs, and more

2. Handcent Messenger- Allows a more customizable messaging experience.

3. Seesmic- A twitter client that allows you to read, post and follow others profiles.

4. Google Sky Map- Allows you to see what stars and constellations are above you.

5. Astro- A file manager for your android system.

6. Tube Downloader- Allows you to download you tube, Google, Daily Motion videos also streams faster then the default you tube viewer.

7. Barcode Scanner- Allows you to scan barcodes and look up the product price at different stores.

8. Google Goggles- Allows you take pictures of different objects and then search for them on Google.

9. Visual VM- Allows you to view you voice mail rather than just hearing it (verizon only.)

10. Droid Light- Pointless app but does double as a very good flashlight.

Have any other apps you like post in the comments below!

Street Fighter 4 for iPhone and Screenshots

SteelTron — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:18:32 +0000

Look what we have here, is the best fighting game ever made by Capcom, Street Fighter IV for iPhone. I can still remember playing this game in the arcade vs other wanabee top street fighter gamers. Well this game for the iphone uses an advanced virtual d-pad or “Visual Pad” control interface to immerse the player into the familiar Street Fighter combat system.

This allows you the gamer to fully customize the “Visual Pad” interface by repositioning the buttons and d-pad anywhere on the screen through the options menu. Well if you have an iphone good for you and if you don't then get one because this game will be off the charts when is released on March 2010.

Here are some Street Fighter 4 for iPhone screenshots so you start imagining playing it:

Final Fantasy 1 and 2 Coming to iPhone

LaserBolt — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:28:25 +0000

Tonight, Square Enix announced via its Facebook page that Final Fantasy I and II are being ported to the iPhone, complete with upgraded visuals and new touchscreen controls. Square did not elaborate much beyond showing off a quartet of screenshots from the two games, but those are sumptuous enough to surely send fans into a frenzy.

The original Final Fantasy was released in Japan in 1987 and went on to spawn one of the longest running and most successful franchises in the history of videogames. Both games are celebrated by fans of the series and with Final Fantasy excitement at a fever pitch over the impending North American launch of XIII, Square knows the time to strike with these retro releases is now.

Look for more information on Final Fantasy I and II for the iPhone in the coming days on Gamerfuzion. In the meantime, check out these first shots of each game.

Final Fantasy 1

Final Fantasy 2

Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars Review

LaserBolt — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:27:23 +0000

At just $9.99, Chinatown Wars is a mere third of the price for the original Nintendo DS game, making it one of the best gaming values on the App Store considering just how much stuff is packed in here. While I did have a few problems with the control set-ups (the virtual buttons are too small yet still crowd the screen) and menu arrangements, the narrative, mission variety, and production values easily overwhelm those shortcomings. This is 2010’s first must-have iPhone game.

Chinatown Wars is anchored by a great narrative that provides just as much reason to play as the action.

The shaded art direction is fantastic. There are some jaggies and whatnot, but considering how smooth it looks when screaming down the road at 100 MPH, it's no big deal.

No voice work, but the music and sound effects are excellent. Play with headphones to really appreciate it.

The virtual buttons are a little troublesome. But the mission variety and sheer amount of stuff to do is astounding.

Absolutely massive with dozens of hours of play, GTA: CW is a major value at just $10.

This is 2010’s first must-have iPhone game.
source

Google Nexus One Revealed

LaserBolt — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:36:57 +0000

Since the Android format launched last year with the T-Mobile G1, Google had been rumored to be creating a handset of their own. After months of speculation, leaked photos, and general buzz, Google has finally popped the top off of their Android smartphone, the Nexus One. Today, Google formally unveiled the Nexus One, a new touch screen-enabled handset produced in partnership with HTC. The phone will be based in the same open-source Android format, with its own unique user interface. Software-wise, the Nexus One will come loaded with an array of apps including YouTube, Google Maps with turn-by-turn GPS, web browsing, Gmail service, and direct access to the Android app marketplace.

Specs wise, the Nexus One features a 3.7-inch OLED display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, 100,000:1 contrast ratio and 1ms response. The phone will also incorporate a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, video recording support at 720 x 480 resolution, and a 2x digital zoom. Under the hood, the Nexus One has a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 512MB of Flash memory and 4GBs of storage space via SD card, which can be expanded to up to 32GBs. The handset will utilize HSDPA and GSM/Edge networks with data transfers of up to 7.2Mbps, along with full Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) and Bluetooth support. On a 3G network, the Nexus One's battery will last for 7 hours, while on a 2G network it lasts for 10. Standby time is 290 hours on 2G networks and 250 on 3G networks, while video and audio playback will be 7 hours and 20 hours, respectively. Finally, web browsing battery life is 5 hours on 3G networks and 6.5 hours on Wi-Fi.

What makes Google's strategy for the Nexus One unique is that they are offering it as an unlocked non-network-specific device or on several existing networks, unlike the iPhone which remains exclusive to AT&T. The unlocked version of the Nexus One will cost $529, while a Nexus One handset on the T-Mobile network will cost $179 with 2-year contract, both of which are available for order now. The Nexus One will also come to Verizon this spring, presumably at the same price as the T-Mobile version. The Nexus One will also arrive in Europe this spring on the Vodafone network.

Seed Review iPhone

LaserBolt — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:09:59 +0000

Seed is not perfect. It loads too often. Sorting mini-quests is a pain. The visuals are a hair blurry. It is too easy to get overwhelmed in combat because you got caught on the edge of an object or what looked like an exit is really just the edge of the screen. But offsetting these shortcomings are a giant world, improved combat, iPhone-friendly quick-save, a cool class system that changes as you switch weapons, and the new price tag: free. It’s almost a wash, which is why I give Seed such a middle-of-the-road score.

Quick-save system is appreciated, especially for the iPhone. Menus are too small and sometimes tough to read.

Upscaled from mobile, Seed looks slightly blurry on the bigger screen. The colors pop, though, and there are a ton of different monsters -- not just color swaps.

The music is pretty good, but the clips are so short. The same music loops far too many times.

Fast-moving combat is fun, but there are some positioning problems that mar Seed. There are lots of quests, but keeping track is not easy.

The world in Seed is huge and offers dozens of hours of play. The price is right, too. But there are too many frustrations, from the limits on in-app purchases to getting tripped up while fighting.

Seed could have been a greater game hope they polish some of the stuff in the next update.

source

CAPCOM Mobile Launch Cash Cab Game On App Store

SteelTron — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:34:01 +0000

LOS ANGELES, CA – December 16, 2009 – Discovery Communications and Capcom Mobile today announced the availability of the Cash Cab game on the App Store. Based on the hit Discovery Channel game show series, the Cash Cab App for iPhone and iPod Touch features tons of questions, 21 New York City landmarks, the ability to play your own music in-game, and players can now post their favorite scores directly to Facebook. Additionally, question expansion packs are now available from within the App for near limitless replayability.

In the television show Cash Cab, contestants ride in the back seat of a New York City taxicab and are quizzed on general knowledge questions all the way to their destination. As the meter ticks, the questions get harder and the stakes get higher. Miss three questions and the Cash Cab pulls over and ejects the contestants onto the sidewalk, no matter where they are in the city.

The Cash Cab App uses the Emmy Award-winning show's signature concept and challenges players to answer a series of progressively difficult questions before they get to their destination. Extending the TV show experience, gamers can keep coming back for more as questions are pulled from subjects as diverse as History, Pop Culture, Language and Science. The app also features a "Ride with a Friend" feature similar to the "Shout Out" option featured in the show.

The Cash Cab App is available for $4.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod Touch or atwww.itunes.com/appstore/.

Cash Cab, hosted by comic turned cabbie Ben Bailey, first premiered in December of 2005 and airs weekdays on the Discovery Channel. The Emmy Award-winning original series is currently in its fourth season.

The Cash Cab App is part of Discovery's larger portfolio of mobile services, which includes short-form content and long-form episodes of popular titles through distribution partnerships with the majority of mobile carriers including V Cast and PrimeTime2Go; a collection of Smartphone apps including the Discovery Channel App, a top ranked entertainment app; and direct-to-consumer mobile websites for multiple brands including Discovery Channel, TLC, and Animal Planet, available at www.discoverymobile.com.

What System to Get For Christmas

LaserBolt — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:07:27 +0000

Which Game System Is Right for You?

Xbox 360

Although Microsoft's Xbox 360 tends to attract the "hardcore" gamers, the company has made efforts to make the 360 more mainstream-friendly. Partnerships with Netflix, Twitter and Facebook, and the motion-control camera, dubbed Project Natal, are all examples of this initiative. Of course, the console still offers some of the best shooters and biggest RPG franchises around.

Pros: Great exclusive game franchises, fantastic online Xbox Live service.

Cons: The console is prone to breaking, no built in Wi-Fi support, noisy disc drive.

Who It's For: Fans of shooting games, people who want to play online with others.

PlayStation 3

If you love games but also want to play Blu-rays or simply want to upgrade your PlayStation 2, Sony's PlayStation 3 is the way to go. Bundled with a great Blu-ray player and home to some of the best exclusive games around, including Uncharted, LittleBigPlanet and God of War, it's clear that the PlayStation 3 is a fantastic value.

Pros: Excellent exclusive titles, built-in Blu-ray player, free online PlayStation Network service.

Cons: Not as many total games as Xbox 360 or Wii.

Who It's For: Blu-ray enthusiasts, previous PlayStation owners.

Nintendo Wii

When the Nintendo Wii launched it changed the face of gaming with its motion-sensitive controller and mainstream appeal. The system continues to be the most popular on the market, and it's bundled with Wii Sports, which means you get a great game right out of the box.

Pros: Easy to use system that's aimed at the casual gamer.

Cons: Unimpressive online service, weak visual hardware, no HD support.

Who It's For: Anybody intimidated by a typical game controller.

PC

The PC is all about choice and versatility. You can upgrade your home computer or build a brand new PC to fit your gaming needs. While PCs offer a variety of games ranging from casual to strategy to MMOs, you'll need to be careful and check the hardware requirements before you purchase a game.

Pros: Customizable hardware, high-resolution graphics, mouse and keyboard interface.

Cons: Not all games are compatible, building a PC can be expensive, operating systems aren't always user-friendly.

Who It's For: Those who want the best graphics and a wide selection of games.

PSP & PSPgo

If you want console-level graphics on the go, the PlayStation Portable might be for you. With games like Gran Turismo, LittleBigPlanet, Assassin's Creed and Rock Band: Unplugged available, it's a great complement to the system in your living room.

Pros: Good graphics for a portable system, free PlayStation Network connectivity, lots of good exclusive titles.

Cons: Not as many games as the Nintendo DS, and it can be expensive (especially the new PSPgo).

Who It's For: Gamers on the go.

Nintendo DSi & DS

Nintendo's dual screen, touch-sensitive handheld has been the top portable console for nearly five years now. The DS has one of the biggest game libraries of any current generation system and the latest model, the Nintendo DSi, introduces built-in cameras and downloadable games.

Pros: Close to a thousand games to choose from, and one of the cheapest systems on the market.

Cons: Many games aren't visually impressive due to weak hardware.

Who It's For: Small children, retired people and commuters.

iPhone

Apple's iPhone is nothing short of a revolution. The App Store created an entirely new world of games where none existed just a little over a year ago. Now, over two billion apps -- many of them games -- how been downloaded. If you don't want to switch to AT&T, or can't afford to upgrade your phone yet you can always opt for the iPod Touch, which offers the same game library.

Pros: Huge selection of inexpensive games on App Store, touch-and-tilt controls, can also play music and video.

Cons: Subscription plans are not cheap, game quality is inconsistent

Who It's For: Commuters, casual gamers.

Todays iPhone App Gorillacam

LaserBolt — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:38:33 +0000

Keeping with the camera theme, anyone with an iPhone is familiar with the included Camera app. Its accessible yet basic design makes taking pictures easy but overtime, it's worth giving more full-featured alternatives a look. While we’ve covered some solid photography apps to date, thanks to the ongoing one-ups-manship on the App Store, every few weeks a new competitor appears. Released Tuesday, Gorillacam looks ready to push the bar of iPhone photography higher still.

Last week’s picks included an app for doing HDR photos, great for non-action scenes. Gorillacam doesn’t do that but it does excel at doing the opposite: time-lapse photography. If that feature isn’t enough, they’ve included a rapid-fire mode (up to 1.6 frames every second), the ability to turn the iPhone’s entire display into a button and a virtual bubble-level, which in and of itself is a brilliant idea. What will they think of next?

Price: Free
Size: 0.9 MB

Todays iPhone App Dragon Dictation

LaserBolt — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:51:26 +0000

In OS X iPhone 3.0, Apple introduced Voice Control, activated by clicking-and-holding on the Home button, enabling voice dialing and music managing on iPhones and iPod touches with headsets. It does what it does well but if you hoping for text-to-speech, developer Nuance’s Dragon Dictation is totally worth a try, especially given its price tag of $0.

A little grief, first. Despite the iPod touch being capable of audio input through first and third party mic-equipped headphones, this is an iPhone only app. Searching the app’s corresponding website, there is an acknowledgement of the missing iPod touch support, so hopefully an iPod touch version isn’t too far off. On the bright side, for iPhone users Dragon Dictation makes it easy to email or txt without ever touching the onscreen keyboard. And from the sounds of it, its quite adept at deciphering speech, slickly transcribing your ramblings into text. Laziness? There’s an app for that.

Price: Free
Size: 1.0 MB

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