CAMPING: The FINAL & ONLY Definition

WHAT IS A DIRTY CAMPER?
The only time a player can legitimately be called a dirty, low-life, scum-of-the-earth camper is in a Team Death Match or Free For All game.

Finding your own corner of some room or an enclosed space on a map with your ADS trained on the only entrance to the area in these game modes takes ZERO skill and is just poor sportsmanship (even when there are two entrances.) If everyone one did this in these game modes we’d all be sitting around pulling our peckers for 15 minutes. While some of you may find that fun, I find it just gets the controller all sticky.

THAT WHICH IS NOT CAMPING
Setting up camp near an objective, a flag in Domination, the flag in Capture the Flag, the bomb site in Demolition or Search & destroy, the M-COM station in Battlefield, IS NOT CAMPING. This is defending or guarding your objective.

Patrolling an area (larger than a room, about 1/4 of the map,) going back and forth and eliminating any enemy that tries to piss in your territory IS NOT CAMPING. This is controlling or holding down an area.

MIGHT AS WELL TALK ABOUT SPAWN TRAPPING
It is only spawn trapping if an ENTIRE team is camped in your spawn grounds keeping your team pinned down. Not a very sporting strategy but a viable one in certain circles.

ONE or two guys wreaking havoc and confusion in your spawn grounds are not spawn trapping you. Seriously, how can one or two guys spawn trap an entire team? Unless your team sucks that bad it’s not possible. Those guys are keeping you busy while their teammates attack the objective. Providing a small distraction is sound military strategy.

HOW TO DEAL WITH CAMPERS
If the camper is having a good day (notice that I did not say he is “skilled,”) the little shit probably has host advantage (in Black Ops.) The only thing you can do here is warn the rest of your team where his lair is and avoid him. No sense in you adding to his slow and steady killstreak, of which you can be sure will end in dogs.

In Battlefield the situation is not as cut and dry. The maps are larger with lots of prime sniper real estate. A skilled sniper overlooking–or a lone wolf controling an area near–your objective must be dealt with. And they are probably going to have to be dealt with more than once. Avoidance is not a viable solution here.

Use a camper hunting class. In Black Ops, Ghost Pro, Hardened Pro and Hacker Pro. Equip a Silencer and use Counter Spy Plane. Ghost Pro and the silencer keep you off the mini-map. Hardened lets you shoot through walls, campers will always hide in a corner to reload. Hacker Pro keeps you invisible to Motion Sensors, a favorite tool of professional campers. Hold on to your Counter Spy Planes and throw them up only when there is a Blackbird in play. Professional dirty, scumbag campers are killwhores, they won’t run something as useful to the team as the Blackbird, they’ll be running something like Attack Chopper and Dogs. Equip C4 and use it as an extra grenade. Toss it inside a camped room and set it off right away.

In Battlefield 3 there is absolutely no such thing as camping but there are those jackass snipers who like to hang out in the boondocks and pick your team off one by one. Anything that keeps your team from accomplishing its objectives becomes part of said objectives. On some maps dealing with skilled snipers is as simple as informing your own snipers to look out for him and kill on site. If someone has spotted him and/or you are absolutely sure of where his lair is, you can have someone blanket mortar the area. On some of the larger maps it may be necessary to dispatch a squad to deal with him.

Noob tube the fuck out of him, ’nuff said. In Battlefield 3, hop in a tank or some other ordinance ladened vehicle… You get the picture.

Learn the maps. Once you know the maps better you’ll be more aware of where campers like to take up residence. Go into Combat Training in Back Ops and learn to think like a camper. Those bots in combat training always use the most traveled routes. Finding the best places to hide and pick off a bunch of easy targets running by will show you where the best spots are to camp in any game mode.

Also look for the obscure, out-of-the-way camping spots. The ones that overlook the roads least traveled. These places are haunted by the lowest type of camper there is, politicians and lawyers have more scruples than these campers. I’m talking about the chicken-shit, avoid all confrontation, my-testicles-haven’t-dropped-yet, feckless camper. These guys equip sniper rifles and ghillie suits, hide in bushes on the outskirts of the map killing the odd passerby, and patiently build up a killstreak that will end in dogs. You need to find the alternative routes to these places because he will get you every time you come back at him from the same direction, mostly because that’s the only direction he’s looking in.

Once you’ve eliminated a camper from an area, stick around. Find a place to lay low. Campers are generally idiotic creatures of habit. Rest assured, he’s coming back. That should be another easy kill for you. Alternatively you could leave a claymore in that area if you’re fairly sure of the path he’ll be taking to get back.

In Battlefield 3 there is no safe way to learn the maps. Just relax and keep playing. Enjoy yourself and don’t let the game frustrate you. You’ll be surprised at how much faster you’ll get the hang of things simply by enjoying yourself. It is just a game.

WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN ACCUSED OF CAMPING
Just because you get called a camper by some guy frustrated with his inadequate performance or some dumb-ass, clueless teenager does not mean you’re a camper. Stop rushing off to some internet forum to whine about how you got called a camper when ‘you’re not.’ It’s just going to be another useless thread on the same old tired topic of camping and, quite frankly, it makes you look guilty. If you’re questioning whether or not you’re a camper then so are the people reading your post. Brush off his comments and try not camping in the next game.

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH CAMPERS?
I would like to hear how you guys deal with campers, please leave a comment if you have the time. Not only will you be helping the gaming community, you’ll also give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

1/04/12 EDIT: Removed my Treyarch/floating apple gripe because it added nothing to the article and Quo said it made me seem bitchy. I also added some Battlefield specific information.

Tips for Playing To Win With General Population

I’m writing this because I hear a lot of self proclaimed “great” players whine about how they can’t win when playing with general population. If they are such “great, uber” players then shouldn’t they be able to carry a team to victory no matter what the odds? I’m here to tell these people, your team doesn’t suck. You do. Well, more precisely, your attitude sucks. I believe you have a decent chance to win any game if you have a good enough player who is a better leader than he is an egotistical shit.

Don’t be a Captain Sobel. These asshats are the reason no one uses their mics in Black Ops. Everyone wants to win but what most of us want is to just have a good time. Please respect that. Good natured jibing is one thing, abusive, foul-mouthed taunting is another. Yelling and screaming at people, despite what you see on reality TV, accomplishes nothing. The one thing great leaders have in common is confidence. Great leaders inspire confidence in others by encouraging words and positive action. Yelling and screaming at people makes you look infantile. Lack luster. Pathetic. Just because you don’t see anyone with a mic on does not mean that some of those people are not listening. A lot of them are and they are waiting for leadership. The truth is yelling and screaming just brings everyone on the team down, you may have 30 kills in that game your team lost but all that whining and whinging from you during the match contributed more to the team loss than the kid who got 3 kills and 40 deaths.

Mike Keenan didn’t rant and rave, he simply told his boys they should be proud of themselves. He told them to play hard and enjoy the moment.

Don’t be that guy on the team that thinks he’s “Gods Gift to Gaming” and everyone else on the team sucks. He’s not part of the reason the team is losing, the rest of you are. Being confident is one thing, being an asshole is another. In the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Rangers needed to win the next 2 games or loose their shot at the Cup to the Devils. Before game six Mark Messier stepped up to the plate and guaranteed the win. Mark scored 3 goals in that game and the Rangers won. When Vancouver forced a game 7 after the Rangers had been up by 2 games Mike Keenan didn’t rant and rave, he simply told his boys they should be proud of themselves. He told them to play hard and enjoy the moment. That this is what they all dreamed about, playing a seventh game on home ice to win the Stanley Cup. The Rangers broke 50 years of “bad luck” and won the cup. There is no arguing that there was a boat load of talent on the Rangers that year but the Canucks weren’t a bunch of scrubs either. Leadership won the Rangers the cup that year, above all else it was the leadership that prevailed.

All men and women may not be born equal but that does not mean they don’t have the right to be treated as such.

If your team is doing bad, don’t get frustrated, don’t yell into the mic for people to get out of your way. Encourage the team, nurture them, guide them… LEAD THE WAY. Call out enemy positions, tell them you need someone to help take Flag B, say confidently “Who is going with me to get that flag?” You’ll be surprised at how easily this approach will turn the tide of the game. Talk to the team even if you think no one is listening. Talk TO the team, not AT them. All men and women may not be born equal but that does not mean they don’t have the right to be treated as such. Treat people with respect and mute the ones that don’t return it. Never waiver from your determination to win, never whine and show weakness. If no one showed up to help you cap the flag don’t ask, “where the fuck where you guys?” Say, “OK that’ didn’t go as planned, lets try this again, who’s with me?“

As the self proclaimed messiah of gaming it falls on you to gauge what the team is doing. If three or more guys are focused on capping then be the stalker. Circle the map and take out the enemy on their way to the objectives. You have to adapt to your teams play style. If you can’t go from being a rusher to being a tank you won’t do well in gen pop, you have to be versatile. You have to be the one to try and make up for your team’s shortcomings.

If you can’t do this, do us all a favor then; STFU about how great your are.

Gaming Scribble Sh33ts

You may have noticed I added a new widget to my sidebar. It’s a Box.net file sharing widget. Just scroll down a little and you’ll see it. I have uploaded some documents to this file sharing service that some of you gamers may find useful.

As I have mentioned before I only buy used games. Most used games come sans instructions. So I created Scribble Sh33ts. A simple diagram of a controller that you can use to quickly jot down the control scheme to your used or rented game for quick and easy reference without having to dig through the game’s menus.

I also created some Scribble Sh33ts for PC gamers.

You’ll find all these docs in the  Scribble Sh33ts folder of the b33m3r’s DOCS Widget. All the documents are in PDF format. Just click on the link to download the file and you’re ready to print it out whenever you need one.

So what’s in the Scribble Sh33ts folder?

• 360_Scribble – Xbox 360 Scribble Sh33t. 2 to a page/printout.
• Belkin_n52_Scribble_v1 – Belkin SpeedPad n52 Scribble. Single control layout. 1 per page/printout.
• Belkin_n52_Scribble_v2 – Belkin SpeedPad n52 Scribble. Multi control layout. 1 per page/printout.
• PC_Keyboard_Scribble – PC Keyboard Scribble. Not just for games, use it to jot down the shortcuts in your favorite programs (Photoshop, Writer, Excel, etc.). 1 per page/printout.
• PS2_Scribble – PS2 Scribble Sh33t. 2 to a page/printout.
• PS3_Scribble – PS3 Scribble Sh33t. 2 to a page/printout.
• Xbox_Scribble – Original Xbox Scribble Sh33t. 2 to a page/printout.

Black Ops: Class Warfare & Escalation

LOADOUTS OF THE SO CALLED PROS

I came across this article over at IGN regarding the class setups that the “top 5″ Black Ops players use. You don’t have to go check it out, I’ll sum it up for you. They all use the FAMAS. Just 5 privileged kids, playing all day with what many consider to be a noob gun. I’m not saying that the FAMAS is not a good gun or that you should not use it, I’m just saying the article is a waste of time and internet space. I really didn’t need IGN to point out the glaringly obvious. For me the FAMAS runs out of ammo too fast making running with Scavenger a necessity for my play style.

I’ve changed my Fantome class a little bit. I now equip him with an AK47 and a silencer. I like the extra stopping power the AK47 gives me and the silencer reduces muzzle flash and makes it a lot easier to handle. Without the silencer I would not be able to hit the broad side of a barn with this gun. I’ve replaced Warlord Pro with Hardened Pro on Fantome as well. It’s easier to take out a camper by shooting him through a wall. People say the less flinching aspect of Hardened pro helps out in 1v1 battles but I don’t notice much of a difference.

I’ve also started using a rush class. I call him Zippy. Lightweight/SoH Pro/Marathon. Equipped with a silenced AK74u. I’ve gotten quite good at getting into enemy territory and causing a bunch of havoc before they even realize I’m behind them. I’m thinking about trying Warlord on this class and adding Dual Mags for the extra ammo.

ESCALATION WILL BE OUT MAY 3rd

The previews look pretty good, the new Zombie map has me intrigued, and that’s coming form a guy whose probably spent a whole 30 minutes playing the zombie mode of Black Ops. I heard in interviews that these new maps are more “sniper friendly”. I’m not sure what that means, how can you get more friendlier than one shot one kill even when firing from the hip? The recent patch had some sniper fixes in it. I hate it when they patch things like this and don’t tell you exactly what they did. I’m not a big fan of snipers in multi-player shooters, I think they unbalance the game. I have to unload an entire clip into someone just to get them into Second Chance while his buddy can no scope me from 30 feet away and I’m dead. So I’m a little worried that they may have made sniping easier and the new map will be inundated with the little buggers.

The new maps look pretty good and I am looking forward to them.

The Only Playing Tip You’ll Ever Need

JUST HAVE FUN WITH IT... But learn the maps too.

I hopped onto Black Ops the other night for the first time in two weeks. You know what? I had fun. I even made 2 new friends. I played Ground War all night into the wee morning hours. Some games I did really well and other games I was terrible, but I did not rage quit or get even remotely frustrated. I just chugged along, laughing and joking with my new found friends and having a good time. It is a game after all.

A fella named Tim was nice enough to leave a comment on one of my previous Black Ops posts. Tim seems to think he’s the worst Black Ops player ever because no matter what he does–follow on line advice, combat training, etc.–he keeps getting fragged 15 times with only 5 kills to notch on his gun. Tim feels that other players just seem to look his way and he’s dead.

Well Tim, you’re not the worst Black Ops player, you should have seen a couple of the games I had last night! Tim, the reason those players can just look your way and you’re dead is simple. THEY KNOW THE MAPS.

Tim, you don’t know the maps my friend.

Of all the gaming advice I’ve read and followed for Black Ops none of it is as important as learning the maps. Don’t run blindly, try shooting from the hip, blah, blah, blah. LEARN THE MAPS. Everything else will fall into place once you learn the maps. Learning the maps does not mean you know where the Temple is on Jungle. Learning the maps means that you know the Temple area in Jungle is a good place to call in care packages, that there is a sniper spot on top the generator in WMD, that the path through the Mansion in Villa is the “road least traveled”, that placing a claymore in the room that leads out to the catwalk on Summit and on the small set of stairs going into the Factory on Radiation will almost guarantee a kill, that going up the middle on Launch is usually safer than circling the map. Learning the maps means knowing all the camping spots, the sniper spots and their lines of site,  knowing all the choke points and ambush spots. This information comes subtly to me now, almost subliminal. Gently tugging at the tendrils of my thoughts when I’m “in the zone” and nagging at me when I’ve overlooked them.

What’s the best way to learn the maps? I don’t know what will work for you. We all learn in different ways. I’ll tell you what worked for me. First, you have to be having fun. Forget about stats, about kills, about deaths, about assists, even forget about winning and losing. It’s a recreational game, not a job. If you’re having fun consequently you will learn faster. Mute all the asshats who take the game far to seriously right away, they are too much of a distraction.

OBSERVE AND ABSORB WHILE HAVING FUN

When I was learning the maps I played Domination games 24/7. People’s movements are predictable in Dom games and you don’t have to worry about your 6 as much. Makes it easier to observe and absorb whats going on around you. Everyone has the same 2 goals, capture those flags and keep you from recapturing them. Simple.

I never ran with my team, I’d duck into a corner to avoid that lucky Tomahawk throw from across the map, and then set out slowly and methodically behind my team. Watching the routes they took. Noting where they got killed. Watching for the routes the enemy’s rushers took and thinking about how I can get behind them. I paid attention to my kill cam, how I died, why I died and how I could prevent it from happening again.

I sacrificed the win during these times of observation. I played no objective. I stuck to the perimeter of the map, circling it, learning it. Making note of the camper spots, how to avoid them, how to effectively attack them. I paid close attention to the routes the enemy took to get back to the objectives. I did not give chase. I sat back. Counted. Made mental notes of where and if they bunched up. I looked for effective choke points to ambush them next time. I’d place claymores along their routes and made mental notes of which placements were the most lucrative. Once I could circle the map with a proverbial blindfold on I ventured through its center, finding the safest routes through trial and error.

You have to learn the maps. You have to learn how real people play those maps. I don’t believe you can do this in Combat Training. You can improve your reflexes in Combat Training but those bots don’t move the way real people will move in an objective based game. You have to learn the maps. Map designers forge these maps with ebbs and flows that people will naturally follow. People will use the same routes and generally the same tactics they use in Domination in virtually every other game mode. The difference is playing Domination will make it easier for you to learn because everyone else is preoccupied with the objectives.

Observe and absorb. Look for predictability. Snipers hustling to their favorite sniper spot. I assure you, 9 times out 0f 10, if you fragged him at that spot, he’s on his way back to it. Look for Rushers running the same path again and again. Remember that Claymore spot on Radiation I talked about earlier? I got the same 2 Rushers 5 times each in one Dom match last month, just by placing a claymore in that spot every time I re-spawned. Knowing the map is also about knowing your enemy. This will vary from game to game and lobby to lobby. Even after you’re familiar with the basic traffic flow and habits of a particular map, always take the first few moments of a game to sit back and really study the enemy.

Sure, don’t sprint everywhere (but do sprint across open expanse of a map if you can’t avoid it), stick to cover, keep the edge of the map to your back (especially in FFA games), boost up the difficulty in Combat Training to sharpen your reflexes, gradually turn the look sensitivity up to further sharpen and speed up your reflexes. Do all these things. None of it will help you one bit if you don’t know the maps.

I’m not a 1337 player, not by a long shot. I got frustrated just like you do. I thought I sucked because I just was not as reactive and quick as the other players, and that is somewhat true. I thought that the only way I’d get better was if science found a way to give me the reflexes of a 12 year old. When I finally stopped worrying about how good I was at a silly game I started to notice things I had not noticed before when I was all preoccupied with trying to aim faster and see things quicker. I noticed the patterns of the maps, the patterns of the players. Then I started to get better. I could not get better before because I didn’t know what I was looking for. I’m not a 1337 player, but I can hold my own.

Just sit back, relax and have fun playing the game. Just pay attention to the things I’ve mentioned while you are playing. Observe and absorb. Keep at it and you’ll know the maps in just a few short gaming sessions.

CoD BO: Domination Tactics On Jungle

CALLOUT MAP
I found this map at HupitGaming forums, I believe it was created by a forum member named INFINITE.  If she sees this I would like to thank her for creating it.  It saved me a lot of work.

STRATEGY MAP
STAGING GROUNDS:  These two spots on the map are the safest places to call in your Killstreak packages.
THE HIGH GROUND: The most important area of the map to control.  If you plan on keeping the B flag you must own this shack and the North Path behind it.

A,B & C: Approximate locations of the DOM flags.
S1-5: Likely sniper nesting spots & their site lines.
A1-C4: Attack paths

The key to winning any DOM game is holding down 2 flags, most importantly the B flag, usually located in the middle of the map.  But on Jungle you will not hold onto B unless you also control the High Ground above it.

Given this, it is best to control C and B as C has easier access to both B and the High Ground above it.  If you start at A, you’re initial instinct may be to run everyone to B, while sending a couple of guys up the C4 path to the High Ground.  A more radical strategy would be to send two “sacrificial lambs” to preoccupy the enemy at B and the High Ground while the rest of the team flanks along the A2 path to get and hold C.  Your main concern while performing this flanking maneuver will be the S2 sniper spot at the Pier.  If the sniper has chosen to take up position on the top of the Pier, he will be easily spotted by one of your team.  However, it’s the sneaky git with ghost hiding under the bridge who poses the most danger as he is pretty much invisible.  If he is smart, he will wait for you to pass and take you all out while you are trying to capture C.  So be sure to pop off a few silenced rounds into the brush under the Pier as you pass by it.  Your other concern would be the C3 path that leads directly to the C flag but if you perform this maneuver early and fast enough, the other team should be preoccupied with trying to get B.  Once at the C flag, your main worry is the sniper at S1.  Sending someone up after him is probably best as he will be too lethal with a well placed grenade.  The rest of you need to worry about the guys controlling the High Ground, send a barrage of grenades and flashes across the Small Bridge immediately, with at least one guy covering the C2 path.  If you have 3-4 with you, you should be able to cap that flag pretty quick.  Next I suggest you take up defensive positions at C so you can regroup and fight back the enemy as they try to reclaim it.  If you are lucky, the other team may have got cocky and sent someone for A.  Let them have it, now they will spawn there and will have to leg it back to C.  This will give you some time to capture the High Ground, control the North Path and mount an attack on B.

The High Ground is easy enough controlled.  A couple of guys in the shack can easily dispatch any enemy coming for B along the A3 path.  Placing a claymore along the North Path will temporarily secure it.  If anything it will give one of the guys in the shack fair warning that an attacker is coming when he hears his equipment is destroyed.  Leaving a “lingerer” back there may be a more quantifiable strategy.  Someone with a grenade launcher and a China Lake as a secondary can easily hover, behind the shack along the C4 and C1 paths and control the area.  The guys in the shack will need to keep a vigilant eye out for snipers at S3 and S5.  It’s a good idea to pop off a few shots at S3 every now and then to see if you get a hit marker.

While it is possible for a skilled player to hold down the sniper spot at S1, it is also the first place people will look for you on this map.  Placing one of your Mortars here will almost always guarantee you a kill, sometimes even two!  Be careful of snipers hiding in the brush at S4 too.  Especially if you are flanking the A2 path to get to the High Ground.

When mounting an attack on B from A, I’ve had a reasonable amount of luck by flanking along the A2 path and cutting across and under the S1 sniper spot.  The enemy defending B is usually preoccupied with allies coming along the A3 path and will stay focused on this path, making them easy targets from behind.

These are some of the strategies I use on Jungle.  They are not the only strategies for this map.  I’m sure many of you have your own tactics for this map and I would love to hear about them in the comments section.

CoD BO: The K/D Experiment, Prestige 3 & I’m Done

I’ve hit prestige for the last time in Black Ops.  Prestige 3, I’m done.  Only did it to 3 to get a theme going with my gamertag.  I’m not saying I’m fed up with Black Ops.  Not at all.  But from now on I’m playing strictly for fun.  Gonna get all my favorite pro perks back and I’ll be right as rain.

THE KILL/DEATH RATIO EXPERIMENT

I decided when I hit second prestige that I would do an experiment regarding whether or not focusing on K/D ratio adversely affects team game play for an average player such as myself.  At the start of this experiment my K/D was an abysmal .69 and my win/loss was .90 or so.  Keep in mind I play mostly DOM games and, before I began this experiment, had no problem trying to capture 10 or more flags during a game.  Also keep in mind that I have quit more games because of lag and a$$hats then I care to remember.

The rules I set for myself were simple.  Quit all games that would adversely affect my K/D.  These included games in which I zoned in late only to hear the sky full of enemy aircraft and enemy dogs running around and my standing rule about not playing with a$$hats and Captain Sobels (those demoralizing, feckless, silver spooned gits that do nothing but moan and gripe about how much the team sucks from the safety of their parents basements) always stands.  I would cap the first flag and spend the rest of the game circling the map, clearing out enemies guarding the objectives, campers, looking for the flankers, and guarding our flags.  I would only take another flag if I had a couple of team mates with me or I was fairly sure the enemy was fully occupied on the other side of the map.  When I first started this experiment I held myself strictly to these rules regardless of winning or losing.  In time though my basic nature of comradeship took hold and I would put my K/D at risk for the sake of a reasonably good team.

I finished this experiment with a K/D of .82 and a W/L of .61

From my personal experience I have to say that in objective based games such as DOM, the player that is unequivocally preoccupied with his K/D will be detrimental to the team.  I’m not saying that I didn’t help in a lot of games, I did.  But I had a good team with me on those games in which I was most useful with these tactics.  They did a great job of capturing flags while I did a fairly decent job of shooting the enemy before the enemy shot them!  Most games though I just ended up feeling like I could have done more for the win.  Then there were those games in which I was positive nothing I could have done would’ve helped because we were just that bad collectively–some people just don’t mesh together as a team.

LESSONS LEARNED

But this experiment taught me a lot more.  For starters I have a new favorite class.

Ghost Pro, Hardened Pro, Hacker Pro
Galil with Red Dot, STRELA, Frag/Flash/Claymore

I always used to think that the iron sites on the guns were good enough, then I popped the red dot on the Galil and noticed a significant increase in accuracy over a few games.  Remaining completely hidden by using a silencer on this build is less important as most of the time I’m constantly on the move, flanking and coming up behind the enemy.  If an enemy saw me it was visually and he was more than likely behind me.  I’m still not sure about the “less flinching when shot” aspect of Hardened Pro; people say it helps on 1v1 fights so I’ll let it have a placebo effect on me.  I’m more interested in it’s basic bullet penetration aspects.  There’s many places on many maps in this game where you can kill the most predictable of campers simply by shooting through a wall in the corner of a room.

During my first few runs up the ladder I would get the Famas as soon as it was available, but this time my patience wore thin with the M16.  I tried the Enfield as soon as it became available and found I like it much better than the Famas.  The Famas runs out of ammo too fast for me and using Scavenger with it is a must.  The Enfield’s iron sites are perfect and equipped with a silencer it’s deadly in my hands, I’ve enjoyed using this gun so much that I have kept it equipped on my Legionnaire class even though the tried and true Galil is available for me now.  I also started using the reflex site on the Commando and found this combination to work well but this may have more to do with me not liking the red dot on this gun.  There is something about the way it’s attached to the body that bothers me.

I learned to be a little more cautious in DOM games.  To have a little more self-preservation does not hurt.  But you have to work with the team for the win and compensate for their shortcomings.  A lot of people playing DOM seem to play it the way I did during this experiment and if everyone on your team is doing this you will not win.  Many of the other things I learned are just reinforcements of things I already knew I should be doing but for some odd reason always tend to forget in the heat of battle.  Things like not sprinting everywhere, only fools rush in to objectives, etc.  The one thing I am sure of is that focusing so much on all these meaningless statistics made the game a lot less fun for me.

The most gratifying games for me are the ones in which we win or lose by 30 points or less.  I have the most fun in this these games, right up until the obnoxious Captain Sobel on the losing team inevitably bitches about his team sucking as he backs out of the lobby.  But you know what they say?  Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.

CoD: XboxAhoy on YouTube

Greatday2die over at Black Ops Forum turned me on to one of the best gaming directors I have seen yet.  I guarantee you won’t find a more detailed Call of Duty weapons analysis than this.  As much as I love the fellas over at NextGenTactics, they have nothing on XboxAhoy.  But don’t take my word for it, go check it out for yourself.

XboxAhoy on YouTube

CoD BO: Class Builds; The Canonnier

The Domination Build Canonnier (spelled the French way) is a great all around build and–if you replace Hacker Pro with Ninja Pro–was pretty much my fallback class for my first 50 levels in Black Ops.  Excelling at taking objectives, this guy can take a pounding from grenades, capture the flag, and stop to have a smoke before the next flag.  Let’s look at what we have here…

THE PERKS
Flak Jacket Pro – The core of this build.  Take objectives without fear.  You’ll laugh at Napalm, barely flinch at grenades and claymores, but you’ll have a problem if someone stickies you.
Sleight of Hand Pro – Reload and aim faster, a must for every intense situation.
Hacker Pro – With this you not only have full situational awareness of the battlefield you’re able to turn the enemies tactics and equipment against them.  No sneaky C4 sitting at the enemy flag is going to get you with this perk.

EQUIPMENT
Concussion or Flash Grenades – Whatever floats your boat, you’ll need these to flush out the campers near an objective.
Frag or Semtex Grenades – I have a lot of luck with frags but most people prefer to know where they can stick it.
Claymore – Place these at the flags when you take them.  You’ll be surprised at the amount of people who’ll do a running ‘dive to prone’ to capture a flag without checking for laser lines first.  You could use C4, but I’ve never had much luck with C4 in Black Ops (I’m a beast with it in MW2 though!).

THE WEAPONS
Really, you could use the Assault Rifle of your choice (my preferences are the Galil and Commando).  What is important here is the Grenade Launcher attachment and to be able to fire fast and from medium to long ranges.  You could also use an RPG instead of the China Lake.  I feel the China Lake is more accurate though.

Now for the strategy which will vary slightly depending on the map you’re on.  Take the first flag and place a claymore on it.  Then make your way to the B flag.  I prefer never to rush with the pack and circle around, just be aware the enemy is probably doing the same thing.  Start scanning the map for enemy equipment, what you’re looking for are the telltale signs of enemy snipers overlooking your next objective.  Claymores set on or near stairs, Jammers and Motion Sensors are a dead give away on enemy positions.  Take out any immediate threats while your team is converging on B.  Then if you’re not too busy go help them capture B.  Remember you don’t need to flinch at all the grenades being lobbed at you while capturing this or any flag.  Your team-mates may have to scatter but you should be just fine.  People love Napalm on DOM games but you’ll just use it to light a cigarette as you capture the flag.  Just be careful of the people rushing once it’s been dropped.  Throw Flash Bangs or Concussions in any direction you think they might be coming from to give you those few extra seconds of time needed to capture the flag.  Then, if you’re still standing, scoot for some cover and wait for the rushers, take them out and then proceed to control the area between the two flags your team just captured.

For the rest of the match you just need to patrol the area around and in between those two flags.  If the enemy starts taking one of your flags make a bee line for it and prep the grenade launcher when you can see the contested flag and pop a couple off at it.  A well placed grenade can take out 2-3 enemy without them capturing the flag and you didn’t have to leg it all the way back there to stop them.  Rinse and repeat.

Designed for games of Demolition this guy can take a boat load of punishment and still complete his objective.  The main difference here is the substitution of Tactical Mask Pro for Hacker Pro.  I will be honest and let you know that I have not yet unlocked Tactical Mask Pro and thus have yet to experience the full impact of this build in a match.  The logic is sound though.

THE PERKS
Flak Jacket Pro – The core of this build.  Take objectives without fear.  You’ll laugh at Napalm, barely flinch at grenades and claymores, but you’ll have a problem if someone stickies you.
Sleight of Hand Pro – Reload and aim faster, a must for every intense situation.
Tactical Mask Pro – Breath Nova Gas like it’s your Uncles pipe tobacco.  Stare into a Flash Bang and smile back like it’s just taking your picture and not trying to take you out of the game.

EQUIPMENT
Nova Gas – Save these for the last minutes of the game when on defense and use them when you starting hearing the bomb timer tick off rapidly on offense.
Frag or Semtex Grenades – I have a lot of luck with frags but most people prefer to know where they can stick it.
Jammer – Place these near the objective.  Try to blend it into the environment.  Place it near a desk, in a box, or next to some crates, make it look like it belongs there so that the enemy not using Hacker will rush by it without a second glance.

THE WEAPONS
Really you could use any Assault Rifle of your choice (my preference is the Galil and the Commando), what is important here is the Grenade Launcher attachment and to be able to fire fast and from medium to long ranges.  You could also use an RPG instead of the China Lake.  I feel the China Lake is more accurate though.

Now for the strategy go in slow, let your team rush in and occupy the enemy.  You need a little bit of time to be able to place that Jammer effectively and safely.

The rest is fairly simply.  On offense and with the Jammer in place, make your way closer to the objective and try and place the bomb.  Or cover your teammate as he plants it.

On defense the Jammer becomes slightly more important because it blocks the enemy from seeing where your team is camped around the objective.