Separate or Together (Camping and Looping)

[Black Wolf]

Recently, I've begun exploring the exciting world of playing zombies with complete strangers. It's... exciting. In various ways. Generally, I play solo or with a couple other people I know outside the game, and in these situations, I typically employ looping (aka the conga line, the rape train, etc.) However, it seems like nobody I find online likes this. I keep finding myself in rooms with people whose high rounds far outrank my own, whose only plan is to get to the bridge and hold it for the entire game.

Now, frankly, I think the camp strategy is a little boring, and I feel like it leaves you more vulnerable in some ways, but I'm wanting to get the pros, cons, and anything else from more experienced players. What do you like to do in co-op games, and more importantly why?

[MrCostari]

Split up and run trains.

About the bridge camp you mentioned, did you meant Shangri-la with that?

[TroubledTurkey]

I like to note where everyone is currently camping/looping, and do a full map run by myself accordingly. When everyone else sticks together and camps it makes it a lot easier on me to run the map, and a lot easier for them because of the reduced Zombie flow.

Too many games I see people camping in rooms with their backs against the wall.

The Elevators in FIVE, the Catwalk on Der Riese. Places like this. Whenever I see people camping up in these areas I know I will never have a problem doing full map (or partial map) routes.

Occasionally people will split up and run trains, and I usually just run in between whatever spots they are in, or find my own spot.

On Ascension, I usually end up with one person at Flopper Lander Pad, one person at PaP, and one person in the starting room. When this happens, I will run from Stamin-Up, down the hallway towards and around the Auto Turret, then through the hallway in front of Flopper Pad, and then into the area with the drop off near the PaP, then back again (Or up towards the Stakeout and down the drop, and back, depending on how zombies are spawning) OR I will just kick in front of Stamin-Up.

I like to atleast know 4 training spots on every map, since I know that I will always be able to have one to myself when this happens.

When I find other people doing Map Runs, I will follow them until I see a pattern in their routes (or they yell at me XD) and come up with my own loop that doesnt clash with theirs (Hard sometimes)

I just try to be a manageable partner to play Zombies with. But I NEVER camp. I just dont do it.

[Superhands]

Obviously camping in the early rounds works best, then splitting up and taking your own different areas is the key to high rounds. Try not keep the areas pretty close together; if you're playing Moon, your team are in the dome and you're at the spawn and you go down, chances are you'll die out.

I'd also recommend a small area loop over a wider map loop any day - not only does it make gathering and taking out zombies quicker so the rounds go quicker, but it allows your teammates to use a solid revive strategy if everyone is always in the same place when they go down.

[Black Wolf]

About the bridge camp you mentioned, did you meant Shangri-la with that?

Whoops, I made this post way too late to realize I missed that detail. I was referring primarily to the Shangri-la bridge, but also to the Der Rise "catwalk." I call them both bridges.

I like to note where everyone is currently camping/looping, and do a full map run by myself accordingly. When everyone else sticks together and camps it makes it a lot easier on me to run the map, and a lot easier for them because of the reduced Zombie flow.

Don't you find that this gets you a disproportionate amount of the zombies? Logic would state that the campers would get bulk of it (math would say 75%), but that doesn't seem to be the case in practice. Also, do you have trouble with someone being willing to leave camp to revive you?

...I ask too many questions. :oops:

[TroubledTurkey]

I like to note where everyone is currently camping/looping, and do a full map run by myself accordingly. When everyone else sticks together and camps it makes it a lot easier on me to run the map, and a lot easier for them because of the reduced Zombie flow.

Don't you find that this gets you a disproportionate amount of the zombies? Logic would state that the campers would get bulk of it (math would say 75%), but that doesn't seem to be the case in practice. Also, do you have trouble with someone being willing to leave camp to revive you?

...I ask too many questions. :oops:

Contrary actually. There are intervals where campers will get a large chunk, and I will get a large chunk, but it will usually end with me having 100s more kills (2 cases in my entire Black Ops zombie career where this DIDNT happen)

And yes, the revive thing happens ALL THE TIME. My routes always leave me in a great position to Revive everyone, and I do, many many times, but when I die, they just leave me and then die. (Not EVERY time, but this is usually how it goes with randoms)

Honestly, a lot of the time, when I know my partners are "bad" or not on their game, I say its alright if they dont revive me. I am a master of Comebacks. But when they are genuinely "bad players" they will freak out when I die and basicly go on suicide missions trying to revive me, regardless of what I say.

[K1llsteelr]

I would rather loop but there is two problems with this

When you play with less experienced players its easier

to stay with them so they can get jug etc to stand a chance

Hopefully they might learn running is fun

I will use kino for the other example theres nothing i like more than running zombies

But for me taking forever to get to 20 is painful

In a 3+ player i would rather hold an area and than start

running individualy when spawn delay increased

This is where the fun begins

I havent much experience with Shangri-la but camping the bridge makes me yawn

But its another safe area for new players

I dont undestand why people all go there when there doing the easter egg as you have little chance of keeping mr napalm

And the easter egg is pointless unless you can run anyway

DR waw catwalk i have one word

Penetrator

One sure way to get you negative feedback on your profile

I mean when i was bored of moaning about stealing all the kills and explaining the point that there all down on the map for the taking

Ie You do not need to hide and cuddle in a corner in a video game

I would buy a sniper and join them and show them what killstealing really is

On hindsight this was not the best thing to do

But getting players off the catwalk is impossible and stealing all the kills is not clever or cool

To be honest with five i dont mind holding the Pap room with 3 people and taken turns to run in the mule kick room

The chances of this happening are slim

Im sure you can but i have never seen 4 players running seperate areas in five and that map doesnt see much action

Running the basement is ok but the combination of nova creepers and the teleporter uncertainty puts people off

I know your say this is a stupid question but are the teleporters really random down there

Because every now and again you sometimes seem to get a pattern

I wouldnt put past treyarch if they put some crazy mechanic in that there is some logic to it all

It sounds insane but if you add a randomiser that is triggered in a certain argument it would make it near impossible to work it out unless you had a sequence and a idea what would trigger the randomiser

The reason i say this is the basement is a big part of the map to be a no go area

Im sure if flopper was there players would be fighting to be in the basement with m&s and skullcrusher

This would be far to easy

But i think the perks are tied to the story so it wouldnt happen anyway

[ASmoothCriminal]

I think Superhands has the best idea in mind here. Really, camping or running trains varies by round and by different maps. There are many different strategies for some of the maps that either include separating to run trains or running as a team. Keep in mind, if the map is small enough and a person goes down during a team looping strat, the revive is not a problem as long as your team knows to kill as little zombies as possible at that time.

Maps that come to mind for this are: Der Riese, Kino, and Shangri-la; but at the very same time, individual trains can be run on these maps to a similar effect. As long as your team has a definitive strategy and those strategies don't collide, you will be fini.

The idea that camping should never be done or is a bogus strategy is pretty strange. Camping early on and getting about 15k-20k points before moving on to trains and buying perks is a very easy and fast way to advance through the early rounds.

So my vote for other would entail; It depends on the map, if a solid camping strategy is available then that's how I will spend my early rounds. After amassing enough points I will buy my perks, Bowie/sickle, claymores/betties, and go off on my way running whatever circuit available. If there are no traps on the map then I will get M&S w/ PHD, a ray gun, or the wonder weapon of the map.

[Jloves2game]

Recently, I've begun exploring the exciting world of playing zombies with complete strangers. It's... exciting. In various ways. Generally, I play solo or with a couple other people I know outside the game, and in these situations, I typically employ looping (aka the conga line, the rape train, etc.) However, it seems like nobody I find online likes this. I keep finding myself in rooms with people whose high rounds far outrank my own, whose only plan is to get to the bridge and hold it for the entire game.

Now, frankly, I think the camp strategy is a little boring, and I feel like it leaves you more vulnerable in some ways, but I'm wanting to get the pros, cons, and anything else from more experienced players. What do you like to do in co-op games, and more importantly why?

Same here, when i join randoms they usually tend to camp and that is ok by me because trains can get kinda boring. I actually like to camp in Der Riese but i haven't really tried it in a lot of maps. Ascension has always been one of my favorite maps to hold it down.

[Silentcrisis]

Depends if i'm going for a high round. I still camp on the catwalk sometimes on Der Riese with mates to get that nostalgic feeling of the old WaW days before I knew of kiting. Usually on co op games now I tend to move around the whole map, not really kiting but just moving around constantly and killing the zombies as they come. Of course this proves inneffective as the rounds get higher so in the late teens or 20's I usually start running trains. I never run trains with my teammates as I find it too dangerous.