I don't consider myself an "Elite" Scrummer, but those who've played me know that I'm certainly better than average. I can hold my own against the likes of Ben, MESS, Burnsey, and HankstaTanksta. Which is more than what most of you can say. (Don't take that personally, I'm just being honest). I consider those people, (Hanksta in particular), to be of the best scrummers in the game and credit much of my own skills to what I've learned by playing against them.

The purpose of this thread is to share my knowledge of the game with those of you who want to improve your own skills as a scrummer. Hopefully this information will help.

My definition of camping is when you stay in a stationary spot and await the scrum carrier to come to you with the scrum, then snatch it from him when he gets near. This stationary spot is most often located in or near the goal, but is not necessarily the case every single time. A camper can be located anywhere on the map between the scrum carrier and the goal.

As far as I'm concerned, this is part of the game and is sometimes unavoidable. Depending on how or where you spawn in relation to the goal and the scrum carrier. When I camp a goal and people call me a camper, I just brush it off because I know it's only 1 or 2 of the 6 to 10(+) goals that I (or my team) will end up scoring that round.

Folks who say they never camp are liars, folks who say camping is bad are hypocrites, and folks who camp exclusively hardly ever win anyways, so why care?

Campers don't bother me. I personally enjoy the added challenge to scoring my goals. 4 out of 5 times I out maneuver them and score anyways. When someone does camp a goal out of me, I compliment them by saying gc (Good Camping). Because camping a goal out of me is NOT an easy task. I actually make them earn it.

People who get pissed off at campers are people who haven't yet learned how to get around them. No offence, but I think most of those folks are either mediocre scrummers or newbie's. Once upon a time, I used to be one of those people myself. So to all of you who are currently in that boat, don't feel bad. Even Hanksta was there at one point.

Camping has been around since the beginning of Think Tanks and it'll never go away. Getting pissed off and complaining about it is not going to change that fact. So why let it bring you down? Just get over it and play the game.

To those of you who might've been offended by my statements, I do apologize. It's just my honest opinion, and the truth isn't always peaches and cream. Sorry...

When camping occurs far away from the goal, I prefer to call it "stalking". Cause really, that's what you're doing... Your stalking the goal carrier, trying to position yourself between him and the goal. Predicting his next move so that you can snatch the scrum from him and take it to the goal yourself, without getting blown away by him at the same time. I think it's a genius technique that only the most talented of scrummers have mastered.

As far as battlemoding goes, the way I see it... So long as you're pursuing the scrum, anyone who gets in your sites is fair game. Out of good sportsmanship, I usually give that person a warning shot before I unload a clip. If he doesn't get out of my way, then he's asking for it. I don't consider it battlemoding so long as you're perusing the scrum, not the person who happens to be in your sites.

I never get mad at people for shooting me while I'm far away from the scrum. I'll do the best I can to dodge their bullets and get out of their line of fire. Most of the time they'll back off because they're not perusing me, they're perusing the scrum and I just so happened to be in their way.

If they continue to peruse me after I've gotten out of their way. I'll just let them battlemode me to death and take the next spawn. You can bet I'll leave that person smoking before he finishes me off though. Most of the time it's because their mad at me for stealing a goal from them or something like that. Ironically, I usually end up re-spawning closer to the scrum than where I was when they BMed me to death.

Often times, I'll be shooting at the scrum pack from a distance and someone would get in front of me and take the shots. It's not that I'm battlemoding that person, they just got in my line of fire. They don't understand that and accuse me of battlemoding them. Whatever... Just brush it off...

Not that it's all about winning. It's all about having a good time and enjoying the game and the company that comes with it. But let's face it, winning is nice. I look at it like a race. We're racing for the scrum. If someone gets in the way, you gotta do what it takes to win the race. Sometimes I'll soften that person up but keep him alive because I'll need that persons cannon to help take out the scrum pack. Once that person has served his purpose, I'll finish him off and score the goal. That strategy has came back to bite me in the ass several times. I wouldn't recommend going there unless you really know what you're doing.

As far as Diving goes, many people confuse diving with falling. Sometimes you can't control the momentum or bounce off a rock / tree or may even get nudged off the cliff by someone else. These things happen, no sense in getting pissed off about it. In fact, in those rare occasions, it's kind of fun to yell WEEEEE on your way down!

Diving on the other hand, is when you deliberately drive off the edge of the cliff to cause a re-spawn, whether it be with the scrum or not.

I don't have a problem with people diving if they don't have the scrum. Especially if they're low on life and the scrum is far away. It's a risky strategy that may or may not work in your favor. Some people don't want to take the risk of getting a bad spawn and would rather chase the scrum smoking. For others... It's worth it. I personally don't care either way. In fact, I sometimes take the risk myself. I don't find anything wrong or unsportsmanlike about that and adamantly disagree with anyone who does.

It's when people dive with the scrum that pisses me off. Sometimes they'll try to pass it off as a fall, but those of us who saw it happen, know the truth.

I also hate it when people crawl along the edge of the cliff with the scrum just to let it fall when they get shot down. I call this "Cliff Crawl Diving" and to me, it's worse than diving because it eats up valuable game time from the clock. At least with a straight dive, you get the spawn quickly and can resume play immediately.

If you know what you're doing, cliff crawling can be a very beneficial strategy in avoiding gun fire! But it's hard to drive along side the cliff without falling, so I'd suggest practicing by yourself before using the technique in your own game. A lot of rookies see people like Azazel and myself do it and score, then try to do it themselves and end up falling off the edge. It's another strategy that I would not recommend, unless you really know what you're doing.

Running is when you grab the scrum and take it away from the goal. This can serve two purposes. One would be to disperse the crowd of people at the goal. The other would be to get the scrum far enough away from the goal to give you a chance at scoring should you get a bad spawn after getting shot down. What's ironic is when you do this then spawn close to or inside the goal. You end up wishing you didn't drive the scrum so far away.

When I run with the scrum, I try not to go too far away. I'll go until I see almost all of the red dots move away from the goal on my radar, then start heading back, unless I'm low on life. If that's the case and there's no Heal Power Up, I'll stop and let the rest of the pack catch up to me. They usually end up killing me pretty quickly, but not without a fight. I always go down swinging. Even if I'm being chased... I'll turn around and drive backwards, so that I can shoot at them as they blow me away.

Running could be good strategy depending on the circumstance, but keep in mind... "No guts, no glory!" I can't tell you how many times I scored by going kamikaze gun ho and charging straight into the pack of people standing between me and the goal. Often times, you'll get shot down right at the goal, but for all those times you do score with just one shot of life left makes it all worth while! You'll never score by running away from the goal, and there's no greater feeling than to score while under heavy fire.

If you're going to run, just be careful not to waist time. What I don't like is when people run with the scrum to deliberately eat time off the clock. That's just bad sportsmanship.

So there's lesson one, study hard! I'll give you a quiz at the end of the week. LOL See ya online!!! And remember, every time you get schooled, you learn something new!

Good job. Here's a link to my thread that inspired this one.
Paisano's definition of camping/diving/battlemoding

Aw yes... Thank you Pais... Although I don't think this thread will be very popular LOL it's too long :)

I read it. ;) Good analysis there.

Very good. And it is all true, though you missed an essential bit of info. Another greatest all-time scrummer would be Tally-Ho. I am a OK scrummer, but man, this guy is like a probowl runningback among rookie linebackers: no contest. Other than that, this is one of the most helpful articles I have read. Thanks. Cya all later.
Hail the Dark Assasins!!
-Dark

@Deej,

I would have to disagree with this statement.

1. There are people who dont camp because
of a couple of reasons: A) Honor some people
are brought up with a set of values.
B) Thrill of the chase, I think u mention this, some
people like the challenge of tracking the ball
carrier down.

2. I dont consider it camping when spwaning
near the goal 1-2 seconds before a ball arrives
to the goal.

3.camping to me is if a player intentions are to use
the camp tactics by: A) sitting in the goal 5 seconds
or more.
B)area camping which you mention already, by position
yourself in between the ball carrier and the goal
for 5 seconds or more.

4.Except when coming onto a group of tankers fighting to score
and waiting for an opportunity to steal the ball, of course
your not a camper.

I think its reasonable to say that in some instants camping
is unavoidable due to people perceptions of what camping
is, but you have to keep in mind of the random factors of
the game.

Peace

Last edited: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 at 1:28:02 PM

HankstaTanksta?

Why must you remind us of that tragic day when he left! :S