The Camping Myth

“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.” –Sun Tzu, The Art of War

In gaming, particularly first-person and third-person shooters, there is a decisive split between gamers regarding a strategy commonly called “camping”. Techopedia.com defines a camper as “a video gamer who finds a strategic spot within a level and waits there for players, game-controlled enemies or choice items to appear.” This is not cheating.

The most recent popular games to hear the war cries of unsatisfied players are the popular battle royale games PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Fortnite. These players shout down their opponents, saying they’re going to report the winner of the engagement to the developer and have them banned, post YouTube videos about the demerits of the strategy, and start flame wars in forums.

However, the history of this strategy is much older than video games.

Scene: A snow-covered field. A man is crawling through the snow slowly, and finds a strategic position. One of his countrymen had fallen earlier in the day. He knows the general location of his enemy, and has crawled here to make amends. The day stretches on, the bone-chilling cold leeches through his clothing, but he dare not move. The sun begins to set. And there is the sign of his enemy’s weakness! The flash of the setting sun on his rifle scope as he gives up for the day. The man squeezes off a single shot and watches his enemy fold like a cheap blanket.

That is the story of Simo Häyhä, the legendary sniper known as “The White Death” who dogged the Russian army in the winter of 1939–1940. He was a patient marksman, and not one of his enemies would have called him a coward. Snipers and skirmishers before him had made their impressions on history, and the books tell their tales as well.

The battle royale is a kind of asymmetric warfare. That is, the player is one — or one in a squad of up to four — against a small army of 99 other players, all of whom have one intention: to be the last person alive. To do this, tactics of varying modes can be used to defeat opponents. Many, if not most, players choose a run-and-gun strategy, employed most vigorously by players who have no instinct of self-preservation. After all, there is typically a host of well-stocked locations offering protective gear; first aid kits, painkillers, and energy drinks that magically heal the player; endless ammunition; and myriad other items to help the quick-fingered gain an edge.

That being said, there are other gamers with some tactical background who revert to self-preservation tactics and work carefully against their opponents. One of those tactics is the misunderstood, and misnamed, camping. This is not cheating.

What the loudest decriers call camping is in actuality an adaptation of maneuver warfare, in which strategic movement is of paramount importance. Rather than continuously contacting and attempting to kill the enemy, the player moves efficiently, gathering resources, and doesn’t waste energy on multiple-combatant engagements that increase the odds of being killed. What the player does is isolate the enemy and attempts to place them on even footing by forcing the enemy into the player’s controlled domain, often while disrupting their movements and cutting them off from supplies. This is not cheating. This is psychologically manipulating the less scrupulous player into an engagement in which both players have a 50/50 chance of winning.

The most rallied-against example of this tactic is “just sitting in a house waiting for me.” Well, yes, that’s probably what it seems like to a run-and-gunner. The most common PUBG scene follows:

1. The player selects a two-story house that is likely to have a small cache of weapons and gear.

2. Once the player enters, they close the door behind them. The player finds a shotgun and some ammo, a weak ballistic vest, a motorcycle helmet, and a frying pan. Suddenly, the player hears the engine noise from a motorcycle approaching.

3. The player quickly scans the windows to determine the direction from which the enemy is approaching. Once the enemy is spotted, the player rushes upstairs and takes a defensive position behind stacked boxes with a clear view of the landing at the top of the stairs.

4. The enemy is heard rustling below for any leavings in the house. There are likely some items that the player left behind in his haste to find concealment. The enemy is heard coming up the stairs.

5. The enemy’s head emerges, and as they scan the area for a threat, the player pumps off two rounds from the shotgun and drops the enemy. The enemy’s loot is now up for grabs.

The player would inevitably be labeled as a camper, and usually are, but the player had done nothing of the sort. Instead, the player exploited the enemy’s weakness — in this case, careless house-clearing — and overwhelmed the enemy with superior firepower from a strongly held defensive position. This is not cheating. Let’s break it down.

1. The player selected an enclosed environment that can be controlled, rather than staying in the open and becoming a target.

2. The player closed the door on entry; this simple tactic signals that the house may be unoccupied and will leave aggressive run-and-gunners under the belief that it’s safe to enter without checking windows for movement. The player gathers what they can quickly and equips their loadout as they hear the engine noise.

3. The player places themselves at an advantage by knowing from which direction the enemy is approaching and chooses the best possible concealment or cover available with the single point of entry in their sights.

4. The aggressive enemy is making a racket, believing the house to be empty. The enemy should have slowly cleared the bottom level of the house, making as little noise as possible. This may have led the player to erroneously move from their defensive position to investigate.

5. The player remained in a defensive position and used it to their advantage as the enemy charged up the stairs. The enemy fully placed themselves in the open without taking the time to scan second level from the top of the stairs. End game.

While in real life this would not be tactically perfect, in the online multi-player world it is a tried-and-true method. In the heart of Sun Tzu’s statement at the beginning of this article, the enemy was deceived, and it is this deception that leads immature gamers to scream “CHEATER!” into their microphones. That would be better directed toward the speed hackers. And if you’re getting that upset while playing a video game, it’s best you probably stop playing for a bit. Get a beer. Take a breath. Whatever it takes. Because camping is not cheating. It’s not even camping.