Camping (computer gaming)
Camping is computer gaming jargon for the practice of staying in one area of the game world waiting for enemies to come to you rather than actively seeking combat. Players camp in order to gain an advantage over their opponents. Most players disparage the practice in Player vs Player or PvP, claiming it goes against the way most games are meant to be played.
Camping is most common in first-person shooters when a player finds and hides in a location that gives them a clear advantage over other players. The position is normally hidden from casual view and is used to ambush or carry out sniper attacks on other players. In fast-paced games like Quake or Unreal Tournament, this is often regarded as an annoying and unsporting practice. In more tactical team-based games (for example, Counter-Strike) this might not apply, because ambushing is often a necessary part of the game.
One form of camping, considered by many to be especially reprehensible, in some first-person shooters is spawn camping, also known as respawn or refresh camping. A spawn camping player guards the positions where players are brought into the map when they are just entering the game or when they are revived after being killed ("respawn"). In fast-paced games, the camper has the advantage in that they are able to kill players before they have a chance to collect their starting weaponry or even before they get their bearings.
Other First Person Shooter games may experience other forms of camping, such as "vehicle camping," "armor camping," or "weapon camping." Such people wait in games at places where items such as unique weapons, vehicles, or armor upgrades appear. They then either take said item, or deny access to all other players as best they can. In the case of the former, it is merely considered rude to stand around not participating, especially in team based games such as Battlefield 1942, but the latter is usually considered worse. People who deny the item to others usually make use of its properties to gain an advantage over other players.
In massively multiplayer online role-playing games and MUDs, where there is no Player vs Player combat, camping is commonly the practice where the camper stays in a location near where non-player character monsters spawn or enter the game world. In some games, these positions are easy to spot and once a player or group of players is capable of establishing their camp, they can gain more rewards with less risk to their player character. Generally, it is accepted that camping NPCs is a fact of some games, and by convention this is respected. There is no official rule granting players exclusive rights to a camp.
A long camp is a extended camping session for a rare or slow spawning non-player character. Sometimes players sit on these camps for days, waiting for the non-player character of interest.
