Team Fortress 2 - as the name subtly suggests, you can’t be a lone wolf. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best Engineer since Scotty first rubbed against a warp drive, if you’re being held off the last dustbowl cp with two teles already up it’s time to don surgical gloves. Most players on TF2 servers can handle a few classes, but there’s always one mooching at the bottom of your “time played” table - and every second of those few minutes was spent swearing. Here we look at your weaknesses and tell you how to improve.

1. Scout

Symptom: You keep exploding! Or burning. Or just falling over dead when an enemy gives you a stern look.

The Problem: You really want that kill! You die because you allow an enemy to see you for more than a second. The Scout was never designed to go toe-to-toe with anything but a capture point, and even then only when he’s lucky. If you land two good hits of any description on anything your job is already done - your mission is now to escape before somebody decides you’re worth the splash damage. And for the love of god, when you’re chasing that retreating engineer, try to remember that they can build things that begin with Ess-Gee.

2. Soldier

Symptom: You consider the Soldier boring - you and your skills are more important than that!

The Problem: You know what’s really boring? A Team Fortress 2 server with two scouts, three snipers and four spies failing to hold a single CP for a single second. It turns out that in a game based on blowing the opposing team to smithereens, a man with a rocket launcher is pretty useful. A soldier is NEVER a bad addition to a team, now learn to rocketjump and rain splash-damage death down on the enemy!

3. Pyro

Symptom: You’re stuck at a 1:1 kill ratio, at best

The Problem: Argh, you REALLY want that kill! It doesn’t matter how “on fire” they are - running straight at someone who has a rocket launcher is ALWAYS a bad idea. If you want to be a good pyro learn to love the assist. Love it, want it, value it more than the kill - once an enemy is ignited your work is completed. Yes, you know they’re running for a medkit or a doctor - and every step they take back to that pickup is one they’re not taking towards their objective. A good enclosed space barbecue does far more damage than even the most critically sniped headshot - you and you alone can turn an entire offensive wave into a screaming pack of (burning) little girls, running home and crying for their medic mommy.

4. Demoman

Symptom: Even scouts beat you up, and that’s frankly embarrassing

The Problem: The Demoman requires an unprecedented level of tactical planning for an FPS, requiring you to think three, perhaps even four seconds ahead. It’s best to think of having a “personal space” radius of four meters, and anybody closer than that is way the hell TOO close. One-hitting scouts into chunky soup may be one of the best sights in this or any other game, but it’s not something to count on - back off and back often, lest you give the enemy the second best sight: an array of sparkling crit stickies disappearing from the CP in the white light of a demoman who died before his time.

5. Heavy

Symptom: Twenty deaths, no kills.

The Problem: Basic math misunderstanding - three hundred does not equal infinity.
Also, scientists at the Fortress for Team studies recently proved that Heavy skulls actually magnetically attract sniper bullets. Suck them right out of the gun into their brains. Damnedest thing they ever saw. The Heavy isn’t the home of the keenest tactical mind on the team, but you still need some spatial awareness. Specifically, being aware of which spaces have medkits or snipers in them.

6. Engineer

Symptom: Tending a sentry gun is boring!

The Problem: The Engineer is actually a deeply exciting and rewarding class, as long as you focus on TEAM rather than your own score. It’s a critical indictment of human nature that this focus is so rare, but when it happens it can turn the whole tide of the battle. Helping other Engys raise level 3 sentries quickly rather than raising a patch of level 1s to be flattened by the first Soldier to look at them, constant spychecking, even a single good teleporter route can make all the difference.

Watching the filthy BLU tide breaking against the rocks of your defense (and professionally rebuilding within instants of the inevitable uber) is greatly entertaining - and the meaty thump of a wrench hitting a spy is the greatest sound in the Team Fortress audio files.

7. Sniper

Symptom: More deaths than kills.

The Problem: Valve has cunningly balanced the richly interlocking skillsets of all the classes, but one fact is unchangeable: if you’re a crappy shot you will be a crappy sniper. There’s an easy test - do you headshot the enemy sniper, or is it your brains splattered on the gravelpit? If the latter, hit that “,” key and choose a different class. You should also change if
- Your team has a sniper with a higher score. No, it doesn’t matter who was there first.
- There are more snipers than medics. Medics are ALWAYS better than snipers.
- You find yourself catching fire, thereby proving you don’t even have the remotest idea of how you should be using that class

8. Medic

Symptom: You die before deploying an ubercharge/kritzkrieg.

The Problem: If you are not getting at least one complete charge per spawn you are failing as a medic. This problem has been particularly bad since the update, with hordes of demented doctors running around waving bonesaws like they’ve been possessed by Jason Vorhees (with a corresponding drop in intelligence). Your job is to heal people, get the hell out of there when things get rough, and help smash sentries to rubble.

9. Spy

The Symptom: You don’t like playing spy because you’re bad at it

The problem: No problem! Keep it up, and god bless you for not being a spy!

If people who suck at spy would just stop wasting playerslots running around failing backstabs and catching themselves on fire the average TF2 IQ would increase tenfold. Every failed spy is a valuable bullet-absorbing soldier your team doesn’t have, extra points for their pyro, and at best - at best - all they’ll manage is to sap an unimportant dispenser for all of a second before they get spotted, desapped and shotgunificated. Even if Valve released a update with a “James Bond” class and a map called spy_espionage, there would STILL never be a good reason to have more than one spy per team.

Honestly, this has to be one of the best CS videos in existence. These guys really know their stuff…when it comes to spending too much time practicing walking on your friends head in counter-strike.

You’ve got to love the hand grenade scene near the end too. Wow. Digg this video so the newbies can check it out.

If you’ve made a gaming video on par with the classic pubmasters video below, please submit it - we might publish it (likely) and you’ll be famous (unlikely).

Exhausted, seven fellow geeks and I sit around a dimly lit coffee table at three in the morning. The others munch on chips and gurgle Dr. Pepper like there’s about to be a shortage at the bottling plant.

We’re taking a break before diving back into the game. Someone finishes a drink, stands, stretches and says “You’re all going down.” Collectively, we groan. The rule is that once a challenge is issued, the game must begin again – no matter what. We split into different rooms and, stepping carefully over crisscrossing Ethernet cables and router hubs, we begin another round of Halo’s spectacular multiplayer on our Halo Server.

What? You were expecting 20-sided dice?

Halo: Combat Evolved, the original that was to spawn a phenomenon and a franchise that dropped cash like a Grand Theft Auto hooker, was a video game pioneer. Halo changed the way that first person shooters were made and set a new bar for multiplayer combat through Halo servers. In a genre peppered with little else but Counter-Strike and clones thereof, years later, Halo continues to be a popular alternative to newer multiplayer FPS games.

It is with a bout of nostalgia, then, that we take a look at one of the most irritatingly effective enemies ever produced for an FPS title: The Flood. We pose a simple question: which is a more dastardly enemy – the Flood or Venereal Disease? Both are gross and funny when they happen to your ex, sure, but which is more terrifying?

Flood vs. VD: Grotesque Appearance

To begin, both the Flood and venereal diseases cause disgusting growths and deformations in the infected tissues. To illustrate, here is a picture of a UNSC soldier after complete infection by the Flood:

And, just below this, a picture of a disease-ridden appendage has been (thoughtfully) replaced with a silly kitten.

You’re welcome for that.

Most Hideous: VD

Flood vs. VD: Dogged Persistence

This one is a little easier to call. Some VD can never be cured, or cured only after years of painful treatment. Other types of VD can be erased with a simple shot or an antibiotic regimen (or so I hear), making VD contraction a mixed bag as far as persistence goes.

The flood, however, never stop coming. They swarm together so that - once you’ve fired every bullet you’ve ever owned - you get to start using your pistol like a hammer to finish off the leftovers. The Flood have been known to come back to life just for the pleasure of stabbing you in the back.

To illustrate, here’s a video of a headless, armless Flood following a player around. That’s right – this Flood can no longer fight, bite, or infect Master Chief, so its fall-back position is just to follow him around like a lost puppy. A lost, hideous, stinking puppy.

Tell you what, the next time we have to nuke Los Angeles to get rid of Herpes, we’ll call this one a draw.

Most Persistent: Flood

Flood vs. VD: Sneakiness

The ability to transmit itself relatively undetected is a great asset to an communicable disease. Crippling its victims and turning them into bed-ridden germ factories is exactly how the Black Death managed to approach a filthy, hygiene-challenged populace and only managed to kill 30% of them. You want a

sneaky virus? This is not a sneaky virus:

Massive, spore-spreading explosions? Very subtle.
Most Sneaky: VD

Flood vs. VD: Effects on Health

The worst of all VD will result in certain death after sucking the life out of you over a period of several years. For the flood, the above prognosis is often replicated from beginning to end on Tuesday before lunch. Also, there is no such thing as a “minor” bout of the flood.

Most Detrimental: Flood

It is a close call at two points each, but the final verdict must go to the Flood. The horrors of either infection are numerous. With the Flood, however, all the really crappy stuff is no less horrible just because it happens to you after you’re already dead. But for that small act of mercy, the Flood deserves a sincere thank you. Congratulations, Flood.

But seriously, no hugs. We don’t know where you’ve been.

The Unreal Tournament franchise has long been connected with fast paced, imaginative, action packed game play, and the third installment is certainly no exception to the rule. Few things can be more satisfying, and fun, then using the Redeemers secondary fire to chase down your nemesis with a nuclear rocket and watching him get blown to oblivion.

Arguably, one of the more popular maps on Unreal Tournament 3 servers is the CTF (capture the flag) map, Suspense. The map itself is essentially a large suspension bridge, with small bases at each end. People can go on, over, or below the bridge to reach the opposing team’s flag, and then run like a bat out of hell to get back to their base.

In vehicle capture the flag many players seem to find themselves drawn to the Goliath tank. And why is this? Well, it’s a huge tank, with a huge gun. What more can you ask for? However, on Suspense most people will simply try to power the Goliath down the bridge and get destroyed by an incoming AVRiL (anti-vehicle rocket launcher). If you find yourself drawn to the Goliath your best bet might be to sit back at the end of the bridge and try to blast any enemies who step on it to dust. You’ll still have to roll back and forth to avoid AVRiL rockets, but at least you won’t be storming head on into them.

The tops of the bridge make great spots for the skilled sniper, and also give you access to two different UDamage power ups. The only real way up to the top is to walk up the narrow cables, or fly a raptor up there. One of the reasons why this spot is so powerful is because if someone wants to come up and take you down, they’ll have to traverse the narrow cables to reach

you. This will leave them helpless to dodge your sniper fire.

And everyone’s favorite personal nuclear weapon makes an appearance in Suspense, the Redeemer. It spawns under the bridge and upon spawning the manhole covers on the bridge will open to allow easy access to the weapon. The rocket launcher is also an extremely powerful weapon on Suspense, especially due to the popularity of vehicles. Using multiple rockets and the lock-on feature is a basic, but devastating strategy.

As with many CTF maps speed can be your greatest ally. Make good use of the hoverboard and remember that crouching on it while grappling a vehicle will help to steady you as you avoid incoming fire. Grabbing the armor before making a flag run can also greatly increase your survivability on the field.

And lastly, good luck out there. Especially if you venture onto a UT3 server playing Suspense and with me on it. Oh and remember, doing tricks on your hoverboard won’t make you a pro, but at least you can die with style.

When it was released in 2003, the original Call of Duty won for itself a slew of awards, fans, and critical praise. The staying power of the visceral game play and seamless blending of triggered cut scenes brought cash and recognition to rookie development studio Infinity Ward. Seizing their star power, Infinity Ward went on to create three sequels to the series. The most recent addition, Call of Duty 4, plays on over 18,000 game servers as one of the most popular online shooters today.
But what of the little game that could, the one that started it all? In a turn that shouldn’t surprise anyone reading this site, it was the multiplayer game, and not the much-vaunted single player story, that gave the game a life beyond release. Almost five years later, Call of Duty is still being played online on almost 300 COD servers by players from all over the world. Just today, in fact, I shot a Nazi who then cursed at me in German in the chat box. I’m assuming he was cursing, of course, because, again, he was speaking German.

So why do so many gamers choose to wax nostalgic and play software 4 generations removed from the current product?

The primary reason has simply got to be nostalgia. Playing a game from years ago reminds you of what you were doing back then, the friends you played with and the spectacular headshots and last stands you witnessed.

We all have those games. Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings is one of mine. A friend and I used to play on a direct connection against computer rivals on random maps. This, of course, was back when my computer would pick up the phone and call his computer, and we’d tie up both phone lines for however long it took the French to realize that they didn’t stand a chance.

What’s that you say? Oh, yes, it does smell like the golden days in here.
Call of Duty as a series is still a force in the online world, with CoD2 and the original outperforming newer games like Doom 3 and F.E.A.R.

(Call of Duty 4 and Counter-Strike are not on this graph because they make all the other games feel inadequate)

It isn’t exactly news that older, better multiplayer games can stick around longer than newer games that lack the same magic – the most popular online shooter, after all, is the decade-old Counter-Strike with 42,000 operating servers. All the same, however, it is certainly telling that a single franchise can dominate much of today’s online play the way the Call of Duty series does. If you’re new to the series or just haven’t blown the dust off of the original jewel case in a few years, do yourself a favor: go back to the beginnings. You’ll be glad you did.

A Counter-Strike: Condition Zero server can be a confusing place. The aim is to defeat the enemy, but if you so much as point your gun at them you’ll be accused of cheating everything up to and including faking your own birth. That anybody of any skill, anywhere, ever, is using a hack is an article of faith for many CS:CZ players.
Unfortunately this is because Counter-Strike servers have the highest proportion of “filthy cheating scumbags” of any game since the 2000 Paralympics, when the Spanish entered ten perfectly healthy people in their twelve man “disabled” team. Here are five ways to spot cheating:


1. No deathcam

Many servers let you watch your smarter, non-dead team-mates play after you bite the dust. Presumably in the hopes you learn something from their amazing non-bullet-absorbing skills. When a server blacks the screen instead it might as well announce “We have cheats on this server” in bright neon text, because either

a) They don’t want you watching blatantly impossible events as a spectator and going “No way!”

B) They know that their own regular players will cheat with external voicechat programs like Teamspeak, passing on intel to their surviving colleagues like some kind of paramilitary poltergeist.


2. Order of magnitude score

When someone has a score a clear digit larger than everyone else, they’ll tell you it’s skill. In fact they’ll love to tell you that, and would probably pay money for the chance to do so because they have been stuck in this filthy pizza-box-encrusted room for years and they have no-one to talk to and they’re sooo lonely. Dominating a virtual space is the closest they have to friends coming round.

Except they are not dominating, their computer is. When you see scores of 161 over 7, he’s not “THAT good”. Other players are joining in, being headshotted with a Deagle through two doorways by a running opponent, saying “Screw this for a cheating game of soldiers” and leaving.* And now it’s your turn.


3. Wallhacking

In order to draw everything, your computer needs to know everyone’s location. Wallhacking is for those who think “why shouldn’t I know as well?” The answer is of course “Because that’s cheating”, but it doesn’t stop these X-ray excrescences from applying patches to make the walls transparent. It’s much easier to spot wallhackers on your own team than your opponent’s. Rounding a corner and instantly being shot is kind of what Counter-Strike is all about, but when you watch your own teammate walk parallel to the wall apparently entranced by a particular grain of sand on de_dust….

… then you know he’s wallhacking. Which is when you find out what kind of person you are: the kind that will be disgusted by this behavior and leave, or the type prepared to win at all costs. (P.S. If you’re the latter, then be advised that you’re pretty much everything that’s wrong with the world and FYI you should die in a fire).


4. “STFU GAYZORZ!!”

A cheater swears like a sailor who just slammed his testicles in a dictionary of expletives. This isn’t exactly odd online, but since the Counter-Strike cheat is the most hideously insecure exemplar of patheticitude in existence he really overcompensates.* Alas, just as in the game, his desire outstrips his skill and what he wishes was an ego-crushing tirade of wit and abuse is actually just “STFU HOMO!” x 100. It’s also the online equivalent of responding to an accusation with “What do you mean by that?” - a hideously obvious admission of guilt.


5. The Amazing Tracking Gun

The most blatant of all the cheats, you’ll see them running, strafing and hopping walls while their gun smoothly tracks a distant point like a NASA telescope. Another symptom is their mysterious ability to run around with a magnum sniper rifle scoring snap headshots like it was a pistol. These stains upon gaming download aimbots, external programs that deal with all the terribly tedious “Aiming and shooting” required in a shooter. The good news is that their crime is also their punishment - they’re basically chauffeuring their own PC around the map, watching as the computer plays with itself. And no matter how bad your life may be you’ll always be better than someone whose hobby is watching a computer masturbate.

So what should you do when you spot a cheat? Get out of there. You can try cursing them out for a bit, but I assure you’re they’re much better at swearing miserably over voicecomm than you. It’s like finding a card shark in your poker game - the only thing you can do is leave the table, and find another server with better admins. Or set up your own.

People have praised Call of Duty 4 for being one of the finest multiplayer experiences ever made, for being set somewhere other than World War II, and for its incredible realism. But that verisimilitude isn’t limited to how prettily your video card renders a desert-camo MP5 - here are five ways Call of Duty 4 servers emulate a real battlefield:

1. The FNG is dead meat

Your first CoD4 multiplayer game will be a short, brutal experience. You will die, and you will die immediately, and you die not knowing why. The reason, of course, is that you are a #@$ing new guy dropped into an expert killing field (especially since the CoD4 server browser sadistically defaults to Free-For-All when first launched). Imagine a ballet dancer in a bright orange tutu dropped into jungle with ten Predators. Not “tooth and claw” predators, I mean “Can turn invisible and attack Arnold Schwarzenegger ” Predators. That’s an FNG in Free-For-All, that is.

2. A bad player is a liability for everyone

Just like the real world, a bad player won’t just get himself killed - he’ll sink the whole team. On an Unreal Tournament 3 server “teammates” are just people you don’t shoot at (much). But Team Deathmatch is based on score, not total kills, so every time you charge into enemy fire like Nooby McRambo (wondering why circle-strafing doesn’t seem to work) you’re helping the enemy win. In Search & Destroy a bad player means one team is effectively outnumbered, because instead of a trained SAS agent they’ve got a guy running into walls. THAT’S why everybody hates you.

If your kill ratio is less than 1:1 the team would honestly be better off without you. Start holding back, following your team-mates, and if at all possible try to stop catching bullets with your face.

3. Air beats infantry

Most war games have a very strong Rock-Paper-Scissors vibe with air, sea and land units – and in CoD4 there’s no Paper. Air will kick the hell out of infantry whenever and wherever it turns up because - in case you haven’t noticed - the long term handicaps of refueling, budgetary support and vulnerable airfields don’t actually turn up in your CoD4 “Press the Air strike button to convert the enemy to pink mist” first person experience.

The air support is a great incentive for something that shouldn’t really have to be taught - the point in combat is to not die. You need to stay alive a full seven kills to call in the helicopter (aka “The Righteous Wrath of an Angry Machine-Gunning god”) against the enemy. Do so.

4. You learn what kind of man (or woman) you are

If there’s one thing war movies have taught us, it’s that people find themselves on the battlefield. Boys become men, learning what it truly is to live and die (possibly while orchestral music swells in the background). In a less Hollywood interpretation, veterans seem to have a much better grasp of priorities - you don’t see people who used to be shot at for a living losing their temper over half-fat soy in their caramel macchiatos.

Likewise, in CoD4 your character grows and changes as you unlock weapons and perks. You’ll find the style that suits you best: the Schwarzzenegers can tear off with Juggernaut and Steady Aim, the Solid Snakes wreak havoc with silenced weapons and a UAV Jammer, and the filthy, cheap, no honor curs who know nothing of skill take Martyrdom, pansy wimps every one, because they know the only way they can help their team is to get killed.

5. Teammates are great bullet detectors

You depend on your teammates. They’re your cover, your backup, your friends - and it’s really great when they get shot instead of you. You’ve got to watch that radar and head to where you can best help the other green arrows. When one falls over after rounding a corner, you’re in a perfect position to avenge him with a grenade and some fast shooting - possibly while shouting “He was two days from retirement, NOOOOOOOOOO!”

Plus it increases your chances of getting that consolation +2 when the guy behind you takes out whoever puts you down. That isn’t just revenge, it’s good tactics - if you let your killer get away there’s a greater chance he’ll be able to call down airborne fury on your buddies. “CoD Blue Balls”, being killed JUST as you unlock air support but before calling it, is one of the best punishments you can inflict on your enemy.

Too Many Medics? It seems like an impossible fever dream. Looking at last week’s “Total Players By Class” statistics from the Valve website, the medic seems popular enough:

But we both know it’s not like that in practice. Online it’s often a game of class-choice chicken, a real sense of “All right, if I have to” where the most team-minded player on the server dons surgical gloves while three other idiots run around as snipers. Because we all know how useful snipers are on the fourth point of dustbowl. That was until this week when Valve released a whole host of new Medic achievements and unlockables, in the most hotly anticipated medikit since the first Space Marine fell to 01 health. I single-handedly gathered public TF2 server statistics playing on the day of the release:

That might seem awesome, every TF2 server a magical medical Mecca with free healing for all where no-one ever dies - but further highly scientific study reveals a disturbing problem:

Almost every one of these new medics is acting like he’s been punched in the head by the Heavy. Repeatedly. It’s like somebody filled an ER with lemmings dressed up in little white coats, as Medics charge into Pyros, dash onto sticky-bomb fields, and sprint, bonesaw-drawn, directly at an already spun-up Heavy - presumably hoping that their fearsome Teutonic accent will cause the All-Killing Minigun Of Death to jam out of fear. (Note: it is recommended to say “Just like medic to bring saw to gunfight!” after shredding them).

In an attempt to highlight the vital support class, the update has temporarily destroyed it as a majority of medical morons chase unlockables. That’s not even counting the dedicated servers with names like “MEDIC ONLY SAWSAWSAW!!!” where packs of players line up in turn to earn achievements, thereby utterly defeating the point of those achievements, the game, and their own useless lives. It’s become quite clear that if Valve included the achievement “Darwinism: place your penis on the table and smash the keyboard on it over and over 0/10″ then server voicecomms would be full of high-pitch screaming.

On the upside it’s only temporary. The tf2 achievement server whores will get their fill within a week or two, and we’ll be able to enjoy the update for what it is: fresh content for an already awesome game designed by the Force of Brilliance that is Valve, designed to prevent servers from becoming “Standard Attack on Dustbowl #4525332″. The changes in ideal sentry spots to deal with Critzkrieg, the value of the sniper taking out key personnel, and of course the strategies of the surgeon-stalking spy. I’m looking forward to the pavlovian pleasure of the “achievement unlocked” sound. You know, when I’m playing on a team that doesn’t already look like half of New York General Hospital got teleported into Hydro.

In the meantime? Spy, gentlemen. Because unless Computron 5000 has logged on my private server to defend Goldrush there is no way anyone can keep track of all their Medics these days.

Moving in tandem, small groups of special forces soldiers assemble after dropping into enemy territory. Before rolling dunes of desert scrub and sand blasted, lonely buildings, the armed soldiers prepare to go to work. Over a mile of sand and an armed, organized opposing force lies between them and their mission objective, but, to be honest, that’s what makes it fun.

It’s a common enough scenario that plays out on any number of America’s Army game servers on a daily basis, but this group of players has what could conservatively be called “extra training”: every member of the 1st Veteran’s Battalion, over 200 in all, are active or retired members of a real-life military from somewhere in the world.

“I would describe it as probably the tightest knit group that comes from across the nation and even across continents,” says Sergeant Chris Hankins, 31. Hankins, who goes by the handle ‘(1VB) C4,’ has served as, among other positions, a Crew Chief with the U.S. Marines and a gunner aboard the M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank. “Gaming with veterans is unlike any other group. It is the same environment that we are used to when on active duty, reserves or on deployment. It’s the guys and gals around you that make the environment what it is.”

These veteran members of the fourth largest clan operating anywhere in the U.S. Army designed game are certainly dedicated and effective gamers. To date, the 1VB has waged over 91,000 hours of simulated combat with more than a million kills. On average, a member of the 1st Veterans has died in virtual warfare 4700 times on America’s Army servers.

“Gaming with veterans is unlike any other group,” Hankins adds, “You know how most of the members will act and think.” The group functions, as one would imagine, in organized military fashion and 1VB members are often held to the same high moral standards in game as they would if they were wearing their real-world uniforms.

Using this discipline, the members experience some of the same camaraderie and fierce excellence in competition that makes them a well known force in the AAO community. One might think that this would be the end of the group’s influence.

A glance at their website, however, shows that online combat is not the only thing on these gamers’ collective consciousness. The website forum, active in several topics, features a large section on “Military and Veteran Issues”. This topic, the largest single subject after the “General” forum, includes updates on lawsuits against the V.A. for lack of care and discussions of the Veteran’s Compensation Equity Bill.

“I have found out information not previously available or easily accessed by normal means,” Hankins says of the forums, where he acts as an administrator. “Some of our members are employees of the VA or have some inside connections to the DAV.” This, Hankins claims, has given the group valuable information as they struggle through an often cumbersome veterans’ care system. It also functions as a gathering ground for others who have faced the brutal realities of a true war. The forum has areas devoted to dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and other emotional costs of combat.

“Being around veterans is like having a security blanket or extended family,” Hankins says, adding that he too has shared personal issues with his virtual squad mates. “We initially came together for the gaming, but it has developed into so much more.”

If you haven’t tried America’s Army, please find a good America’s Army server, maybe even 1st Veteran’s Battalion’s AA server and experience the camaraderie for yourself.

Scrimming can be one of the best ways for you and your team to get in some solid Counter-Strike: Source practice. Arguably the easiest way to find a scrim is through the IRC channel #sourcescrim, on the IRC network GameSurge. If you do not currently have IRC or know how to use it, it’s a safe bet that someone on your team will, but as a rule of thumb everyone should have IRC so anyone can look for a scrim at any given point.

If your team currently has their own game server, finding a scrim can be much easier.

If you’ll be hosting the scrim, make sure that your CS:S server is set up ahead of time. Have it on the right map, set the password, make sure any mods you have on it(such as mani admin) are turned off, ect. Generally, you’ll want your scrim server to have no mods on it, or else people may complain that you’re using it your advantage. Because of this it’s a good idea to have a game sever dedicated to scrims and matches.

Now, when you’re ready to actually start searching #sourcescrim for scrims you can either send a private message to someone who is advertising a scrim that is to your liking, or advertise your own. If you advertise your own, do not spam your message again and again, doing so will simply get you banned from IRC. Most people will want to scrim on the CAL MotW (CAL’s Map of the Week). Make sure that all of the players on your team have the map downloaded beforehand and that all your team members are ready to go. This means that if you’re hosting you have your five players waiting in the server already, and if you’re not hosting then everyone is ready to connect to the hosts CS:S server. All maps can be downloaded from CAL’s website. You should try to find scrims with teams who are located somewhat close to you. For example, if you’re on the East coast try to scrim with another team on the East coast.



When you finally get into a scrim don’t be surprised if the other team does not have all five players right away. There’s no need to spam things such as, “You must have 1, 2, 3, 4, [5] Pokémon to battle!”. The other team surely knows how many Pokémon they need to battle,

and pointing it out is pointless and will only serve to agitate their team. This is important because if you’re team is serious about league Counter-Strike: Source play than you’ll want a good reputation so that you can get better scrims. Also, do not type messages to the other team after the scrim has started. Only use team chat, or talk in Ventrilo, Teamspeak, ect. If you suspect the other team of hacking, do not start spamming the chat with messages such as, “OMFG HAX!”, “Nice hacks” and the like. If you honestly feel as though the other team is hacking then simply leave the server and move on to the next scrim.

The world of scrimming in Counter-Strike: Source is a cruel one, but if everyone could start to follow some basic scrim etiquette things could easily change. At the very least though, following these tips will gain you respect from respectable players, and that will help get you into some better scrims.