Dear fellow Gearheads,
There are dark days ahead of us. Even with the recently-released Horde Command Pack and the promise of free maps to those more frugal players amongst us, our numbers are set to drop; and drop severely.
Battlefield 3 has already dealt us a jarring blow, and things are made even more desperate with Modern Warfare 3 mere hours away from release. Before you know it, full lobbies will be a distant memory, bots will be your most common comrade, and you’ll have no competition for those weapon pick-ups.
Sure, there may be some benefits: high scores, lots of ribbons and a spot atop the leaderboards; but try and think long-term. This community could perish unless we implement some strategies to consolidate our numbers and attract some new players. If I may suggest the following:
Chainsaw Etiquette
If you are dispatched by a player who has a predilection for the chainsaw or retro bayonet (like my brother, who I played with for several hours recently), may I ask that you refrain from protracted stints of verbal abuse? Yes, it can be frustrating to die by the blade – particularly when you have your shotgun out – but it’s no reason shout the likes of “n00b” or “cheat”. You’ll triumph more often than not if the circumstances are to repeat, so accept the death, keep calm and respawn.
A gracious loser would make for a happy ending to this scenario
For the Horde
You may not know the person you’re playing with, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t revive them during a game of Horde. Seriously, I must have spent about five minutes in total crawling from player to player during one harrowing match on Blood Drive, yearning for someone to pick me up. If you had a new player go through that ordeal, they’d more than likely switch discs and be done with us.
If at first you don’t succeed
This is another Horde-related pointer: if you die during a wave of Horde and you can’t afford the respawn, just wait a few minutes while we clean up the remaining Locust and Lambent threats. Don’t quit out nine waves into a promising match. Further to that, let’s say that all of us die, why don’t we all hang around for the next attempt? Horde is such a great selling point for players that aren’t up for the cut-throat competitive scene, don’t dissuade them with your rage-quitting.
Participate
Events are regularly scheduled (read: pretty much every weekend since release), so jump on and play a few games of “Boom Snipes” or “Can You Dig It?” Not only will you earn ribbons – and by extension, medals - but you’ll also find some compelling twists to the Gears multiplayer formula. For example: I imagined that when players are handed a Digger and Boltok pistol to start, all I would see was explosions. You know which ones I’m talking about, the kind with fire. I couldn’t be more wrong, as heads were popping all over Drydock.
Get ready for a new type of explosion
To close: I love this game, and I love playing it with friends, siblings and total strangers. Please don’t contribute to the demise of the community that plays Gears of War 3. Adopt some of my tips, and maybe I’ll play some Wingman matches against actual people!
Do you have any tips that you would like to share? I look forward to hearing from you.
Warmest Regards,
Tristan Damen
Gamertag: Dutch Rootsman
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