Camping

“

I hate you campers; everybody bloody hates you! Click to listen — The Demoman

”

Camping is the term for players who wait for enemies to pass through a certain area before attacking them. Often the camper will be poised in the same position, and often returns to the same position after killing an enemy. Players that camp will rarely leave the location in question, and usually do not actively seek out opponents outside their preferred area. Camping is not to be confused with ambushing, in which the ambusher usually travels to the enemy rather than waiting for the enemy to come to them.

Camping is relatively often a legitimate strategy, as the player can hinder movement of enemy forces. However, certain varieties of camping, such as spawn-camping, ruin the enjoyment of the game. Camping a poor tactical location, or camping without regard to what's actually going on in the game, can severely hinder a team's ability to attack or defend.

Examples of Camping

• Staying in one specific doorway, dropdown, or corner for extended periods of time (several minutes), only killing those who take that passageway or venture within your line of sight.
• Waiting at an enemy Teleporter exit or respawn area until someone comes through in hopes of catching them off-guard.
• Trapping people in spawn using camping tactics is known as spawn camping. This can be done by a variety of classes, often Demomen placing sticky bombs around the spawn exit, Pyros spraying fire at the doorway, or Engineers who manage to build Sentry Guns in front of the doors. Due to the fact that this can ruin much of the fun of the game for those being camped, many servers have rules and/or even countermeasures against spawn-camping.
• Demomen laying sticky traps in low-traffic areas and waiting for long periods.

Tactics that do not Constitute Camping

A "Camping" Engineer

• Turtling
• Snipers staying in one position. If this position is of little importance, this may count as camping.
• Heavies waiting in strategic positions as human Sentry Guns.
• Demomen staying behind their sticky bomb carpets in strategic locations.
• Engineers guarding their Sentry Guns in strategic locations.
• Medics staying in a safe area to build up their ÜberCharge.
• Spies recharging the Cloak and Dagger before moving farther.