Hold your fire! Friendlies coming thr-, oh you shot at them already, good job idiot

As I've been recently hosting a few MGS3 Online games, I've set the game settings at friendly fire off. As most of you may know, friendly fire is the occurrence of your own team mates taking (in)advertent damage by your own attacks and vice versa. This results in team killing and perhaps the banning of such “team killers”. I don't know how much of an issue this is in many FPS multiplayer games, but I personally don't like the friendly fire feature.

Some may argue that this friendly fire feature heightens the realism of the game, while others who enjoy shooting at everything at will. I personally find this helpful as I’m the jumpy type that will fire first and ask questions later. Usually when I go around a corner, my finger is already on the trigger, so to speak, so I want to have the first shot out before the other guy. I’m sure all the others are thinking the same thing, but I can’t seem to immediately pick up if they’re friendlies or hostiles especially when the uniforms are quite similar in appearance.

Also, I love how in MGS3 you can throw a grenade into a crowd with your own friends, but it only damages the enemies. Some may see this as cheap, but I see it as a tactical advantage. As well, I’m a big sniper fan and whenever a friendly is in my line of sight in front of an enemy, I just shoot and let the bullets fly without a moment’s hesitation. I might be stealing their kill, but at least the bastard is dead.

What’s your say? FF yeah/nay.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I think killing my commanding officer is absolutely swell.

It's just like REAL war!

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Friendly fire is excelent. It makes you think fast about who is an isn't a foe, and adds realism. If in a team game, it provides added incentive to use good communication and planning, thereby limiting the friendly fire.

It's great for those that aren't (or try not to be) jumpy like you describe.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Haha, I tried playing Area 51 in an arcade once, and never took a single shot. What finally did me in was the constant penalty hits I was taking from gunning down friendlies as they popped onto the screen.

There are some game genres where friendly fire is appropriate, but in just as many cases it becomes an impediment to fun. MGS3 is probably one of those places where you NEED friendly fire, though. Otherwise there's nothing to stop you from descending upon the enemy and bombarding them with grenades point blank.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Speaking of friendly fire in arcades, I hate playing games like Virtua Cop and stuff. Who the hell would run right up to you and tell you not to shoot them when they are in your way?

:Runs up to my face:
"Help me!"
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY"
:Zombie throws axe:
"OWWW"
:GAME OVER:
:Harry (or whatever his name was) runs in on a drawn line and then falls over:

Death Crimson for the DC was the worst game I've ever played like this...

And in FPS, it makes more sense to have FF, but not when there are stupid fucks that like to team kill. I always do it on accident though. Really.

How ya doing, buddy?

I enjoy friendly fire. Not because it adds a sense of realism in anyway (Come on, you have corpses flying all over the fucking screen already!) but because it forces your teammates to actually THINK. You can't just run 'n gun everywhere because you're bound to kill a teammate that way. However once friendly fire is on, you have to be more cautious.

In FPS type games, I think caution is usually the key to winning.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Friendly fire in games where your teammates are real players is entertaining. In UT2004, if you shoot your buddy in the back with a Shock Rifle, s/he doesn't take any damage but they do get launched forward -- a very useful tactic when trying to acquire a flag or the bomb in Bombing Run. It's also useful when you're trying to score and keep taking fire; getting a random boost forward confuses other players.

Now, in single-player games, friendly fire sucks. It penalizes you for something you have little control over, such as retarded A.I. running in your line of fire asking you for help.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by SuperDK

Speaking of friendly fire in arcades, I hate playing games like Virtua Cop and stuff. Who the hell would run right up to you and tell you not to shoot them when they are in your way?

:Runs up to my face:
"Help me!"
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY"
:Zombie throws axe:
"OWWW"
:GAME OVER:
:Harry (or whatever his name was) runs in on a drawn line and then falls over:

Death Crimson for

Indeed, why the "friendlies" pop out on screen waving arms in the air like they just don't care and screaming, "DON'T SHOOOOT MEEEE PLUUUUEEAAASEEE" is already irrating me enough. I mean if you DON'T want to get shot, just stay down and wave a white flag or something, Jesus.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

It makes games a little more interesting and forces the player to actually pay attention to what's happening around an area. When I played Halo with another person for the first time, I had a tendency to shoot whatever moved.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I generally don't mind friendly fire. However, that's only the case if friendlies are actually doing something, instead of just simply getting in your way.

Case in point, in Halo for example, you can accidentally shoot the marines, but as long as you only do it now and then, they don't care (it's annoying when they hit you though on accident). But if you do it too much, then they turn on you (it's fun killing captain keyes in the beginning, although the marines that show up are invincible and can't be killed, which kind of sucks lol). The robot guys will do that too in that one stage where they're friendly. Was playing with a friend one time, and he kept shooting at them just to see what happened. Well, they turned on us, and although they continued to fight the zerg, er I mean flood, they attacked us throughout the rest of the level as well.

However, as mentioned earlier, I hate it in arcade shooters, esp. House of the Dead and Area 51. Although House of the Dead is at least sort of cool in that people you save will usually either give you an item or perhaps a shortcut through the stage, in Area 51 they're just there to make you lose life if you shoot them (cause although they're shooting, they never actually hit anything). I know they're just there to penalize you for doing something you shouldn't do, but sometimes they get in the way so badly that you will probably either hit them, or get hit by a bad guy in the process.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I normally play anything with friendly fire on, with the exception of Super Smash Bros. If i'm playing CS, or Ghost Recon with friends, and we're serious about our strategy and whatnot, then by all means it's great for a sense of realism. If we're playing Halo, it's great for fucking around (cause no one takes Halo seriously anymore).

Occasionally i play stuff like Unreal and Time Spliters with FF off. Dealing with all out carnage can be very difficult if you care about your team mates. But again, if you're just screwing around, i find that FF can be loads of fun.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I'm surprised by the amount of yes responses to the friendly fire feature mainly for first person shooters. Perhaps I should start hosting FF on games.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Spatula

Some may argue that this friendly fire feature heightens the realism of the game, while others who enjoy shooting at everything at will. I personally find this helpful as I’m the jumpy type that will fire first and ask questions later. Usually when I go around a corner, my finger is already on the trigger, so to speak, so I want to have the first shot out before the other guy. I’m sure all the others are thinking the same thing, but I can’t seem to immediately pick up if they’re friendlies or hostiles especially when the uniforms are quite similar in appearance.

Well, considering MGS3 is third person action, as opposed to first person shooter, I can see how camera issues and a twitchy trigger finger might add up.

Playing games like Day of Defeat and Battlefield 2, though, I've become accustomed to the idea of friendly fire, and even come to enjoy it considerably more than when it's off. I would indeed say that it adds to the realism, and frankly, immersion is most often what I'm looking for in any game, so being able to toss grenades like you say into a group of friendlies without any consequences just takes me right out of the game.

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I like FF because it's more realistic, but it can be annoying at times, especially when there's an intentional team killer on the loose (perhaps he likes to kill teammates for "stealing" his kills. That dumbass!). That's why the option to automatically boot players with too many team kills in MGO is nice. Games where you have to vote players out distract too much from the action, auto-kick features rule! But no FF is just as fun as FF. I really have no prefrence so long as there's a feature to turn it off and a feature to kick team killers.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I could spend hours killing my teammates in Perfect Dark Zero. Unfournately I play online so most of the time I get banned from that room.

FELIPE NO

I was playing Call of Duty 2 last night, one of the early British levels. Rommel's troops were attempting to take a town that me and my buddies were holding, and would do so in massive waves from any given direction - look over, see twenty to thirty Nazis running towards you - it's intense. I take cover behind a building, then whip around with my rifle and take a shot at them - right into a teammate's back. That increased the intensity in a way, even. Were FF not on, and the man just stood there and took the shot as if it were nothing, it would have cheapened the moment beyond belief.

While FF is frustrating sometimes in Multiplayer, and some people are rampant TKing asshats, most people respect the rules and FF simply becomes an added hazard that you work to make sure you don't do. Most accidental TKers aren't kicked by vitriolic vengeance-seekers, either - I've had enough experience with that in tight-quarters CTF in Battlefront 2. You're forced to be a better, or at least more thoughtful and attentive, player. Trigger-happy playing has its benefits, but most gamers should move beyond that and add some brains to their gaming.

Not to call trigger-happy gamers brainless, of course.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Quote:

Unfournately I play online so most of the time I get banned from that room.

So I take it you enjoy team killing? Looks like you're in the same boat as Crash.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Monkey King

Haha, I tried playing Area 51 in an arcade once, and never took a single shot. What finally did me in was the constant penalty hits I was taking from gunning down friendlies as they popped onto the screen.

There are some game genres where friendly fire is appropriate, but in just as many cases it becomes an impediment to fun. MGS3 is probably one of those places where you NEED friendly fire, though. Otherwise there's nothing to stop you from descending upon the enemy and bombarding them with grenades point blank.

Haha, I used to do that too with that game. I had to literally restraint myself from reacting to everything that popped up on the screen.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I like TKing for fun (but only if they want to do so as well , it's especially fun in Counter-Strike, where bots will fight back).
But in UT, if you turn FF off and hit them with a rocket, you can launch them into a bottomless pit and gte a positive kill! I guess since FF is off, they assume I can only kill my enimies.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

There's a slight difference between FF making a FPS more realistic and stupid civilians jumping out of cover screaming "don't shoot me" (but the game muffles this to make it sound like "shoot me"). While both are some kind of test of how you'd realistically work in a high-pressure situation, I don't see the latter case coming into play that often.

TKing sucks people. That's pretty much PKing. Don't do it. Unless you're an arse, then I guess it's part of the job definition.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Friendly fire in onine games(I'm looking at you, counter strike) shoul donly be enabled when there's an admin around, and where it can be handled properly. If it's all for fun, then sure. If you accidentally shoot a team mate, 99.48% of the time they'll play the "tit for tat" card.

It's fucking stupid, basically. It isn't about realism in online games, it's about winning. Adding friendly fire only makes this goal even more difficult to achieve, especially when there's new people who can't tell one player apart from another.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Elixir

Friendly fire in onine games(I'm looking at you, counter strike) shoul donly be enabled when there's an admin around, and where it can be handled properly. If it's all for fun, then sure. If you accidentally shoot a team mate, 99.48% of the time they'll play the "tit for tat" card.

It's fucking stupid, basically. It isn't about realism in online games, it's about winning. Adding friendly fire only makes this goal even more difficult to achieve, especially when there's new people who can't tell one player apart from another.

Agreed many FPS games can get damn crazy. Plus FF is only truly fun for TKers, otherwise newbs will piss of the experienced game players (due to their sucky aim) and get their ass banned by the admin.

How ya doing, buddy?

One problem I have (As others have said in ways) is where the other teammates will seem to get in the way, almost on PURPOSE, as if they had a deathwish or something.

FELIPE NO

I can't imagine ever playing an fps game without friendly fire turned on. For starters it encourages teamwork and also it's important to be able to shoot your mates sometimes. Not necessarily kill them, just shoot them a bit.

In the past I've played a lot of Ghost Recon firefights with everyone's name labels turned off, no radar and the players wearing terrorist uniforms. If ever a game required good team communication it's that. If the team gets split up, you have to ask pretty much everytime before you shoot someone to make sure they're not on your side.

In normal games, ff being on should never be a problem unless you're a crap shot or overly twitchy on the trigger...

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I never said I rocked at sniping, but I prefer sniping over assualting most of the time. I'm just not good with aiming at point blank range (if you call that aiming) and running around in circles trying to hopefully fill the guy up with more bullets then he does to me first.

Jam it back in, in the dark.