Overview
In any tactical online shooter where teamwork is paramount, a single player intent on killing his or her own team can ruin the experience for everyone. This is especially true in NEOTOKYO, where servers may lack options for dealing with such miscreants. This guide is intended to provide options for players who are stuck dealing with a teamkiller, and contains a few hints for new players who can’t stop bombing the entire team.
Introduction
Some servers will automatically ban a player who TKs, some rely on Administrator oversight, some provide the standard array of vote-to-kick, and still others seem to offer no solution at all. The result of these varying and often unclear options for dealing with TK-ers is confusing for players. Admins take breaks, accidental TKs can result in kicks, and even voting to kick requires typing “!votekick” in chat rather than utilizing a button-option when viewing the player list (a much clearer and easier to understand method).
This guide is intended to provide general information on how to handle TKs, without any particular focus on what a server may or may not offer.
Communication
A TK can be resolved 2 ways: either everybody can act like the TK never happened and move on, or people can communicate. I’m not just talking about saying “oops” after you accidentally shoot a teammate, although that’s something any good player should do. I’m talking about communicating with EVERYBODY, if necessary. Communication is the only real way to resolve intra-team conflict, and this is extremely important because intra-team conflict will result in loss and people leaving the match, if not the game.
If a player wants to get back at someone who TK’d them, they must say something or risk the entire team turning on them.
Fairly recently, I encountered a TK-er who killed 3 people (including myself) before the enemy team killed him. I asked this player about this in chat, and received no response. On respawn, I watched the player, and immediately he began shooting my teammates. I preceded to kill the player, and was promptly killed by my team for doing so.
On occasions when I have publicly declared my intention to kill a KNOWN TK-er, I am left alone by my team because I DON’T TRY TO KILL ANYONE ELSE (in caps for anyone who thinks about trying to abuse this). It should also be noted that, if you decide to take on a TK-er, you may have to deal with them every single round if they refuse to stop, and the result is only slightly less cancerous than the TK-er alone.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Y (chat to all), T (chat to team), and B (voicechat) are your communication keys.
Acceptable TK
Team Kills are ONLY “okay” when:
A player TKs twice outside of group combat. Within a group combat scenario (3 or more people vs 3 or more people), the circumstances are predictably complex, and its up to the members of the group to decide ultimately if the TKs are worthy of revenge.
Its far more likely that a TK-er will play lone wolf around and within the team, and will attempt to systematically eliminate whomever he/she can while doing his/her best to get away with it. These players may attempt innocence, but are commonly all too obvious and worth dealing with as soon as possible.
A player blows up half the team and does NOTHING to explain or in any way apologize for the action. New players sometimes make this mistake, but anyone else is a major problem worth dealing with.
Non-Acceptable TK
A Team Kill is not a solution for:
Player micspamming. NeoTokyo offers a “mute” option found at the player list.
Edit: Occasionally, the mute button won’t work. I’m not sure why this is, but TK’ing is still a last resort. On the server where I noticed this issue, the vote to mute option was still working. However, the vote required 9 yes votes to work, and the time when it was tried it didn’t work. So, considering how few servers there are now, if you absolutely cannot stand the spam AND HAVE MADE CLEAR YOUR SPECIFIC INTENTIONS, feel free to shoot the spammer in the face. On most servers, the dead can’t speak to the living.
Accidental TKs. These are easily preformed by new players, when a player is using vision, or during fire-fights between groups. Most players will immediately apologize, and its only if a second TK occurs that action may be needed.
Bigots. Bigotry, either through chat or a player name, can only effectively be dealt with by either immediately gathering significant votes to kick the player (other players must also find the bigot offensive, granting opportunity to threaten the player for their gross offensiveness) or by ignoring the bigot. Bigots are fools with issues that are both not your problem and not worth your time. It is an unfortunate reality that such hapless idiots find expression rather than aid through the internet, but such is reality. If you cannot simply ignore a given player the only real solution is to kill them until they leave (proving nothing) or simply leave on your own (also proving nothing).
Shooting Guns on Round Start
I really can’t decide where to put this one. Shooting guns on the start of a round usually doesn’t result in death, but it’s really annoying and there’s absolutely no justifiable reason for it. If it’s annoying you, say something. THERE IS NO MEDIC IN NEOTOKYO. If you really have a problem with it, let your teammate know by shooting them in the face. Any lost life can significantly reduce a player’s ability to perform, and if performance is important to you them you should be free to do something about it.
ALWAYS SAY SOMETHING FIRST, though. If you’re not checking to see how much of an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ the other player is, you’re twice the scumbag and a legitimate threat to the team.
Explosives
Explosives are an area where NeoTokyo doesn’t do much to educate the player. If you want to figure out explosives, go off and find a quiet corner where you can’t harm anyone if you blow yourself. If you can’t figure out explosives or are scared of blowing up your team, play support. I’ve never seen anyone die to a smoke grenade.
Explosives are not toys.
Explosives can wipe out an entire team.
If you can’t use explosives responsibly, you suck.
(Disclaimer: I am not saying that the support class sucks, because it doesn’t).
Group Tactics
There’s no better way to take control of a match then to roll as a group. There’s also no better way to get your team killed. Here are two general guidlines for working as a team:
Don’t bunch up. Staying together is good, but it’s far too easy to walk in front of each other’s shots if spacing isn’t minded.
You don’t always have to shoot. In fact, if you’re at the back of a group it may be a better idea to watch out for attacks from the rear.
Gernades are a last resort. Always.
Conclusion
Don’t TK.
This guide is a work in progress that I’m doing in my spare time. It’s my first guide, so please be nice. I will be gathering additional picture/video as the opportunities arise. Feel free to comment, but if you only seek to annoy myself or others you’re not welcome.