Games - Spam

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	Games - Spam

Spam is a computer game phenomenon prevalent in FPS but also strongly present in many other game genres.. Generally, it refers to the repeated, rapid use of an item, weapon or unit. Usually, this takes the form of grenade spamming i.e. a player or players throwing a number of grenades into one area.

Types of Spam

Chat spamming

Chat spamming is the repetition of a word or line typed out by a player using a game's chat system. As most games have some form of text messaging built for in-game communication, there is little to stop a frustrated player from flooding a server with text in the same way a user can flood a chat room. Some servers enforce rules regarding text spamming, possibly resulting in players being kicked or banned. Some games allow text to be turned off, hence nullifying this form of spamming.

Grenade spamming

Grenade spamming is the original type of spam, starting in Team Fortress Classic
and quickly spreading to other first person shooters. The concept of grenade spamming involves throwing multiple grenades into an area. Grenade spamming is an automatic technique used by many players and does not require tactical thought. Grenade spamming has the effect of real-life artillery barrages, suppressing an area of the map and killing any players caught within the spammed zone. When multiple players spam the same area, it is near-impossible for the opposing players to avoid being wounded or killed. Others see spamming as a valid tactic that prevents the opposition grouping together or camping and that it is reasonable for more grenades to have a greater chance of eliminating opponents than just using one. In Objective-based games like Counter-Strike or Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory granade spamming is also used to keep the enemy at bay from passing through a needed passage or to spam the objective itself while teammates go another way to kill them while they can't reach the objective. This presents some problems in team-based maps, where one team may have a better position to spam grenades from, causing serious imbalances.

In addition to throwing fragmentation or explosive grenades, players can also spam smoke grenades, which obscure or completely eliminate vision and often lag the server.

Grenade spamming is often criticised as requiring little to no skill and often seen as "unfair" by some players, as it does not put the player in direct conflict. Nonetheless, the tactic is a highly effective one, and recommended by some developers, such as Infinity Ward in their game Call of Duty 2.
Weapon spamming
Apart from grenades, "spam" can also describe spray and pray tactics with firearms. While rapid automatic fire is often desirable against multiple targets or for suppression purposes, gaming communities tend to frown on the reliance on automatic fire. The issue is more evident in games with light, fast automatic weapons with plenty of ammunition, allowing players to run around maps with the trigger held down and usually being able to score many frags before being killed. While this style of gameplay exposes players to direct conflict, as the style is based purely on luck, players relying solely on spam tactics are often looked down upon for their apparent lack of skill, especially when they assert their dominance over precision weapons that require more concentration and ability to use. Nonetheless, spamming is seen as an invaluable skill to possess even in competitive gaming circles, and some weapons are designed for the sole purpose of sustained rapid fire. Some games provide weapon feedback(making the gun rise) or decrease the shot accuracy for each bullet in a burst, hence encouraging controlled fire. Limiting ammunition availability, or keeping maximum amounts a player can hold low, also prevents haphazard firing.
Spawn spamming
One form of spam which is regarded as reprehensible by the gaming community as a whole is spawn spamming(similar to spawn camping). As the name implies, this involves spamming an enemy's spawn point
with weapon fire in an effort to kill the enemy as they spawn. Many games include some kind of spawn protection which prevents players being injured for a few seconds after spawning. Spawn points may be spammed using grenades, proximity mines, bullets, or other weaponry.
Unit spamming
When applied to real-time strategy games (or even some turn-based strategy games), spamming refers to the use of many units (usually of the same type) against an opponent. The units are usually cheap and quick to build, allowing players to send wave upon wave of the same unit against an opponent, with the intention of overwhelming their defenses with sheer numbers. This is also known as rushing. In StarCraft, for example, many Zerg
players use tactics that involve spamming Zergling
s, the cheapest and fastest unit in the game. Due to the sheer number of units, the strategy is difficult to defend against without powerful crowd control units that are unavailable early in the game.
[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Spam (computer game) ]

Games - Spam

Types of Spam

Chat spamming

Grenade spamming

Weapon spamming

Spawn spamming

Unit spamming

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