Camping versus Active Play

[Burn]

I read emcee's very thorough and well constructed post on slow play with interest...

Ultra economy building and enviable win loss percentage guide for newbies

http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthread.php?13829-Tortoise-guide-for-newbies.-Slow-and-steady.....

Me, I prefer active play along these lines...

Getting Started: Power Level Guide (Gold Free, Zero Camping, 100% Active Play)

http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthread.php?11993-Getting-Started-Power-Level-Guide-%28Gold-Free-Zero-Camping-100-Active-Play%29&highlight=camping


People, this is a game, you are presumably playing it to have fun right?

My concern is that you will neve ever have any fun playing this game if you follow a camping strategy. And worse, in fact I'd wager that you'll quit from shear boredom before your strategy ever has the chance to pay off on the time and effort invested.

We've been here before. Tramp Stamp came up with a near bulletproof strategy for long-term economical success. Where is he now? Well he got bored/dissilusioned/p!ssed and quit. Quit long before his strategy paid off.

By all means try the Tortoise Method, but if you find it boring, there are alternatives like the link posted above.

I've followed a very active game play strategy, all action, zero camping, and whilst I'm no superpower, I have won 17419 fights and only lost 162 (and some of those losses were from my own second account when I was testing defense points).

I first bought Gold last week, through desire not ncessity. I've always been in the top few per cent for the level I'm at, without buying Gold.

Most importantly. I've had a sh!tload of fun by following an active and fun gameplan.

Enjoy yourself first.

Because irrespectve of what strategy you follow, if you want to compete at the very top end, you will have to buy Gold anyway.

Have fun.

[Swifty]

The 17419/162 ratio is impressive.

My plan is to start camping when my rivals list becomes too powerful for me to spend my stamina, which is not even close to happening.

I have level 140 rivals with less than 10k defense.

[white frog]

You make some good points Burn. I do wanna throw my opinion in, because I am a long time camper, and I still enjoy this game. Different people have different ideas of fun. I'm really not much of an action game player. I prefer to build empires and watch them grow. Therefore, being at level 41 with an economy at $80k per hour is successful to me, even though I'm not obliterating my opponents. This is just my preference, as non-camping is yours.
I have considered many time going ahead and leveling up... it's very tempting when you want that next weapon or building. I've been very disciplined in not leveling up when I haven't met my goals yet for the level I'm at.

[Dravak]

Camping only pays off if you only focus on the economy side of the game , like sim city , enough people just play it for that .
And treat the robberies and attack as accidents , camping doesn't pay off if you hope to win the HL endgame without spending gold .

That is a forgone conclusion in any pay2win game sure you might be stronger then 80% , but you still can't win.
Think one of the reason Tramp quit is cause he saw that , no matter what you do , you cannot win in a game without spending money , then it bucket full of money .

But the more important question is , are you having fun , are you flexible to adapt , and know when to quit .
That is what I find interesting about this game , knowing when to back off .
And also it doesn't really cost people anything other then a ego pain .

[white frog]

Conclusion:
If you are having fun doing whatever you are doing, then continue. If, for any reason you get bored with it, you have 2 options:
1. Alter your playing strategy
2. Quit the game

[Burn]

Froggy, i hear you. And I have every respect for anyone that has a different agenda, or different 'wins' that they want to achieve. As said, Mcee has witten an excellent guide, deserving of stickiness.

All i'm doing is saying there are other ways to play that can also work well for the more impatient or the more action-addicted - so if they get bored, they have an option.

Dravak also correct, people need to know that cmping for months will not make you a superpower in the future.

Superpower = buy lots of Gold.

[Burn]

Oops, I see you just kinda summarised same way :)

[Hank]

I used to think camping was a good idea to improve my economy. At somepoint I realized that it wasn't really the best idea for growing your hood/economy or whatever you want to call it. As you level up you unlock super POWERFUL buildings that drag in loads of cash. A couple of those late game buildings that can be bought with gold can get you more hourly income in minutes than you can achieve with months of low to mid level camping. Even if you don't spend gold i think you are still cheating your economy out of a lot of money if you dont level up far enough to buy some of the more expensive cash buildings because they dwarf all of the early to mid game buildings and make them obsolete. My suggestion for the best ecomony would be to level up as fast as you can then once you have all the buildings unlocked then consider camping if thats what you want to do

[Ramshutu]

CC is all about stats.

The real question about how to succeed, is 'how can I raise my stats most efficiently relative to my peers'

Camping, to an extent, answers this by saying 'stop levelling and allow your peers to fly past you.'

This obviously works, but doesn't take into the nuances of all aspects of CC.

[Max Power]

I don't care if other people are bored or not. Nothing could be less of a concern for me. I have one aggressive accoubnt and one camping account. I like both. When it is time for me to level up from my camper, I think it will be really fun to go through the levels with high Loft and Movie Theater economy backing me up, especially since my camper account is gold free.

Different strokes for different folks.

[white frog]

Different strokes for different folks.

Well said Max!

[J-Rizzi]

Totally agree with Burns and Swifty. Since I've started I've rotated between different aspects of gameplay, floating my boat until it doesn't float anymore. Then onto the next. I will camp when I can't rob from rivals anymore, if I'm still interested in the game by then. Good post Burns.
The 17419/162 ratio is impressive.

My plan is to start camping when my rivals list becomes too powerful for me to spend my stamina, which is not even close to happening.

I have level 140 rivals with less than 10k defense.

[emcee]

Thanks for the reference Burn.

I've read the other guide and it makes some good points.

The reason I camp aggressively is to maintain a near perfect win loss record. I know that is not possible if I leveled too quickly. I don't like to lose. Losing for me is not fun. For me playing this game and winning at all cost (i.e. sacrificing opportunity cost in the so called Crime City timeline) is my prime directive. For the vast majority of all players out there this is crazy or sheer stupidity. Alas its my playing style and I enjoy upgrading my buildings and being able to purchase high income buildings that most don't have even on my level 54 account.

If maintaining near perfect stats was not my objective I would have exited camping mode months earlier and have access to plenty of new income buildings over and above level 8.

I decided to exit camping mode on my level 24 account about 5 weeks ago. Since then I have not loss a fight and only have been robbed twice. Fortunately having a second account makes turtling a breeze on the first.

With that said, Burn's stats is very impressive considering his anti camping gameplay. Most following his style would probably not yield similar results.

Hindsight is 20/20 but if I had to do it all over again prior to M4 nerf I would have camped for a month or so and then have enough income to expand my hood and purchase defense buildings. I would then make my way up to level 30 with a zero alliance plus henchmen and start M4 farming. Once I got an M4 I would add one additional mafia member and equip with the best purchasable items. This strategy worked extremely well for my secondary account which net 91 M4s. Since the nerf I am now adding mafia members as I successfully unlock rewards from special events. So its going to be a very long time before I reach 500 mafia alliance.

Anyone can have great win loss stats if they just followed the above narrative provided they do have a strong enough economy and do not have a maxed mob for their level.

I'm going to guess the reason Burn has such great stats is that he has a full set of M4s. Anyone with significantly less or none these days would be better served to slow leveling to a snails pace and acquire gold like items through special events and develop their economy.

My level 54 account is so strong relative to most because of the 91 M4s; so much so that I do not have to buy the best items in the other categories. I feel its imperative for any players between level 1-29 to camp for a period to drive a greater level wedge between them and those who had the chance to farm M4s. The only time they should level would be during special events and with the majority time spent on robbing laundromats/collection agencies to replenish open safes/bags/etc. and of course get the best respect to experience gain ratio. This strategy should allow you to save respect until you reach level 55 and the be able to purchase chain whips which is technically the M4 alternative these days even though they are in 2 different categories.