79 replies to this topic

[badger]

I had been tinkering around with writing this article for quite some time. I had figured that I hadn’t been to enough Nerf wars to have the experience needed to pull this off, but after the LCM Summer Tune-Up and talking to Groove and Famine, I feel it is more of a necessity to write this topic. I ask that any of the much more experienced members of the NIC please let me know any errors I may have or anything else you think I need to add to this. I may not have been around anywhere near as long as OMC, Groove, or the Four Horsemen, but I’m quite observant and it doesn’t take me long to learn.

Nerf War Etiquette (a.k.a. how not to piss everyone off at the wars)

Before I jump right into it, let me put this 3-piece disclaimer out there for all of you reading this article.

• All names have been omitted for the protection of those involved as well as the wars in which these instances occurred. I am not here to call you out for any mistakes you have made in the past or to embarrass you in from of the rest of the NIC.
• If you think that I am actually talking about you, you can PM me and I’ll let you know. This article is not a massive flame against anyone, just a form of constructive criticism to aid everyone in the NIC, especially the newer members, with how one should act at any war.
• Finally, if you still feel that I am truly talking about you (which may be hard since no names will be mentioned), your guilty conscience gets the better of you and you decide to post in the article anyways, then you have defeated the purpose of my keeping you anonymous and I am no longer responsible for what anyone may say to you, not like I am responsible for what is said by anyone but myself.

That said let’s begin.

At each of the wars that I have attended, the most common scenario played was Deathmatch, with anywhere from 2-4 teams going at it. There were also a couple of rounds of Capture the Flag in two different styles at HCNO and pistol rounds at Reckoning. I am not going into detail on pistol rounds at this time since they are the same as Deathmatch with the exception that they are sometimes played with no teams and the only major difference is only short-range weapons can be used. I am also not going to discuss Capture the Flag as the rules were constantly being adjusted throughout the day. Nearly everyone on the East Coast plays Deathmatch, with most of the New Jersey players participating in this scenario exclusively. Let me first go into the breakdown of how Deathmatch is played and what you should and shouldn’t be doing. I know nearly everyone out there knows how to play Deathmatch, but I have been seeing a few things that need to be addressed.

The rules of Deathmatch:

• The round is played with the 3/15 rule.
• Each player has to be hit three times before they are eliminated from the round.
• After each hit, they must point their gun into the sky to show everyone that they have been hit and count to 15. While they are counting, they must clear the combat area.
• Once they reach a count of 15 and have removed themselves from the active combat area, they must shout "CLEAR!" and then they may return to the round.
• A valid hit is any hit from a projectile onto any part of their body. If their gun is hit, they are still out, with the exception of the Manta Ray. It is the only gun hit allowed since the gun was designed to also be a shield. Ground skipping darts and ricochets don't count.
• Another valid hit is a close quarters hit, or tappping, in which the assailant takes someone out by tapping the barrel of their gun onto the person.
• Once a player has been hit three times, they are eliminated from the round. They must clear the field and return to the staging area to wait for the current round to end.

The rules seem simple enough, but I have seen these rules blatantly ignored too many times to count. Let’s take this step-by-step.

GETTING HIT/HITTING SOMEONE

The most obvious thing that I have seen is people not admitting to being hit. I can understand that it is sometimes hard to tell if it was a glancing blow or the shooter was using an unmodified gun and the darts really have no force behind them, but we all work on an honor based system. If you are hit, fess up to it. I am not saying that everyone does this. I have shot at people that swear they weren’t shot because they were shot at by two people and they only heard and saw the one that hit the tree, but in the end they do take the hit. I have even allowed people that were hit that feel that it never happened to continue on in play. I’m not going to sweat it if I can’t absolutely confirm it.

Now this goes for the shooters as well. Don’t say you got a hit when you didn’t. I saw it a lot at one war when I was sitting out. The shooter would call a hit, which I do as well to alert them, but this person always called their hits on the target’s extremities. All I heard all day was, “Got you in the foot!”, “Hit you in the back of your leg!”. He was also shooting from over 100 feet away with a gun that was firing grey-colored Stefans. I personally use CDTDs because they are a lot easier to make and they are much more visible, plus I make mine a specific way so you know if the hit was from me, but that is my preference. Most people use Stefans of various sizes and colors. This is where honesty comes into play again. This person swore they got a hit, but three people that were in the area, as well as the intended target and a person that was out of the round, saw nothing, not even a dart at their feet. Many guns fire with enough velocity that you may not see the dart, but you as well as any bystanders can tell if it was a valid hit or not. There was someone at another war that had a similar gun to the person in this example, but I could see their darts in flight, and their ranges were about the same. You call one leg hit, I’ll believe you. Two hits maybe, but three or more and your full of shit. I mean, some of us seriously can’t hit a large stationary target from 30 feet away and you expect us to believe you are getting pinpoint hits on their legs and feet consistently from over 100 feet away?

CLEARING

The word says it all. You are clearing the area since you are not a valid target or shooter. If you are in the middle of a firefight and you are hit, you are supposed to walk away from the area until you are no longer a target or have a target in your sights, then you call “CLEAR!”. You are allowed to pick up ammo while clearing but while walking away from the activity. You do not:

• Clear behind a tree or other obstacle in the combat area.
• Clear with a target in sight.
• Keep yout gun in the air to trick people, then shoot them when their guard is down.
• Clear next to someone that is not on your team so you can tap them.

A lot of you hate when people associate Nerf to Mil-Sims, but there is an example here that sheds a lot of light on this issue. When you are shot in a war, but not killed, you are cleared off of the battlefield to recover from your injuries. If they aren’t too severe, once you have recovered, you are sent back into battle. You are, in essence, cleared from the battlefield and then when you return you are coming in from an area that is relatively peaceful. Same thing goes here. Another good comparison would be to the effect known as respawning in alot of video games (Thanks Groove). When you are hit you reappear, depending on the game, either at the entrance to the arena or at a respawn location that is generally isolated from the combat arena.

TAPPING

This is such a simple rule, so of course people are abusing it. I really don’t have much to say on this one except you are supposed to tap them and say that something, either “HIT!”, or “GOT YOU!”. You don’t just tap them and run away. You also don’t act like you are clearing, ask them if they are in, and then go for a tap kill. I was tempted at one war when that was done to me to tap them back with the stock of my LS to their face, but I decided to channel all my frustrations into this article instead. There was an instance that came up during a round where I was tapped at the same time that the tapper was shot by me. We had a little issue as to who is out and who wasn’t, so we agreed to both take a hit. Once again, a Mil-Sim example. The tap kill is basically someone sneaking up on you and pulling the trigger, we are just nicer about it and don’t fire the shot at close range. If one combatant came in close to fire and the other one pulled the trigger in his defense, both soldiers would be hit. The same goes for the previously mentioned situation. He tapped me at the same time that I pulled the trigger, so we both had been hit.

One other thing that needs to be mentioned about tapping. Like I stated above in the Mil-Sim example, tapping is the same as a close quarter kill. So if you get a tap kill on me, your gun better be fuckin’ loaded! This had been done to me at one war and I heard of it being done to other people as well. If you had no shot to fire normally or your gun wasn’t primed, then you also can’t get a hit up close. It’s common sense. Your gun needs to be locked and loaded if any hit is to count.

BEING ELIMINATED

You would think that this rule would be the easiest to follow, but that just isn’t the case. When you have been hit for the third time, you are to clear out the field and return to the staging area, whether it is the gazebo at Mill Creek Park, or the parking lot at HCNO. Every war, except for Deal, has a preset staging area where we keep our gear and relax between rounds. If you are out completely, you go there. You aren’t supposed to stick around and help your teammates. I had someone that was taken out pick up darts for their teammates. When they saw that they grabbed some darts that were mine they threw them away. Three hits means you are dead. Mil-Sim time. Dead people can’t collect ammo or help their comrades. Dead people can’t throw away the enemy’s munitions. We have no medics to drag your corpse off of the field, so it is your job to go back to the staging area. You are also not to block people’s shots, whether it is your own teams or the opposing team’s. I am guilty of this once, thought I was in a bit of a daze and hadn’t woken up completely yet. Just take the path that avoids the most people and all will be fine. You are also, but I could be wrong on this, supposed to point your gun up just like you would when clearing to show everyone to not shoot at you. When they don’t see you returning to action, they can figure out for themselves that you are out.

In closing, we all just want to have fun shooting the shit out of each other with our guns. A lot of us spend a good amount of time making our guns shoot better, creating unique mods and building insane amounts of ammo just so we can enjoy our friend’s company and the occasional “FUCK!” emanating from their mouths when we nail them. People that do the things above ruin this experience for everyone and make the day more stressful then it needs to be. I did not write this to out anyone in particular, just to talk about my observations and to illustrate to everyone in the NIC what I see going on as well to verbalize what others have complained about to me. I hope that those that may realize that have done some of the things mentioned above will fix the issues and learn from this article.

--Badger

----------------------------------------------------

UPDATE---07 July 2007

These rules were sent to me by Falcon a while ago, but I haven't had the time to add them. These are the abridged SoCal rules. Thanks Falcon for getting these to me. Someday I'll come out for 'Geddon when I have the cash and the time off.

SoCal Rules (Abridged)

Banned Guns:
- Singled Titans
- Singled SM 5k's
- Singled Big Blasts (if the pump is plugged)

If any of the above guns are brought and for some reason underperform the reported/expected norms, we'll allow them on a case-by-case basis.

Projectiles:
- All weighted projectiles (darts) must have a tip that completely covers the weight used. Exposed weights are to not be fired. If a dart is found that is missing its tip, exit the play area and throw it away or in the ass dart box.

Eye Protection:
Mandatory, no exceptions.

Hits:
- If someone calls a hit on you, you take it like a man, unless you clearly saw it go past you. If this is the case, then calmly explain it and resume play.
- A hit is deemed as a shot that hits any part of the player or their gun, including ammo pouches, shoelaces, you name it.
- A shot that 'hits' is deemed as a dart that VISIBLY changes direction. If you watch the dart nick a person's shirt, hair etc. and continue travel in a reasonably straight path, it is considered a "graze" and does not constitute a hit.
- All guns count as gun hits except for the manta ray. No body armor for the purpose of shielding from darts is allowed. Only a manta ray in the hand of a user counts as a shield (NO manta ray body armor).
- Manta rays must be or be part of a WORKING gun to count as a shield. Regardless of the user's intent to fire it, the manta ray must somehow be capable of firing a legal projectile, whether that be via its built-in mechanism or via integration.
- When you are hit, hold your gun up in the air. Asking people if they are in or not takes too long and can mess people up. Make it OBVIOUS that you are out. If you are caught faking being out, you'll be asked to sit out the rest of the round. If it happens again, you'll be asked to leave.
- When it's time to come back in (when that is depends on the game type) yell "I'm in" loudly. Saying it quietly so opponents can't hear is considered faking being in or out.

Games:
Elimination
- Number of lives varies, usually 3-5.
- When you're hit, you count to a predetermined number (usually 20). Last 5 numbers are counted out loud so others can hear you, and then "I'm in" is called.
- While hit, you can walk around and pick up darts so long as your gun remains visibly in the air.

Capture the Flag
- Unlimited lives
- If you are told you are hit while running with the flag, believe it and drop the flag immediately.
- No throwing the flag. Hand-offs are acceptable, but no throwing the flag is permitted.
- BOTH flags must be at your station to win. A trade does not constitute a win to either team.
- When hit, count to twenty and head towards a predetermined and marked spawn point which is NOT directly next to (but usually nearby) your own flag. If you get back before you finish counting, wait at the point until you are done and then call "I'm in". If you finish before you get back, you are still not in until you have touched the point and then called in.
- Both teams must know where both flags are at the beginning of the game. If the flag is down, it may or may not remain there. If the team who is guarding the downed flag chooses to, they may move it back to its original location, or elect to leave it where it is. No announcement need be made for this, but keep in mind that both flags must be at the ORIGINAL flag location to win.

Edited by badger, 07 July 2007 - 12:28 AM.

[Groove]

Everyone that plans on attending large organized wars on here should real this article, especially new-comers to the sport.

Good article Badger - very well-written, clear, and to the point.


-Groove

[shadowkid33]

Great article Badger. This needs to be a sticky.

[tailbone]

Good article Badger, and I agree with groove, very well written.

[Inferno]

Nice article, very well-detailed and to the point. I especially like the paragraph on dead people helping teammates or gathering ammo, you addressed it well. Since you stated that you are taking suggestions, I have one along the lines of dead people can't help/harm teammates or opponents.

I've never been to any of the wars listed on NerfHaven.com (though I've always wanted to), so this rule may not apply to the way y'all play. Sometimes during a battle, someone needs to call a "time out", for whatever reason (injury, need to leave for work, etc.). During a "time out", sometimes people will go collect ammo, reload their gun, or try to maneuver themselves to a more protected location on the field of play. In Austin we don't allow this, a "time out" means stop all play, address the issue for which the "time out" was called, then back to where you were to resume the battle the way it was when it was stopped. I know this may not apply, but it's just an issue we've had here in Texas and I hope it's of use to those who regularly participate in Nerf Wars.

[The Infinite Shindig]

I've never been to any of the wars listed on NerfHaven.com (though I've always wanted to), so this rule may not apply to the way y'all play. Sometimes during a battle, someone needs to call a "time out", for whatever reason (injury, need to leave for work, etc.). During a "time out", sometimes people will go collect ammo, reload their gun, or try to maneuver themselves to a more protected location on the field of play. In Austin we don't allow this, a "time out" means stop all play, address the issue for which the "time out" was called, then back to where you were to resume the battle the way it was when it was stopped. I know this may not apply, but it's just an issue we've had here in Texas and I hope it's of use to those who regularly participate in Nerf Wars.

Very nice job.

The kid does have a point though. There should be some provision for calling time. We most often see this when pedestrians are walking where we are playing.

[theschief]

Good article, it's all very obvious but it does need to be said.
I think I"ll post a link to this on our forums for future reference....

[Kuhlschrank]

Excellent article badger, this needed to be said after the Tune-up(not wide-scale problems, just a few offenders).

The other thing that sort of goes with Clearing is wandering around nonchalantly, and then when someone asks you if you are in, you shoot them in the chest with a brassed 2k in the chest. (One person comes to mind, but I haven't seen anyone do it recently, and that person hasn't been around much.)

Asking if you are hit is a favor done by the other team so they don't accidentally shoot someone who isn't even in the round.(Not that they are going to cause injury , but it's annoying to get shot when you aren't even playing), so don't be a douche when they are doing you a favor.

That's not to say that deception isn't allowed. One time in a CTF match, I calmly walked up to the enemy's flag and grabbed it right out from under them without being questioned as to whether I was in or whose side I was on until i was on my way out.

However, when you are actually questioned, it's sporting to at least say whether or not you are in before you shoot them. Again, I encountered this a while ago with a certain player, but I still felt it could use mention.

Again, great job on the article badger.

[six-five-two]

I tried having a "one shot your out" round with friends... but everyone lied and said they were still in and it was just a stupid waste of time. So now we play where you just shoot the crap out of eachother for a few hours and no outs... Saves alot of arguing.

[Retiate]

Very nice article, helpful and clear. Hopefully every new Nerfer will read this and better understand these rules. My group of friends always play 1 hit outs. We're all good friends so everyone's honest, rarely do we have a disagreement, mostly from people not feeling the shot.

I've never been to any of the wars listed on NerfHaven.com (though I've always wanted to), so this rule may not apply to the way y'all play. Sometimes during a battle, someone needs to call a "time out", for whatever reason (injury, need to leave for work, etc.). During a "time out", sometimes people will go collect ammo, reload their gun, or try to maneuver themselves to a more protected location on the field of play. In Austin we don't allow this, a "time out" means stop all play, address the issue for which the "time out" was called, then back to where you were to resume the battle the way it was when it was stopped. I know this may not apply, but it's just an issue we've had here in Texas and I hope it's of use to those who regularly participate in Nerf Wars.

I second the time out idea. Every now and then we will have a time out from someone getting injured, losing their eye protection, or something else.

I have a question on how you guys do barrel taps though. What happens if you tap someone's gun? Because if their gun is "locked and loaded", you could be out too.

[Gengar003]

In Austin
...
but it's just an issue we've had here in Texas
...

Austin, Texas -- me, too!

I have a question on how you guys do barrel taps though. What happens if you tap someone's gun? Because if their gun is "locked and loaded", you could be out too.

At a summer camp I've worked at for the past six years, there's a similar problem in one of the games the campers play - "Everybody's it" - if everyone's it, and you "tag" someone... they sorta touched you, too. What happens? We've decided that whoever initiates the touching (or tap, in nerf's case) is the victor - a "clash" where both people are going for a touch/tap and hit each other ('s guns) is not considered to be anything.


And.. hehe... when my friends start getting iffy on their willingness to fess up to being hit, I bring out the guns that elicit exclamations from 'em, so they can't lie.

"OW, F***K THAT HURT."
"Got you."
"No you di -- uh right."

Edited by Gengar003, 29 May 2007 - 12:09 AM.

[CaptainSlug]

I have a question on how you guys do barrel taps though. What happens if you tap someone's gun? Because if their gun is "locked and loaded", you could be out too.

You do a barrel tap by sneaking up on someone and get close enough to physically touch them. At the same time you announce the hit by saying "tap" or something similar. I did this only on one occasion and nearly gave the "tapee" a heart-attack when I popped out of nowhere and barrel tapped the gun he started point around a corner.
If you're simultaneously reaching to barrel tap each other with loaded weapons then you should just both take the hit. Just man-up and take it.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 30 May 2007 - 11:35 PM.

[badger]

There should be some provision for calling time. We most often see this when pedestrians are walking where we are playing.

I agree completely, however, it is hard sometimes to get everyone to abide by it when they are scattered all over the place. It should be based on the area where the obstacle is and treated like a clear for all in the area. Everyone should back off and once the person or creature is gone play can resume. Treating it like clearing prevents someone from using the distraction as an opportunity to get off a cheap shot.

Excellent article badger, this needed to be said after the Tune-up(not wide-scale problems, just a few offenders).

The other thing that sort of goes with Clearing is wandering around nonchalantly, and then when someone asks you if you are in, you shoot them in the chest with a brassed 2k in the chest. (One person comes to mind, but I haven't seen anyone do it recently, and that person hasn't been around much.)

Asking if you are hit is a favor done by the other team so they don't accidentally shoot someone who isn't even in the round.(Not that they are going to cause injury , but it's annoying to get shot when you aren't even playing), so don't be a douche when they are doing you a favor.

That's not to say that deception isn't allowed. One time in a CTF match, I calmly walked up to the enemy's flag and grabbed it right out from under them without being questioned as to whether I was in or whose side I was on until i was on my way out.

However, when you are actually questioned, it's sporting to at least say whether or not you are in before you shoot them. Again, I encountered this a while ago with a certain player, but I still felt it could use mention.

Again, great job on the article badger.

The whole point of pointing the gun up into the air is to indicate to all active players that you are either out and is the process of clearing or that you have been eliminated and are clearing to the staging area. The gun raising, in my opinion, eliminates the need to ask. As for the walking around nonchalantly, they should be making a B-line for a safe area so as to not interfere with any combat that is going on around them. If people cleared properly, there would be no need for others to ask if they are in or not since they shouldn't be around anyone, except for maybe a member of their own team.

I have a question on how you guys do barrel taps though. What happens if you tap someone's gun? Because if their gun is "locked and loaded", you could be out too.

If you are able to tap their gun, they really weren't paying attention. My answer to this question is no. If you read into the words a bit too much, you can make it out that by tapping a gun that is primed to fire, they are also "tapping" your gun by your "tapping" action. If you tap their gun, they are hit, but you should tap their body somewhere instead.

I will check the topic from time to time and answer anyone questions. Thanks for the props and support everyone.

Edited by badger, 01 June 2007 - 10:57 PM.

[Mantis]

The thing to remember in Nerf wars is: Don't be a douche bag. Badger summed this up pretty well.


I don't know if anyone mentioned this yet, but getting hit in the gun needs to be revised. The hit should only count if your gun is blocking the shot from hitting your person. That is to say, if you're shouldering the gun (aiming) and someone standing 90 degrees to your left shoots and hits your gun, it would have completely missed you, thus it shouldn't count. I had to correct a young gun about this at the Tune Up when it happened to him.

And as far as clearing in goes, use the Golden Rule of nerf wars, because I will break your gun in half if you shoot me from 5 feet away with one of those damn brass guns and you led me to believe you're out.

Edited by Mantis, 08 June 2007 - 02:53 PM.

[General Cole]

Not true, if you watch the latest geddon vid you see me going around a corner and poking my DTG ahead of me and around the corner for 15 seconds before I go around the corner. I do this because if I hear a reaction I rush out and try to get them. If someone was good enough not to react and shoot my DTG in the Barrels I should be out even though my body is around the corner in saftey.

[Mantis]

I don't know how they do things in New Mexico, or how people who joined the forums some 2,500 people after me do it, but if your gun is around a corner and someone shoots it, they are a dumbass.


Unless their dart went in your barrel, in which case they actually own you (in the literal sense).

[Rambo]

Why? You are not in the bullet's path. Even in real life, I believe if your gun gets shot by an enemy, you're not going to die unless the bullet ricochets...

I think the idea of not doing this will create more problems. We already have disputes over hits and whatnot, this will just create more...

Edited by RAMBO, 08 June 2007 - 03:16 PM.

[General Cole]

That was geddon, and if it was in the real world and your gun got shot, it would probably be totaled.

[Rambo]

So your gun would be totaled, but you'd be alive...

[General Cole]

Alive and not being able to do anything. Like a cop with no gun, car, or radio, in a firefight. DEAD.

[Retiate]

Why? You are not in the bullet's path. Even in real life, I believe if your gun gets shot by an enemy, you're not going to die unless the bullet ricochets...

I think the idea of not doing this will create more problems. We already have disputes over hits and whatnot, this will just create more...

I have always counted gun shots, no matter what. With the only exception being the gun that was shot was the Manta Ray. This eliminates any dispute or questioning about whether the dart hit the person's gun or the person or whatever.
If you, anything you're wielding, or anything attached to you (clothing, gun holsters, straps, etc) is hit by a dart, you're out.
That way no one can question whether they are in because the dart never hit him, but it hit their shirt, gun, or whatever.

The only thing we don't count are riccochets. Having a dart skid on the ground and hit your foot should not count as a hit. And riccochets would cause lots of cover areas to be more of a danger zone because of all the possible riccochets people could make.
Though riccochets could be fun as a variant.

[CD-R]

For our weekly saturday wars, this is an excerpt of our rules on gun hits:
"Blocking: Once a gun has been hit with a dart once, any hit thereafter made by the same player that shot the first hit counts as a direct hit to the player."
So basically, after the first gun hit, anything is fair game. After a person leaves the general battle area, they reset their amount of gun hits. Like all aspects of nerf, we play on an honor system. If it matters to some one so much that they win a nerf battle that they would lie to us, we would rather let them have that than argue for an hour.
That's how it goes down in our neck o' the woods. However, when we play standard 3/15, we play with gun hits counting as an out.

[The Infinite Shindig]

There are obviously going to be some differences in opinion, since things are differently based on location. If we could generalize a list of rules and show areas where they could be easily modified or left up to the people using them, that would be great.

</Captain Obvious>

[badger]

There are obviously going to be some differences in opinion, since things are differently based on location. If we could generalize a list of rules and show areas where they could be easily modified or left up to the people using them, that would be great.

</Captain Obvious>

I have to agree. I will try to work on this a bit this weekend. Any help would be appreciated.

[CaptainSlug]

I will be printing this out and bringing it to Wars in the future.