A Psychology on Priv

[Frank]

What is Priv?

Priv is organized capture the flag. If you like CTF, then you should check it out. Note, you need to know the rules and ask an admin of a priv server for the password.

How to start Priv?

Starting Priv is probably one of the most painful things you can do and possible is less pleasant than being burned alive. Lately not many people have been playing Priv and it takes patience to gather the first 6 people, including yourself.

To start Priv, simply just highlight everyone (except for the few that never play (aka DevilHunter, etc...)) then join the server and wait. Also, make sure what server you want to play on. Ex: "AlienOverlord alpha capodecima dranzer Jenova Keo roman6a Ru5tK1ng Ten` priv on NJ" is suitable.

I would avoid going on other peoples IRC channels and highlighting everyone asking for Priv; this will just piss everone off.

Once you get in the server, the regulars will start showing up(Me, capo(when he isn't banned for being capo), Dranzer or AlienOverLord....) This is the make-or-break of Priv.

There's nothing that pisses me off more than when a certain someone (Dranzer) comes into Priv and says "hl me when you get a 5th" and leaves than when a certain someone(Dranzer) is 5th to jioin Priv and not even a minute later says "this isn't happening" and then disconnects.

If you're patient, then Priv will happen.
Here are some "Starting Priv without killing yourself" tips:
Join with multiple clients - The more people see, the more people come.
Alt+Tab out of zand when waiting for priv and keep yourself occupied while you wait. For example, I map, develop games in unity, watch YouTube videos, play an instrument. Just do whatever you want until more people come. When I hear people talking and there are about 3 or 4 people in Priv, I usually just chat until the 6th comes around mere minutes later. I'm actually writing this thread while I wait for Priv.
The Buddy List - Make sure you put regulars in your Buddy list to notify you when they play and when you here the "Yo!" you can check and see if Priv is going on. Also the more people that join, the more "Yo!"'s will be heard. For example. Capo starts priv and his only friend is JohnZombie. Then JohnZombie is friends with all of LF, suddenly LF/Capo Priv. Good on you Capo.

"I probably won't get picked"

We all know what you're doing here. If you don't get picked, use it as a time to learn. F12 the best players and learn what they do. Get familiar with the good players too. So when you do play(Probably since you are a cap), you can pick a decent team and not loose. "Hey that kid that never gets picked won, maybe I'll pick him next game" Is what might (maybe (possibly (almost))) happen.

To get better at Priv you need to do it often. Learn EVERY position. It's really hard to play with a team where everyone can only play O. Being versatile will get you picked as well.

I have the flag. What do I do?

Sometimes, this is the question that gets ALL of us. Even those who play regularly. You might be nervous or you just don't know what to do. It isn't as simple as "bring it back to your flag", you need to think of the best root, not die and not get blocked all at once.

If you go the same root every single time, odds are you will only score a few points if you actually score. Dancing around and never leaving the base at all will not get you a point either. Sometimes the best thing to do is to be as fast as possible. Sometimes you need to dodge a few times and sometimes you really need your team to help you.

Keep track of what you and the opposing defense are doing. Ask yourself "What can I do differently to score?" Know where the defender is and know what he's going to do next.

Being nervous will almost always force you to do something stupid and you won't score. Here's some tips for when you get nervous with the flag.
Go strait - It's not a good thing when you run around all over the place when your team is trying to cover you. You'll either run into your teammate or get shot by them and die or you will end up dying in some corner somewhere (Note that your team is looking at the other team while shooting at them, not you. If you die, they have no clue where the flag is but the other team does. Usually if you just go strait when being protected and you die, your teammates will keep moving backwards, while fending off the other team, and run over the flag and score.
Mindset - You gotta think you can make that flag, cause if you don't, you can kiss that point goodbye.
Getting Lucky / Being in the right place at the right time - Luck is when there is only 1 defender in the base. Having 2 defenders is nearly impossible to do alone, but completely possible. If you get a double kill on the defenders then get the hell out of their base and capture.
100 Health... RUN! - If you're low on health, you should probably dodge (without going completely off root or wasting a lot of time) and try not to die. But if you have 100 HP or close, just bust your ass out of there. It takes two seconds to get out of most of the bases and one defender with an SSG can only shoot about twice before your out. That's when you hope to the high heavens that they either miss, or barely hit you. Or, make it even harder on the defender by killing them at the right time.

When to kill

Yes. There is a time to kill a player in CTF. If you know they have low health, you can just run around, grab the flag, and on your way out kill them. Then they're miles behind you and you get the point. Also, when your d kill the other teams o, then they respawn and get you when they have the flag. I've though about this and it's pretty impossible to control. You need a mix of skill and luck to get out of the base when your defenders kill the other teams o on your way in.

How to D

Good defense is the key to winning. You can have the worse O in the world and still win with good D (no pun here). What does a good D do (nope, not here either)? The D should be pushed up as far as possible(still no pun). When someone passes you, swing around and kill 'em as fast as you can and then get back to mid.

How to Mid

Mid is really the key to getting flags. It's your job to protect the flag runner when they get out of the base. If you're off helping D kill one runner in your base then O is gonna die. Sometimes letting people pass you is the right decision, D can handle the one person that passed you and if you keep pushing up, then you won't allow the other team to push up any further. If D is standing around in mid and you just killed the 1 or 2 O's on the other team, then go for a run. Keeping pressure on the other team keeps them from scoring flags. Most importantly, protect O when they get out of the base.

How to O

Be quick, be smart, don't be nervous, let your team help you. When you have the flag and low health, sometimes grabbing health is a waste of time. That time you just spent grabbing a stimpack might cause you a flag. Make it back to your base before you grab health.

Here are some tips for when you're stuck in your base with the other teams' flag and the other team has your flag:
Suicide - Do it at the right moment. If you don't, then the other team can easily grab the flag from your recently air born corpse.
Low health? Stand on the flag return spot - If you have low health, you're most likely going to die. Hopefully luck is on your side and the flag is returned before that happens. Also, don't literally stand on the return spot. Jitter back and forth because it you aren't moving, you won't cap and your enemy will return their flag 2 pixels away from your flag.

If you are playing a game of fours, and there are two O then assist the other defender. Don't wait in the other base for them to die and then you grab the flag and also die. However, if you are certain they will score and they have 2 other people assisting them and there is like 1 opponent in your base than you can run back and grab the flag after your team scores, unless you have 4 points then. that's like staying on first base, last inning, and the batter just hit a line drive towards outfield. In that case you run even if you think outfield might catch the ball, or in this case, protect your teammates.

Facing someone who is better

It's going to happen. Especially if you're facing a few members from R or your captain picked the worst team since the guy who picked all his friends over skilled players. Don't get mad, don't quit either. Use it as experience to get better.

The 8 Stages of Skill

1. You're new and you suck. You never get picked and every time you get to be cap, you lose. This stage takes a while to pass.

2. You get picked last. You still lose a lot but you're getting better and you've had a few wins here and there. This stage takes a while too.

3. You still suck but you get picked on the winning team sometimes. This stage is very short. The reason you win more is because your skill gets you picked 7th which is on the first-pick team, which usually wins.

4. You get picked on the map-pick team more often now since your a little bit better than those 2 last picks. You start loosing a lot more now.

5. You keep getting better and the games are going both ways regardless of what team you are on. You have a large understanding of who is better than you and who isn't. You get mad when someone gets picked before you because you know they aren't as good as you (This may or may not be true. You're only as good as other people think you are).

6. You're sometimes first pick, sometimes your not (depending on who is playing). You know whats going on usually. You either win or loose. If you're cap, the only reason you loose is because the other cap is better than you or you got second pick.

7. You're good at CTF. You know where to be, you know where everyone else is, you're aim is consistent and you barely miss. You usually win and when you don't, it's probably because someone on your team messed up.

8. You know how to play every position on every map, with any team, against any team. You can carry your team so much that your D(pun not included) can go take a piss break during a game. You can make it out of the base with the flag, by yourself, no problem, against 2 defenders.

Which number are you at? It's hard to say. It depends on who is in the server. If you're the best there, you might be at 6 or 7. If you have been priving for about a year and you get picked 5th or 6th, I'd say you're around a 3 or 4.

Shit Talking

Shit talking can kill Priv. Don't kill Priv. Killing Priv is bad, m'kay. The drama in doom blows my mind sometimes. When Priv gets really crowded and there are about 15 people in there and an argument breaks out over SoulSucka's consumption of feces, or whatever, and other people start arguing and the before you know it you and RagingDragon* are the only two left in the server.

If you're better than someone else and they've done nothing wrong, then leave them alone. I'm sure their crushing defeat is more than enough. I do admit that if someone is being really stupid and we loose badly I'll bring it up to them. It doesn't solve anything besides relieving some anger. Also, talking during Priv is never the answer.

When soul stops playing and types a long ass message about how much capo sucks, and capo's furiously trying to keep runners from leaving the base with the flag, then before Soul knows it they lost. Soul then uses the 3 seconds before the map is changed to explain to his team why they lost.

P.S. If you're going to shit talk, make sure you don't look like an idiot when you do.

Caution[R]: Frank your stupid

This is a fragment Caution. We can't have that. You can finish the sentence by adding in a comma, some more words, and a period. Like so:

Frank, your stupid is at the train station.

Perfect! Now I know exactly what you're talking about.

[Kara Kurt]

Amen!

Yet another quite helpful Ctf guide thread beside these two :

http://zandronum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2246
http://zandronum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=524

Not sure if it was needed though.