Online game strategy depends on the genre being played, with resource management, tactical maneuvering, and gaining a technological edge being important. Defensive positions provide an advantage, while distraction and bluffing are offensive tactics. Micromanagement and macromanagement are combined for subjective tactics, and players can take advantage of technology.
The strategy of online games is multifaceted and often depends on the genre of game being played. For example, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) should be played distinctly different from a real-time strategy (RTS) or first-person shooter (FPS) game, because the three genres involve settings and different goals. Online gaming is often characterized by the presence of human opponents as opposed to computer opponents. This opens up the strategy of online games to a wide range of real-world tactics that play on the weaknesses of human attention. The best strategy tips for online games include managing your resources effectively, using tactical maneuvering to outwit your opponents, and gaining a technological edge by using the best equipment possible.
Resource management, or macro management, is essential to any game strategy, although it is commonly overlooked for the more exciting aspects of the game. Resource management should be seen as the production or preparation phase, which is generally maintained until the end of the game. Whether the game genre you are playing requires you to stockpile weapons and ammo, as in most FPS games, or it requires city expansion and unit training, as in many RTS games, the attrition of frequent combat will generally favor the player who makes the most of his or her limited resources. The need to appreciate resource management is perhaps most obvious in MMORPGs, where the game setting itself predisposes the player to focus on sharing resources.
Particular strategies within the focus of combat, or the use of micromanagement, tend to depend on the technicalities of the game genre and the specific game itself. First-person shooter games typically require unpredictable movement to make it difficult to target an opponent. Real-time strategy games require you to assign particular unit types from different armies to target the particular unit types of your opponents which are most efficient at dominating. MMORPGs require the order and timing of spells or abilities in such a way as to best enhance their damage and debilitation or healing and fortification. All genres require timely communication to be maintained between allied players for strategic harmony.
Generally, defensive positions provide an advantage, forcing the opponent out of the fortification while the defender maintains a fortified position. On the other hand, static defensive positions facilitate an opponent’s efforts to obtain useful reconnaissance, which a defender may not realize has been obtained. In genres where players are able to maintain a fortified “main base” and counter-recon sentries, the advantages of a defensive position could be maintained while avoiding the disadvantages. One offensive tactic is distraction, which involves using only a fraction of one’s strength or ammunition to occupy an opponent’s attention while directing the majority of one’s strength and ammunition to more critical and then overlooked targets.
Online game strategy often combines micromanagement and macromanagement to achieve subjective but developed tactics. “Luring” involves encouraging an opponent to get used to a specific strategy or movement by visibly repeating it, only to critically exploit such relaxed assumptions by completely redirecting efforts. “Bluffing” involves intimidating an opponent with unreal strengths or capabilities simply by appearing to have them, a tactic intended to steer the opponent’s strategy into a predictable or non-threatening reactionary position.
Players can sometimes take advantage of the technology that powers the game. Online gaming sessions are sometimes prone to “lag,” a skipping effect caused by slow Internet connections. This sometimes allows players with faster connections to exert greater control over the flow of combat. Aside from such technical opportunities outside the game itself, most manifestations of online game strategy will, to some extent, play into the opportunities of human psychology.
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