camping

Camping means staying in one spot in a game, often a hidden or powerful position, and waiting for opponents to come to you. A player who does this is a camper.

What camping means

In shooters, a camper might hide in a corner with a sniper rifle and pick off anyone who walks past. Wikipedia describes camping as getting an advantageous static position. It’s a legitimate tactic in many situations, which is exactly why it annoys people: it rewards patience over action.

The most hated version is spawn camping: waiting where opponents reappear after dying and killing them before they can react. It’s widely seen as poor sportsmanship.

Examples

• “Stop camping and come fight!”
• “There’s a camper in the tower again.”
• “They spawn camped us for the whole round.”
• “I’m not camping, I’m holding an angle.” (the classic excuse)

Camping outside shooters

In online role-playing games, “camping” also means waiting at a location for a rare item or enemy to appear. EverQuest became so known for it that players nicknamed it “EverCamp,” according to Wikipedia.

Where camping comes from

According to Inverse, citing Rolling Stone, former id Software designer Tim Willits said camping existed as far back as Doom, but Quake and Quake III Arena popularized the term. Urban Dictionary’s first entry for “camper” appeared in 2002.

Related terms

• Sweaty: playing far too seriously.
• Rage quit: quitting a game in anger.
• Noob: a beginner.
• Clutch: coming through under pressure.

Find more gamer talk in our gaming slang dictionary.