Post
by HBWW » Fri Nov 19, 2010 6:58 pm
Usually, the age 13 requirement is put because of some crap COPPA law in the U.S., and a lot of those who register are also from the U.S. so it presents a liability. I'm not sure how iSoaker deals with it from other countries, but most likely he'll suspend your account until you turn 13. (For future reference, revealing age over the internet is not always a good idea.)
But regardless, welcome. For your water war, it's worth looking into what larger blasters are available in your area. The Max-D 3000 is an excellent blaster (though I dislike the Shot Blast for various reasons) but is only excellent as a small sidearm, at least in wars where larger blasters are around. If you can get your hands on a Vindicator, Vanquisher, or Iron Man/Arctic Blast/Flash Flood, you'll do fairly well on the war. Give the opposing team one as well to balance things out.
Max-D 3000-only wars can make for some amusing games though. If I was restricted to Max-D 3000's, I would dual wield them, then carry another extra pair in reserve. You may not have enough blasters to do that with, but it's fun if you can.
Movement and tactics. If your playing area is mostly wide open with sparse cover (like mine is), movement and speed is extremely important. You need to think fast, dodge fast, and move fast or you'll get drenched easily. Strength in numbers is also very important in open wars; work with your teammates and if you can divide and conquer in an elimination game, you win. That leads to hit based games. Most higher end water wars involve counting hits and there are many ways to do so; the most basic being the use of clothspins and tags, but the easiest way is the honor system; at my wars we go by a 20 droplet approximation; if you're hit substaintially, you're out. Any other hits that are noticeable (even a droplet) count as a half-hit, and two of those result in an elimination. Of course, it's subjective and it's difficult to tell how much you're getting hit with in the middle of a war, but it has been the best method for us so far. Of course, it's ultimately up to you how you want to play.
If your playing field has good cover or at least good visual cover, exploit it. If they can't see you, they can't see where you're going to go. Just remember that hiding all the time also makes it much more difficult for you to track them as well. However, movement will be of higher importance nearly all the time unless you're playing indoors or something. That's when cover usage becomes vital, if the field has lots of solid cover spaced tightly together. But even when there's plenty of cover, you need to be fast and move smart.
I hope you can at least read through this if iSoaker decides to suspend your account. It's not that we have anything against younger people, it's just a rule in place to generally keep things in order. (And to prevent the COPPA laws from becoming a problem/liability.)