Greetings and Salutations, my dearest blog readers! 

In today’s blog, we are talking about the art of teamwork, using the fact that I always help NPC’s when I play video games like Left 4 Dead. If you check out my YouTube Channel, and watch any of my game plays, you quickly see I will not only go back to save a pinned or incapacitated teammate, I will also use my health pack to heal them up, and make sure they are in good shape to continue with the campaign. 

I am in the rarity of L4D gamers who do this, and i know this to be true because frankly I spend way too much time watching people play this game online. 

But WHY do I do it? Why do I save these computer controlled NPC’s who glitch out plenty, more so when so many of my fellow L4D gamers will shoot these NPC’s in the safe room to get rid of them, disable them with codes if they play on PC, or, just leave them to fend for themselves when playing campaign mode, leaving NPC’s pinned by zombies, or to face down a Tank, all alone. 

Well, to answer why, let’s first look at the style with which I tend to play Left 4 Dead. 

Annoying or not, I tend to play the game as if it really happening, or, how I would play the game if I were actually Zoey or Rochelle, or that the situation in Left 4 Dead were real. 

Basically, this means little things, like the weapons I personally would use, versus weapons that look badass. A key example being while most people enjoy using things like the Ax, I prefer to rock the baseball bat. 

Down side is, I can’t carry the weapons I would carry in the same situation, because I would do baseball bat as a melee, I would keep my pistol as a side arm, and have the other weapon, likely a AK or shotgun, as a third.

But, the game doesn’t allow that, so I rock the baseball bat for some campaigns, and other campaigns I will use the magnum or duel pistols, backed up with again, any of the weapons I like, but my preferred two being the AK and the Combat Shotgun. 

I will likely do a blog or blog series about why these are my weapons and my thoughts about the other weapons, but for now, just use this example to know, I play the game as if it’s real. 

I also tend to exercise caution when going around corners, to not be surprised by a special infected, like a Tank, that could easily wreck me. 

So, with all that stated, when it comes to my NPC’s, it’s a scary zombie apocalypse and while sure, we can be bit and stuff and be okay, we still can be killed by zombies, not just the hulking massive Tanks, but the Charger who can pummel you to death, the smoker who can strangle you, the Hunter who will claw you until you die….most special infected require you to be helped or freed by a teammate. On top of this, the common infected can swarm you, and enough of them can take you down too. You need your teammates for backup on killing zombies and also for freeing you from pinning special infected. To say nothing if you slip and fall on a ledge, which I do often in the game and, could also happen in a real world situation. 

There is safety in numbers and this is very true in the Left 4 Dead world. 

So, since I play the game as if it were real, and really, you would need a team to get through it, I always act as a good teammate. 

I know in a zombie apocalypse situation, it would also be dangerous for me to be alone. I’m a small framed woman, and while being scrappy, and a damn good shot, I am hardly able to defend myself against a horde of angry humans or zombies…so I would want to find a team quickly, a team I could trust, and, I would want to keep those people happy, healthy, and able to keep moving, because, in a SHTF (Shit Hits The Fan) situation, I would need a well functioning group to better survive, or, as I wish to do, sur-thrive (thrive while I survive). 

So, if I want to play Left 4 Dead as if it were real, I need to be a good teammate, even if that means saving and healing an NPC who very well may lag out and never leave the safe room. 

Because he may, and that same NPC may save me from a Hunter or some shit. 

And we don’t focus on teamwork enough in ANY apocalyptic prep situation. Sure, in both Left 4 Dead 1 & 2, the group just me in the beginning of the infection, but all the same, they survive only as a team.

One of the reasons I love this game so much is how much the AI will punish you if you don’t play as a team (a more practical reason to play the way I do) and I love that because, so often, that is how these situations could go, and you are only as strong as the team itself. 

So, if you want to see videos of me playing this way, check out my channel, and consider if you would be more of a lone wolf solo run kind of player, or a team player, even if the team is made of NPC’s, kind of player, and let me know via comment or DM. 

Thanks for Reading!

Abbi