Gang Up on the Human: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

You're playing a multi-player game with one player and several computer opponents, set to free-for-all. You'll probably see the AI players fighting each other quite a bit, right?

 

{{examples}}

== Action Game ==

* The ''[[Bakugan]]'' game on the DS. In a battle royal, any time your bakugan is in combat, expect to see two of the following on the opposing side of the power meter: 2P, 3P, 4P. They NEVER aid you, and they do nothing when two computers are battling. you can attempt to return the favor, though, by aiding someone who has fewer captured gate cards to stall for turns.

 

== Real Time Strategy ==

** One particular level of ''[[Expansion Pack|Brood War]]'' [[Averted Trope|averted]] this. It's the simplest level in the entire game, because the computer-run Protoss and Zerg forces are too busy fighting each other to launch that many attacks against the player-run Terrans. The fact that this is a very dull and unchallenging level probably highlights the reason why this trope exists.

** This is actually somewhat pragmatically done in the original Terran Campaign. The second to last level involves a three-way between the Terrans, Zerg, and Protoss, in which you, the Terrans, will lose if the Zerg lose even one building, even if it's an easily replaceable defense colony. The Protoss and Zerg do not attack each other, in fact, the odd Protoss will actually ''walk through'' the Zerg base to get to you. It's not so irritating though, because the Protoss hardly attack at all (they're down to their bare basics on the tech tree) and it'd be even more of a pain to defend the Zerg bases while they're trying to kill you if the Protoss too were trying to kill them. Sure they suck, but they'd probably get a lucky building kill and screw you over.

** In skirmish mode, setting immutable teams beforehand will have the AI partner up with you, if that's what you set. (They're marginally helpful, but the AI really does not understand teamwork AT ALL.) In "Melee" Mode, It's Humans VS Computers, no exceptions. In "Free For All" Mode, it's every man (or AI) for him/her/itself, and the computers will happily frag each other into oblivion.

** In fact, by default the scenario editor doesn't even let you sort yourself into the same team as an AI player if you don't use triggers.

* ''[[Command & Conquer]]'':

** In every game before ''Red Alert 2'', the AI would gang up on you once you defeated one AI opponent unless you change the "Paranoid" setting in the rules.ini file.

 

== Sports Game ==

** This was fixed in Day Of Reckoning Two. The computer players only decide to gang up on the human half the time, other times they may just ignore the human most of the match.

** This trope was far worse in the rather mediocre WWE Wrestlemania X-8.

* In the first [[Heroes of Might and Magic]], you could set all the computer players (since every map had four players) to "King of the Hill", which would cause this. No other entry in the games had it since.

** However, ''Heroes of Might and Magic V'' had AI behavior that ends up doing the same. While it's FFA, none of the AI players bothers to defend their castle against other AI players, usually taking their entire force to attack another player (more often than not, the human). Sooner or later, it would be you against one single AI who has taken over everyone else. Assuming you managed to survive the suicide attacks coming at you, that is.

** Also, the AI doesn't do a very good job of estimating how dangerous a human player is; they can overestimate you if you do a lot of cheap research or underestimate you if you don't build as many ships and units. Either can lead to AI players thinking they should wipe you out before resolving their own differences.

** There is an actual "all AI against all Human" setting, but it's disabled by default.

 

== Western RPG ==

* A minor version occurs in ''[[Mount & Blade]]''. In the arena melees, AI opponents will usually fight each other just as much as they fight you... but the moment you drop, they stop fighting and ''cheer''. It's like, "okay, he's out, we can stop pretending to be hostile now." This has been fixed in newer versions of the game.

** Also in arena fights, once you start winning the remaining enemies will often cease fighting altogether just to charge you, and ignore any opportunity to hit each other.

 

* ''[[Awkward Zombie]]'': [http://www.awkwardzombie.com/index.php?page=0&comic=110110 Priorities].

 

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