Backstab

From OPU Wiki

While not exclusive to Outpost 2, the backstab was a practice common in mulitplayer games at the height of its popularity. As the term implies, a player who backstabs is one who performs an action outside of agreed terms before the specified time, usually given in the form of a mark number. By far the most common backstab is a unit rush in which a large number of units assault an opponent before the predetermined time. Other common backstabs include using in-game cheats and the gang rush in which a group of players plan beforehand to coordinate a rush backstab on an unsuspecting opponent who assumes all players have agreed to a Free For All (FFA) format.

Backstabbing is commonly associated with new, unseasoned players or "newbies" and is regarded as unsportsmanlike behavior. While frowned upon, the activity was prevalent enough to force game hosts to display the mark number for the current game in multiplayer game server names hoping that by making the desired mark obvious to users, most backstabbers could be deterred. In actuality this amplified the practice by letting backstabbers easily locate high-mark games to exploit and the number of opponent quits increased to never before seen levels.

Near the end of SIGS/WON support for Outpost 2 Multiplayer, network games were at a very low quality in terms of gameplay and player satisfaction. Player numbers dropped and most of the "hanger's on" were either die-hard fans or the undisputed ultra-elite. Uninitiated newbies were often turned off by the prevalence of cheating and unfair practices by opponents. Rapidly becoming a closed community, Outpost 2 Multiplayer suffered the effects of player corruption combined with a lack of new player influx. Those who remained where not large enough in number to keep network support for the game constant and WON went offline on September 4, 2001.