# TF2 - could we have a "comp" FA/FAF team?



## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Aug 22, 2010)

About a year ago, our merry bunch from #holegan tried to assemble a competitive TF2 team, but failed epically. We still got to around a dozen members, the only problem was that about three of them were from England, and two from Australia. Also, everyone was busy.

I started college recently, and it ended up being less time-consuming as I expected, which leaves me some nice little holes of free time to fill. I decided I could definitely give the project a shot on the forums, and here I am.

Why exactly do I want to be part of a specific comp-like TF2 team? And why would anyone want to?
Because TF2 is lame when you're not playing it with buddies.
Of course, it has its moments, but nowadays 90% of the time is spent being steamrolled by a stacked team waiting for a scramble to switch a single player with 8 points to the other team, then map rotation.
I tried playing with a friend or two. They just run around and do their own stuff in their corner of the game. It doesn't fucking work.

A competitive team works as a team, not as a clusterfuck. The awesome part in that? Competitive teams work just as well on pubs, with a few modifications depending on the situation. (Even then, with the two utilities, the team should be fairly versatile.)

So what exactly am I saying?
That yes, I'd like to create, with the help of other members, a FAF TF2 team using a competitive layout, to play on _public_ servers.
Because really, unless you're looking on TF2-specific forums, it's really hard to find someone who's good enough to play real competitive. (And that's really, really good. I know I'm not :V)

I know the ropes. I'm willing to teach anyone who thinks they need help the basics of the game. I'm just around average though, so don't expect miracles. However, I'm not asking for more. Because we're not on the look for raw skill here.

That sentry on pl_badwater, which had the awesome demo xXxpR0k1lLeRxXx with his 260 points stumped for the last ten minutes? It could easily be taken down by a spy/pyro combination. Team Fortress 2. *Team* fucking Fortress. Do you realize how easily even a stacked enemy team can be beaten, when people actually bother to pick up the mic and fucking communicate?



So here's what I need

-You must be able to play some fucking TF2. If you've somehow made it that far in the thread without having ever picked up the game in your entire life, I really dunno what to say, but I really feel that deserves an award :V
-You shouldn't be retarded. Again, pretty self-explanatory.
-Use fucking teamwork. A mic -is- crucial, and so is having the right tools to communicate with your teammates. (Skype doesn't work for everyone, and so does Ventrilo. The ingame voicechat usually does the trick, but prevents you from speaking while dead, and the constant chatter from a coordinated team on a public server clutters up the channel and may bother some.)
-It'd help a looooot if you lived on the east coast, or had a time zone around EST. I actually don't think anyone is getting kicked out by anyone else for being australian or turkish or whatever, but it might be hard to fit in scheduled games.
-You must have a pretty flexible schedule. Explaining this one: games -will- probably happen on week-ends, as these are the designated leisure-time days. I'm not asking for *all* your time. The more holes in everybody's schedule, the easier it is to be all online at the same time. That's it. Leaving the 72 hours marathons to WoW. You do play TF2 on your own too when you feel like it, right?

What's in for us?

-The possibility to experience some actual teamwork and have consistent TF2 play buddies
-A great opportunity to improve game skills (and teamwork again)
-Possibly some FAF vs matches with enough scheduling, if we manage to hijack a server
-Getting to see a whole new aspect of the game, through new playing tactics and strategies



So post here to discuss the idea, express how unquestionably awesome it is, add something, suggest an improvement, or pretty much anything related.
If enough people are interested, we'll come up together with a way to establish permanent contact and get everything into place.


Of course, if this project sounds like butt and doesn't make any sense, let me know as well :V


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## xiath (Aug 22, 2010)

Okay, I know this is going to sound kind of arrogant and sound like an attack, but these are serious questions.

What experience do you have in Comp play?   Do you know the format for competitive play?  Have you even played a PuG or lobby before?  What is the point of playing with comp style tactics and team layout on a normal public server with people who may not be trying to play as seriously as you?  Wouldn't it be better suited for scrims and actual low-level comp?  Are you trying to go for a 6v6 type team, or a highlander team?  Do you have strategies of your own for Pl maps since pl maps aren't played competitively (plus other maps not played competitively)?  

What I got out of your post is that you propose to start a team full of low-public level players, teach them the basics and maybe some basic comp tactics, and then send them out into a public server (like TFP) in hopes to thwart a stacked team by stacking it yourself.  Is that what you are trying to do?  If so, then what's the point in sending a team out into a public server where you have other people on your team who aren't on the same page as your group.  Plus the fact that there are no class caps.  Because of that, you cannot use normal competitive tactics effectively (for instance, how are you supposed to time their ubers when they have 3 medics?  Or how would you account for 2 lvl 3 sentries, 3 heavies, 2 demomen, 2 sullies, and 2 medics on a final cap with your competitive oriented format?) because they rely on the fact that you would have equal teams following the same rules.  If you have something else in mind then please elaborate.


Again, I do not intend this to be an attack, even though it kind of sounds like it.  I just really suck at asking questions that don't sound like they have malicious intent.  

I guess I just find a "public-comp" team to be an oxymoron.  I my mind at least, if I wanted to play competitively , then I would join a team and play competitively.  But if I just wanted to play the game for the sake of fun, then I would play on a public server, knowing full well that the teams are more than likely stacked but not worrying about it non-the-less.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Aug 22, 2010)

xiath said:


> Okay, I know this is going to sound kind of arrogant and sound like an attack, but these are serious questions.
> 
> What experience do you have in Comp play?   Do you know the format for competitive play?  Have you even played a PuG or lobby before?  What is the point of playing with comp style tactics and team layout on a normal public server with people who may not be trying to play as seriously as you?  Wouldn't it be better suited for scrims and actual low-level comp?  Are you trying to go for a 6v6 type team, or a highlander team?
> 
> ...


 Whoa, that's a lot of questions and so I'm probably gonna miss some. Also don't worry about sounding aggressive, I understand perfectly your concerns.
I've studied briefly detailed competitive (I know a bit more than 2 scout 2 soldier 1 medic 1 demo hurr) last year, then started training my skills up (mostly as a demo) but never made it into an actual competitive team. After that, I completely dropped the game to take care of some other shit. I started playing again recently, and I'm pretty rusty, although it's a bit easier than starting over from nothing.

Highlander would be a pain on pubs, as it requires way more stacking effort, so I guess we would be going towards the standard 6v6 team. If we actually get our own team of 6 stacked on a server, then we wouldn't be playing with uncooperative players, but with perfectly fine teammates.

I find it's better to aim low and climb up the ladder than aim high and miss. The pubs stacking would just be a starting point to try out the team, and probably gain some skill (as I don't expect anyone to have played in a comp team before), and low-end competitive *WOULD* be a long-term goal. (If everyone is ready to brush up on serious tactics.)

I'm not going for completely low-public players. If anyone is bright enough to understand how to improve reasonably and learn from their mistakes, they should eventually gain enough skill on their own to be able to play decently. (Without having to sit through two-hours long daily training sessions.)
If you main a W+M1 pyro, switch to spy when you get headshotted repeatedly, then spycrab around because you're _still_ getting headshotted, then feel free to stay in your 24/7 insta respawn 2fort server.


Now, if I may ask you a question, have you ever been part of a competitive TF2 team, or are you currently? Because if yes, you probably won't find much fun here.


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## xiath (Aug 22, 2010)

No I am not on a competitive team.  I was practicing to get on one but I don't have the time to devote to bettering myself to that level or practicing with a team right now. 

 My main concern is that public servers are normally 24 man servers, so you would have to deal with other people on your team.  Plus a standard comp format, with it's weapon and class caps, are not ideal for playing against a team who has no rules to follow.  I personally think that you could better the skill of players and the team as a whole by getting a team together and playing some PuG's or scrims with other new teams.  Then you don't have to deal with the noise of public servers and can legitimately hone your skills with teams that are around your level.  All the good I can see coming from public playing is just a basic understanding of the game (basic aiming, basic RJing/ sticky jumping, basic class mechanics, basic game style understanding) but the more advanced parts of the game are not seen as often in public play.  Although I think that public play is just fine to learn the bare bones basics, it cannot teach you the strategies used in comp play since they are not used in public servers.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Aug 22, 2010)

xiath said:


> No I am not on a competitive team.  I was practicing to get on one but I don't have the time to devote to bettering myself to that level or practicing with a team right now.
> 
> My main concern is that public servers are normally 24 man servers, so you would have to deal with other people on your team.  Plus a standard comp format, with it's weapon and class caps, are not ideal for playing against a team who has no rules to follow.  I personally think that you could better the skill of players and the team as a whole by getting a team together and playing some PuG's or scrims with other new teams.  Then you don't have to deal with the noise of public servers and can legitimately hone your skills with teams that are around your level.  All the good I can see coming from public playing is just a basic understanding of the game (basic aiming, basic RJing/ sticky jumping, basic class mechanics, basic game style understanding) but the more advanced parts of the game are not seen as often in public play.  Although I think that public play is just fine to learn the bare bones basics, it cannot teach you the strategies used in comp play since they are not used in public servers.


I'll consider looking into your advice, then. Most of that makes sense, although as I said, I'm afraid coordinating the team in itself will be enough of a challenge to start with.

And while TFL is generally a pretty slow forum, I'm still not even sure we'll have enough people interested in the project.


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## Ames (Aug 22, 2010)

I'm a grizzled vet.

But I haven't really played that much since mid-'08.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Aug 22, 2010)

JamesB said:


> I'm a grizzled vet.
> 
> But I haven't really played that much since mid-'08.


 
Then I guess you're good for a serious unrusting 

Are you potentially interested? If yes, I'll probably ask for your skype or something once I get more people.


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## Otto042 (Aug 23, 2010)

I was interested right up till you said the games would be on the weekend...  weekends are hit or miss with me between work and class projects.  

However, if you want someone to practice with/against and just plain old team stack, I'm perfect for that.  Got a mic and I've been playing since release day with too many hours logged on medic, soldier, demo and engi.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Aug 24, 2010)

Otto042 said:


> I was interested right up till you said the games would be on the weekend...  weekends are hit or miss with me between work and class projects.
> 
> However, if you want someone to practice with/against and just plain old team stack, I'm perfect for that.  Got a mic and I've been playing since release day with too many hours logged on medic, soldier, demo and engi.


Sure, anyone is free to come along O:

I don't get how the week works better though, but I guess everyone has their schedule.


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## Kreevox (Sep 4, 2010)

Ive gotten decent as a pyro and eng, I've spent most of my time offline farming items, tho, I'm familiar with class-based pvp fps's, so I should be able to hold my own.

I do have skype, weekends should be good for me depending on what time you choose to play and I do have a mic, also I live on the east coast, PA to be exact, so that helps

and to be retarded, if this goes official I'm thinking of an FAF group called Team Furtress


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## Fenrir Lupus (Sep 6, 2010)

I'll have to remember this a year from now.  Don't have the game yet, but i'm decent with shooters...  (mostly on wii, but I do some more competitive online PC stuff too)

By then I should be out of my parent's house is the point though.  They don't like it when I use my mic in starcraft...  (starcraft will prepare you for ANYTHING...  i've got the "stacked team" thing down pretty well w/ people I know IRL...  Mostly at their houses, obviously.)

So just don't delete this from your sig.


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## Ames (Sep 6, 2010)

FrancisBlack said:


> Then I guess you're good for a serious unrusting
> 
> Are you potentially interested? If yes, I'll probably ask for your skype or something once I get more people.


 
Eh, I guess.

I'm not exactly the best player in the world and I have no fucking clue how things work in the game atm (crafting? what the fuck?), but I think it would be nice to get back into TF2.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Sep 6, 2010)

Doomsquirrel said:


> and to be retarded, if this goes official I'm thinking of an FAF group called Team Furtress


Haha, we'd have to avoid it being confused with the defunct server group by the same name, though.
(ugh, puns)

So I'm keeping everyone's names in mind. For now we don't seem to have a lot of people really taken by the idea, but I'm still keeping things open, and will be sure to PM every single one of you if we get more dudes in.


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## Stizaar (Sep 7, 2010)

Do we absolutely positively have to use the comp setup, because I love being able to use any class I want in a 24 player match. I communicate just fine, but I like to mess about with huntsmen snipers and spies and pyros


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## Oovie (Sep 9, 2010)

I generally play Sniper or Engineer, Medic and Pyro on the side. Play every day pretty much on the TFP servers, so I know what the stacked teams feel like. Whether or not something is put together, if you want to add me on Steam anyhow, my username is the same as my forum name.


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## ghilliefox (Sep 9, 2010)

is there any chance that a 360 team could be started as well? im an avid tf2 player and im working on getting a good enough computer so i can get it for pc.(btw how much do pc mics run)


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Sep 9, 2010)

ghilliefox said:


> is there any chance that a 360 team could be started as well? im an avid tf2 player and im working on getting a good enough computer so i can get it for pc.(btw how much do pc mics run)


 There isn't much chance we'll ever assemble a 360 team. There _really _isn't a lot of people playing tf2 on the 360. (I know one, out of fucking everyone I've ever met in my entire life, excluding you, and people from TF2 communities.)

You can get a cheap headset for 20 bucks, a decent one for 40. There's no point blowing money on more than that, since they all break down after no more than a year. (Seriously, headsets have the worst lifespan.)
Look for customer reviews and info on tech sites if you wanna pick a good brand. Cheap Stennheiser worked really fine for me, but they do break down after a bit.


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## Code Red (Sep 9, 2010)

I guess you can count me in.  I do have work on Saturday, so be wary.


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## Otto042 (Sep 10, 2010)

FrancisBlack said:


> You can get a cheap headset for 20 bucks, a decent one for 40. There's no point blowing money on more than that, since they all break down after no more than a year. (Seriously, headsets have the worst lifespan.)
> Look for customer reviews and info on tech sites if you wanna pick a good brand. Cheap Stennheiser worked really fine for me, but they do break down after a bit.


 
Don't look any farther.  http://www.logitech.com/en-ca/webcam-communications/internet-headsets-phones/devices/349
$25 stereo analog and its lasted me 2 years now even after the dog ripped it off the desk and out of the pc twice.


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## Rilvor (Sep 11, 2010)

>Playing TF2 "competitively"
>urdoinitwrong.jpg
That shit is as lame as NO ITEMS FOX ONLY FINAL DESTINATION
Any game that makes fun of you dying should not be taken seriously.

That being said, if you're having trouble with stacked teams you should really try different servers.

Good ones I've found so far are WDZclan and SLAUGHTERHOUSE servers. Stay off of the typical pubs, they are all horrible. Especially Lotus ones.


....I guess I'll grudgingly also admit TFP servers are actually decent, as they can auto-detect team imbalances. Turn off sprays and it's not a bad place to play.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Sep 11, 2010)

Rilvor said:


> >Playing TF2 "competitively"
> >urdoinitwrong.jpg
> That shit is as lame as NO ITEMS FOX ONLY FINAL DESTINATION
> Any game that makes fun of you dying should not be taken seriously.
> ...


 Well duh, I just like to play in an organized team of six.

As for these servers, I thank you for tipping me off; I'll give them a shot if I ever feel like playing again. TFP isn't good though, since the scramble needs to be voted and is piss weak. (I saw scrambles that didn't switch _any _players.)


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## Code Red (Sep 12, 2010)

Ok, so when is this group being made?


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Sep 20, 2010)

Code Red said:


> Ok, so when is this group being made?


 
It's not for now.
There just aren't enough people interested.


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## OrangeWabbit<3 (Sep 23, 2010)

skill? if low im up for it
sniper/soldier/demo

Note: Are we using Criticals in the matches? if so then well mayhem, i get so many crits.


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## Nex (Oct 15, 2010)

I've considered picking up TF2 again. I used to play games like CS1.6, UT (Pretty much all of them), BF2, and AVP competitively with a group of friends. I never got super into TF2 because nobody I knew played it :/


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