#10 hit the nail, and just to paint a picture for anyone who doesn't know the history.. The only time CrackClan were viable as an organisation was when Ben Woodward and Luke Cotton (managers from 4K when the org was legit/in it's heyday) tried to take them from community organisation to proper esports org/brand. They brought all contacts/sponsors/funds with them but realised a few months later it was a shit fest ran by people they didn't want to associate with and left to create their own organisation - PwR gaming, some may remember they had an old school Finnish TF2 team.

At no point were CrackClan legit during their time involved with TF2 - they were dining off the fame/notoriety they had for a few months as explained above.

TL;DR EU Blight.

The reasoning is so backwards, but typical tf2dev. How about letting an existing community support it's scene by adding a case that crowd funds LANs while taking 50% of the proceedings for themselves, like what happens in their other titles. Both CS & DotA had a huge following before their games current iterations. It's literally nothing but an extra avenue to rake in more funds, it'd take very little time and effort and should be a no brainer. Twitch numbers would grow and so would the number of players playing comp dedicating themselves to play BECAUSE it would be clear the game was supported and had worthwhile LANs.

The disconnect comes from most 6v6 players seeing the game as effectively the Source engines Quake. It isn't hard to grasp/understand once you load an fps config up and disable the terrible viewmodels, while valve see the game as I don't know what the fuck.. some sort of fps/moba hybrid with never ending fractal like possibilities/situations available because of the amount of random and shite weapons they've added. The games dna/lineage is from Quake for god sake.

It has to be as black and white as them not liking 6v6 and thinking they know what's best, nothing else makes sense. Not providing support because twitch numbers are low LOL.

Yup, an eSports crate / some sort of crowd funding in-game cosmetic item(s) would make this a lot easier and viable. Do valve read tftv?! Maybe slapping this on tf2's sub reddit would be a good idea.

I'm about halfway through the i58 vods, absolutely amazed at how great the games have been so far.. if they can't be fucked stimulating growth in a game that's still churning out events this good with next to no support over 9 years then they're even bigger piss flaps than I've believed them to be for the last 13. Fucking mind boggling.

Valve don't know whether they're having a shit or a haircut when it comes to competitive gaming. They lucked out in both of their successful titles - buying the CS mod and the acquisition of IceFrog to steer DotA2. I've only just started playing regularly after a few years break so I say this as objectively as possible and not someone too emotionally invested in the game right now - but it's been incredibly obvious for the longest of times.

If how they've gone about things in CS:GO is anything to go by, I predict the TF2 devs will ignore the opinions and views of the top tier gamers (not really a prediction as they already do this) and use data from MM to push competitive TF2 in whatever direction they like. Also, unless they have sponsored valve events planned for the game I don't see how they expect the competitive community to adopt their vision.. which could hurt more than it helps; unless ETF2L/ESEA enforce whatever they throw up for the sake of the growth of the game.

I think Thorin summed them up best when he said for whatever reason(s) they believe they should be the ones to dictate/set the status-quo for the competitive side of their titles and not the top echelon of the competitive community. It's completely the wrong way to go about things.

The last couple of years or so when I actively played really brought home that I needed to address and change my priorities in life.
My 3yo niece was hit with a life threatening condition and had to go through the process of having multiple surgeries. I also had some health issues, although they paled in comparison. All this just as my Bachelors was wrapping up which culminated into a colossal mental and physical shit-fest. When I look back in review I tried to immerse myself in gaming to get away from it/block it out.. it was completely the wrong thing to do. I didn't even enjoy playing in the slightest. I should of knocked it on the head sooner and been more present in life for those around me.

Fast-forward 3/4 years and I've started to play for a few days a week and enjoy the game more than ever, even if it feels like that I can barely hold a mouse and my hands have completely forgot how to fps.

Taught me one of the most important life lessons I've ever had.

http://vimeo.com/34884787 this video was a big factor in helping me decide to carry on studying after my BSc in Natural Sciences and take a Physics route for my MSc, really gets you thinking.. especially after a fat one or two!
Highly recommend Professor Brian Cox's new series Human Universe which is currently being aired (3rd episode shown this week) in the UK. Especially if you enjoyed both of his 'Wonders of' series. Definitely better than the new Cosmos which I think was a massive let down.

:D Don't get me started. That's the reason for all my mouse changes! Think I went through 4 mx518's and 3 g400's which were all replacements from Logitech before being given a g400s by them. Sometimes they've lasted a couple of years, sometimes a couple of months. So fucking annoying, especially after buying a mouse bungee and it making fuck all difference.
My g400s just packed in at the end of August from general use (very rarely have time to play games nowadays) and I was unable to get a replacement because Logitech have changed their policy and now only offer replacements if the original mouse that went faulty was purchased under 3 years ago. Shafted me because my latest mouse was a replacement of a replacement of a replacement of a replacement etc. I've been told the cord problem has been completely eradicated with the latest range of mice so I've been eyeing up a g402. Reckon I'll wait till I can commit more time to gaming than a couple of hours per month before I throw money at a mouse though.

If you're intending to stick with the EC1 then there's really no other option but to get yourself a single coloured mat, but I do know of people who've reported the same problem using one of these also. I don't see the point in throwing yourself off kilter and increasing your sensitivity/DPI just so a mouse that is nearly twice as expensive as most Logitechs can cope.

EDIT: Just been speaking to a friend about your problem and he swears the latest version of the FK, FK1 has addressed the problem. If you are truly fucked off with Logitech you should maybe give it a whirl.

Used Logitech for well over 10 years (mx500 > mx510 > mx518 > g400 > g400s). Between the g400 and g400s I tried an EC1 and an FK and had the exact same issue, someone mentioned that ZOWIE mice didn't like multi-coloured mats (have a Talent) and I wasn't prepared to use any other mat so I went back to Logitech and ordered a g400s. Think the 9HD is also multi-coloured so you could try it on a single coloured mat!
My advice would be sack ZOWIE off and stick with what you're used to, especially if you're a low sens internet boy. Any mouse that costs as much as they do shouldn't be kicking up problems.

Glufse & Jambo

I still remember!1

The fact people are even considering a pick/ban system for TF2 is kind of worrying haha.

The fundamental problem here is Robin Walker sees TF2 as a public game, and at a push champions highlander as the supreme competitive mode. While the 6v6 community see it as a quakesque DM style game, on the source engine.
Until he realises this or it's spelled out to him he's just going to spin the same yarn - even then he's probably going to stick to his guns. Hard to understand fully in my opinion considering the game is the successor to TFC, which was a complete build upon on a Quake based game. Granted TF2 is totally original and unique but to at completely negate this obvious constituent section of a community is arrogant at best.
Meanwhile this 'cast out' community he refuses to back in any way, shape or form has raised over 60k in the last 24 months to fund it's own global LANS.

You can't blame him for not having a fucking clue about the competitive side of the game because the 6v6 format has eluded and confused him from it's inception - nothing even remotely close to the format we've grown accustom to and love even entered their heads when they were developing it. It's so blatantly designed and engineered as a pure public game it really is a true fluke/freak the game actually works as well as it does competitively. Hats off to the early pioneers for routing out the 6v6 format I say.

The game won't get any updates truly geared towards the competitive angle. It won't get an in-game lobby system, and it definitely won't get any cold hard cash thrown at it. I feel what people should be pushing and pestering the valve TF2 team for is some sort of eSports crate system like cs:go has received (2 x 250k tournaments within the first 6 months of implementation, it's actually a fucking joke how easy it is to add into the game as well, considering TF2 was the first game they Guinea Pig'd the whole market system on) where a large % of the cash surplussed from said crates goes towards getting teams to LAN and prize purses. Depending on the revenue I suspect a solid cash injection could be obtained with the possibility of hosting separate NA, EU and International events (I think the best method would be continuing to use the preexisting LAN infrastructures - ESEA/Mplay - then 100% of the revenue could go towards expenses and prize purses) this would inject passion and motivation into all skill tiers within 6v6 and would do wonders for the longevity of the format/scene.

I have not had much time to play games for the past 18 months bar the odd sporadic few weeks here and there. However after seeing how much these eSports crates helped cs:go I did take the time to email Mr Walker with the above mentioned thoughts and the possibility of implementation into TF2. I've mailed him 3 times and all 3 times I have received no response. Perhaps an organization within the community or person(s) with a direct line would be more successful in at least soliciting a response.. or perhaps i've just spent the last 10 minutes typing bollocks?

tl;dr - We accept you're not going to help the 6v6 scene, so give us a way we can directly help ourselves. With minimal effort required on your part.