Posted this in my steam review but it's the best fps released in the last decade and it's $20 (although imo it will likely be f2p within the year.)
Don't get put off by low player #'s - it's essentially like playing on the same community server & I've never waited more than a minute for a game. You'll quickly get to recognize who good players are by name & I think it's cool to get put into a game and take a look at the teams and go "oh they have soandso, they are going to put me on a cross."
Organized 7v7 games play very well too (there is a Comp Discord with a Pug Bot that works great), and people are pretty inviting to newbies if you explain that you've never really played the game before.
danny of the horror stories that ive heard from the developer discord, seems like theyre hyper focused on "player retention" and the ceo emod out of it after release
Don't read into the horror stories too much. There are a handful of jaded manchildren who do nothing but make alt accounts & shitpost on reddit about Erez (the CEO). The current lead dev (The Drizzle) is constantly engaging with the playerbase to gather feedback & improve the game (he actually plays the game too and is pretty good.)
If anyone has questions hmu, I love Tribes <3
here's some clips cause I am too lazy to make a fragvid:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2057799235
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2099854625
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2102699351
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2108062051
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2103884666