Preference

stock, in my opinion, i have used both and the stock just feels better

Preference but The Original becomes unreliable because of the load outs going down.

I used to use original, but I messed myself up trying to shoot other weapons that shoot from the shoulder. ie stickies and pipes. so I stick with stock for consistency.

Mainly preference, though players who come from quake or new players tend to prefer the original, while players who played tf2 very early tend to prefer the stock because it's just what their used to.

The reason that the Original is the better choice is due to consistency in projectile inheritance, ie. you aim the same way whether moving left or right. Also, if you are the pocket (where you will always have shotty) you are always aiming with the center of the screen, as opposed to off to the right with the stock RL.

Also it looks and sounds way moar l337er.

Here's how I see it (having learned on stock, but used Original for a few weeks):

Original:
+ Turn equal distance to jump from either side, making jumps on your left take less time than with stock
+ Easier to aim rockets, as they come out of the center
+ Can spam around left corners easier than with Stock
+ Quieter, can't hear rockets fired from it as easily
- Takes longer to jump on your right since you have to turn further
- You might be less effective with DH (if you decide it'd be useful for something), and if loadouts go down
- Cannot spam around the right of a corner as easily

Stock:
+ Jump faster with jumps on right side
+ Spams around right corners much easier
+ More consistent with no loadout/DH
- Jumps slower from left (you have to turn further)
- Can't spam as effectively around left corners

So looking at these pros and cons, the only real advantage the original seems to have is being more consistent w/ jumps or spamming with respect to which side you're on (which is balanced out by the stock having much better results on one side, but worse results on the other), and being easier to aim (which, if you spend enough time with the stock RL, is completely negated since you can aim it just fine after you get used to it), and the fact that it's quieter. However I find it VERY useful to be able to corner-spam with the stock RL, something you can do much better with it than with the original. It's also nice to have stock for when items go down.

In the end, I think it's really just personal preference, but I think the stock might be slightly better.

okay i use the stock,but i was told the stock is better because the rocket jumping with the original is not the greatest and and that when it comes time to jump as a pocket you need a good jump and so stock would be better, any body have a opinion on this

i think people look too much into it. you just can't shoot around corners as easily or wall jump as easily with the original.

the original is great for skipping/pogoing which is why i love it, rollouts get quicker somewhat. also it's somewhat easier to airshot but i still find myself missing shots that i would have hit with the stock sometimes.

Troll post right?

Tell that to Techno that he needs "a good jump" so he better switch back to stock...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t5ap3Pu0Nw

The original just makes soldier a bit easier by making it a lot more straight forward (literally and metaphorically). Vanilla requires a little finesse to hit relatively difficult rockets whereas you would just point and click with the original. Just think how much easier pipes would be if they shot out of the center of the screen.

With the original you have to think less about rocket jumps compared to vanilla, but with somebody who's already mained soldier with the vanilla launcher it's a negligible benefit if one at all.

ORIGINAL: WHY? QUAKE

#12 I actually specifically asked Techno what he thought between the two. His answer basically came down to: It's just preference, but there's a few trick jumps I can do with stock that I can't do with the Original.

Stock purely for the possibility of loadouts going down. It's really all preference except for that fact.

i use the original because i always jump to the left for some reason

Original:
Let's take soldier and MAKE IT EASIER.

I prefer the stock due to natural ability.

Since almost all first person shooters have the guns facing the same way, it's not really much of a difference for a rocket launcher.

You can switch which side your viewmodels are on. It's in the options or advanced options somewhere.

does anyone in comp tf2 actually do that

why give up a right side rocket jump advantage to make both sides equal? and why give up right side spam peeks to equal out both sides? doesn't seem worth it to me.

isn't that black box

I've noticed that, in the middle of a fight, its actually a lot harder to hear someone jump with the original, whereas the sound of the stock one is so scratchy and loud that you can always hear it pretty clearly.

This is the closest anyone's come to persuading me to looking into using the original. Can you elaborate further?

The original goes BOOM, but it doesn't come with Christmas lights

On a more serious note, if you regard your mouse as an extension to your arm, it feels more natural to aim with and fire from the right side than from the middle of your torso.

It's kind of hard for me to describe it but I'll try my best.

So, with the Original whether strafing left or right your rockets will come out of your body like this: |----+----| The distance you have to account for when aiming is equal on both sides. This makes aiming more consistent and easier. This also makes it a lot easier to know how to aim when you and your opponent are both in the air and you're going for an airshot on him. It just makes it easier to calculate where to aim.

With the Stock RL when strafing left and right your rockets come out of your body like this: |---+-----| So when strafing right, your rockets come of your body on the left but close(r) to the crosshair; strafing to the left and your rocket comes out a lot further to the right. So you always have to take that difference into account when aiming, and you have to learn how to aim differently depending on which side you are strafing to. I'd bet dollars to donuts it takes a split second longer to think about where to aim when using Stock vs Original, and that's why I switched. On top of that, when people are directly in front of you you've gotta aim slightly to the left which can lead to some whiffed shots in the heat of the moment if a scout jumps in your face. Also, when using the Original you're always aiming with the center of the screen and that's how you aim with shotty as well, so it only makes sense to go with the Original.

TL;DR
Original = consistent rocket deviation from crosshair while strafing = easier and more reliable to aim accurately.

I switched to the Original after like 40k with the Stock and I haven't looked back. Now just give me an "Original" Direct Hit and we're in business.

it honestly isn't that complex, one fires in the middle of your screen the other doesn't

I've used the original for a few weeks now and it's entirely preference. Any differences between the two are very slight. I can do 95 percent of my jumps with the original, and spamming around corners is harder on one side but easier on the other. Both weapons are equally good. It really doesn't matter which you use.