it's put a severe dent in my chronic depression and severe social anxiety (in the good sense), and taught me to be more honest with friends, and more communicative, so by proxy, how to come out as trans to family (with semigood reception) and to new groups of friends, even if it is still nerve-wracking every time. i've even gotten over my anxiety enough for streaming, even though the randoms in my chat do yell at me a lot, but the game has also taught me to be able to ignore that kind of stuff for the most part.

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.

it taught me that when i see a crazy looking guy with a mask and a flamethrower irl i shouldn't shot my rocket launcher at him or ill die :(

A lot actually without TF2 I wouldn't have ever cared to learn how important FPS, Hz, response times, or what makes a good mouse a good mouse and that the extra $30-60 over a generic mouse can and often is very much so worth it. Playing TF2 eventually drove me to learn how LCDs, TN/VA/IPS panel types, CRTs, OLEDs, etc work. I also know a whole lot more about how DVI/VGA/HDMI/DP work. Hell I even started and finished a few mods I built for a Monitor and a mouse. If I never played TF2 I probably wouldn't have got a mechanical keyboard which is something well worth buying in and out of game if you're on a PC alot same thing with a 144Hz 1ms gtg panel unless you like video/software editing. While working on a config for tf2 I learned what a lot of things do/mean in TF2 and other games. Hell my desire to get better and getting a 144Hz + new computer lead to me getting a job.

I learned I had to appeal to tftv audiences to be
accepted

.

I used to get mad at small things in life and TF2 helped that a while ago, in an relatively obscure way.

I used to MGE a lot and took it way too seriously. Every time I lost I felt stupid and got upset. Usually I'd trash talk which resulted in the other player trash talking, which resulted in me getting even angrier. Then for whatever reason once I MGE'd an invite (I think) soldier it all changed.

He had no problems beating me and I never made it into double digits. After every time he beat he'd call me a retard unprovoked. I didn't feel really feel good or bad. I just kept playing knowing that he was going to keep calling me retarded and I wasn't going to win.

So thanks Mangachu I guess

i get that evil feeling every time someone irl tells me they're good at video games

never trust someone called drifta
i guess I've gained some patience irl I guess.

i learned about the true power of the paw

https://media.giphy.com/media/ESJ5JgFPg494A/giphy.gif

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MTG-ThreadNecromancer_3198.jpg

I went from being the most stupid person in my class to most smart without studying... not sure if tf2 or everyone got more stupid....

I'd say TF2 definitely made me become a lot more sociable. I was kind of a loner for the majority of my time in high school and never really made any particularly close friends, and because of that I was pretty socially awkward in a lot of ways (still am tbh, but not nearly as much). Getting to know tons of people in pub communities as well as spending a lot of time with various comp teams helped me get out of my shell more than I would have in my normal life. Although I haven't really talked to any of these people for a while since I haven't been involved with TF2 recently, I don't think I'll forget the impact some of them had on me. I've thought a lot about getting back into comp just to reconnect with some old friends, even though comp is a bit more inconvenient for me now then it used to be.