As a player who also sucks, I can tell you that you probably don't really need any of the things listed in the thread. They'll help, but they're more for competitive players working on their aim. What you need is to play.

Seriously, just playing the game is the biggest factor in how well you do. You'll develop gamesense and aim in a setting that fits your skill level by just putting in time on a pub. Once you've got the basics down, you'll be able to move up to more focused training in MGE or a Newbie Mix.

You should remember to play smart when you pub. Keep track of your kill/death, and if you die a lot, brainstorm what would be causing it. One tip which I suspect might be the issue: when you go into a fight, count the players involved from each team. You're probably dying to pairs or groups of players while the rest of your team backs off.

What's the deal with these? I haven't really looked into trackers before.

This seems a little grey, morally speaking, but I'll take the links just to have them.

-Braid
-Super Meat Boy
-Binding of Isaac + DLC

Thanks

You don't have to build your computer if you don't want to. You should understand that custom builds are extremely expensive if you don't do it yourself, but it shouldn't be a problem if you can find something already build that you like.

Can you tell us a) your price range and b) what type of computer you're looking for? Be as specific as possible.

A tip for the mods: be more tactical with your announcements. There have been several weeks where you'll put out an announcement and 50 players add up, then you realize you don't have coaches. The players just sit in the channel for an hour and give up. Also, have coaches who are available show up if they're bored on a Saturday night. It doesn't have to be an official newbie mix day, you can just see if anyone's around. If you have coaches, throw out an announcement and the newbs will come.

RE the halftime idea, I understand why people think it would just slow the games down, but the halftime really ensures that real coaching is happening. Giving people advice and then immediately going into the second half and watching them implement it is much more effective than just giving them a couple tips and sending them on to their next pug.

People could be doing this on their own in the channel. You can move yourself between Mumble channels, you don't need an admin to drag you. The main problem I've had with PUGs in the Newbie Mix mumble is that people don't understand their own skill level. When we play a PUG it should be people who understand the game well enough to not need a coach. My most recent one had two soldiers who didn't understand the difference between a pocket and a roamer and a medic who just ran around looking for anybody to heal.

Smile and laugh to yourself if you start to tense up before the presentation. When it starts, think a little bit about how goofy you feel and how ridiculous it is. Smile with the first few words and look around a bit - it will relax you. You might even find yourself enjoying it.

I think it's important to note here that the "community" element of TF2 happens in Mumble channels and random forums on the web. Shoutcasting and podcasts are all great, but the real way to communicate with the heart of the community is through these gossipy back-channels.

That said, the first thing that needs to be done in developing the competitive following is developing a more user-friendly way to spectate. Live matches are much more exciting when you've got the STV (I'm not a fan of casting, but I know people have different preferences here). But STV is pretty consistently unreliable - as are the match casters and even the players themselves. Just look at the most recent LAN for evidence.

Your point about the "soap opera" element of entertainment is really insightful, actually. A couple days ago, I was thinking there are some pretty strong undercurrents of drama here in the upcoming season. First of all, most of the invite teams have potential to play on pretty much the same level, so competition will be intense leading up to LAN. This is an opportunity in and of itself to draw a larger following before the really big matches. In addition, the gossipy channels are suggesting some moderate tension between players. B4nny and Tyrone split up to form their own teams, so they could be advertised as rivals, plus Pyyyour is going demo this season (in my opinion specifically to beat B4nny). These little competitions, friendly or not so friendly, could be drawn out into the open to create an over-arching narrative - your so-called soap opera.