PM system between players. Communication between player and website is done mainly through popup-like notifications.

Right now you get redirected to a match page where you get all the necessary connect strings in plain text or you can click a button to get automatically connected.

STV connect info next to the server name sounds easy enough to implement. We'll do that.

For the sub system... We could (probably) send everyone currently added as the needed class a notification asking if they want to sub? However I'm not sure how annoying that would be, I guess we'd need to make it an option to turn that off then.

Post game stats sounds like a decent idea too.

Flags next to player names could be a bit tricky. Website uses steam login, and while we can get the country from players' steam profiles they are not necessarily always set correctly (or set at all). One alternative would be getting the flag based on your current IP, but I strongly dislike that idea. Another one would be to make it so you can set it on your profile page but then again I don't like forcing people to provide any information before they can start using the website, and if it's not mandatory a lot of people won't have their countries set. If you got any better solutions feel free to post them!

Yes. All those things are enforced under the rules and result in a warning or ban if broken. We'll have global admins and different mods for each pickup type.

Yeah, we'll have a server set up with all the needed channels.

We are planning on having EU/NA channels for after the beta if there is enough interest. The beta will be mainly aimed at EU because we tend to fix bugs and add features during the night (aka NA peak time).

We've also discussed private pickups/ladders/cups before but that would definitely be something for later versions, not the initial release.

6v6 and 9v9 will work like our current pickup website(+ a queue system): add as a class, when the pickup is full the website creates the two teams. UltiDuo and BBall on the other hand will work a bit different. Current idea is people adding up either solo or as a duo. Then everyone gets thrown into a pool of all the people and teams/matchups get generated. But the system is not finalized yet.

The team function for scrims is quite interesting. Again, not something for the initial release but it sounds like something we could do for a later version.

We do realize the skill level difference between people can be quite big, especially as this is going to be an open pickup, but that's why we're implementing the skill rating system to try to get the teams as fair as possible. There may or may not be restricted (eg. div2+ and whatever equivalent of that NA has) rooms/pickups coming in the future.

Just as an example: I can maybe play scout at a (low)div2 level on a (very)good day, but I am a horrendous demoman (div5 at best). That's quite a gap. And assuming I'm not the only incompetent person in the TF2 community we need to account for that somehow.

Yeah I meant mics and mumble are required.

As for the domain, pickup.tf is already registered, so is pug.tf.

I didn't mention that because I thought it was obvious :P

Yes a working mic is/will be a requirement for playing pickups.

Hi there. Some of you might know about the web pickup project Shrike and I have been working on. Well, the idea from the start was to make it much bigger than just a simple 6v6 pickup website. Shrike has been hard at work for the past week now, writing this new pickup hub that will include 6v6, 9v9, UltiDuo and BBall pickups all on one website.

Current features (done or planned):
*Ready-up system
*Queue system
*AFK system
*Friend system
*Sub system
*Skill rating (per class)
*Chat with commands (imitating IRC?)
*Separated 6v6, 9v9, UltiDuo and BBall chat and pickup ‘rooms’

Now here comes the imporant part: We’d like to know what you would like to see from a pickup website, how would you like it configured? For example:
How long should the ready-up time be?
Would you actually play 6v6/9v9/UD/BB pickups?
Is a PM system and/or highlight system necessary?
What (other) features would you like to see implemented?
Do you have an idea about how planned features should work?
Thoughts about the website design (currently the design is strongly based on the current pickup website we have).
What URL do you think we should use?
How should UltiDuo/BBall pickups work?
Should skill rating be global or separated by pickup type?
What personalized features for the website would you like to see?
…or anything relevant you might thing of!

We are not ready for a beta release yet but we will need beta testers soon(ish)!

Any and all relevant serious input is greatly appreciated and will be taken into account when improving the web pickup hub!