Been a bit since I made a post here, will be posting more frequent updates on the RGL forum thread (https://forums.rgl.gg/topic/2945/rgl-pugs-public-alpha).
Some notable changes/additions:

• Lots of stabilization
  
• Volume control
  
• Enhanced picking process to be more intuitive, including captains not being able to be forced on a class they did not queue as, sorting players by elo / round win % / average picked position.
  
• Elos are now dynamic and have an updated model to be more accurate.
  
• Players that play pugs and win at least one round of HL or 6s (captained or uncaptained) since September 18th are automatically entered into an exciting raffle for an upcoming RGL project currently called '100 Fish'. The top 3 players for each format are guaranteed a spot. Click the new '100 Fish' button on the sidebar for a sneak peek

The site is back and will no longer eat up all your data! (as far as I know)

Should be fixed now.

As mentioned, I am aware of the issue and it is fixed in the next version which includes a full-stack overhaul. I will keep everyone posted once it goes live. Huge thanks to Jaguar for reaching out to me

AFAIK, b4nny is travelling today but will upload them tomorrow after he gets back. Keep an eye on the match comms here

Thank you everyone who has played in the public alpha so far! I am very proud of the work we've done so far and have received a lot of good feedback that we have both already added and will implement down the road. Since the last update, we have added the option to sub a player on your team out, along with being able to view pugs currently running. Note that it requires either 3 players to vote for a sub or the player to sub themselves out for it to go through and the pug will be killed if two subs are needed at the same time. Our next priorities for this week are highlander PUGs and a separate captained advanced-invite queue. One thing we would like to think about is the classic lack of medics in a pug problem, and we would like your help in doing so! For the next week, we are going to run a poll to gather opinions on the best way to handle it. If there is enough demand, we will implement an auto-draft for a while and gather further feedback afterwards.

Here is the link to the poll: https://strawpoll.com/polls/e2narE0DMgB
You can choose multiple options or create your own.

Thank you again for all of the feedback you've given so far, and feel free to contact me/post here if you have any questions.

- I originally intended those who ready stay ready after a failed start so they don't have to keep readying after baits, but that seems to just be causing problems. Will remove in next update.
- As we move the goal of testing from making sure servers don't blow up to user experience and the meat of the PUG system, we intend to implement a sub system along with the option to vote for a forfeit/end the pug if there is a bug that happens.

Showing in-progress PUGs is definitely something that we are actively working on so players know if pugs are currently active. For different queues, we have lots of plans including by division/exp/elo and differing rules for each, like having captain options for adv/invite pugs.

Should be fixed now
Also adding more servers temporarily for tonight

After doing enough playtests, I have now added a dedicated server so that there can be PUGs ran at any time!
We also plan to launch highlander as a gamemode option soon, so keep your eyes posted for that announcement!

Dear OttoDogX,

I am writing to apologize for the way our Team Fortress 2 pickup games have been run. I understand that our games have been a total disaster, and I'm sorry for any damage that this may have caused to your virtual soldier's ego.

As the organizer of these games, I know that my performance has been less than stellar. I'm sorry for the poor management, the terrible communication, and the constant team imbalance. I know that these issues have caused you and the other players a great deal of frustration, and for that, I am truly sorry.

Moving forward, I promise to take the necessary steps to improve the way our TF2 pickup games are run. I'll make sure that we have a dedicated medic on each team, and that everyone has access to an unlimited supply of sandwiches. I'll also make sure that the Demoman is properly equipped with enough sticky bombs to blow up the entire map, so that we can finally win a game. I will also coordinate with the engineers to set up better communication channels, so that we can all work together like a well-oiled machine.

In addition, I'm sorry for the lack of enthusiasm and excitement during our games. I know that it can be hard to stay motivated when you're constantly getting dominated by the other team. But fear not! I will be bringing in a professional cheerleading squad to hype up the players and keep morale high.

Once again, I apologize for the shoddy administration of our TF2 pickup games. I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me, and that you'll join us for another round of virtual mayhem soon.

Yours truly,
DolphiN

Basically this

I think that's a pretty fair system and am definitely interested in implementing something like that to try!

We definitely plan to use actual player substitutions, I just added a bot so that specific game could be 6v6, definitely a one time occurrence.

I can definitely see where you're coming from and will be removing the probation requirement.

- I'll look into why it seems that some people can't use voice activity, definitely agree that people should be able to choose
- We can make it so the map vote only shows for those in the PUG, along with being able to minimize any popups in case you want to log in, add to the next PUG, etc.
- Mobile UI is definitely on the to-do list
- Pocket vs flank scout is definitely something I didn't realize we need but there seems to be enough demand to try separating them
- I agree that would make things more consistent and easy, was coincidently thinking about that today actually

I appreciate all of the great feedback and bug reporting that has been happening so far! The past two nights of PUG testing has been very constructive and I am very excited to be working on this project!

Note that this current project started just a couple months ago and is not under the same project management/dev team that was announced 3yrs ago. See https://www.teamfortress.tv/62574/day-1-update-on-rgl-pugs

I may be misinterpreting what you're saying, but what I understood is that you would want to get otherwise fat-kidded players to be auto-assigned to med if there aren't enough?
My main concern would be that forcing somebody onto medic who doesn't want to be would increase the likelihood of throwing. A couple solutions I've thought of is providing incentives (e.g. fat-kid passes) to play medic or prompting players to volunteer as medic if medics are the only classes needed to start the pug.

Of course, I am willing to try your proposed solution for a weekend and gather feedback if enough people agree.

For the moment, we are doing intermittent playtests. There will likely be some servers added this evening for further testing after last night's.

Hey everyone, thanks for your patience as we worked/pulled our hair out to get our first playable RGL PUGs prototype out to the public!

As of last night, we have launched a public playtest to start gathering feedback from players, identify bugs, and be able to start rapid development! We’ve already played a few pugs, found a few bugs, and are working to fix them, but you can keep up with the latest prototype and click around at https://pugs.tf.plus/pug. Please note that the PUG system is not 100% stable during this period and things may crash or change. This first iteration is purely meant to get something out to the public, stress test, and gather feedback.

If you’re interested in knowing exactly when new updates are pushed and playtests are happening, be sure to follow this thread and join the RGL Discord (rgl.gg/pugs) so you can join your team voice chat!

In terms of commonly asked features, we do plan to add the following:

• Other gamemodes like HL
  
• Captain-style specific queues for higher div players
  
• View PUG history/player stats/elo
  
• Sub or forfeit option
  
• Visual cleanup/site responsiveness
  
• Donor perks

I want to include the community in on the development of this, so if you have any ideas for/against any decision we make, we need to know!
As always, please leave feedback in this thread or by contacting me @ DolphiN#2754!

If you would like to help develop this project and have mid-senior web dev experience or any other skillset you think could help, you can apply to the RGL dev team @ https://rgl.gg/Players/Reporting/StaffApplication.aspx

https://imgur.com/a/jqK3NlR

average TF2 viewership in 2023:

https://i.imgur.com/P13mUXd.png

(most players were behind teams)

It basically means improving our current Discord "RGL PUGs" system by moving from just a discord to something great with stuff like:

• Allowing to queue through the site instead of waiting for dedicated runners to run PUGs
  
• Further integration with your RGL profile to gauge elos and balance teams
  
• Specific class queues instead of fighting over roles in the server (AKA needing an M.2 SSD to play anything but med)
  
• Server map/config automation
  
• Show off your elo e-peen
  
• More to be announced

I definitely agree that it's really frustrating when people refuse to collaborate and the previous project team not wanting to collaborate with RGL devs/staff was one of the main reasons for this decision. Because of this, essentially the only tie to RGL was branding/usage of API. We simply weren't willing to take the gamble considering the alternatives. It sucks it took 3 years to come to this point, but thankfully Taylor brought the motivation and dedication we all needed to launch a better way forward that better incorporates community feedback, transparency, RGL integration, and long-term sustainable success.
(That being said, mid+ level web devs feel free to apply to work on the project! We are using mainly React/Express, but reach out to me(DolphiN#2754) or Taylor if you have any inquiries or skills that you think would be helpful! - Apply here!)

just watch
Not sure if it was conveyed effectively in the announcement, but this is essentially a whole new project/team under the same "RGL PUGs" title. I hope people can refresh their expectations, but we all know that's easier said than done and we still have a lot to prove.
I originally aimed to have PUGs available for testing on Dec. 22 when I made those teasers, but stopped showing the teasers when a combination of a couple things became apparent that threatened that completion date:

• Personal life stuff/work
  
• Dedicating more time to establish standards and paths for other developers to easily join the PUG development team (i.e. AWS permissions, finding other potential devs, and establishing/organizing those devs' roles in the project). This was pushed more by Taylor/arcadia with good reason for long-term sustainability/maintenance.

We agreed that officially announcing Q1 (Jan-Mar) of 2023 was the safest bet of a timeframe that allowed us to bear any further internal delays while not publicly pushing announced deadlines and disappointing the community every X weeks/months. I still pushed to release a statement on the date so that the community knows about this decision to switch dev teams, so better a few weeks later than an unofficial date than never ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. The good thing is that we will be posting updates to twitter/discord so nothing comes as a [bad] surprise.

Always feel free to ask me about the progress, I'd be happy to share!