SalamancerScorpiouprisingI'm so weirded out by this news. On the one hand, "Yay!" they acknowledge that comp exists and are trying to create a format. On the other hand, it seems like they hate the pinnacle of competitive play! I mean, do they even playtest within valve in competitive formats? 6s or highlander? Are they just coming up with these changes without having ever played comp? This is so weird.
Maybe I didn't make my post clear. They don't "hate" the pinnacle of competitive play. They are time-constrained. If they could offer all the things to all the people, they would offer a 6v6 lobby system. But that's a pipe dream. They have to do what benefits the largest number of people, and they still want to see the competitive side grow. If they can grow both the normal pub experience and the competitive experience at the same time, that's the ultimate prize, so that's why they are more willing to support 9v9 than other modes.
What about the random line about "stagnation" or whatever? Seems to be another reason for emphasizing 9's over 6's.
I get that they are constrained by time, etc etc, but what worries me is that we are having this outside authority coming in and telling us that our format is unworthy of being adopted because the TF2 team (who, to my knowledge, pretty much never plays the game competitively internally) is coming in and making some wide ranging decisions about how to implement proper item metagames.
Its like, does Capcom get to decide whether or not EVO is single elimination or swiss? No, its EVO organizers and fighting game community players who decide the formats. Even DOTA, which is where I'm imagining they got the idea for picks/bans, was an organic community led process which was determined by the actual players involved in the competitive leagues, not some arbitrary decision brought about from on high.