https://puu.sh/tUYma/8f03479891.png

I just learned truth

Can you actually pm me the info? I hired a management company a while back to do that shit, and I've kinda neglected server hardening for a while.
I'm not really the best at managing servers. The management company is supposed to do most of that for me, but they're not proactive. Gotta manually submit requests to have it hardened.

No, it's still happening. I just didn't expect things to take off as well as they did. Like, I honestly expected it to be dead on arrival, and it actually has teams and such playing right now. Which is super awesome.
Trying to get some sponsors on board for a new ultiduo thing as well. And then there's the whole LAN stuff. Everything's just going so fast, I'm kinda scared honestly.

Made changes to the server recently, and kinda... uh, forgot to harden it again.
Getting around to that in a bit. Going to also edit php a bit as it's insecure as well.

Surprisingly well, considering I fully expected it to fail in every single way imaginable.

Yeah, totally! Down with ESEA!

But seriously. I love ESEA. It's automated, easy to use, and just a simple league to play and compete in. I think it has areas where it can be improved, but it's solid otherwise. But god damn, do I hate sandbaggers. Doesn't matter the league or game, I just hate them.

Yup

Let me clarify this.

1. I don't care if invite players come into Open, and play in that division. Nothing against that.
2. What I'm against, is having a team comprised entirely of invite level players, playing in Open.

You're really putting a lot of effort into this. I commend you for that.
On the other hand though, what the fuck?

Congratulations on being a toxic individual.

Should b4nny be allowed to quit invite, and play in Open? Yes. Should he be allowed to form a team with 4 or 5 other Invite level players? No.
My gripe isn't against the openness of Open, it's the stacking and sandbagging. Invite players can totally come down and join open level teams. No issue there. But when they stack a single team, just so they face no real competition? No. That's what I'm against here.

Not when they run spy, sniper, and pyro to mid.

Well, I expected hostility. Glad someone here was able to meet my expectations.

People don't get to invite for being bad at the game. They get there for being good, and having more experience than your average competitive player. Having one or even two ex-invite players per team in Open is totally fine, but to have a team comprised almost entirely of people that have played at the highest level of TF2? I don't see how any of that is fine.

ESEA Open is supposed to be open for everyone to play and compete in, given the name. If you're an amazing player, you start in Open, and climb the ranks. Nothing wrong with that.
What I'm essentially bitching about is the fact that ESEA just casually allows people from Invite to essentially say "Meh, fuck it" and come back down to Open just because the competition is easier. Stacking a team with players that have played at invite shouldn't be allowed, and it doesn't promote competition. Players that are doing it just for the easy money, have absolutely no respect from me. And come on, if you're stacking an open team, you're doing it for the money.

This isn't UGC guys. Sandbagging in a paid league is just rotten.

Also, I never expected to win Open, or even come close to it. I just want fair competition, and a chance to learn and grow as a player. I'm not entitled to anything here, so stop with that shit. I just don't find it fair that 5 players that previously played at the highest level of ESEA, should be allowed to play on a team together at the lowest level of ESEA. Players that stack like that are doing it for one of two reasons. Easy money, or they simply don't want competition. Either way, it's bullshit.

Seriously, what's the deal with that? The team we faced had 5 ex-invite players on the roster. They bm'd hard.
Is ESEA Open basically UGC at this point? What the hell? Why does sandbagging have to exist? Like, wtf dude.

He's been really solid with us so far. Haven't seen any tilting from him, and his comms have been very clean and direct. He has brought up some valid criticisms during our scrims, but mostly as a way to correct mistakes made by the other members.
He also hasn't brought this up with me yet, though I'm certain he will talk about my rather poor scout performance, as far as dpm goes.
Here's our most recent scrim - http://logs.tf/1633557#76561197999339627

I'll definitely keep an eye out for tilting, but from what I've seen from him so far, I'm not too worried right now. Really proud to have him on the roster, and am looking forward to seeing where he and I can take this team.

Hey guys! So, my team's still in the process of rebuilding our roster. We've been cycling players around a lot lately, and think we've found a pretty solid lineup with everyone feeling at home on their new and respective classes.
However, with the roster cycling, it left us lacking a quality combo scout.

If you're interested in playing combo for us, please message me on TFTV, or add me as a friend on Steam.

Flank Scout: Sidular
Combo Scout: OPEN
Roamer: Kylor
Pocket: skateboard pete
Demoman: Azion
Medic: Sama

We got rolled our first two matches, primarily because of a general disorganization and lack of calling and team play. We've made some changes since then, including putting Azion on Demo, and bringing skateboard pete in on pocket and main caller. The current roster seems pretty solid, and we just need that final scout to lock things in place.

I don't see us making playoffs, but reaching high open is definitely possible.

https://play.esea.net/teams/138675