Pushing out of last is definitely the hardest/worst part of the map. The adjusted cap speed helps ease concerns about backcaps which promotes pushing out, so that should probably not be changed. Adjusting the 2nd forward spawn timer is probably the best thing to start with as its very time consuming to clear everything on battlements/lobby and spawns are usually up before you've even stepped outside even on a full wipe.

Beyond that, upgrading the size of at least the ammo pack on patio of yard would be a huge help. And finally clean up the ceilings. Really frustrating to have your movement so restricted by the lamps in house and battlements, as well as the vents on last.

And don't arbitrarily change the map theme please.

Not quite what I said. Were there any huge upset wins or meta shifts due to unlocks? No. They're not the problem everyone seems to be making them out to be. Based on what you said, no invite players were actually consulted, that's what I'd call an actual problem.

And what's your point with the corsa screenshot? Did you expect EVL to miss the grand finals or something?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expert

At least consult someone who averages more than 190dpm :(

Last couple seasons have played out pretty much how you'd expect them to despite the presence of these unlocks that have fueled hysterical threads and surveys proclaiming TF2 has been ruined. If anything we should be testing and unbanning more items until we find the things that are genuinely game breaking, not simply annoying. And please don't try to manufacture credibility from supposed conversations with invite players when the players from the top 2 ESEA-I teams (for the past 4 seasons) were not consulted whatsoever.

Things have been quiet on the FACEIT front, but I just spoke to the FACEIT developers and learned that they're working to improve every aspect of their platform with a major overhaul that should address all of the major complaints we've had including hour limits, assigned voice channels and captain functionality. Expect to hear/see more in the next few weeks!

Top invite = top 2 teams until 3rd place teams stop throwing in playoffs.

Subway Club
Italian Herbs and Cheese
Pepperjack Cheese
Toasted
All Veggies (minus tomato, plus cilantro)
Sweet Onion Sauce
Hot Mustard

Make sure to retweet.

Se7en making themselves look like even an even bigger joke of a baby circle jerk than previously believed. Truly impressive. Others have already said it, but just restating so it can perhaps penetrate the thick TFTV skulls: the juxtaposition of a tutorial targeted to beginners next to a video of a pug of supposed IM+ players doesn't make much sense at all. Besides, what part of ignoring the experienced and passionate main-caller on your team comes across as trying your best? These kids choke at both LANs and at logic.

It should go without saying that I don't condone people going out of their way to harass anyone who appears on my stream/videos. I'm used to dealing with harassment from this community and I know how unfun and tiresome that can be, so I certainly don't wish that on anyone else. Stream highlight type videos are meant to be entertaining, often at my expense -- uploading a video to my channel of me getting upset at someone else is certainly not the most flattering thing in the world -- but it's threads like this that actually remind us of the unfortunate truth that people flock to that kind of content. Once again, I'll happily take the spotlight here because I think it actually exposes hypocrisy that is not my own, or am I the only one who sees the irony of this actual TFTV mob rallying around bashing a supposed group of people for their uniform beliefs? (Heads up: neither the group nor the beliefs actually exist and you sound like an idiot when you refer to this). Thankfully it looks like this delusion is slowly but surely fading away as more sane people have started speaking up lately. I'm sure that it will never fully go away, but rest assured neither will I ;).

b4nsky

<3 lansky

The series will include lessons that appeal to players both brand new and quite experienced. These first couple videos would be the kind of thing you'd send to people who are interested in competitive TF2 but don't necessarily know where to start or all the obscure but important details of what it takes to play competitive TF2. I prefer to start with basics so that everyone is guaranteed to be on the same page (the same rationale behind any type of 101 course). I imagine most people who watch that video have console enabled, but I would rather not assume. Besides it took mere seconds to explain how to enable it. Eventually we'll cover more advanced topics so stay tuned.

I also disagree with the idea that new players shouldn't be playing on FACEIT. I see FACEIT as pretty much a replacement for TF2Center, which most people would have been fine directing new players to. Discouraging people from using FACEIT is counter productive to our scene because it is one of the most promising things we have in competitive TF2 at the moment. FACEIT really should be the go-to third party competitive TF2 platform for people of all skill levels. It certainly needs a few key features to be able to interest more experienced players, but those features will only be developed if the platform is popular so I'm taking steps to ensure that. As for directing people to different kinds of sites, FACEIT is unfortunately only supporting NA and EU, so for people outside of those areas they'd probably have a better chance at finding places to play by reaching out to those other communities listed.

I've mentored plenty of invite players actually. However, most people in invite, including yourself, have a very negative and defeatist attitude which makes mentoring them a complete waste of time. People who are eager to improve and try are much more enjoyable and rewarding to help.

Seeing as there is no way to force people to play in and pay up for any division, sandbagging will always exist. Perhaps lowering Invite fees would have some impact, but almost certainly the best way to tackle it would be to increase the incentive to play in Invite instead. For example if you made more money than the winners of Open regardless of your placing in Invite, then you'd probably get many more of those people who are wasting their talents in lower divisions to tough it out in Invite. This would either take a complete restructuring of the prizes and fees for ESEA TF2 or a significant influx of cash. But of course, we are lucky to have the little prize money we already have so its kind of a pipe dream.

Check in is open, get your teams readied! Reminder that there will be no overturned matches if you forfeit due to time for any reason.