This is basically what RGL Open pugs is and it's like the ultimate solution if you're just willing to use it. It has automatic matchmaking/balancing (granted elo is so inaccurate because of the low amount of players right now), and you can just sit in the queue for as long as you want until there's 12 ready. It's just that nobody adds up to it. If you're on your computer and you somewhat feel like playing 6v6 you should just queue the Open pug and do whatever while you wait for it to start. Even if you don't get a game today, people will see you added up and that can encourage more people to add tomorrow. We just need to get the ball rolling.

bump

RGL PUGs are like the first, most obvious way to get into competitive at the moment. I've seen a bunch of people add up who've never played 6s in their life, and I think it's reasonable to be frustrated that someone on your team doesn't know how to play (though you shouldn't be flaming people for being new). I don't think it makes sense for players like that to be able to wander into higher level PUGs. Brand new 6s players should be playing newbie mixes, TF2Center or in the case of RGL, the Open PUGs. The Captain PUGs are built around the idea of the players actually knowing each other and trusting each other's skill level, but when you have brand new/amateur players in the same lobbies as Invite players, there's gonna be a huge disconnect in not just skill level, but also banter and familiarity.

It's cool that you can get in games with top level players as a mid level player (and if I add up to an Invite PUG I know what I'm getting myself into), but there's not much benefit and a lot of drawbacks to letting a brand new player get into the same lobby as an Invite player. It's just a recurring toxic cesspool for the new player, if they even choose to re-add; I've definitely felt the cycle of being flamed for being bad, yet still adding up because I feel like it's the only way to play/improve, and this has happened even before RGL PUGs.

I think Captain PUGs currently have like a 1200 Elo requirement to get picked? I feel like increasing that requirement so that people need to have at least some sort of established skill rating would be a good way of increasing the quality of Captain games, as well as encouraging new players to play Open PUGs (or pointing them to resources like the Newbie Mixes or TF2CC), which are designed to automatically balance and pick PUGs. The 6s player base is way bigger than its Advanced-Invite community, yet those are 90% of the players I see added up to PUGs.

I avoid Open PUGs because they're never populated and I don't trust the match quality, but at the same time I've always wanted a system for 6s that was similar to other competitive games, where I can just click a button to get automatically matched into a game. It's kind of a chicken and egg problem where Open PUGs suck/are dead, but maybe as a community we should look to be pushing a format which is more friendly to newer players.

flank scout: dalenu? rive?
pocket scout: dalenu? rive?
roamer: lfp
pocket: lfp
demo: drainingtostayhappy
medic: natalexei

trying to learn a lot and be chill, looking for soldiers (any)

discord: dalenu

bump s15 advanced

https://clips.twitch.tv/GenerousScaryMomDatSheffy-RTwS7y9jc9vrk0zz

consistently one of the most pleasant people to play with when ringing for her team, great mechanics and overall friendly

the most tolerable person on fantas team

fancy you gonna let him diss zys rail like that?

I understand this sentiment, but realistically you should use what is comfortable. You've been using high sens for a long time so that's probably fine but you don't have to feel married to it just because of it's "potential". There's no shame in not being one of those crackheads with perfect mechanics at high sens. If you want to try using a lower sens and you find you have an easier time controlling your aim, then great! If not, that's also fine. The most important thing is just giving it time and getting used to all the movements you have to do in game with it (as others have said, surfing and jumping are really good ways to get used to making large arm movements on a lower sens).

But also if your desk/mousepad is tiny there's not much you can do besides upgrade. You definitely want to be able to do a full 360 across your pad if you're playing TF2 so that will limit your options somewhat.

fanta addiction/drainingtostayhappy/sasuke uchiha: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/643223909906382869/701843147688247407/20200420_131131.jpg

i used to write these multi-paragraph weapon analysis posts on the /r/tf2 daily weapon discussion threads in 2013. the posts got a fair amount of traction and people would compliment me on how thorough and well thought-out my arguments were even though the actual analysis looking back is insanely reddit-tier. it felt really nice being known for something so i would spend like an hour a day drafting out these essays instead of paying attention in school. i remember the first time someone recognized me on tf2 server from this and i felt like a celebrity.

also i remember specifically being called out because someone in the csgo subreddit recognized me and commented that i was silver 3 and that he figured most of /r/tf2 would be silver LOL

bump for s12, just putting my name out there in case things work out

Remember that sfm team service announcement series? It was more on the entertainment than education side but it shows newer players love easily digestibile, short content.

I think new players feel pressured to learn everything at once and having smaller tip style videos makes it a less daunting and more gradual learning process. Like we don't really have a space for casual competition and I wonder if that's because the barrier for learning this game is basically a huge time commitment to join a team/get involved with scheduled mixes/consume long form educational content.

bump?