Yeah, you can work in virtually any market in some capacity, and I think that's relatively unique to this field and an understated advantage.

Jobs pay well, offer amazing perks, and are really easy to get. Companies actively recruit you because there are massive shortages of people with computer skills, and that gap is projected to increase dramatically in the next decade.

In terms of CS vs. CE, my degree is actually Computer Science and Engineering :) My more CE-focused classes tended to include some electrical engineering and hardware topics - I think of that as everything from circuits and signals to somewhere around assembly language. CS is more software and algorithms, but solid software development definitely requires an engineering mindset.

If you do any engineering or science field, you will need to learn a lot of math. CS is more discrete math, EE/CE are more calc/differential equations. Life is easier when you learn your math regardless of what field you go into.

I also want to caution that taking an intro programming class is not a good measure of whether you'll like the field, or even programming. Most intro classes make problem sets have clean inputs and just work. The real world is full of messy data.

Additionally, while I think CS is an excellent career path and I probably wouldn't do things differently, it can (and will, if you're doing it "right") be a grueling process that can make you hate your life. Interviews will frequently ask you to talk about projects you do in your "spare time." There's an expectation (that's slowly changing) that when you're done with your CS schoolwork (lol), you turn around and do...more CS! In most other science/engineering fields, having research on the side for a few semesters is a major perk. That disregard for personal time can also extend to the workplace - but as I said, you can do almost anything with a CS degree.

I last played for we kings now (S14 Open, playoffs)/aint got the chops (S15 IM). I have good gamesense and comms. I'm very comfortable making calls, but I prefer to work with pockets who are confident in making their own decisions. It's not gonna work out if you have ragers on your team, but I'm otherwise easygoing.

I'm available until 11 or 11:30 EST most nights. Add me.

ridiculously nice guy who's always looking to improve and takes advice/criticism really well

Let me start by saying I know I'm solidly in the middle of the pack - not trying to talk myself up here. I've been spending a lot of time mentoring newbies, and I'm also a mod on /r/truetf2. I made an offer to that community (before I saw your post, actually) to mentor any teams that join open.

Now, that community generally likes me and all, but getting help from any real live invite players would definitely sweeten the pot. I know there's a lot of people who want to mentor newer teams. I'm more than willing to help coordinate mentoring efforts - even having one invite player a week write up/record something about the map, make a rollout video, etc. would be an awesome way to give back to the community. Paying to play a F2P game is a big step for a lot of people (hats don't count duh), and a lot of them don't feel they have the resources to make it a positive learning/play experience.

Another issue I'm noticing is a ton of (very capable!) open players are LFT, but very few open teams are LFP. Maybe it's time to bust out google docs and help people form teams with each other?

The UGC 6s league is crazy big and probably has plenty of teams that could make the jump to open with a little prodding - I just don't know an effective way to reach out to them. Personal messages are probably best.

And finally, if this season does happen, it would be awesome if whoever did open writeups could give some recognition to the newer teams, or at least not trash them every week. Writeups in the past have been a little rough around the edges for entertainment value, but it would be kinda lame to encourage all these teams to join open and then only talk about them in a negative light.

Also you guys should come post on /r/truetf2, there's a lot of people who are really willing to learn and discuss TF2 - they don't always know what questions to ask. Just please don't be mean because then I will have to remove your posts and I'll be sad :(

Final bump - going to pick a team by the end of the week, so please try me out tomorrow or Thursday if you're looking for med!

Bumping this - still looking for more tryouts. IM+ strongly preferred.

Hey, I've played ESEA for two seasons with ain't got the chops (IM), previously called we kings now (Open). I think IM is the best fit for me, though I'd gladly play in Open with smart, nice players. I've improved quickly both seasons I've played, so I might cut it in Main if you don't have many options. I'm fine with CEVO or ESEA.

I prefer nice teammates with a very strong sense of teamwork and solid gamesense. I can maincall, but I don't like micromanaging/compensating for others not knowing their roles.

Add me: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198049433280/

It's less a matter of what ruleset/banlist is "better" and more what's actually going to get people to switch. More people will switch more readily if they don't have to give up what they're comfortable with.

You won't be a successful competitor to ESEA long-term (sorry if that's not the intention) unless you can get the best teams to switch, so I'd talk to them personally.

I'd suggest a "training wheels" season or two that allows teams to easily participate in both ESEA and ETF2L. Have the maps match up, try to keep the rules (or at least the banlist) pretty similar to ESEA. Even if people initially see ETF2L as more laid-back practice for their ESEA matches, they'll be able to compare the leagues side-by-side and be more likely to switch when it's not such a leap of faith. (Plus, if you have high participation in the trial season, people will be more likely to hop on the bandwagon.)

Edit: Just saw website limitations - I think there's people here who would be willing to help you guys customize your website if it meant a strong alternative to ESEA.

aint got the chops' current roamer, sildeezy, might be too busy saving the world to finish up the season with us. We're looking for someone to fill his spot. I'll pay your league fees if needed.

We're looking for someone who will keep up our chill mumble atmosphere but stick around after scrims to figure out how we can play better. Of course we want IM-level DM and gamesense that meshes with the rest of the team.

Add me if interested: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198049433280/

Current roster
Scouts: pie_hero/'w' (seven)
Demo: dan
Pocket: drduke
Medic: lydi

I'm the medic for we kings now, and we're in IM this season. I'd really appreciate if someone could spec a couple scrims (we play at 9:30 EST most nights) to help me with positioning at mids and heal order during fights. Demo reviews are also fine if they better fit your schedule. Thanks!