Now I look like a bloody cunt if I don't go.

valkeri's an up-and-coming medic. He has a very clear voice when making calls, and possesses a level of "tactical confidence" that very few medics seem to have. If he keeps his head on straight I'd say that he's a season away from being a really special player.

It took him one season to learn roughly 2-3 season's worth of material. Very bright kid.

Uni's a polite sweetheart. I'm sort of baffled that they haven't found a medic to play for them yet.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/Search-on-for-2-armed-suspects-in-early-morning-home-invasion-262377261.html

"shortly after 5 am"

The time-stamped YT video suggests that there was a knock - as if someone was knocking at the front door. Why answer your door at 5:05 am? I certainly wouldn't unless I was expecting company.

The dude literally robbed a room with a running webcam in it. That's just a different level of stupid, folks.

It's not that hard to get picked in pug.na. It really isn't. This community just has a set of irrational fears that it needs to get over - and "I can't play in pug.na" is just one of those.

With that said, I think tf2mix does have value to players that are learning a new class or are new to the game. Anybody with a season of ESEA should be able to handle pug.na just fine.

Interesting guy to sit down and talk to at length. I've never had a bad pugging experience with him.

Ah cool. If you need a ringer, just have hellbent (or you) bother me.

I've played with a few of you before - and I'll vouch and say that these guys do have promise if it all gels together. Best of luck to you.

Is this the same botmode that I saw in pugs this weekend?

This will be my last bump. There's a team that I have some interest in right now, but I'm going to wait one more week to see if there is anything else forming before I make a decision.

ESEA is a business. Businesses often give sterile and innocuous statements as a means to not offend any potential customers. ESEA fees are a utility bill. Running a functional league with a LAN final and three separate skill brackets requires said fees in order to fund the service and provide some form of profit for the company leadership. Converting additional players to ESEA should technically NOT be our responsibility provided that they do exist. It is in ESEA's best interest to create a condition of play that will maximize participation levels. There are a few ways they can do that, including:

1. Eliminate archaic division rules.
2. Advertise open as an "entry league".
3. Take an involvement into the initiatives that exist already for lower level TF2 players.

ESEA only loses money on TF2 because they do not try and actually make money. The first key to maximizing TF2-end revenue would be to have the league recognize that CS:GO and TF2 do NOT behave the same way.

CEVO was very loud at the beginning - but they're a lot quieter now.

The stats need to be fixed - that's for damn sure.

What's hurting this community more than a below average league situation is the fact that there isn't that much new blood coming in. S15 was a GREAT season - even though the league itself wasn't the main cause. What made that season work was a well-populated Open division. S16 hasn't felt as good because there simply wasn't a surge of new teams to breathe life into the community.

The people are the prize - not some league office. A well-run setup with very few teams is inferior to a mediocre setup with scores of teams involved.

We'll have 140+ at GXL. We'll have thousands of viewers for LAN finals. Our "established" end of the community is wonderfully healthy - but the pressure we're feeling (and one of the biggest reasons ESEA does NOT put a priority on TF2) is due to our future being somewhat dim.

The IM community is just as big as the Open community in ESEA - and that fact is a microcosm of what I'm looking at in "highly competitive" TF2.

Convert the UGC newbies into open teams, and you'll make the BUSINESS side of ESEA take notice in regard to TF2.

You're not wrong in any of your grievances, downpour. I just think you're not painting the full picture.

It's a wonderful drive out to Pittsburgh from central MD.

The 6th is my birthday, though...

Really sweet guy to talk to and hang out with.

Now would be a good time to set up a "come play Open" event. It shouldn't come down to a desperate last-ditch effort to get 30ish teams to play Open.