Oh another thing that I've noticed when I was having this issue was that cl_showfps showed a frame rate far above 144, even when it looked more like 50 to my eyes. That's what told me it was something with how the window was being displayed that caused the issue.

I actually contacted NVIDIA about this to see if they knew anything but they weren't helpful at all.

won't do anything if running in a window

I'm not the nerd dragger this game needs, but I'm the nerd dragger this game deserves

Sorry I just had to say that. Sign me up to coach. I've also donated a server to Kevin because just having 4 servers isn't gunna work.

Isn't it worth testing, just to see if it works?

The thing is, I don't think it's TF2. I think it's actually DWM causing this issue, and I've experienced it myself. Some kind of bug with hardware acceleration. In 7, you can disable Aero and it'll fix the issue, but that isn't an option in 8.1 I guess...

Is Aero enabled and do you have multiple monitors, with at least one of them that isn't running at 144?

If so, try disabling Aero.

I casted a match with budsquad where they ran a full time combat medic

fucking steven

Willing to coach and donate a server for the night, if it would help you guys. You only have like 4 servers right?

Not sure why you got downvoted, you're blatantly right. There are a few instances where it really is a binary thing (Caber, Pomson), but in most cases, it's possible to detach solutions from the original problem, and it should always be done.

Rebalancing isn't done by just changing it to what sounds cool. Rebalancing is done by pointing out an unbiased problematic stat and coming up with a bunch of solutions to fix it, playtesting those, and then picking the best one. There are a lot of possible solutions to the BFB in this thread and I love almost every single one of them. Valve should reopen the Beta and make BFB1, BFB2, and BFB3 and see how they work out, similar to the Equalizer (Beta Equalizer 1&2, which both got accepted, becoming the Equalizer and Escape Plan).

just some points about a few weapons. everything is just technical, nothing here is opinion

does 150 damage to anyone "stunned". explosive knockback, natascha slow, and airblast count as being stunned. scouts can toss the cleaver and 1shot a medic who got airblasted or knocked into the air.

i believe the main issue here is that a soldier who spams can completely negate a kritz uber, since it makes those affected immune to crits. if it's a 5v6 situation, with 6 defending last and the 5 missing their medic, and they've built a Backup with spam damage, if the defending team has a kritz uber, the offensive team can just push in with the backup popped and the uber is negated, and with 30% resistance, they'll probably win the fight anyway unless their DM is shit. if it's a stock uber, the resistance is still really strong and they might win anyway.

competitive 6s tends to ban any weapons that, when used, force the other team to either run them or be at a disadvantage. this is why the vitasaw is banned.

the main argument against the caber is that it can be crit boosted

if the duration/intensity falloff was a bit more aggressive, i think this would be okay

generally banned in 6s because it can heal a med. if you couldn't drop it as often or could only drop it once, or if it didn't heal as much, i think it would be accepted more often

I know you're not saying this for 6s but

speed boosted heavy and medic to mid

oh god

Sure. Here's a list of every banned weapon in ESEA that could be reasonably tweaked and allowed. Remember, I'm not saying any of these should be unbanned as they currently stand, just that they could be modified to the point that they're each a sidegrade that doesn't alter the game in ways 6v6 wouldn't like. Entries with a question mark are ones that might actually be possible to unban as they currently stand, because they've either been tweaked or nerfed and aren't as broken anymore.

Scout

• Baby Face's Blaster
  
• Soda Popper
  
• Flying Guillotine
  
• Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol
  
• The Atomizer
  
• Wrap Assassin

Soldier

• Beggar's Bazooka
  
• Liberty Launcher?
  
• Battalion's Backup
  
• Reserve Shooter
  
• Disciplinary Action

Pyro

• Rainblower (with new server cvar to disable pyrovision)
  
• Powerjack
  
• Lollichop (with new server cvar to disable pyrovision) (banned in all other 6s but not ESEA?)

Demo

• Ali Baba's Wee Booties
  
• Bootlegger
  
• Loch-n-Load
  
• Persian Persuader
  
• Ullapool Caber

Heavy

• Brass Beast
  
• Natascha
  
• Dalokohs Bar
  
• Sandvich

Engie

• Frontier Justice
  
• Pomson 6000
  
• Widowmaker
  
• Short Circuit
  
• Gunslinger/Minisentry

Medic

• Quick-Fix
  
• Vaccinator
  
• Solemn Vow

Sniper

• Sydney Sleeper
  
• Cleaner's Carbine
  
• Darwin's Danger Shield
  
• Jarate

Spy

• Enforcer
  
• Spy-cicle

get a job

Pubs with multiple engineers hanging back using the RR on a wrangled sentry, I guess. Irrelevant in competitive play because both HL and 6v6 only allow a max of 1 engie.

Just going to add my two cents to the BFB.

Baby Face's Blaster
Current stats with the following changes:

• Max boost acquired after 140 damage, up from 100 damage

100 damage is a little low. It allows a single meatshot to almost fully charge the boost meter. This change would require at least two meatshots, or around 3.5 medium range shots. Additionally, a full pistol clip deals around 180 damage at medium range, and 96 damage at long range, assuming no shots miss (lol). Assuming you only hit 50% of your shots (thanks to spread, and it's probably a lower percentage than this), you would now need around two clips at medium range to get to full boost.

• 20% boost removed on air jumps, down from 25%

Important when considering how gameplay changes with the next change, but it also means that the 140 damage you spent goes to waste a lot less easily. Boost is harder to obtain, and should fall slower. One of the biggest issues with the BFB is how often your speed can change, and how much it can change in those bursts. From a pub focus, it's a little confusing for newer players when their speed keeps drastically changing, and while not a subtle effect by design, it should have a more gradual transition in both ways. From a comp focus, it's really fucking hard to track someone whose speed keeps changing so drastically. Gradual transitions are good in both cases, as long as they aren't too extreme.

• Jump height reduced by 40%

This is the biggest change that I feel really balances the weapon. This makes it so that Scouts that grab the BFB trade vertical maneuverability and positioning for horizontal speed. It's a playstyle change, more of a sidegrade. What 40% does is make it so that a Scout with the BFB can only jump a little higher than a standard class while using up both double jumps and losing 20% of their speed. They can perform small jumps that allow them to get over ledges, which are very big issues on certain maps like Upward (defense spawns), without losing any boost. However, in order to take certain paths that require a full crouch jump, they now need to spend 20% of their boost, and they have to take those jumps slower. It stops them from going to places that only full double jump scouts can accomplish if it's a vertical location, which is part of the downside of the weapon, but they can still cross double jump gaps if they have full boost, which is part of the horizontal improvement that they should have in the first place. The number can be fine tuned after playtesting on major maps, of course, so that all jumps that should be achievable are achievable, but I figured 40% is a nice number because it gives a little wiggle room for you to mess up and still achieve what any class can in terms of single jump height.

Another idea that I had, but had issues:

• Just removing double jump

The Scout's double jump isn't only for climbing over obstacles and ascending to other floors, it's also part of what makes the Scout able to dodge in midair - performing an air jump will completely reset their momentum and change their direction in any way they want. It's too core to the class to remove. The jump height nerf allows them to keep that maneuverability without having the standard height advantage that double jumping gives.

I want to contribute to a couple of other ideas here but I don't have enough time to write any more. I'll definitely check in with this thread later tonight and write up some changes for currently banned weapons.