On a side note.
I think Bones arrived at LAN already?

http://www.telfordtimes.co.uk/2013/08/20/mystery-flash-over-telford/

Seen some activity already which is great. No doubt there will be more when the event gets underway!

I'm sorry, but this is going to be a bit of an essay. Don't read it!

What the European 30 minute timer does is simple. When time is running out, the losing team has to become more aggressive and take more risks to try and pull back the score. The winning team gets the option of attempting to slow the game down in order to run the clock down. This means teams might have to start making pushes without waiting around for ubers or players to respawn.

The only effective difference between the US and EU match timers is that the US has technically set a 1 hour map timer (ignore halftime for now). This gives teams no sense of urgency so if they have an advantageous position that they can hold, they will do so until they are fully ready to push. The only reason why the American system 'appears' to produce faster gameplay is because people would be bored as fuck running out such a long map timer, so they make pushes just because 'someone has to'.

Take an example of badlands mid. Two even skilled teams. Score is currently - Team A (1), Team B (0).
Team A has the mid point, Team B is holding at their choke. Timeleft is 25 minutes. Round Clock is at 9:00 left. Ubers are even. Who should make the next move?

In theory if nobody moves, the round will stalemate after 9 minutes. This would be advantageous for team B as they would gain ground. But Team A risk losing more ground if their push fails. If the round stalemates, Team A lose half a capture point (mid is neutral) but if they fail their push, they lose a whole capture point (as B will surely secure middle). Of course Team A have a chance of winning their push, in which case they gain ground, but since they are currently winning in score, this isn't such a big deal. Team B could push! If they win they will gain some ground, but they would gain a little bit of ground for free if they just stay put. They could also lose ground if their push fails which is more likely because the holders of mid have a big advantage (forward spawns and choke point advantage). Team B could take a high risk, but what is the point if they could wait 9 minutes and gain that ground for free with zero risk?

At this point I would suggest that neither team has much motivation to push. Each team does have slight motivations, but I believe they kind of balance each other out.

Now how would that play out if the map had 8 minutes left?

Team A have absolutely zero motivation to push. They win the game if nobody moves. They are also in a strategic stronghold (mid, enemy has to push through chokes). Team B will lose the game if they do not move, so they HAVE to push.

Strategically there isn't actually motivation for a team to make a push if the map time limit isn't going to influence the result. The only strategic reason people do make a push in this case is either because:

- They have some sort of advantage (a pick / health / positioning)
- They would lose ground if they don't (because of round stalemates)

However, the more likely reason why people often make a push in this scenario is simply because:

- They are competitive computer gamers who would rather play the game than pick the optimum strategy. It is boring as hell to sit there. I'd rather attempt a push if the odds are 60% against us, and hope some better DM skill makes up the 11% needed to take the capture point, than sit there waiting for 9 minutes.

With the European timer, this later scenario comes around a lot quicker, so you find that in a stalematey game, you get 10/20 minutes of low action, followed by 10 crazy minutes where teams are forced to make a play or actually lose.

But with the American timer, people make pushes because they are bored! Games rarely go up to the point where the time limit comes into play because it's such a long game timer that nobody can be fucked to wait around for it to end.

Of course, when either money, an abnormal level of pride / ego boost is on the line in some really high profile matches, things change. Teams aren't as likely to enter less favorable scenarios when there is an option of making them more favorable without any risk (waiting for a clock to tick down).

As Enigma said in the original post:

I would agree with what he's wrote. The high stakes part for me is the key here. Usually people are willing to take risks that do not favor them, just for fun! But when you enter a scenario when winning is everything, the game's flaws start to creep out. The map layout plays a role too, shifting that chance of success percentage more in one direction. I'd would also like to add to what he wrote and suggest that the American timer ruleset is more damaging in these high-stakes environments for the reasons set above.

Last thing here. I'm not suggesting that the American rule set is bad as it is just attempting to put emphasis on reaching the score-cap rather than waiting for the timelimit to expire (which is does in most games and that can often be more exciting to witness insane comebacks etc..), but I just wanted to point out to the guy I've quoted that I actually think the American rule set encourages stalemate play in matches where people give a fuck, much more than the European rules do.

As for the Quickfix... I don't think it should be banned. I think it should be exploited as much as possible. If we can say to Valve, "This gun is being used 95% of the time and teams who don't use it lose", then it's more weight for them to make chances to it that would balance it. Remember, we don't want to nerf it to a point where it is not viable for it to be used. I think it's better to start with something OP and then tone it down to where it is still used frequently, but isn't the 'go-to' weapon of choice. By the sounds of things (at least in NA), it is becoming that.

Sorry for the essay. Maybe I should start a blog instead.

I transport my monitor (and whole PC excluding KB Mouse etc) in a large suitcase with a very hard shell. I grabbed the polystyrene from the original monitor packaging, put that in the suitcase so the monitor sat nicely. Then placed towels and clothing on all sides to add a bit more padding. The suitcase was solid though, I think if I straight up jumped on it the front wouldn't bend inwards.

it was a pretty big suitcase and maybe too large for some flights, but a smaller one should be able to hold the monitor safely. Would insure though.

I agree.

Reason why I want a united hashtag is not only for the publicity of a trending tag, but also because it gives us a specific search term for all i49TF2 related content. For example, at the event I'll probably have my phone sitting there with #i49TF2 ready for stream shoutouts or just finding general information.

There are going to be a number of websites covering i49 in some way or another, and the #i49TF2 hashtag will mean everyone can post links to a single location so none of us miss anything! Shade done an interview? #i49TF2 it. Mike got a 6 man? #i49TF2 it. Admirable kissed a girl? #Hedidntlikeit #i49TF2.

In the words of Aerosmith.... I don't wanna miss a thing!

Let's make it the official #hashtag of i49!

For every tweet I see about i49 in general, I want to see 10 more specifically about the TF2 tournament at i49. I know enough of you guys use twitter, so let's do our community a favor and get twitter on-board the hype train!

There's only a few days until showtime, and I don't know about you guys but I'm pumped!!

THIS IS SPARTA TF2!

Playing Starcraft back in 1997, I used 'D@rk@Lien' as I was pimp.

When I was 15/16 I thought I'd come up with a new name that was a little cooler and while typing out random ideas I thought of AcidRemiX. I missed the M key and hit N and figured that it would be more unique as AcidReniX.

Around 4-5 years ago, I got frustrated with having to introduce myself at LAN events as AcidReniX as it sounded like such a childish name (it is). I decided to shorten it to the capital letters ARX (spoken as individual letters) as it sounded more mature, but people on mumble saw my name and simply called me Arx. It rolled off the tongue easier so I just went with it.

I like where this is going.

Even she doesn't think she is 'really good'. She's learning and it takes time. Not everyone is naturally good at commentating... I sure as hell wasn't. It's taken me 9 years of commentating (SC, CS, TF2) to get to where I am now, and a number of people still think I'm shit.

I wonder how many commentators there are that tried out a cast, got a tonne of abuse for how shit they are, and then never commentated again. Some of those could have been amazing casters with more practice.

It applies to the post above too. A doctor fresh out of medical school isn't automatically a great doctor. They need experience which takes time.

There's a strong chance that at some point at the event, you will have a US commentator (or 2) casting a US match, in fact, I can almost guarantee it. The ministage is much more flexible in terms of the production, casters and streamers and so we can mix things up. If the community wants to hear a specific combination of casters for a specific game, by all means shout them out and we will take them into consideration and see what we can do for you!

The grand final isn't as simple. I won't go into the specifics, but there are some agreements in place and even so, VTV has been selected as the primary coverage provider for this event and naturally would want their own full-time staff to represent them on the main stage. You might not realize but our team works really hard behind the scenes for these events.

Everyone has their own taste in commentators so you can never keep everyone happy, but we hope even the haters will put their hate to the side for the benefit of TF2 at what will be our largest, most competitive event to date.

I love you too <3
Dinner next Tuesday?

There's a number of casters (and players who might become free should they be knocked out) in attendance so I'm sure there will be a decent level of diversity, with a large number of the fan favorites casting live from our ministage at the event.

Combine this with a level of stream production TF2 has never seen before, and it should be a great weekend. There will still be problems, but I'm confident we are going to put on a show this community will be proud of.

Lastly you have to remember that VanillaTV is its own coverage organisation and has to be careful in selecting who represents us at our home event (most of us are based in the UK and this is the largest UK LAN). Our reputation is at stake with Multiplay and this is multiplied when we are performing on their grand final stage as more eyes are on us.

I'm not for one second suggesting that other people aren't capable of producing a quality show in our name and representing Multiplay perfectly and professionally, but don't be shocked when we say that it would be rare for our organisation to allow anyone other than 'full-time' members of its staff to commentate the grand final.

Regardless, i49 is going to be incredible for our community. We've worked incredibly hard all year in preparation for this event and that will continue right up until we've packed up our gear and left the venue. The VanillaTV crew, Lange, Sal, and the rest of us will blow the roof off the place this year... just you wait!

- (All personal views, doesn't represent VTV's official stance).

I'll try to keep this brief as I don't want to spoil too much for those who are watching tomorrow.

I liked it!

I could poke holes in it all day if I was really bothered, but I think it was a smooth, well thought out production, and honestly TF2 hasn't had anything on this level produced before. It had the right level's of comedy and seriousness, yet it wasn't arrogant in saying, "OMG TF2 IS THE BEST". Great job to all those involved.

As for the biggest gripe with the production. I feel the grand final needed some movement to the TF2 camera work. From those static positions, it felt like it sucked quite a bit of the atmosphere out of what was actually happening. But honestly... this is me being hyper critical.

This was footage captured by one film team, some photos and game footage, and yet even with those limited resources, I feel a large portion of the atmosphere and community spirit was captured in this documentary.

Oooh! I love these discussions! Here's a few of mine:

An uber advantage is worth 1 capture point. It is okay to lose a capture point if you gain an uber advantage, and it is fine to lose an uber advantage if you gain a capture point.

You only truly start to fall behind in a round if you lose an uber advantage and don't capture a point, or you lose a capture point but don't gain an uber advantage.

Don't let them take a CP without using their uber (if they have an advantage, make sure you get it out of them).

Make sure you use your uber advantage to capture a point.. not just chase the enemy to try and get kills, because if they come back in with their uber and you haven't finished capping the point... you've probably just lost that capture point, and probably the round too.

Of course, there is a side strategy where you simply gift the enemy team a capture point in order to get your uber up. This isn't ideal as you've lost 'round ground', but sometimes it's the next best thing to make the next fight an even exchange.

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If your uber advantage is less than 10%, it is worth waiting for a little longer before you push so your opponent get their uber charge. Otherwise it is like the enemy medic has balls of steel and holds their uber for longer than they would have otherwise (because they didn't have it yet). It is rare that you will kill the medic before he gets his uber, but if they had their uber to start with, they will often pop it earlier than it would take for that 10% to build up.

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'Being successful' bombing a medic with uber is many times easier than 'being successful' bombing a medic without uber. It is much harder to kill a medic than force his uber. Think about this before you throw away your life bombing a team that doesn't have their uber yet as it will be harder to pull off as you HAVE to kill the medic, otherwise you've been useless.

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While holding last, have a scout switch to sniper, take a shot just so the enemy can hear it, and then go and change class again (if you wish). The enemy will often pop their uber before they come through the door / choke simply because of the sniper threat. More of their uber gets wasted.

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While pushing last, getting significant time on the point is like having a 7th player on your team. Several members of the enemy team will often react by trying to bodyblock the cap. There isn't time for them to organise who is going to jump onto it, so several players will often go for it.

Those players who jumped on it, are now:

1) predictable: You know where they are moving to, so shoot there!

2) share splash damage: Your projectiles now deal more damage to their team.

Always make sure you have someone going to get time on the capture point! It is highly worth it!

The way I see it, is we are all going to get to see it within the next 8 / 9 days anyway, and hopefully the guys who produced it will make a decent amount of money from this project which in turn inspires them to start future projects that help, promote, and entertain our community.

The project was clearly not money orientated from the start, just a later realisation that a small but reasonable compensation could be made for the effort put in. I hate the idea of people doing things for this community purely for financial self-gain, but this isn't one of those cases.

*Edit* Thanks Sal, it's late :P