did some fencing for the first time today, and kept connectin things to tf2:
-going for center control at the start
-back and forth movements with one attacker and one defender
-recovering after your failed attack
-getting attacked because your attack failed
-baiting the opponent in by playing passively
etc

any fencers?

skilled

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

I know people already know this in general, but there are a few concrete reasons why shields are bad/unnecessary:

TF2 is a movement shooter, where knowing how to dodge damage is rewarded by taking less damage. You can already "have a shield" by being good at dodging; scout in particular will always be able to fulfill the "role" of a heavy because it is a class designed around dodging. You don't need a "tank" in the game, since TF2 is not an RPG. Scout can be a tank by being hard to hit, while soldier, through vertical pressure, and demo, through range pressure, can also fulfill the role of a tank by drawing attention and spam away from the rest of the team.

In terms of game design, asking for a shield is like asking for an item that allows soldier to teleport to the skybox. Not only are "shields" already in the game via TF2's movement mechanics, but you'd be replacing an already existing mechanic with a lower-mechanically-oriented alternative, which essentially turns TF2 into a card game or RPG. Powerful things, like being able to get to the skybox as a soldier, or reducing damage (through dodging) on any class, were designed purposefully to be difficult and have a high mechanical skill-ceiling. When you create a less mechanically-oriented item that fulfills the same role as something that could be achieved through FPS mechanics, you are quite literally taking the quality that makes TF2 an FPS out of the game by replacing TF2's emphasis on mechanical skill with a damage multiplier equation. If heavy had a shield, a literal controller player using the shield could have as much impact as any invite player using the shield. No amount of skill would change the fact that the shield reduces x% of damage, in the same way that no amount of skill changes the fact that it's harder to miss than to stay on target with Winston, as clockwork pointed out when he described why Overwatch is not an FPS. Might as well add skill trees and spells at that point.

The notable exception* to the rules I've outlined here is uber. I remember clockwork saying that uber is the "most powerful ult in any game ever," and saying half-seriously that TF2 would be better without ubercharge, but that it's so engrained in the game that we'd never ban it. The reason the devs decided to break the rules of mechanical FPS games and add ubercharge, which is the closest TF2 gets to a card-playing game (we even count cycle lol), was in large part to encourage people to play medic. I think many people dislike playing med in general because, as FPS players, it makes sense that they would prefer classes that are more mechanically-oriented in terms of aim. I can still understand clockwork's point; in comp, where there's no shortage of medics, we might not exactly need something like ubercharge "encouraging" the use of medic. Besides it being hard to imagine what 6s would be like without leapfrogging, I ultimately think TF2 is better with uber as opposed to no uber though, since it does add an extra layer of positional complexity to the game, punishes mistakes on medic (and on all classes in 6s) even more, and does encourage medic play in casual in the way Valve intended when designing the class like 20 years ago. But by adding a shield, what exactly are you encouraging? You are encouraging the player to avoid damage not by using their class's unique movement capabilities, but by sitting in place behind the slowest character in the game. There isn't even a scout meta to kill right now. Soldiers decide games as long as there isn't some hardcarry in the server.

*The other exception worth mentioning is the soldier banners. What I've stated here also applies to them, and is part of the reason why I believe banners have not at all reached their full potential, and will be used a lot in the future. At least the banners' reduction in mechanical skill necessary to achieve greater damage given/less damage taken requires a large time investment, similar to ubercharge, which balances them as weapons.

IF YOU DIDN'T READ: movement > shields

staged thread

skilled player

you should add a window to the cubbies that can be shot through into the house, to prevent bunkering against 4mans like on clearcut from being so powerful

Ya he's just straight up lying. I never said that and Zam never told me that in a demo review (I asked you to come to the demo review but you never responded). Thought vin might tiptoe around it a bit more, but he went for the "I'm gonna lie about him where he can see it" route. Whatever; it's obvious he's not telling the truth and that my prediction about them slandering me came true.

I have no words lol
There is no point dialoguing with people of such bad will, so I won't be posting on this matter again. Thank you for proving me correct so quickly, vin.

I normally don't do this, but because I have the feeling that my former teammates are going to slander me, I will post this as a record for the future.

For the last four days, I was kept completely in the dark as to the status of my team. I continued to schedule scrims, map reviews, and even played our Thursday match (5-3 victory) thinking I was still a member of the team. After our Thursday match had finished, I attempted to discuss with the team the problems on mids, etc. After mentioning how I had a 19-5 K/D in the second half, I was met with a snide comment about how I'm "just a baiter" and the rest of the team quickly left the mumble before I could discuss what was going on with midfights. My co-leader on RGL secretly removed my leader and continued to fail to respond to my messages.

Throughout my tenure on this team, my knowledge, and the knowledge of an invite player who was happy enough to demo review for us was put into question. My former teammates questioned whether central mids on maps like process, sunshine, etc. were a "real thing," and said that this is "invite technology" that should not be practiced. I was told to never call for our soldiers to fade bomb because that is "useless."

My teammates questioned whether this invite demo-reviewer was giving us "bad information on purpose," and the consensus of my teammates was that we should not listen to this invite player. As a result, I was given a 30-minute lecture by a teammate that everything this invite player had told me about my positioning on process mids was wrong. When I continued to play like the invite player told me in the demo review, I was accused of not listening to my teammates.

Before our Wednesday match, after which everyone on the team went radio silent, I made a point to tell the team that we should not be lecturing each other mid-match, and that it is better to simply play the game. I also asked to team to not countercall me during the match. One of my teammates responded that he "would definitely" be countercalling me if I made a bad call. After every lost teamfight, I was repeatedly lectured and essentially told I was the genesis of the team's problems. After a particular play, one miffed teammate told me I made "such a stupid play," and I became angry, asking why he was lecturing me in the middle of a match. Talking to this teammate after the match about his behavior, I was told that I was "gaslighting him." After days of complete silence, the reason given for my being cut from the team was because my "maincall is just very weird to what we are all used to playing with."

Playing on this team presented an extraordinarily toxic environment that I put up with because of my desire to improve and break through into advanced. My teammates not only constantly talked about me behind my back, but even mid-scrim, scathingly criticized me when I would take my headphones off to go to the bathroom. I was constantly mocked, used as a scapegoat for every issue on the team, and lectured at mid-scrim and mid-match. Although I am unhappy to not be able to continue playing and maincalling this season, I see my departure from this team, in part, as a good thing.

To my former teammates: You won't have anyone to blame now that I'm gone, and I pity the player who decides to take my place. Go ahead and get your friends to slander my name, downfrag this post, etc. It will not change the fact that you displayed unsportsmanlike, petulant behavior not fitting of those with any desire to improve at the game.

Sincerely,
Jw.

midseason bump, still looking to combo + maincall

a lot of lower-levels meds will stare at the ground or at their teammates when they really should be looking upwards for bombs. another problem is meds who have learned to look upwards a lot forgetting to keep track of stickies on the ground during fights.

some medics will always arrow if it's asked for, even when it messes up the flow of a teamfight. one of the things that separates truly good medics from the rest are the meds who know when to say "I can't arrow you" or "go get a pack."

Remember to complete your pick bans for your first match by tomorrow morning so you don't get rulebooked

bump!!

Maybe the #4 server should be changed to be like the rest because I never see anyone playing on it

Decreasing cap time bit by bit after 20 minutes or something seems cool. Playing a long overtime game where you can cap in 3 seconds seems really fun LOL