This is going to be long, so bear with me, but I want to throw all my thoughts on this into one post.
Comp TF2 has 3 main problems, all unrelated, and all with their own steps needed to get them fixed.
Problem 1-Being a TF2 comp player carries awe, but not respect.
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For a VERY long time competitive tf2 has been separate from 'regular' tf2, and that has created the perception(and I'll let you decide how true this is) that 'regular' players have been essentially playing a different game than competitive players. The effect of this, is that watching pro play is not the 'ultimate peak of tf2' but rather 'the ultimate peak of comp tf2'.
Problem 2-The Whitelist and Balance(Its different I swear)
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At this point, the ESEA whitelist has become a meme. Casual players will quickly point out how sterile and controlled it feels, while comp players will just as quickly remind everyone how poor the balance is of modern TF2.
IF Valve holds their promise of balancing the game based off of MM results, the changes could go in two different directions, each having their own effects on the whitelist. In one universe, each weapon is balanced in respect to all the other available options for a slot, and how it effects other
classes.In the other(and I fear this is the universe we live in now) weapons are balanced individually, in a wierd compromise between what
should happen, and the ESEA whitelist. This outcome just goes further to reinforce the idea that Valve has no clue what they're doing, furthering the divide between the MM playerbase and the comp playerbase.
Problem 3- Valve's lack of communication
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Its not secret that Valve and communication do not have a good history together. No matter how you look at it, this is hurting TF2. People joke that Valve and the community are in an abusive relationship, and there is a lot of truth to that statement. The competitive community is afraid if straying too far from Valve's vision in fear of cutting them off completely, but at the same time they try to make changes, knowing deep inside that what they're dealing with is inherently flawed.
So micspam, stop complaining and start offering a solution
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So the question is, how do you make people respect competitive more. Well, in my mind, the first step is for a community figurehead to reach out to the TF team over at Valve, and start a dialog on what Valve sees for comp over the next 8-12 months, what the community sees for comp over the next 8-12 months, and figure out how to bridge the gap. I think that its inarguable that if Matchmaking were to become a long term success, there would be a demand for a more competitive version of TF2 that uses Matchmaking rules. At the same time, I genuinely think that the competitive community would be willing to play a version of TF2 with a very small, or nonexistent blacklist, if Valve managed to get weapon balance into a less heinous position.
Imagine what the scene looks like in 12 months if a health matchmaking system feeds people into a structured competitive scene, rather than the current system of introducing them to one variant of 6s, and then asking them to go play another if they want a structured setting.
If there is any one idea you can take away from this post, I hope its that the community recognizes their own strengths, but at the same time recognizes that we do need Valve's help to grow the scene. At a certain point, we can no longer be held responsible for TF2's stagnation, or death,