TeamPlayerThere is a point that a lot of people are missing about the weapon ban concept. On the surface, it seems like if we just have the people who are most experienced with the format decide the ban lists for this system, then you have a system that people can enjoy, but this view is looking at the situation from the wrong side.
The pick/ban system is not for the people who already understand the current meta and the reasoning behind the ban lists that already exist, the point is so that valve can see what the pub players whom they are attempting to introduce in to the competetive scene think about the weapons. Players in the in-game pug system who have a tendency to ban certain weapons are most likely coming from a pub background, and so valve receives feedback about their most popular format of TF2. At the same time as receiving this data, valve can use this system to funnel people in to the competetive scene, and so at the end of the day everyone wins. And who knows? Maybe the pub players who are trying this system will ban the stuff that's already banned in league play anyway. That would really tell us if the weapon bans that we defend so passionately are really as great as we think they are.
if this is the case, then why is sal asking us to test the pick/ban system idea? wouldnt that suggest that our ideas matter to valve as well?
anyways, look at the cevo hl banlist imo, it's pretty much perfect