1 reply to this topic

[Sentinel]

TF2Center Profile:
https://tf2center.co...561198048088358
Idea/Suggestion Type:
Other
Description:
As all of you are aware, tf2center has had a pretty bad reputation in certain large circles of the competitive tf2 community, mainly due to a number of people feeling like they were unjustly permabanned. This has resulted in a vicious circle where Center gets a bad name and becomes a meme, people bandwagon on that meme and flame the mods/advertise rival services, get banned, which leads to center having an even worse reputation about bans/being sensitive about competitor services, which leads to even more people trying to flame the mods.

Now, I'm not going to start an argument whether or not those bans were actually justified because that'll lead nowhere. All I'm going to say is, you're aware that your service has attracted a lot of negative advertisement because of them where people tell new players "no matter what you do, don't play tf2c, go play X service instead".

Perhaps this is circumstantial evidence, but the player numbers on tf2c have gone down from what they were a few years ago. Of course, this is in large part due to tf2 as a game being in a downwards spiral in general, but I'm sure that the bad reputation that your service has gotten also plays a significant role in the diminished playerbase.

So what I'm getting at is, simply put, y'all need a way to get your street cred back.

My suggestion is as follows:

-Unban people that were permabanned for advertising rival services or arguing with mods. Basically, unban anyone that hasn't been banned for cheating or for being a really stubborn repeat offender at something
-Stop banning people for having competitor service tags in their names. If anything, just give them an automated warning that prevents them from logging in/using center until they've changed their name. Bans are way too harsh for that and make you seem really sensitive
-Sponsor/host a cup a-la Archimedes. That thing was great, everyone loved it and it brought you guys a lot of positive karma in the community (even though we never got those medals we were promised >:c). It doesn't have to be at the scale of Archimedes or with the same large prizepool. It doesn't have to be a single event either. It can be a few smaller cups/ultiduo/bball tournaments. It can be skill restricted like Archimedes. Everyone in tf2 always loves cups with prizes, no matter how small or symbolic they might be.
-And finally, the elephant in the room. Your staff needs to stop being so arrogant. Seriously. A lot of them are okay people and act normally a lot of the time but in some instances where you're in a position of power you guys talk down to people in a way that's seriously unchill. When you're dealing with bans, don't make it personal. Don't insult the person being banned or requesting an unban. Don't act like a smartass. Just give a short msg explaining why they were banned/will not be unbanned and ask them nicely to follow the rules. If you're being provoked, don't get personally involved in an argument. Ignore them. Grow a thicker skin basically. Even if you're 100% sure that you're right and they're wrong, be nice and courteous instead of smarmy and condescending. You're in the service industry after all.

None of this will make the community love you over night. You'll still get shit from people for a long time. But this is the only way to get your reputation back and grow as a service. And it would be a shame if you don't grow because you have a well coded website with a decently big active playerbase, forums, and everything else a pug service needs to have. And it's all overlooked because of bad interactions you've had with the community. Don't let all that effort be wasted.
Pros/Cons:
Pros: People will like you

Cons: You'll have to get there by being nice to people that don't like you

[MasterNoob]

Perhaps this is circumstantial evidence, but the player numbers on tf2c have gone down from what they were a few years ago. Of course, this is in large part due to tf2 as a game being in a downwards spiral in general, but I'm sure that the bad reputation that your service has gotten also plays a significant role in the diminished playerbase.

 

Your main argument is based on "a feeling"... which is wrong in this case. When we compare TF2C player numbers over time to the Valve TF2 numbers, the drop is exactly the same. This has absolutely nothing to do with our reputation.

 

Apart from that, we're not going to unban the very toxic players who cause all of the negative vibe in the first place, just because they whine about it on third party forums...

 

So that.