11 replies to this topic

[Damien]

So I picked up tf2 early this year and I've been averaging around an hour a day of pubbing/lagging (on our secondary computer before I fixed it with some fps configs and defragmenting it literally took 15 minutes to login to a game). Recently I somehow heard of comp play, probably through stabby stabby or maybe star's vids, so I've been researching it fairly thoroughly over the past few weeks. I think I already understand the basics of 6s strategy although I can't say I'm great at any of its classes yet. Anyway I'm a competitive person and comp sounds like a lot of fun. Only problem is I don't have a lot of free time as I'm currently doing year 12. Until I finish in October I'll only have at best an hour a day to play, half of it on the aforementioned terrible computer which is now playable but still prone to annoying lag spikes etc. For that reason I can't join a team, and most of the time I can't be on mumble so I'm not going to be able to play many lobbies until after exams. What I would like to know is if anyone has any suggestions, firstly whether or not I should choose a class to focus on (and if so which ones would be easier for me to learn to get good enough to get into a low level comp/team setting) and if secondly if there are any gamemodes, practice maps etcetera that would provide an efficient way for me to train my dm skills as whatever class. I've already got some rocket jumping maps, tr_walkway and a couple of aim training maps and I'm planning on playing some mge but apart from that is there anything else I can do to improve, short of joining an actual team, in the limited amount of time I have available? Pubs are fun but I don't feel like they can teach me that much beyond the basics because of theit inherent craziness, and I don't have a thousand hours to spend to get decent at a class. Whereas I spent about an hour just on headshot training on tr_walkway (yes I know the hitboxes are just approximates but it's pretty close) and I felt, by the end, that I had actually learnt something, even if the bots weren't actually strafing yet I've read quite a lot of guides already and I'll watch some more demos in my spare time... do you guys think I'm going about this the right way? Cheers for any help!
Holy cow this thing doesn't like my mobile, it's removed all my paragraph breaks :S and it won't let me edit... sowwy for annoying wall of text

[ninjaMooCow]

For what it is worth, I say binge play in lobbies.  Put on a LFT/Ring hashtag.  If you are good, people will start pulling you in to scrims.

[Damien]

LFT/Ring? Thanks for your advice I appreciate it (:

[R.E.M.]

LFT/Ring? Thanks for your advice I appreciate it (:

 

LFT = Looking for team. Not sure what ring means. I would actually advise against doing this if you are too busy to commit to TF2 as most teams would expect you to put the hours in by practicing by yourself and by scrimming (playing with your team in a friendly match against another team). Instead you could try looking for mixes on the Highlander steam group or the 6s steam group which are kind of like lobbies but way more organised.

 

Unfortunately I don't know much about the AU scene being from EU but I'll direct one of my Aussie colleagues to help you on the specifics.

 

Good luck in your future in TF2 comp!

[Some_Thing]

Hey Damien,

 

Lucky for you, I'm from Australia and have been involved in the TF2 competitive community for 6+ years. I've joined the team here at TF2Center recently as well. Getting into competitive TF2 especially in Australia is a very very daunting experience. Sure there are guides etc but they can only help you so much.

 

Your first port of call would be to visit Ozfortress, Australia's TF2 competitive scene. Have a look around, there are guides and forums available. Occasionally there are some Icebreakers run to introduce new players to competitive TF2 in a relaxed and friendly environment, so definately check them out if you can.

 

As for getting better, the best way to get better is to play and learn. I'm not going to lie to you, most of the AU community are frustrated by new players such as yourself which will make you feel crap, but stick with it. Join some lobbies and mention you are a new player looking to learn. Highlander lobbies may be the best start for you as it's a gentler introduction than say 6v6. Also, things such as MGE help you improve aim, but don't get invested in MGE as it doesn't teach you game tactics or game sense. A new OWL season has just started too, which means teams are competing. There are always matches available to spectate and watching a few will really help you understand the game better.

 

I would also suggest checking out the recruitment forum on Ozfortress and look for a Div5 team that you could potentially tag along with to learn together. I also offer you my personal help as well, so feel free to add me on steam. I'm always willing and wanting to help new players get into TF2, the more the better.

 

Hope to talk to you soon Damien

[ninjaMooCow]

RING = "ring" for a team.  When I am in a scrim or even sometimes a match and our (insert class) doesn't show up, I look through my steam friends list to get a ringer.  #RING or some such tag keys me in on someone open to "hey wanna play RIGHT NOW"

[Some_Thing]

In AU, we call it merc or slutting.

 

#MERC or #SLUT

[R.E.M.]

It's called mercing in the EU. I wouldn't recommeend that either if you're new to TF2 as teams would expect a certain standard of play from a merc that you as a beginner might not be able to provide (unless you were a natural).

[Damien]

Thanks a lot for all your help, everyone (: This is why I chose this forum, rather than ozf or, say, ugc, to make this post as this place seems very welcoming of newbies. It's much appreciated.

 

As for the Aussie specific advice, I've actually already read most of the ozfortress mentoring threads, or at least a lot of them I've steered clear of the map specific ones because I don't know them well enough yet for it to really be worth it but apart from that, yeah, I've done that

 

I kind of expected Aussie's to be intolerant... I guess I'll cope Okay, I've added you on Steam, thank you for that. I guess I'll just try to get my 100 hours asap and then get into lobbies whenever I can. Starting with highlander is probably a good idea because my combined hours of the comp classes is around 10 lol. I'll watch demos and, yeah, play as many lobbies as I can.

 

Thanks

[TheMattgician]

Pro tip: don't start playing as med. Not only will you probably be a bit lost, but more importantly your team will probably hate you, especially with a low hours.

[R.E.M.]

Pro tip: don't start playing as med. Not only will you probably be a bit lost, but more importantly your team will probably hate you, especially with a low hours.

 

yeah but I started playing medic in lobbies and I was fine, medic is just about common sense. Whatever class you choose however always read guides on it before embarking on anything adventurous like mercing a scrim or playing mixes.

[Damien]

Cheers guys, this is the kind of info I made this topic to look for I know if I play med I'll probably just lose my team the match so I'll try to start by playing a less important highlander class (or less difficult, anyway) like spy or heavy, coincidentally the two classes I've played most in pubs