Thread: Ban Threats - TF2

I'm mostly just looking for clarification here because I admit up front I could very much be in the wrong. (I also wasn't sure if I should post this in Issues? or in the TF2 forum, sorry!)

So here is what happened the first time. I'm playing on Badwater a week or two ago, we're on defense. Our team is losing, but not badly. I had thought I had taken a screenshot of the class makeup but can't find it so I guess not. But we had a fair mix, we had medics, we had engineers, we had heavy classes. I was playing one of our two snipers. We had both been doing very well the entire round and while defending the first two points were receiving kudos from the team for how well were picking off the the offense and keeping their snipers from doing anything.

So eventually we get pushed back to final and people are starting to bicker about why and of course someone makes the comment "Maybe if we didn't have two fucking snipers instead of a usefull class." I don't give this much thought as lots of fighting in voice chat is going on. Also anyone that plays Badwaters knows how good snipers are on defense if you don't keep them in check. Now thats the part where I could be way off base I admit, I really enjoy playing sniper and I play it a lot so I'm biased. But suddenly an admin chat comment comes up on the screen to the effect of "One of the snipers switch or you're both banned."

At that point I just left the server as I felt that was an admin being very heavy handed. I shrugged it off, but then almost the exact same situation happened yesterday on one of the new push maps. We have only two snipers on a full server with a good mix of classes. In my opinion they are both pulling their weight when I'm met with a similar message. Our team wasn't even losing this time. It wasn't a case of people repeatedly asking someone to switch or lots of complaints. It was again just one person making a comment about it followed by a threat of a ban.

So after I left I chatted with an admin out of game to see if I'm just being a bad teamplayer and a stubborn sniper or if their is a problem and he eventually suggested I bring my case up here. I didn't really feel comfortable posting a full on abuse claim because while I believe it was the same admin both times, I wasn't thinking quick enough to take screen shots of the teams or anything like that for more evidence. But it is an issue I'd like to have clarified if it comes up again.

Your second example seems heavy handed, but Im sure theres a second side to the story. I know recently we had a sniper play 3 rounds and have a total of 8 points, the majority of those coming in clean up after a round was over. Were we winning? Yes, was he contributing anything? No. People suggested he try a different class, he just kept sniping and stinking it up. In most cases if a team is doing well theres no reason for an admin to interfere, but there could have been something else going on you either werent aware of or took the wrong way.

Your first example is a problem though. Im sure snipers can be effective, but the fact that your team was losing quick enough for people (and an admin) to complain suggests you werent effective, no matter your score. This is a dynamic game, you have to counter what the other team is doing and that may mean playing a class that may not be your favorite, but better for your team overall. You sure you had medics? Maybe you had one, trading a sniper for a half-ass medic would have probably helped your team counter their push, especially if they were running multiple medics. Another demo would have cut off an entry point and allowed your team to defend a smaller area.

You admit a sniper bias, maybe you should look at things a little different and you may find that the admins were trying to keep the server balanced for everyone instead of just trying to ruin a sniper's day. We have quite a few regular players that are great snipers that forego their favorite class for the good of the team because they join after people are already taking up the sniping spot(s), Im sure a few are admins too. They arent asking you to do something they wouldnt do themselves.

It was never the fact that I was asked to change that bothered me. It was the fact that it went straight to "Change or you're banned from TTP." instead of a simple admin message asking someone to change or people asking in team chat.

Thanks for the well written replies and I'll be sure to look at it as best I can from all angles in the future. As well as have more info.

While it is heavy handed you catch more flies with brutal threats then with honey.... Iv seen admin messages go ignored and team requests as well. The threat of a ban generaly gets people moving if they really want to stay. It is a good fast way to get what the admin wants to achieve done without much hassle.