Greetings

**AetheLove** · 01-14-12, 02:19 AM

Been playing some TF2 on TPG lately. Just taking a moment to say "yo."

Yo.

In 2007 I was working at a startup in San Francisco. The Orange Box was released, and since we were already spending 18 hours a day in front of our computers, my buddy and I bought it. I played Portal. Awesome. We also got BF2.

Skip ahead a few years, and I've found TPG to be the place I enjoy playing BF2. Nice. Then, after a bit more time, BF3 comes - and the BF2 server is dead. Damn.

Oh well. I decide to check out this whole TF2 thing. I'd noodled around with it a few times, but never really played. So I ran through a few of the training levels, killed a couple bots, and then joined some real games.

Over the course of playing TF2 the last few evenings, the friendly TPG community has posed a number of questions. It wasn't always convenient to respond in-game, and so I'm taking the time now to provide answers.

What are you, a fucking idiot?

Maybe. But not for the reasons you suppose.

Phlegmen to the gjobberty! Go schcripts over the mersetonian, then Krablatsz. Yzergonny?

Ahh, jargon. Useful for those who know it. Perhaps I'll pick it up in time. Not sure if I Yzergonny'd, but thanks for asking.

[Player A]: "So, it seems like me, [Player B], and [Player C] are the only ones on this team who don't suck. Hey, why does everyone else on our team suck?"

Being new to the game I don't know the specific answer. But don't worry: the rest of us weren't insulted at all.

Shut up. I've seen you here, like, a THOUSAND times. Why are you trolling?

Perhaps you were thinking of someone else. I haven't bothered to figure out the whole steamcommunity experience yet so I don't know for sure, but if I have as many as 40 total hours of game time in TF2 I'd be surprised.

In any case, I was asking a question for this reason: I wanted to know the answer.

Cheers,

AetheLove

**~~insanegammer109~~** · 01-14-12, 02:55 AM

Everyone sucks when they are new at EVERYTHING, the only thing anyone new has to say is just that: "I'm new."

Staying silent in game won't get anyone anywhere, ask your team what you should do. As long as people know someone is paying attention and willing to listen and learn they will be more than happy to help. (Even more if you have a mic

)

You just need to remember that, especially since TF2 went F2P, a large portion of random players have no intention of learning the game or working as a team. Taking the one step of acknowledging you are there to try and be serious people will take you under their wing.

Glad to see some new faces, welcome to TF2.

**AetheLove** · 01-14-12, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by insanegammer109

Everyone sucks when they are new at EVERYTHING, the only thing anyone new has to say is just that: "I'm new."

Staying silent in game won't get anyone anywhere, ask your team what you should do. As long as people know someone is paying attention and willing to listen and learn they will be more than happy to help. (Even more if you have a mic

)

You just need to remember that, especially since TF2 went F2P, a large portion of random players have no intention of learning the game or working as a team. Taking the one step of acknowledging you are there to try and be serious people will take you under their wing.

Glad to see some new faces, welcome to TF2.

Uh... Yeah, I get that stuff. I'm not a butt-hurt noob looking for a pep talk.

I use my mic, though I'm not as chatty as those who are obviously regs. I've mentioned being new; not to try and get a tutor but to help set my team mates expectations. There have been a couple occasions when someone has said something helpful - and I really do appreciate it - but it's, you know, The Internet, and there's only so much you can expect no matter where you are.

But last night the number of instances of assholery hit a new high, culminating with someone calling me a troll for having said I didn't know the map. It wasn't just that instance, it was the sum of them. That seemed like a good time to stop playing for the night.

Cheers,

AetheLove

**sM0Ke** · 01-14-12, 02:40 PM

welcome to tf2. if you're new say so and people will be easier on you.

**EBF** · 01-14-12, 07:46 PM

So actually, this is something I've noticed about the server: some people are really rude to the new people/random scrubs.
I think it's kind of lame. :<

Thank you, Ae, for bringing it up; I do think it's something that needs to be addressed.

A simple example would be to say

hey, [new engineer], try moving your sentry to mid instead of sitting on last

instead of

why aren't there any goddamn sentry guns? where the fuck is the engineer?

**~~insanegammer109~~** · 01-14-12, 07:57 PM

I've played with enough people who won't even respond when I type out "Are you new?" in chat that I don't offer help unless someone asks for it. I just yell general advice about what different classes should/should not be doing.

**Watsyurdeal?** · 01-14-12, 08:54 PM

I'm kinda confused, are you asking us for tips or why people are dicks?

To both, it has to do with one thing: hats

**AetheLove** · 01-15-12, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by Watsyurdeal?

I'm kinda confused, are you asking us for tips or why people are dicks?

To both, it has to do with one thing: hats

Hmm... gotta get me summa dem.

Now that I think about it, maybe what I was doing was holding up a mirror.

Thank you to all who responded.

In-game, I have mentioned being new. I thought I made that clear. I have mentioned the gaps in my knowledge a few times.

I'm not expecting anyone to put off having their fun in order to tutor a noob in a game that's more than 4 years old. I wasn't surprised by a lack of help. I was surprised at the lack of forbearance and occasional hostility.

I'm not a pris about language. I like to talk trash as much as the next person, and am perfectly happy to laugh while a teammate tells me to go fuck myself. I'm trying to relax and have some fun in a game, and I assume most everyone else is too.

If anyone wants to offer tips, that'd be fine. As to why people are dicks... hey, if you have any insights there then please stop playing games on the internet and go fix something that matters.

Cheers,

AetheLove

**Sketch** · 01-17-12, 09:58 AM

You missed the whole "TryHard Era" from a few months ago. Oy.

The thing that gets me these days is the only-plays-one-class player bashing. To me, if you enjoy—and, very importantly, are effective—at one particular class for the betterment of your team, then have at it. At this point, we've all had ample opportunity to try all the classes and we obviously gravitate toward the ones we prefer to play. It's not worth trying to be good at ALL of them, especially with a game this old.

Other end of the spectrum, of course, is griping at players for messing around with a class they're not familiar with just to get some experience in. I suppose with the competitive nature of this group that sort of so called "dicking around" is best left for priming or even some random server other than TPG.

But back to your original point, we can always use more civility on the server. Good reminder.

**Langrad** · 01-17-12, 01:19 PM

I just want to point out it wasnt me. Im sorry to say though, that it very easily could have been me. I know im guilty if being rude but I want to justify it by saying that often times being nice doesnt work. I will always try the nice approach, or let someone else try it first, but if we have say... 3 spies, 2 of which are doing nothing, I will bitch at them to change classes. I realize that new players either (A) have found a class they like, it just so happens to be a class you dont need many of and they suffer because its the one class they like to play, (B) dont realize how important class balance CAN be to a game if its a really tough fight, or (C) sometimes just dont want to play with a team.

I try to be lenient to new players especially if they have taken the time to tell me (although sometimes when im ragin, I will just bitch at a person without looking at who it is).