CommunityFortress

I did an interview with Fragga, a soldier from the other side of the Atlantic. He's a soldier that used to play a lot in European leagues and recently made the switch to the North American scene. With more experience on both sides of the Atlantic than any other player in tf2, I thought he'd be a good candidate for an interview. The interview does a lot of comparing TF2 in North America with TF2 in Europe and also discusses weapon balances.

Kermit: Introduce yourself and explain how you first started playing TF2.

I'm Fragga, I main soldier but also play scout and sniper. My first FPS game was Doom. Quakeworld was the first game I took seriously and in 1997 I joined the newly formed clan 4Kings. Later on I joined Demonic Core with my brother and some others who all lived in the same city as myself. Coming from a Quake background the soldier class in TF2 seemed the obvious choice, and back then the soldier was a powerful and influential class which could carry a team with a good medic.

Kermit: You now play in the NA TF2 scene, why is this?

European teams play officials early and scrim even earlier. Due to other commitments I cannot now play till late in the evening my time. FB (Fakkel Brigade) was my first TF2 clan and I am still on their roster so you might see me play the occasional game for them.

Kermit: What major differences do you see between the North American and European playstyle?

There are big differences in playstyle, most noticeable being the role of the demoman. In europe teams will often pocket the demoman, the reason being that he can out damage and even better protect the medic than the euro soldiers who are mediocre. In europe a slow demoman will usually cost his team the middle point. In NA however the demomen generally play alot slower and more defensive unlike their euro counterparts who try to win middle point before the soldiers even arrive.

Another difference is the way the NA scouts play. In europe the scouts get far less in the way of buffs and generally focus their play around the flank, you'll rarely see them charge directly at the soldier medic combo. In the NA scene you'll also see more use of the situational classes, like pyro, spy and sniper. I cannot recall the last time I saw a euro team use a pyro to rush middle at Badlands.

In terms of skill, the NA scene has much stronger roamer and pocket soldiers and especially snipers. Demomen only appear weaker in NA because they're not pocketed and likewise scouts in NA only seem better because they're almost constantly buffed. There's great medics on both sides of the pond, Agron with his aggressive style and Springer with a more defensive style, but then NA has Pure and Ruwin...

Kermit: Compare top North American teams to top European teams.

There is no doubt in my mind the coL team is the strongest team in TF2 currently. Scouts win games and they have probably the best deathmatch scouts in TF2. Against players like Enigma and Carnage soldiers need to be buffed, the euro style of pocketing a demoman will just not work against teams who run buffed scouts at all times, especially scouts like these who literally do not miss against slow moving soldiers.

EG also have a superb team, with Reptile who is twice the player of any of the soldiers we see in the top four teams from europe. Those who think that division-2 in europe is equivalent skill to the invite level in NA just haven't got a clue, there isn't one team from the division-2 who could beat or even come close to beating any of the invite teams.

Kermit: What are you thoughts on the European maps Gullywash and Obscure?

Gullywash is the better of the two, having a close middle point from spawn allows all classes to arrive there at roughly the same time, which means the soldiers have a greater influence than on say Badlands. A good entry point at middle for the main combo means demomen do not get much in the way of cheap spam kills as they do on Granary. Attacking the final point is a problem despite there being four routes in. The spawn doors are too close to the cap, so enemies can easily retreat for safety. Three of the routes into final are all from the same direction and the best of them has a window and door which means the attacking team is forced into ubering early. The middle route gives the defending team a height advantage and the route to the left is too easily spammed.

Obscure has changed alot over the last few weeks but still has major problems. A bad entry point at middle for the main combo means too much focused spam. The sniping nests on either side mean neither sniper has to face off against each other, allowing them time to charge bodyshots. The floating health pack benefits only a fast demoman and cannot be reached by a rocket jump from underneath the bridge, which would seem the most obvious reason for having it. Scouts are still unable to flank from middle to fourth without being seen, and the defending soldiers are given a crate for height advantage making this a bad choke point. The map also suffers from too many places for hidden stickies forcing players to be constantly checking around as they push forward slowing the flow of the game.

Kermit: What are your thoughts on class balance and new unlocks?

Balance has always been a problem in TF2. TF2 has nine classes but the majority of the time you'll only see teams run four of these. Map design plays a role in this, for example, a heavy is a viable choice on Well because of the setup time. Attack / Defend maps like Gravelpit better suit the game, spreading the influence more evenly between classes and allowing for greater class variations. TF2 needs more quality Attack / Defend stopwatch maps.

It's hard to see any weapon which would see demomen replace their sticky laucher. The SR might be useful on Attack / Defend maps or a CTF map like turbine, but for most demomen traps make up only a quarter of their total kills. The equalizer is a straight upgrade and a needed one, the ability to now retreat quickly or make a surprise attack will help balance soldier for the regular five-point maps. The gunboats seem a good weapon for the kamikazi roamer, the ability to arrive at middle fast cannot be overstated. The DH will be used to infuriate teams with strong aggressive soldiers by stopping them from rocket jumping, other than that I think the DH is useless.

Kermit: What further changes would you like to see in TF2?

I'd like to see some changes to the standard rollout classes, but also changes to the lesser used classes. Rolling nades need to deal less damage, as it stands now they produce more damage than a direct rocket at range. The sticky launcher needs to have its loaded ammo reduced from eight to six, not just because its overpowered but because this weapon is responsible for most of the choke points in matches. The soldier also needs to have its self-damage reduced slightly.

The heavy needs the GRU (a leaked beta design, which allowed the heavy to run faster with his gloves out). The pyro needs more maneuverability, a small air-blast jump so he can approach from different angles, hide in clever spots, or just generally get around the map alot quicker by taking short-cuts. The engineer needs to become more useful in five-point maps, faster build times, more starting ammo, or even the ability to allow teammates to change loadout or class at dispensors.

Kermit: Talk about your future in the North American scene.

I'm hopeful that, come the new ESEA season, I can get a backup role for one of the invite teams as soldier, scout or sniper. Ping is obviously an issue, but I feel I can hold my own against anyone on Chicago, Atlanta or New York. My family live in Dallas, so any future LANs held there wouldn't be a problem for me.