CommunityFortress

As we come along to the third year since the release of VALVe's star team-based shooter Team Fortress 2, we are starting to see the expansion of the competitive community. Although as of now, the game's competitive community can be considered small compared to other premier e-sports games like Counter-Strike, we are starting to see the start of a community that will soon be able to cater to players of all levels. While some players at the upper tiers of the TF2 world might not be as agreeable with the newer players, with community-created tools such as PUGs, Deathmatch servers, and Mentoring programs, we are finally starting to see ways for those fresh to the competitive scene to ease into it. However, in the beginning, it can get pretty confusing for those that aren't experienced with competitive gaming, so here are some tips to get better at the game and get more competitive.

First off, I'm sure most of the TF2 community has heard of the PUG systems, or Pick-Up Game systems. There are quite a few varieties for the PUGs. The PUG systems that first started off the TF2 scene were the IRC, or Internet Relay Chat based PUGs. These PUGs, based around an IRC bot, have let people add up to teams, join a server, and frag away. Up until recently, the most popular TF2 PUG bot was the #tf2.gather.us PUG bot in the GameSurge network. However, it has gone downhill, and now there are two PUG channels with better bots, #tf2.pug for newer players and #tf2.pug.na for more advanced players.

Another PUG system that has been around since the beginning are the Steam Community based PUG systems. In these, players, usually from a single public server community, join up to a Ventrilo or a Mumble server when they see an announcement and have fun with familiar faces. These are generally lower level than most other PUGs, yet some can offer a challenge. Some of these PUG groups include Professional Pick-Up Games and iO PUGs.

The newest PUG style to the competitive scene is tf2lobby.com. This web-based PUG lobby system is probably the easiest way for newer competitive aficionados to ease themselves into the 6v6 atmosphere. You don't need any special programs except a JavaScript-enabled browser and TF2 installed, and everything is streamlined so that you can host, play, and enjoy PUGs as much as you want without much of a headache. I recommend this PUG lobby system to anyone who is completely new to the TF2 competitive scene.

Of course, there is the obvious question – why PUG? PUGing is very useful to newer players since it can allow them to get their name out and show their face to the competitive side of the community. It gets your skill level up, and really helps you improve. But maybe PUGing isn't cutting it for you anymore. Maybe you want to work on more specific class-based skills such as deathmatching. Well, why not check out Deathmatch servers?

Deathmatch servers are servers that run popular maps with respawn points that are strewn about. With low or no respawn times and automatic healing, the goal of deathmatch servers is to allow players to practice their individual and group deathmatching, or skill at killing other players in the game. Most of the popular deathmatch servers are usually filled with players at a higher level than others, so it's sure to present quite a challenge. Deathmatch servers can really help your aim and reflexes, and is a valuable tool to warm up before a match or to just improve in general. However, don't get too used to these servers, as they can also have some adverse effects, such as getting used to dying a lot.

Another way that can really help your aim is to play in Ammomod servers. These servers are built for one on one combat, and can really help your aim get better. The most popular servers, including thenoid's Ammomod, are usually full of high level players that wish to get their aim better. As you enter, you will select an arena, and play with another person in a one versus one duel to the death with boosted health and unlimited ammunition. Ammomoding is really best for the Soldier and Demoman classes, as dueling one on one with another player can help you with skills such as airstrafing and airshotting, both of which are extremely valuable to those classes. Of course, as with Deathmatch servers, don't get too used to Ammomod servers, as you can create bad habits along with good ones.

When your skill gets to a certain level, you may want to try and get a team. While the skill-ranking system in TF2 is far from straightforward as in other games like Counter-Strike, the best way to get yourself considered for a team is to try and make an honest assesment of your skill level. You can also consider posting on recruitment forums such as the CommFT forums of GotFrag's TF2 forums. Be polite, PUG a lot, and enjoy the game. As you improve, you will eventually be picked for a team.

So what's next? Perhaps you want more in-depth help. If that's the case, you can check out the Community Fortress mentor system. After registering for a forums account, you can request a TF2 Mentor, or someone that will help you and your team out with basic strategies all new players should try and incorporate into their gameplay. This will help new players out a lot, as long as they are open to criticism and actively try to change.

As you can see, the TF2 competitive community has created many new tools to help players both new and seasoned play at a higher level. It has now become much easier for the newer players to get into the competitive side of the community, especially with the recent release of web-based PUG system tf2lobby.com. Along with easier PUG systems, specialty servers such as Deathmatch and community mentoring systems look to help out new players, and there looks to be a bright future for the TF2 competitive community.

This is Panzer XiII, signing out.