CommunityFortress

After finishing up the post-LAN Interview with coL, Fayth gets the opportunity to have a late night chat with another invite allstar, justin from the team formerly known as Pandemic.

๖ۜFayth - 휘파람 3:: Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule and giving me this chance to interview you.

justin : Sure, anything for you Fayth.

๖ۜFayth - 휘파람 3:: So as some people may not know, TF2 is not your first competitive game. Could you tell me your history of competitive gaming and where it has led you today?

justin : Well, the first game I ever played online was Quake 2 around the year 2000.  I played with a 400 ping (28k modem), software mode, keyboard only...had no idea what I was doing, I'm sure most people have a story like that and it's usually the most fun they've had playing a game; those were the days.  I started out with FFA like most people in their first fps, then competitively played ra2/tdm/ctf.  I pretty much stuck with that for a few years then started playing Quake 4 when it came out.  I just played Quake 4 CTF until the first season of CAL was over and then my whole team quit (blackdragons/impulse9 - mik3d, substance, trip, jaycee).  I pretty much go game to game with those guys, some small stuff in between but eventually TF2 came out and we made 50cal..and here I am today.

๖ۜFayth - 휘파람 3:: Wow, that's a pretty impressive resume. Now as any well-informed player knows, you are a great scout and arguably one of the best snipers in the game today. Was this something that came to you immediately after picking up TF2, or something that was a more gradual process?

justin : On 50cal I basically played whatever class we needed, I didn't really start playing scout/sniper until bLackstar asked me to join Eximius.  I enjoy the fast movement speed of scout, and being able to play utility.  When I first started sniping it came kind of naturally I suppose - it's basically a railgun.  If there was a movement gimmick like strafe jumping, you'd probably see me on Soldier though.

๖ۜFayth - 휘파람 3:: Speaking of sniping, I notice something you do that most other snipers don't. You tend to favor Jarate instead of the SMG. What do you think of Jarate's role in a comp setting and why do you use it?

justin : I've used it since I was lucky enough to find it in game (good system valve) and I've noticed a few others starting to use it more recently.  I like using jarate to help assist teammates, the mini crits are really helpful.  The SMG isn't that great, I can noscope and do 50 damage or jarate + noscope for 68, I think.  It's nice to throw right before you're about to die or scare an enemy off too.

๖ۜFayth - 휘파람 3:: And how do you feel about unlocks in general? There are many arguments on whether to keep some or ban them, and also on the usefulness of others. What do you think Valve should do with future updates to fix any problems with current unlocks?

justin : The problem with unlocks is that they aren't designed for competitive play, they're designed for the 95% of people playing TF2.  Only problem at the moment is equalizer, I love the speed buff - soldiers really needed it, but the damage is way too much and quite game changing.  The argument "both teams have it so it's even" doesn't work either, sorry. I think they need to tweak the damage on equalizer as soon as they can.

๖ۜFayth - 휘파람 3:: Those are fair points, but how do you feel about the scout unlocks specifically? Many people argue that they are effectively useless.

justin : The scout unlocks are bad, tough luck for scouts - would be more fun to have other options to maybe add more unique strategies but anything that's an actual sidegrade people will complain is OP and ban it.

๖ۜFayth - 휘파람 3:: Now that you've mentioned the people of TF2, let's talk about them for a bit. What do you think of the TF2 community and the interactions between the people in it? How does it fare compared to the Quake communites you grew up with?

Justin : They're quite a bit different, TF2 seems to be focused out of the game rather than in it.  In Quake there's not nearly as much drama, there's a sense of mutual respect I suppose and people realize that the community is the only thing that keeps it going.  In Quake teams always want to play the best team they can to get better (even if that means getting stomped), in TF2 people are like afraid to lose and only scrim teams their level and wonder why they don't get better.  Having said all that, everyone I've met on LAN for TF2 has been really cool (Showdown, GXL and ESEA) and it's funny how everyone seems to remember it's just a game when you're in person.  Also Quake players love smileys and TF2 guys seem to hate them :>.

๖ۜFayth - 휘파람 3:: As someone who is playing in invite, what would you say to players just starting out and players in open trying to make it to the next level?

justin : I'd say play every class in the game, it will help you understand how the game works and plays.  Watch source tv's of invite matches to see what they do.  Get on a team with people you get along with and practice against teams that are better than you, you'll learn alot faster this way.

๖ۜFayth - 휘파람 3:: Any last comments and shoutouts you'd like to make for your friends and your fans?

justin : This could take awhile, shoutout to: ww, thursday, tiskull, blackstar, blackymonster, saber07, robin, jh, ravage, leogeo, pokey, shade, paladin, mindbent, maxf, lost-cauze, kb, reen, jar3d, mik3d, jac0b, icarus, aaron, orzo, evolution, eulogy, emperor, phelon, doze, dahang, cdogg, breather, bman, buick, whaz, waar, tlr, thrasher, thefragile, technasty, syckness, relic, carnage, yaug, davis, flame, sequel, slardel, thenoid, fayth, glue, truth, animeman, denied, makman, cowpimp, blacksnake, yubjub, squanto, morlek, dummy, cyzer, destro, casey, ruwin, fanom, jinkx, nightmare, oplaid, lemley, pk, wop, smaka, substance and everyone else im sure i forgot, oh and shoutout to my family, friends and gf who will never even see this.  also shoutout to all 3 of my fans, i love you all dearly. :>

๖ۜFayth - 휘파람 3:: dear f***ing hell my eyes

justin : wrecked

justin : :>

Thanks to justin for sharing some information with the community and for bringing annoying binds to a new level :>