CommunityFortress

This will be a series of articles featuring the teams that makeup the CEVO 6v6 League. Please enjoy and rest assured that if you compete in CEVO, I will be interviewing you.

I had the privilege of interviewing Bairmaster, team leader of OKNerd TF2 Dating Service.

Meet the OKNerd TF2 Dating Service team after the jump!

Could you please introduce your team (Names, Positions, Roles,etc.)?

Bairmaster - I’m the team leader. I play pocket soldier and call the strats - I yell at people and tell them what to do and what not to do. Things like “go left” and “don’t die.” I am also the motivational (or de-motivational) speaker of the group. Before the match, everyone crowds around me and I tell a story about my life or I write them a haiku. My team then becomes so motivated that they punch a hole in their monitor.

Chumpp - Chumpp is the demoman on our team, and my sidekick. We founded the Dating Service together. We’ve been playin together for 2-3 years and we’re kind of best e-friends. Chumpp plays unlike any other demoman in this game. He is essentially a wild card. He can completely destroy the other team within 20 seconds of the round starting, or he can wander around in the middle of nowhere and die aimlessly (but usually not before getting a good pipe in). Chumpp coined legendary terms such as “Me Fortress 2”  and “how do you turn your mouse so quickly?" If you don’t check every corner and lamp post at the top of the map ceiling, you will often die surprised and perplexed.

Foreign - A newer addition to the group, but he already feels like family in our mumble (almost). Foreign is a good scout and usually seems to find the top part of the scoreboard. He played on an invite team at some point, or so he says. His girlfriend was talking with us in mumble the other night on the topic of tf2 and trolling, and she seems to be pretty cool... apparently Foreign unplugs his headphones occasionally and lets his gf laugh at our conversations. Here’s what foreign has to say about himself: “[1:56 AM] foreign: I'm 29 years old. Live in Austin. I develop sowtware at a startup. I play like a shitty foreigner although I am a white cracker. I fancey a good demo-knight evening and troll lobbies more consistenly than anyone less my teammates." nice english btw

Moedasho - Moe is currently the 3rd longest-standing member of the team (behind me and chumpp, oh and chambs, but he is an honorary member and not full-time). MoeDaSho aka MoeFoSho is the man. He is one of the nicest, calmest people I have ever met, at least on the internet. We have only heard him get slightly irritated maybe once or twice and it was a bit surprising. Moe has been a solid backup for us (at every class except demo) this whole season. He listens and takes criticism well, and he is one of the best melee fortress players in the game. His equalizer and ubersaw might have more kills than your primary. He also has an unusual hat, enough said.

Carniverhorse - Carniverhorse is 7. He has to sneak onto his computer at night to play matches and we thank him for taking the risk, because we like playing with him. He disobeys his parents and likes eating ice cream. He started on TF2 360 and his scout play has improved almost as much as his spelling. Like Moe, he listens well and is very willing to improve, and even comes up with strats at times. Carniverhorse says: “I’m Craniver, I like fastest jumpin guy, I hope your day is good. Ok” -- Carni, like foreign, has become a core member of the group/team very quickly and we consider him a little brother to us.

Chambs - heh

Naysayer - Our starting medic who can only play 11PM central or later. I consider him a great medic and also a great pocket soldier from what I’ve seen, but unfortunately most teams cannot play that late and he has only seen a few games. I have rarely played with a medic with whom I have good chemistry, and with whom I trust their intuition and don't feel like I have to call everything for them (fuck english) , but this guy definitely has it and I’ve been very optimistic every time he has had a chance to play. I quote: “[1:54 AM] naysayer: well, i've never been playing the game for a while (huh?). i started as demo on iamroots team then moved to soldier and now meding for you guys. tell them i have a 3.07 KDR in lobby too :3"

Sandwiches Time - A new player to our team, he plays on an ESEA-O team as his "main" team. Sandwiches time has proven to be a solid, reliable roaming soldier and comes in our mumble every once in a while to hang out too. I honestly don’t know too much else about him but he seems pretty cool and listens well, and has contributed some solid strats.

Trees - Trees is a backup who I don’t believe has played a single match due to his super late work schedule. But we love him anyways. He has a really deep voice and is really good at sniper, and pretty good at scout too. Playing against him as sniper is one of the things I try to avoid. It makes me hate TF2 for a little while afterwards. I wish he could snipe for our team, but at least he lobbies/pugs with us!

Well, chumpp and I met in LUE pugs (LL pugs), several years ago. It was basically pugs run by some guys out of a nerd/gamer community called LUELinks, which doesn’t exist. We played for a while in those pugs and eventually I got my own mumble/server and tried to start my own pug group, which was relatively unsuccessful, except for the fact that a few guys started playing with me regularly: Chumpp, Syndrome, SwimmerDude, Proof.

They had a team shortly with yz50(before he got big) and they easily won TWL div 4 or something like that way below their actual level. Then I made a team with them right after that season. *(Chambs played with us once in a while and he used to be really shitty, but in the last year or so he actually got good and is now probably one of the better scouts in IM, as well as one of the funniest people I’ve met on the internet).* Anyways, chumpp and I just played lobbies all the time, along with the other guys -- but there was usually at least me and chumpp. We were OKNerds. So we did a season or two of cevo but never scrimmed much, mostly due to peoples’ “real life” schedules. We went thru phases, eventually guys dropping out for school, work, and recently, new games.

So it went like this... everyone that is on our team right now, we picked up slowly over time from playing lobbies with them. That’s basically how we met everyone that was ever on our team. We’d play with some guy and be like, hey, he seemed cool, and we’d invite them to mumble. Somehow we attracted people with late night schedules, well, probably because we played really late. Sometimes the guy we invited to mumble would be annoying and we’d wait for them to go away. But occasionally a guy would stick around and become a part of the group.

As for what happened to the original bros? Swimmerdude learned how to talk to girls IIRC. Chambs plays on Kawaii Kingz in ESEA IM, which includes part of the core group that developed and stayed with LL pugs over all that time. Most the old bros all come in mumble still to play league of legends -- ew. Casual gamer status confirmed. We all talk still and if I’m not careful Syndrome will pull me into a dumb argument. Proof literally drives a train IRL.

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We have been trying to find the balance between being relatively good, and practicing video games as little as possible. It’s tough due to our schedules, and some of us would rather not bother. Basically that is one of the main problems -- peoples’ schedules, and my attitude/preferences have caused problems all along with some people that have played with us. Personally, my philosophy for video games is that let’s try to be good and also have fun without “practicing” too much. Not a lot of people feel the same way -- or, are even able to do that. I have played video games my whole life and played competitively before TF2 for some years, so it’s fine for me. I had enough already. I have cut some people (or made them rage quit) due to different goals and attitudes.  (Or hell, just lack of skill). I don't expect to be the best but I believe it's possible to be competitive at, say, an open or intermediate level, without having to dedicate too much time and energy outside of matches. That of course is assuming you have the right group of people working together. So considering that, we've been trying to get a solid roster, and especially find a dedicated medic. I’ve had a big problem with finding a solid medic with decent experience.

Another issue we’ve been dealing with is how to play against the better players and teams. We tend to goof off and play lobbies or pubs or whatever so much, that we get in bad habits which do not work against better players and teams that actually work together. So, we’ve been fighting that. Sometimes it takes me yelling a little bit for people to make better decisions. I have to drive it in. But, it only works if I do it with precision and clarity or else my teammates get frustrated, understandably. If I bring a good attitude to the match and stay focused then we do much better because I can smoothly give instructions. We have a lot of skill and potential on the team, it’s often just a matter of playing the right way or getting into a certain mindset. Also, listening to each other and prioritizing our communication.

Essentially the big goal has been stability, and also to get our comms and decision-making to be solid. Sometimes our comms are much better than other times, and that’s when we play much better. I mean, it’s drastic. And when we don't suicide on everything and stick together, we also do much better. ESEA players reading this are like "duh," I know.

Our best competitive feat in general is our record this season: Only two losses, to the top 2 teams in the standings. And they were pretty close games. One match was a comeback by the other team, I believe due to a communication and attitude breakdown in our mumble; and the other match we just got barely outplayed that night. We’ve hung in there.

Worst moment: getting a BYE first week on badlands. :(

Haha. My whole team laughed when I read this question to them. Almost nothing. Chumpp and I go double pyro in lobbies and work on our assault strategies and taunting chemistry. Sometimes I go in a pub server while blasting dubstep with a blindfold on, and I airblast reflect everything like I’m the next video game jedi. I also like to turn off the lights and run around like a scout. I’m sorry, I can’t speak for my teammates routines.

Very rarely we’ll scrim with something like 4 starters, and right before matches we will go over some strats if we know the map; or if it’s a new map, hopefully we get a chance to just look thru the map and figure out where to go.

Cut everyone.

But really, hey, I don't always do that, just sometimes. Even the team we have now has certain issues. It’s all just a relationship, right. Not in the girlfriend/boyfriend sense obviously, but in the broader sense. If you’ve been on a sports team, you know that’s like a relationship, yeah? Been in a band? That’s a relationship too. Your friends, your family... it’s all just another kind of relationship. Being on a team, especially being the leader, takes hard work just like most relationships. It requires patience, reflection, compromise, and self-improvement. I’m a work in progress and so is this team and everyone on it. It’s a matter of sticking with it. If you have people you like playing with, and everyone is willing to learn and improve, it’s a good bet to stick with it and it will usually be worth the troubles.

I’ve had to personally work on addressing individual problems in a more calm, objective manner. That’s where I’m at right now -- trying to address problems while not being overly critical or personal. I think that is key for a leader, as difficult as it can be. But, everyone else has to be receptive and willing to learn and adapt, or even a good leader won’t matter at all. Everyone needs to be open-minded to new solutions. Thankfully for the most part, my current team is pretty laid back and likes playing with each other, and is pretty receptive of my direction. But it's definitely gotta be a team effort, nobody is off the hook.

Personally? My biggest flaw is my lack of patience. To improve myself, sometimes I do this exercise where I put a plate of delicious pie right in front of my face, and I tie myself to my chair so I can't eat it. Don't know if this actually helps.

I already talked a lot about this. Hmmm. Scheduling is another big one. We made a spreadsheet so that people can check when I schedule matches, or let me know certain times/days that they can/can’t play. They still prefer asking me 3 times each when the match is. And I have to remember all their schedules and ask them constantly if they’re doing anything on XYZ time/day/night.

I had to leave a friend’s bday party a little early the other night to get home and play a match. I hate doing things like that. So that personal challenge is scheduling the team and closing out parts of my own schedule to maintain the team. The older you get, the harder it gets. We’re all in our mid to late twenties, so yeah.

And then the other challenge has been building a team that has chemistry in-game, and also likes each other out of game. Talked about that enough already.

We’ll probably play CS:GO when it comes out just for fun. Dunno about TF2, I’m guessing we’ll play CEVO the upcoming seasons, provided it is still only 1 match per week. ESEA is possible but unlikely, unless we find both a solid medic and roamer who can play with us consistently, AND our schedules allow for it. I’m slowly but surely playing less games as I get more into a career that will involve all of my energy and free time, so it’s becoming a problem for me and actually has been for a while. I still play because I like the game and the friends I’ve made, and I will always try to find time for my best e-friends. I have everyone’s phone number so I can always find them. A few of us text/email each other regularly. Chumpp and I plan on going to japan at some point to laugh at all their crazy shit. A few others on the team have proposed to go with us as well.

*BTW, me and chumpp are not gayfriends. We like girls and we're both single.*

Lobbies, talk shit, trade hats, swap pics.

Open crates together on christmas.

Chumpp enjoys exotic sodas. Message him for tips on the best sodas in the world. No joke.

Foreign gets drunk a lot, I’m guessing beer or anything with alcohol.

I like ginger brew and wine.

That’s all I know.

Well carni likes apple juice because he’s 5.

Find people you like playing with, who are hopefully good at tf2 also, or at least willing to learn and get better.

The best players weren’t necessarily the best in the beginning, just ones that were willing to listen and learn and develop what skill they had. Remember it’s TEAM fortress, really, you can’t carry a team like in some other games, it’s all about the team.

Also don’t spend your life on video games, I think they can be great, but moderation is key. It can be easy to let competitive gaming steal your life away. Get exercise, sleep, and follow your passion IRL and meet RL people. I mean, people have different lives, and your lives are your own to do as you please, so do what you want. But don't let it get in the way if you have other things you want to be doing. Yeah, it does depend a lot on your job or whatever you’re doing. But the older you get, the more it seems to apply. A few of my friends quit gaming because it was interfering too much, and I admire them for that. I’ve tried several times and can’t quite get away from it completely.

About the game in general,

Great storyline, character development, developer support. Fan art and the general TF2 community is really cool.

The game itself is a great casual game, and a pretty good competitive game. It’s hard to find both but TF2 is kinda right in the middle. Lots of game dynamics in both modes of play.

Everyone loves accessorizing right? .... well kinda....

It cheapened the game a little bit. It’s a cool concept but they went overboard because it brings in so much money. Whatever. Best to just laugh at it.

Chumpp loves: sticky jumping, spawn camping, and generally exploiting the game. Everytime an update produced some sort of secret destructions god-mode bug, he would be on top of that shit instantly, and you can guarantee for the next several days we were using it in pubs until it was fixed. Sorry if you were on the other end of it.... it was funny as hell though.

For competitive,

I wish the movement was a little bit better, for example, scout v scout is retarded especially if your computer isn’t great. People with good computers definitely have a huge advantage, but even then I imagine it’s still not the most precise thing. Well, I’ve experienced it both ways. After I reformat my computer I am about 200% better because the game isn’t choppy. But it’s still annoying and impossible to predict sometimes, even without lag! You will even see the best scouts try to kill each other for 20 seconds sometimes.

TF2 is different from some other games like CS in that you can play smarter and get the first jump in a 1v1, and have decent aim..... but you still might not win the battle. I wish that were a little different, but that’s the way it is I guess. Could be worse.

Also chumpp reminded me -- the whole uber thing can get annoying, and is an especially big gripe as pocket soldier. Teams holding for 5 or 10 (or more) minutes to build uber and then wait for the other team to push in, or wait for a pick. Of course during that time I do nothing but shoot the ground and look around for spies and snipers or whatever. Super fun. From what I’ve heard, a lot of people agree that this is one of the annoying parts of comp TF2. I kinda wish uber just made you much stronger but not invincible. Kinda like quickfix, except with the ability to overheal also. There would be less lulls in the game and more lulz.

The comp community itself is not bad but could improve of course. A lot of people think it’s a shit community but I’ve seen much worse (I came from DoD). As long as the comp community remains open minded and accepting of new players, and does its best to promote tournaments and whatnot, and not be dicks to sponsors... things should grow or at the very least stay steady for a while. Don’t underestimate how much “being nice and helpful to new players” will help this game grow. Mild trolling and spamming binds occasionally isnt really what I'm talking about, it's just about drawing the line and understanding when to stop being a big joker and get serious so that you can help someone out. Don’t get your heads too far up your asses just because you’re good at a video game (or anything really).  “It’s hard to see the truth when thy head is so far up thy ass” -Benjamin Franklin via School of Bairmastery

Good:

-Free.

-Once a week.

-Still some decent competition.

That’s why we play it.

It’s also good that it allows newer teams to test the waters of comp TF2. It should always accommodate those guys.

The admin seemed to be concerned with community feedback, and with doing the right thing, which is always good.

Bad:

-Don’t schedule playoffs (especially if 2x/week) during winter break again. Totally screws college people and some post-college people. I think the admin realized that mistake and won't do it again.

-Obscure for semi-finals. why?????????????????

Cevo is the secondary league and it always will be. If they just accept the fact that they are 2nd best, it can be a good secondary league for TF2. It’s still worth doing right and making it good. 2nd best aint always so bad...

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chambs: “you know that baby picture when you open up CMN?”

bairmaster: “yeah?”

chambs: “literally a baby league”

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Shoutouts to subarudrift and slicksinner who were part of the 2nd generation of our group and no longer play. I wish them luck in their college careers or whatever!

Shoutout to past players of the team, whether we parted on good or bad terms. Was usually good while it lasted...

Any of my good ol’ LL friends, such as:

“Kill count is my only friend" -harry limon’d,

adam.....

and many other various LL pubbers that made those some of the funner pub servers

All of our TF2lobby fans.

Also to our whole mumble group, past and present.

Both the regulars and those who stop by to play with us occasionally.

D Will finally admitted that h3 bl0w, I am proud.

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