Players and their play styles

[trilobite]

In the course of accumulating 2098 hours playing Team Fortress 2 over several years (on the ville and on other servers), I have had ample opportunity to observe hundreds of other players – their play styles, their impact on the map, and their impact on their team’s mission. Unavoidably, I make casual assessments of all the memorable players I encounter. In some cases, judgments as well. I would like to share some of these observations – purely for the purposes of discussion, if any.

Most players are team players. They try to advance the team’s mission in good faith and are truly concerned with the outcome. This quality is essential for the game to persist. But not all players are sworn to their team’s mission.

Some players just want to kill. They will play classes that offer higher scoring opportunities and lower risk. But their efforts frequently have low strategic value. These players play the game specifically to kill other players on the map wherever they are. In the overall ebb and flow of the match, the points they accumulate is disproportionately high as compared to the magnitude of their contribution to their team’s mission.

On this note, some of these players regularly will switch teams on a turnover so they can always play their class on RED, or always play their class on BLU. To them, the concept of team is irrelevant.

Some players are medic hounds. They rarely travel far from a medic and frequently call out for medic. The most exasperating players will expect their medic to traverse extremely dangerous territory to deliver healing despite that a health pack or dispenser is safely within reach for them. Sometimes, they are very good at protecting their medic. But frequently, they are terrible at protecting their medic.

Some players expect and often demand that the medic follow them around the map wherever they go. In such cases, high kill/death ratios follow. When they do, this is not a genuine indication of the player’s inherent skill, but substantially a consequence of the medic’s constant healing. It is not hard to make the MVP board when a player has a medic following him around the map.

Most players are respectful of the medic’s dilemma of having so many players that need healing. I see these players waiting patiently for healing, or travelling to a health kit.

Some players complain that their team has no medic. The complaint often is repeated. But these players will not switch to medic, ever.

Some players complain that their team has no engies. The complaint often is repeated. But these players will not switch to engie, ever.

Many players like to stack. I’m talking about regulars here. Often I will see BLU with six regulars rolling RED with one regular. They enjoy rolling RED as fast as possible, over-and-over. Until the rolling regulars get bored and disconnect.

Some high-scoring players who find themselves on a rolling team will switch in an effort to balance the teams. Incidentally, I have great respect for these players.

Some players are aggressive cap monsters. They will constantly push the battlefront on BLU. They often die in the process, but return shortly to incrementally etch away at the resistance.

Some players are scared to die. Most obvious on BLU. When all RED’s guns are down, they refuse to approach the point. Instead, they peak around distant corners to fire their weapons at the point in relative safety.

Nearly all players are of good cheer, even when getting rolled. Not necessarily delighted, but still with hopeful attitudes.

Most players do not communicate by voice, or text chat.

Some players talk a great deal, often about stuff that has nothing to do with the match at hand.

In spite of its age, Team Fortress continues to be a popular game, because of its cartoonish classes and madcap action. All players are free to choose the play style that most pleases them. I listed just a few notable examples of these. Except for one instance above, I did not express my judgments concerning these different play styles. I leave those to the community…

[El_Hefe]

TL;DR

Buuuuuut.... More Pyros!!!!

[Inner]

Good observations Trilobite. I agree with all of them.

[Crusty Juggler]

Spot on description of 6 I'd say. You forgot the "I teamstacked all previous rounds, but now that it's stage 3 I'll switch to RED and act like I care" players. I enjoyed the part about the players who are frightened to leave the safety of the gated tunnel, you noticed that too?

Some players are medic hounds. They rarely travel far from a medic and frequently call out for medic. Some players expect and often demand that the medic follow them around the map wherever they go.

Ya know, I don't deal with this very often. I can't really think of a Medic hound off the top of my head.

Some players complain that their team has no medic. The complaint often is repeated. But these players will not switch to medic, ever.

I enjoy telling these players to "Go Medic then".

Some players complain that their team has no engies. The complaint often is repeated. But these players will not switch to engie, ever.

Lol, that's me. I got accused of this a few weeks ago, even though I have like 3 or 4 hundred Engie hours. I need to play Engie more.

Many players like to stack. I’m talking about regulars here. Often I will see BLU with six regulars rolling RED with one regular. They enjoy rolling RED as fast as possible, over-and-over. Until the rolling regulars get bored and disconnect.

I don't know what to do about this anymore. There's like 2 or 3 big offenders on 6 and it's lame as hell. Now that we have more admins maybe we'll see some enforcement of the no stacking and the no avoiding the autobalance rule.

Some admonishment from a veteran 6 player/admin like Soltan, Zero etc directed at a team stacking regular will quash that attitude I feel.

Some high-scoring players who find themselves on a rolling team will switch in an effort to balance the teams. Incidentally, I have great respect for these players.

I do this as often as possible, but as a Medic it gets frustrating as all hell. Typically I'll switch, try to help, get frustrated and then leave.

Some players talk a great deal, often about stuff that has nothing to do with the match at hand.

I'm in the minority I guess, I'm here to win some rounds of TF2- not socialize online. So I hate these players, I mute them the moment they join my team. Especially that one guy who won't stop making 6th grade sex jokes and going on and on about his 3,000 sq ft condo. God, what a creep and a loser. Dude needs to get a girlfriend or a dog or something.

[prang]

That's a good post Trilobite, some interesting observations. I play TF2 quite a lot and play styles are something I think about more and more. I've been trying to adjust my own style recently so it is good to see someone else's perspective on some of the silly, funny, or frustrating things that go on in a game with 9 different classes and very loose parameters for teamwork. I spent years playing CS gun game where the only thing that mattered was "GET A KILL BEFORE YOU DIE" You needed that point for the weapon switch to keep up with the leaders so my play style got extremely aggressive and in your face. It sort of works when I'm playing soldier, especially when Im just playing scoutzknivez with gunboats on but if I'm on medic that kind of play style makes it pretty hard for the rest of my team to have fun.

I hate when one team is rolling over the other, it makes me pretty upset knowing that half the people I'm playing with are probably not having fun. The difficult part is patiently letting people know how we can make it a better round for everyone. Sometimes I need that patient "Heads-up, you're playing like a jackass" as well. I tend to switch classes as often as I switch teams trying to balance things out though. It took me playing medic more and more on TV6 to start to figure these things out, or at least be more aware of them.

The other night was the most frustrating night of gaming I've had in a long time. Two maps in a row the teams formed up with most of the same people and we got crushed - badly. Then Hoodoo was a roll the entire way. I switched early to try to help but it didn't matter much. Initial success was pushed back and red team was content to move across the open area and spam into blue spawn for the last 5-10 minutes of the match. It wasn't fun for anyone on blue and if I'd still been on red it wouldn't have been a play style I thought was fun.

All of this doesn't matter to most TF2 players though, its a very casual game played on random pub servers. If you don't know who you are playing against then what does it matter whether they get pissed off and leave? TF2 by nature does not balance any of this stuff. Want to play scout or pyro? Well the other team has two engies dropping mini sentries- have fun! Need a heavy to help carry your free to play teammates past both sentries? Well they have an exceptional sniper and a dead ringer spy nobody looks for- good luck! In a game of so many different play styles there a lot of rock paper scissor matchups. Being scissors when a rock comes around the corner is part of the game sometimes.

The thing I like most about The Ville is 90% of the time these things all balance themselves out. The people we get to play with take notice of this stuff most of the time and organize themselves into two groups that can smash the heck out of each other and have a great time doing it. Playing with all of you guys, there are lots of times where my team loses but my reaction is "Awwww that's disappointing, but wow that was a lot of fun!"

Thanks for noticing these kinds of things Trilobite. It is a pleasure playing with you and everyone else who gets it.

[Alex]

I'm sorry that I never switch to medic... but I'm like really really bad for realsies!
The stack can get pretty bad on tv6, don't know about rotation since I'm hardly ever there. It usually is the same few people stacking, and I really wish something were done about it. Quite often, stacking happens just after a map restart with alot of the regulars piling onto blue, since they all know there is no chance of red having any sort of proper defense that first round with alot of people in spec or still connecting.

[trilobite]

TL;DR

How dare you, sir.
I don’t even know what TL;DR means.
Regardless. How dare you, sir.

The other night was the most frustrating night of gaming I've had in a long time. Two maps in a row the teams formed up with most of the same people and we got crushed - badly. Then Hoodoo was a roll the entire way. I switched early to try to help but it didn't matter much. Initial success was pushed back and red team was content to move across the open area and spam into blue spawn for the last 5-10 minutes of the match. It wasn't fun for anyone on blue and if I'd still been on red it wouldn't have been a play style I thought was fun.

The people we get to play with take notice of this stuff most of the time and organize themselves into two groups that can smash the heck out of each other and have a great time doing it. Playing with all of you guys, there are lots of times where my team loses but my reaction is "Awwww that's disappointing, but wow that was a lot of fun!"

The sweet spot is that delicate balance in which both RED and BLU are engaged in a pitched battle for the middle ground. When RED is holding BLU close to their spawn -- no fun for me on either team. When BLU quickly rolls RED back to their spawn -- no fun for me on either team. For me, the fun and the challenge in the game is the "battle," not the winning. And I fully understand and accept without judging that for many, the point of the game is the winning. Yes, I definitely like to win, but winning without a challenging battle is neither fun nor gratifying. It's like playing at level 66 in Skyrim. I can now roam the whole of Skyrim and kill dragons and mages with almost no effort. Meh.

The thing I like most about The Ville is 90% of the time these things all balance themselves out.

Yes, things usually balance out after a few matches. I just chill and bide my time and things frequently even out after a while.

You forgot the "I teamstacked all previous rounds, but now that it's stage 3 I'll switch to RED and act like I care" players.

Yes, concern-trolling, TF2 style.

I enjoyed the part about the players who are frightened to leave the safety of the gated tunnel, you noticed that too?

Well, I suspect these are new players. Often a little urging spurs them into action. But sometimes, I can't get them to budge, no matter what. Le sigh...

I do this as often as possible, but as a Medic it gets frustrating as all hell. Typically I'll switch, try to help, get frustrated and then leave.

Yes, I have witnessed this many times, and I fully understand. I do assess the overall potential of my team when deciding to play medic or not. If it is comprised of a revolving door of strangers, then, no, I'm not playing medic. And truthfully, some days I just want to play pyro. But on a following day, I pay my dues by playing medic all day. That's my little system.

Lol, that's me. I got accused of this a few weeks ago, even though I have like 3 or 4 hundred Engie hours. I need to play Engie more.

It always depends. If you are already playing an essential class, like medic, then you are justified in calling for someone to play engie without the pressure of filling that slot yourself -- and vice versa. But if the team has four demomen, one of which is demanding a medic, then yea...

I'm sorry that I never switch to medic... but I'm like really really bad for realsies!

I have watched your play style evolve over the months, Alex. You pick up new and different classes and excel at them instantly. Takes me a while to adjust, but we end up settling into a new equilibrium state -- always in your favor.
Players are not obliged to play medic. But if "winning" is an important goal, then a couple of good medics significantly increase the chances of that outcome. Still, all players are free to choose, and I think everybody benefits from this kind of freestyle play. Except, as everyone knows, the server limits the number of instances of certain classes like sniper and engie.

It depends on what kind of experience you want on any given day. For example, if I have a day with really low ping, then I can't resist roaming the map as pyro baiting soldiers. Killing soldiers with their own reflected rockets is extremely gratifying, since pyros are otherwise easily killed by soldiers. And lower ping improves my chances considerably. But if I am getting tired of being rolled, and if my team has good potential, I may choose to go medic and help my team turn the tide.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, that Fat Grazony has his own unique play style that cannot be comprehended or described. It is all over the map figuratively and literally. All I know is that Fat probably has more FUN playing this ridiculous game than anyone I have ever had the pleasure to barbecue.

Thanks.

[dammets89]

[quote=trilobite]The sweet spot is that delicate balance in which both RED and BLU are engaged in a pitched battle for the middle ground. When RED is holding BLU close to their spawn -- no fun for me on either team. When BLU quickly rolls RED back to their spawn -- no fun for me on either team. For me, the fun and the challenge in the game is the "battle," not the winning. And I fully understand and accept without judging that for many, the point of the game is the winning. Yes, I definitely like to win, but winning without a challenging battle is neither fun nor gratifying.
[/quote]

I agree with this. Most of those styles you mentioned are spot on.

[cam]

I'd love a callout on the big offenders of team stacking on TV6 because I'm either not there when it happens or I'm not seeing it.

[BlueInGreen]

Good observations, trilobite.

The other side of "Most players do not communicate by voice, or text chat." is "Many players can't read and they also play without sound -- otherwise, they'd know to turn around when everyone is yelling at them that there's a spy behind them."

[The Domer]

Good observations, trilobite.

The other side of "Most players do not communicate by voice, or text chat." is "Many players can't read and they also play without sound -- otherwise, they'd know to turn around when everyone is yelling at them that there's a spy behind them."

There's an approximately 2 second long delay when you use in-game voice communications.

[nancy]

The thing I like most about The Ville is 90% of the time these things all balance themselves out. The people we get to play with take notice of this stuff most of the time and organize themselves into two groups that can smash the heck out of each other and have a great time doing it. Playing with all of you guys, there are lots of times where my team loses but my reaction is "Awwww that's disappointing, but wow that was a lot of fun!"

Completely agree. For every awful teammate that just goes sniper and sits there or others that completely refuse to push with ubers, there is pretty much always going to be a really great person at the top of the score for the other team who notices these things happening and switches to help. Or something along those lines.

Playing here has totally taught me that "good player" doesn't just mean the constant MVP who is dominating five or six people. And it's the good regular players on the server that make the game worth it, despite all of the others complaints about "bad" playing in this thread.

[Zork Nemesis]

I admit that I very often encourage people to play the more team-oriented classes when the balance is bad (particularly if the team has a bad ratio of light to heavy classes, i.e. 4/5 support/scouts to 2/3 offense). I also admit that I often don't shift into them myself. I don't really care for playing Medic (and when I do, I use Quick-Fix anyway which is generally frowned upon) and I see Engineer on defense as being really slow and boring, despite being a necessary evil. I also don't care for Heavy too much, not really sure why.

I default to the RED team most of the time, often without even looking at who's connected. In fact, I connect so fast on my new computer that i'm often the first player into the game on a map switch. I do this not because I stack, but I have a general preference for playing Defense on A/D or Payload maps. This was something I did long before I started playing here. This is also the case in other games I play where attack/defense objectives are a concern, such as Chivalry or Unreal Tournament.

I acknowledge that teamwork is important, however I generally choose to work away from the team most of the time. I go for objectives when they are open, but I won't hesitate to flank enemies without support, even if this gets me killed. This is in part with a real life deal where I find that having to work with other people is not something I fancy due to a lack of social skills and a sense of misunderstanding among peers. I also have a low tolerance for people who I perceive as acting without foresight or ignoring common sense. I know I can't exactly gauge a person's skill level without actually seeing them play, but it's really annoying to see people chase other people away from the capture points, despite said point being captured at the time.

I try to communicate with my team as much as possible; even if I'm not with them i'm still trying to call out critical locations and the like, such as what spies are and where they may be. I have been told that the way I do so is often done in a rather harsh or nagging tone, to the point where I get semi-regular requests to shut up.

Overall though, I try to have fun. I may sound grumpy over voice occasionally, and I'm pretty blunt when I attempt to encourage others to follow the rules of the server, and i'm easily goaded into arguments, especially if I have a strong opinion over something (for example, Engineers who use the Wrangler far more than they should or Spies who waste too much time charging the Cloak and Dagger). I get frustrated pretty easily and tend to lash out when things don't exactly go my way. But I do what I can to stay positive these days, don't have a whole lot else to go on.

...I think I may have rambled in there a bit.

[Marf]

When I do play TF2 I usually pick random team and medic. I enjoy the medic class, even if the team doesn't need another medic. In those situations I will derp with the crossbow and melee. I'm not really interested in winning, just healing people and derping.

[The Domer]

When I do play TF2 I usually pick random team and medic. I enjoy the medic class, even if the team doesn't need another medic. In those situations I will derp with the crossbow and melee. I'm not really interested in winning, just healing people and derping.

That's pretty much the perfect attitude for pubs in general. No wonder you fit in so well at The Ville!