An Open Letter to the TF Community
The TF community does not have to decay into a cesspool of anger.
— Timothy R. Demorest
Ladies and gentlemen of the TF community, our once fair pastime has
recently been plagued with an overwhelming stench of bad feelings
regarding tactics, people, clans, and opinions. I address you all in
this letter not as someone taking a "holier than thou" stance, towering
over you all and passing off my judgements as infallible. I write this
letter as a concerned member of the TF community who still believes that
the TF community does not have to decay into a cesspool of anger.
I beg of you, fellow TFers, always to keep in mind what it is that we do
when we play TeamFortress. We play a game. We play this game to win and
to have fun. Naturally, we all seek to win, but at what price? Many of
us strive to succeed through fairplay and skill. Others of us turn to
tactics that are invariably frustrating to our opponents, frustrating not
because we simply out-skill our opponents, but frustrating because we
play in such a way that our opponent invariably wonders, "Why am I
wasting my time playing these people?" I will not state here what
tactics I feel are "honorable" and which are "dishonorable". I feel that
this judgement should be left to the individual. However, I beesech you
all to consider the opinions of others when making this judgement.
I recall someone from >V< (I think it might have been SPEEDenator or
possibly Sailorscout) who once said that a good match is one where you
can go to the pub with your opponents for drinks afterwards. I think
that this idea is the essence of what is right about team games in
general, and TF in particular. I beg of you all, please think about how
others might react to your actions before you implement these actions. I
often judge whether I thought a match was "good" or "bad" by the "taste"
it left in my mouth. I offer examples of "good tastes" left in my mouth
from matches. Recently, Finalé defeated my clan, Marauder, by a score of
about 9-5 on 32smooth. I was frustrated by Finalé's tactics, but I knew
that I was frustrated because they were simply playing better than I was
(note: obviously, I was not the only person playing for Marauder. I
simply speak from my own thoughts.). This match left a "good taste" in
my mouth. Finalé won the match, and deservedly so. Another example I
can recall is a recent match Marauder played against FOLD on h4rdcore.
Quite simply, FOLD destroyed us. However, this was clearly a result of
FOLD's preparation and Marauder's lack of preparation. This was a
thorough ass-kicking, and FOLD deserved to demolish us.
Even though I lost both of those matches, I knew I was beaten by a better
squad, and I accepted this.
I will not cite examples of matches that left a "bad taste" in my mouth
for two reasons. One, I wish not to incite bad feelings in others. Two,
I think we all can think of matches of this sort.
If you, the reader, take one thing away from my letter, it is this: Know
well why you play this game. We are not competing for prizes. The mind
shudders to think about what would happen to our community if we all
started playing this game for money. I cannot tell you, the TF
community, why you should play. I can only ask that you play this game
for fun, first and foremost. Recent and not-recent events force me to
ask this question of myself. I admit that when I first became LPB and
"arrived", as it were, I sought glory. But I have now been playing TF as
a LPB for about a year and a half, and only recently have I come to
realize that what we do is not that critical. I am not saying that we
should all just quit playing and do other things. TeamFortress is the
best mod ever, and we can all take lessons on teamwork and strategy from
it. Just try, I beg of you all, to keep things in perspective.
I ask not that we all act perfectly nice to one another and never say a
negative thing. I simply ask that before you, in your undying desire to
win, "step on other people's toes", as it were, think about what you are
doing before you do so. If, after careful consideration, think that you
are indeed justified in acting as you do, then by all means, proceed.
But I implore you all to consider your actions first. This is a lesson
which I myself need to learn.
Please understand that I do not wish to imply that everyone in the TF
community acts in the negative ways I have described.
If you think that I do not know about what I am talking, I apologize for
wasting your time. I welcome comment, as I should from an open letter to
the TF community. My email is tdemores@sas.upenn.edu, and my ICQ# is
3973214. Or you may find me in #marauder on GamesNET. I'll even have an
iparty or a NetMeeting, if you so desire.
I humbly submit this letter on this, the sixteenth day of November, 1999.
Think the author was right on target or completely off the deep end? Let us know -- mail us or post in the forums!
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