Oh, boy. This is gonna be an interesting video, isn't it? I'm fully expecting the response to this to be... well... controversial Hey guys, we should not be assholes to one another! [absolute chaos] Okay, but really though. Tensions between the two groups usually referred to as Tryhards and friendlies are at an all-time high. And while I'm relatively sure they'll never perfectly get along, I think there might be a compromise in order here. I'm gonna get to that later, But in order for it to make sense, everyone needs to understand to everyone else's point of view so I'm gonna do my best to present the strongest points that I know of in favor of both friendlies and Tryhards - just to kind of set the stage, so to speak. Now a few clarifications before we get started First of all, what I'm saying throughout this video only applies to Casual Mode. Obviously if you go into competitive and try to be friendly, or if you go into a silly server and shoot it up Because "that's how tf2 is supposed to be played," That's pretty clearly a dick move. Secondly, I know that "tryhard" has kind of a negative connotation these days and I want to make it clear that I'm not insulting that Side by calling them that. I'm just referring to someone who takes the game seriously and tries their hardest to win Yeah, it makes sense. Okay, that's all I can think of in the way of pre-argument stuff. So let's get started Generally friendlies will stick to their guns on a main, overarching point that serves as the crux of their argument. And it basically just boils down to: Just leave us alone and let us do our thing. We're not bothering anyone, so why are you bothering us? Most specific points will branch off from that, but one of the strongest ones that I usually see actually doesn't. Point Number One: TF2 is inherently silly The wackiness is one of the main reasons this game has such staying power (along with its economy), And outlawing the silliness would significantly decrease the game's lifespan. Personally, I can really see where they're coming from on this one. If you take a look at that old “Brotherhood of Arms” beta that TF2 was originally going to be, then you’d see something that takes itself very seriously, and something that would definitely not still be around today like modern TF2 is. Plus, my favorite update of all time was the Love and War update, Which was the one which introduced inter-team partner taunts, the conga, and a whole host of wacky cosmetics. most of the changes were, well, silly. and it’s really what made me fall in love with the game in the first place. If being friendly was theoretically banned, disabled, or shunned to the point of non-existence, TF2’s lifespan would inevitably be cut short. Point Number 2: It’s Casual Mode, people should be able to play the game casually. This is a point that takes advantage of the wording of the menu, and uses that to determine the intent of the designers. And I suppose when you really think about the developer’s intent, and all the wacky, absurd stuff they’ve introduced over the years, Yeah. It makes sense. In my opinion, the TF2 devs intended for serious and silly play to co-exist, which ties back to the whole “just leave us alone” point I was talking about earlier. In a “Casual” environment, “Casual Play” should not only be accepted, but encouraged. Now, of course this point is inherently flawed, but hold on. I’m not to the tryhard side yet. Alright? Settle down, b4nny subs, I can hear your keyboards from here. Your turn is coming, I promise. Point Number 3: In a 12v12 match, the loss of one person really won’t impact your team all that much. For this point, I’m going have to to bring up the forbidden game, so cover your ears, kids. [dramatic pause] OVERWATCH. Peterscraps: Yeah, sure. Why is it forbidden? That's perfectly fine. Oh. huh. Cool, this happened earlier than I expected. According to my schedule the Overwatch hate train wasn’t supposed to die out of the TF2 community for another fortnight. Fortnight? FORTNITE! [TF2 Community Violently Riots] Oh, okay, ow. There it is. Alright. Cool. Lemme just jot that down really quick... Don't...mention...Fortnite. Okay, cool Anyway - Overwatch. One of the primary differences between Overwatch’s casual mode (aka Quickplay), and TF2’s casual mode, is that in Overwatch, it’s 6v6, as opposed to TF2’s 12v12. I think this works to the advantage of both games, honestly. TF2 thrives off of those hectic, crazy firefights with rockets, pills, and bullets flying everywhere, whereas Overwatch tries extremely hard to promote teamplay and coordination, which is where most of the unique skill lies there. And in a game that emphasizes that, the loss of a single player is heavily felt across the entire game. It’s 16.66% of your team, that’s really significant. However, in a 12v12 game like TF2, a game which also heavily emphasizes individual skill and movement, and gives players the ability to defy the odds and overcome a numbers advantage, the loss of one player, say, one that’s being friendly, really isn’t as significant as many people try to paint it as being. Point Number 4: If you want to go to a server that’s guaranteed to be tryhardy, go play Cometitive. Now this, of course, is a circular argument that both sides try to use, and it doesn’t really work on either side. I'll get to that in a second. Regardless, it's an extremely common argument, so I thought it was necessary to bring up. Point Number 5: This is the response to Point Number 4, except coming from the Tryhard side. That point, of course, being: “If you want to be silly, then just go to a Silly Server”. See what I mean? It’s something that’ll just go back and forth on both side, and won’t work for either of them. Anyway, the response that most friendlies will give to this is basically that Silly Servers are completely different than being silly in a Casual match. This is because the unexpectedness of finding a friendly in an otherwise serious match is part of what gives being friendly its charm. When you run into, say, a hoovy on the other team in a Casual match, for many people it’s nice, unexpected, and just really funny. Y'know, this giant Russian dude that you’d think would be wrecking your shit right now with a huge-ass minigun is instead sitting in a corner and offering you a sandwich. It’s silly! When you run into a hoovy in a silly server, sure. It’s still silly, but it’s also exactly what you expected. You know, it's it's just not quite the same. Okay. Those were all the big points that I can think of for Friendlies, so let’s go ahead and jump the fence to the other side. Most of the arguments for tryhards also revolve around a big main point - and that's basically that Their way to play is the right way. And everything else is WRONG. Most of their points are either trying to prove that, or are trying to extend off of it point number one Point Number 1: TF2 is a shooter game. You shoot people. Yeah, it's pretty self-explanatory I don't really have to elaborate all that much. This basically just boils down to arguing developer intent like I talked about earlier. Point Number 2: Yes, it’s called Casual Mode, but being “Casual” doesn’t mean it’s okay to effectively go afk, or worse. Many times friendlies will actually be a detriment to their team, which is even worse than just doing nothing . Point Number 3: Being Friendly is effectively griefing. Despite it being a 12v12 match, it’s still incredibly frustrating to be trying your hardest to win, and knowing someone on your team is actively trying to hinder that. Just, imagine this: You're flanking around, perfectly avoiding everyone along the way and you get the drop on the enemy medic and you're one meatshot away from taking him out before he can pop Uber, and basically win you the game. And then this little shit over here with his stupid fucking mittens, gives that stupid fucking sandwich to the medic medic and he survives your next shot. And guess what? The soldier turned around, so now you’re dead. You did everything right, and someone on your team stopped you from being rewarded for that. GOD FUCKING DAMMI - Point Number 4: If you want to be friendly, go to a Silly Server. Yeah. We already talked about this. Moving on. Point Number 5: Once again, this is a response to Point Number 4 from the opposing side - - this time being: “If you want to be serious, then go play Competitive”. Or a community server that's being competiti - you get the idea. The most common response I see to this is, well, Competitive is kinda busted. Like, it's really broken right now. It takes a million years to queue up, and even when you do finally get a match, it’s inevitably going to have leavers or script kiddies or, ugh. And plus, Competitive shouldn’t be the only available way to play a normal match of vanilla TF2. So, those last two points along with basically everything else that both sides say, eventually boils down to a primary disagreement of developer intent. Which neither side is going to be able to convince the other to change their mind on. Basically, everyone is beating their head against a wall, trying to prove to the wall that they’re in the right. And I could spend all day expanding on and providing counterpoints to what I’ve said so far. But ultimately, I think we have to accept the fact that tryhards and friendlies are never going to get along. I do think it's important to respect that different people play and enjoy this game in different ways, but the big problem here is that these different ways directly hinder each other. Friendlies will say that they should just be left alone, because they’re not hurting anybody, failing to realize that they are hurting other peoples’ enjoyment of the game. Tryhards will get up on their high horse, claiming that their way to play is the right way, and everyone should follow that, and anyone who doesn’t is evil and inconsiderate, failing to realize that being on that high horse in the first place is elitist, and inconsiderate. It’s just a big old circular shit show, and it’s one where nobody wins. In light of this, I want to propose a potential rule (or, I guess, a guideline) that I think will, at the very least, ease tensions between the two groups. It’s called the 50/50 rule. So here’s how it works: If over 50% of players in a Casual match are playing a certain way, This is considered the "default state" of the match. For example, if you load in to an Upward server where the majority of players are coordinating and trying their best to complete the objective, then the default state is “Serious.” If you load into a Harvest server and most of the players are messing around, conga-ing, being friendly, etc., then the default state is “Silly.” Recognizing this, it’s okay to play and enjoy the game how you want if your style goes against the default state, as long as it doesn’t actively hinder the other players. If you still want to play the game in a way that would hinder the default state, then it’s in your best interest to find another match. Basically what I just said: Majority rules. If what you want to do hinders the majority, go find a different server That's it. Simple, right? So let's do a couple of examples. Example Number One: We're in a Badwater server and the default state is "Serious." Here are some things that are probably okay: Using a meme loadout or a meme strategy. You want to go Fat Scout? Sure, whatever, y'know? Play the game casually, you're still contributing to your team. Whatever. A non-aggression pact. Let's just say hypothetically that you get into a super serious Scout 1v1 with someone on the other team, and you're both strafing, and shooting, and it's really really sweaty, and then you just both miss all your shots. And then the scout just goes - [Thanks, pally!] And then just runs away and lets you do your thing for the rest of the match. Out of 144 potential interactions between players in a game, we lost 1. That's probably fine - it's not gonna impact the game all that much and it's really not gonna hinder your teammates Letting someone finish a tauntkill. So, say you just round the corner, and you see an enemy pyro about to Hadouken your clueless F2P sniper into the next dimension You know, you can let him finish it. I mean, is this guy really gonna get all that much done? Probably not. Is this really gonna impact your team all that much? Nah, not really. Plus, if you let him finish the taunt kill then that means you have enough time to get a taunt kill of your own after he's finished - so hey, win-win. Okay, so all those things really didn't impact the default state of the match all that much and yet they were silly. So that's fine. But here are some things that are not okay in this serious Badwater server: Giving sandwiches to enemy medics who are about to get killed. We already talked about this one. It's really frustrating and...kind of a horrible thing to do. It's it's a dick move dude. Don't do that. Standing in front of your Sniper's scope. Okay, yeah. Messing with clueless snipers is fun. But say there's a sniper on your team that's actually doing really well and getting work done. Standing in front of his scope and actively hindering him from doing his job? That's also kind of a dick move. Ooh, here's a good one: raging in chat like a child when you get killed. Hey guess what? Getting killed is part of being a friendly, dumbass. That's how it works. Don't bitch about it in chat. Alright, let's move on to the next example. Let's say that we have a Hightower server where the default state is "Silly." If you still want to be serious in this match, that's probably fine. Here are some things that are probably okay: DMing. I mean, yeah - it's a shooter game. Shoot people. There's a gunboats soldier up there on the hightower He's just camping it out and he thinks he's really good at the game Show him who's boss, y'know? Blow him the fuck up, dude. Go for it. Having a duel with another player. You really want to shove your skill down that gunboats soldier's throat? Then, yeah, just pop a duel on him. Focus him. Whatever, right? Y'know, it's fine. It's really not impacting the majority of people who are being silly over there at the bottom of the hightower, They're just Conga-ing, doing their own thing. So yeah, go for it. Trying to push the card up the hill. Yeah, that one the one the Engies always set up on. Yeah, I mean, you want to play the objective? That's fine. Go for it. You got all this room to push the cart before the match ends and, y'know, ruins the fun for everybody else, So you want to push it right up to that point as a personal challenge to yourself? That's fine. So all of those things are relatively serious, but they're not impacting those guys over there who are conga-ing and sitting in the corner with mittens. So yeah, that's fine. But here are some things that are not okay: Deliberately targeting people who aren't playing the objective. That's, y'know, this is where we're getting into malicious intent. That's not okay. That's a dick move, dude. Playing the objective for the sake of ending the match, and by extension, ruining the fun for everyone else in the server. This is another thing that harbors malicious intent There are a lot of people I see that will queue up for Hightower specifically to try and ruin other people's fun, and that's kind of a dick move Ooh, here's another good one: raging in chat like a child about how everyone there is cancer and not played the game how it was originally intended. I mean sure, you can keep beating your head against that brick wall that I talked about, trying to argue developer intent, but...I don't think you're gonna get through to them. They're not gonna get through to you. That's for sure. So, y'know, why bother being toxic about it in chat? Y'know? At the end of the day all of these examples stem from the idea that it's important to be aware and respectful Of other people in the server. Just take some time to think to yourself - "Hey is what I'm doing gonna hinder the majority of my teammates?" If the answer is no, then that's probably fine. And if the answer is yes, well...don't do that. And sure, I get it - I know a lot of you are gonna be in the comments saying: "It doesn't matter what they think because they're not playing how it's supposed to be played!" or, "It doesn't matter what they think because they're dickhead tryhards who hate fun!" And, just, therein lies the problem guys! Try to recognize that It's possible for other people to have fun in different ways than you, And whether you like it or not, they're going to be in casual mode It's effectively the default mode, and it's always gonna be a melting pot of different players with different playstyles. It doesn't matter if you don't think it should be like that. Because it is. And that isn't gonna change. Now, am I saying that you have to go and play out a serious match down half your team, because of some children who think "Pootis XD" is still funny? No, of course not. And am I saying you have to take endless abuse in chat from SUPER SERIOUS MGE LORDS because you want to be silly with some mittens? No, of course not. All I'm saying is that if what you want to do will hinder the default state (aka ruin the fun for the majority) then you should just probably go and find a different match, man. Now, of course, I don't think this should be a hard and fast rule - rather, a guideline. And sure, this is imperfect. There are plenty of problems with this which I don't necessarily have an answer to: What if the server's evenly split? What do you do then? What about F2Ps who don't know any better. What about contracts? What happens if I have a Hightower contract and can't find a serious server? Well, actually, I have an answer for that one: Just ask nicely in chat. In a server where the default state is silly, usually people will respect contracts and they'll just get together in farm contracts for a couple rounds. That's how I did mine. Anyway, yeah, I'm aware this is an imperfect solution. Like I said, it's a compromise, it's imperfect by definition. And I'm well aware that this isn't gonna fix everything overnight. I mean, hell, most of the Comp community hates my guts, so a good 50% of this thing's target audience isn't gonna listen to me anyway. But I guess at the end of the day my goal is to just relieve little bit of pressure that's built up over the years. Y'know, just try and be respectful of other players and their way of playing the game You don't have to play along with them, but y'know, try not to do anything that would ruin it. That seems reasonable, right? [Riot] Okay, right. Okay, well at least I tried.
Summary : if you joined a server where most players are friendlies don't be a dick and kill them. (you can kill other players that are trying to kill them).
If you are in a server where people are playing the objective, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD don't go friendly and start throwing sandvishes to them(and don't expect not to be killed).
Gee tf2 is a comedic hat war simulator so having friendlys is good
im mad at this because {insert your side her} isn't the only options {the other side} is ruining the game for everyone and {insert opinion on soundsmith} so you idiots can go die cause ill always kill you in every match