Team Fortress 2 Clans/Tournaments

splash

Hi,

I hope this is an okay place for this thread. I'd like to become more knowledgeable about the clan/tournament/league play opportunities for TF2. I've been playing regularly, sometimes on and off for maybe 8 months. I loved TFC and while I like TF2 very much, I'm coming to the conclusion that I need a more intense, high-level of play to really enjoy it.

I haven't tried Penny Arcade servers, but I tend to like places like the Q Clan, The Ville, public servers etc (if you're aware of them) that run 24 player rotation or dedicated maps. But even these places seem to be too casual. I'm satisfied when I'm forced to get "serious" when playing and can actually tell when other people know exactly what they're doing.

Clan and tournament discussion is super rare in-game. So when I've searched online to find out about who might be the top clans or the meaningful tournaments or leagues I can't tell any difference between them. I've heard people mention IRC chatrooms for more serious private tf2 games. A good first step perhaps? I haven't used IRC chatrooms in 6 years and never really knew what they were about anyways. Do you know more about this as it relates to TF2?

Where can I become enveloped in the tf2 clan/tournament community and do you have any recommendations of clans/leagues/tournaments? Thanks!

Beren39

I'd check out the TF2 thread in the Games and Technology forum, but I personally used to be a member of the 5elements clan (http://www.5e-community.com/). They have quite a few dedicated servers across a number of games (TF2 included) and have a pretty serious recruiting process.

Dixon

I used to be part of a canadian community called "The Northern Resistance" or TNR...I played cal-o and cal-m counter strike source with them but they moved onto TF2 for the most part. There a great bunch of guys and have casual and competitive clans within the community.

You don't have to be from Canada, we just got together for LAN's every once in a while.

I'm acutally one of the founding members and still have full admin rights on all the servers but haven't played with them in about a year lol

splash

I did read the most recent TF2 thread and the long 100+ page threads initially when it first came out (well before I had the game) but I never saw much at all still about the clan/league action. Maybe I've read it at the wrong times.

A strict recruiting process and somewhat strict member activity would be nice and a bonus would to have their own dedicated server. On the public servers I played at their own clans have requirements but I can see where it can easily get lazy with 20+ TF2 clan members being listed. Since most leagues tend to be 8 or less on a team I kind of get the idea they aren't much into those or else their members do a lot of other stuff. On PC that's basically all I play. I guess even ideally I'd like to know what the best league clans are right now and try my hardest to get into them. I'll look at those two clans you mentioned, thanks.

Lord Malory

I really had a blast at Texas Team Players. There are many clans and games represented, but they have an excellent Prime Time USA TF2 Server. I was in a clan that was very active, and eventually became an Admin on their server. www.texasteamplayers.com - That group of people also was one of the best PC online shooter communities ive ever been a part of.

Quid

splash wrote: »

I did read the most recent TF2 thread and the long 100+ page threads initially when it first came out (well before I had the game) but I never saw much at all still about the clan/league action. Maybe I've read it at the wrong times.

People don't really talk about clans in there since most of the game play takes place on the PA servers which are very much not clan play. But I'm certain that some of them are, in fact, in clans.

musanman

Quid wrote: »

splash wrote: »

I did read the most recent TF2 thread and the long 100+ page threads initially when it first came out (well before I had the game) but I never saw much at all still about the clan/league action. Maybe I've read it at the wrong times.

People don't really talk about clans in there since most of the game play takes place on the PA servers which are very much not clan play. But I'm certain that some of them are, in fact, in clans.

They really aren't clans on the PA servers, they are more "cliques." I used to roll very heavily in that crowd and decided to get into running a scrimmage team. We would play almost every night competitive matches against other teams, and do what you're talking about.

Ultimately I think that with the exception of a few people it wasn't what we were looking for in the game and it died out. We had a good couple weeks, but it burned a few of us out pretty good.

You need to join #tf2scrim on IRC or try to find a group on steam that does TF2 pickups.

fatmouse

http://www.thecatacombs.net was the premier website for TFC clan play.

I don't know if this helps you but I was big into TFC clanning way back in the day and there were several leagues that I believe all started TF2 divisions. Teams that competed in these leagues had regularly scheduled games with solid rules. Many clans participated in multiple leagues and had practices before each match as well. Leagues had regular "seasons" with declared winners at the end. Some had playoffs.

To be involved in the higher level of play be prepared for MMORPG levels of time commitment. The clan I played in participated in 3 leauges and had 2 nights of practice. We also had practice and walk throughs before each match. This was in addition to many hours of individual practice and skill advancement through dm_mulch maps, conc jump maps, etc. We ran 2 dedicated servers and occasionally recruited from regulars playing on them.

Google for TFC leagues and see if they offer TF2 competition. The leagues we played in were STA-TFC, IGL, and TFL. Also check your Steam community for TF2 clan groups to find servers to play on in an effort to get picked up by a team.

Quid

musanman wrote: »

Quid wrote: »

splash wrote: »

I did read the most recent TF2 thread and the long 100+ page threads initially when it first came out (well before I had the game) but I never saw much at all still about the clan/league action. Maybe I've read it at the wrong times.

People don't really talk about clans in there since most of the game play takes place on the PA servers which are very much not clan play. But I'm certain that some of them are, in fact, in clans.

They really aren't clans on the PA servers, they are more "cliques." I used to roll very heavily in that crowd and decided to get into running a scrimmage team. We would play almost every night competitive matches against other teams, and do what you're talking about.

Ultimately I think that with the exception of a few people it wasn't what we were looking for in the game and it died out. We had a good couple weeks, but it burned a few of us out pretty good.

You need to join #tf2scrim on IRC or try to find a group on steam that does TF2 pickups.

Yeah, I didn't mean there were clans, just that there were people who played in clans but also played on the PA servers.

MrMonroe

First play on the PA servers.

We also have a PA clan called "Service of the Queen" [SotQ] which plays Highlander most weeks. (Highlander = nine players, one of each class. There can be only ONE) We'll be playing Goldrush this monday and I think Granary after that.

Take some time to play with us on the PA servers and see if we're about your level, then talk to Quaz and Wally if you're interested.