Shall we continue in STA for another season?

[The Mighty Gerbil]

With the STA season approaching it's end I'm putting it up for a vote if we shall continue for another or not. All matches are at 8:30 central for new people who want to join. Also the Highlander option is 9 vs. 9 limit one person per class. The thing about 9 vs. 9 is...

1. It is on Monday and requires a day swap with the Unreal Tournament members which will be up to them (Tuesday is a good day though).
2. It requires additional people.
3. Players will need to play one class per half and not be able to switch. Sharing will be a necessity to switch and someone will have to step up to play every class. On the plus side this may be easier on us from a logistics and team planning perspective.
4. Highlander style guarantees all classes will be playable in every match.
5. The available opponents in this league are less than 8 vs. 8 and it is largely made up of ones from 8 vs. 8.

So you guys know there are a few other factors determining if we continue and in what league. The vote is only one of them. I believe there are a couple weeks off between seasons too, I'll have to check. I'll still try to have some practices during the lull though.

Note: Names of the voters are visible so I can determine who wants what. Some players have shown they can attend more games than others so I know what to expect attendance wise. Please don't let this dissuade you from voting what you want.

 

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Highlander is interesting because a team will know exactly what the other team is rolling. So if someone takes down a soldier and medic, we know for sure that they have no more.

Granted they can do the same for us...

I'm willing to try Highlander, but I generally prefer 8v8.

 

[Keero]

I wouldn't mind trying Highlander so I wouldn't feel out of place going Pyro (or Heavy) when the other team has like 2 soldiers and a demo that could rip me to shreds. And if it's on Monday, I would totally be there to play. ^__^

 

[Luvdiscgolf]

Yes! More gaming!

I would definitely be up for another season. I have had fun, even though I've only gotten in on half a dozen matches at the most. It sure would be fun to win some matches though. I truly have been practicing but all those guys must spend a lot more time online than I do, lol.

-Lance

 

[Omega Amen]

Can we try a different league? Or is it standard to switch maps for no good reason at all?

You guys are the veterans in terms of competitive clan culture and practices, and I am new to all of this.... But the sudden switch of map midway through the week struck me as really absurd and amateurish in the bad sense of the word.

I don't mind Highlander in concept, but we will need more regulars for practice attendance, in my opinion. We seem to be always searching for people on practice day and that is to fill up teams of 8 with less stringent class restrictions.

 

[Tek7]

I'll most definitely continue playing competitively as long as there's a ToJ TF2 team, but I'm wondering if there might be another league that could serve as a "stepping stone" toward STA?

Winning isn't that important, but the game is more fun when playing against a team of similar skill level. Based on what I've seen in pub servers, our competition team members have the individual skills to rock the house, but we need more experience working together as a team. Ideally, matches would be learning experiences, but on some occasions, the other team pushed us back quickly enough that we didn't have much of an opportunity to learn.

Again, I think we have the individual skills and a willingness to learn to play together as a team. If it's decided that we stick with STA, then I'll be there, Medigun at the ready.

An alternative to switching leagues would be to play matches against other Christian clans. It would help us learn to work together as a team, practice strategies to use in STA matches, and I think we'd stand a better chance at winning.

The only problem is that we've already committed two nights a week to STA (Sunday nights for practice, Tuesday nights for matches) and most of us play Thursday nights during ToJ's public game night. Blocking off another night might prove difficult for some, if not most, team members.

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

Can we try a different league? Or is it standard to switch maps for no good reason at all?

You guys are the veterans in terms of competitive clan culture and practices, and I am new to all of this.... But the sudden switch of map midway through the week struck me as really absurd and amateurish in the bad sense of the word.

See here I got an explanation up so it's not as bad as all that http://www.cgalliance.org/forums/showthread.php?t=32618 .

I'll most definitely continue playing competitively as long as there's a ToJ TF2 team, but I'm wondering if there might be another league that could serve as a "stepping stone" toward STA?

Winning isn't that important, but the game is more fun when playing against a team of similar skill level. Based on what I've seen in pub servers, our competition team members have the individual skills to rock the house, but we need more experience working together as a team. Ideally, matches would be learning experiences, but on some occasions, the other team pushed us back quickly enough that we didn't have much of an opportunity to learn.

Again, I think we have the individual skills and a willingness to learn to play together as a team. If it's decided that we stick with STA, then I'll be there, Medigun at the ready.

An alternative to switching leagues would be to play matches against other Christian clans. It would help us learn to work together as a team, practice strategies to use in STA matches, and I think we'd stand a better chance at winning.

The only problem is that we've already committed two nights a week to STA (Sunday nights for practice, Tuesday nights for matches) and most of us play Thursday nights during ToJ's public game night. Blocking off another night might prove difficult for some, if not most, team members.

I looked into TWL before this and the closest they have to 8 vs 8 is 7 vs 7 (researched before we joined STA) but I don't think they will be any easier. The few things I've heard is CEVO is the harder league and TWL and STA are easier. I believe some of the top clans in STA are in CEVO or have been at one point or another. The Clan we that beat us tonight on cp_steel was in CEVO 6 vs. 6 and got rolled in it. If someone has a suggestion for another league I'll look into it but I don't think there is going to be an easier one. We played fairly even with Soc back in the day so I'll have to look into scriming with them for practice again 6 vs 6.

I really want to give Bassman a go at leading in game to see if he can do better. I don't mind doing it but if it will help the team I'll step aside. I am quite tired right now so my less than optimal performance tonight may have been due to that too.

 

[Whon]

To me, it's a matter of 2 choices:

1. Do we want to win?
2. Do we want to have fun, making sure everyone gets a chance to play and show that Christians can still enjoy gaming?

Personally, I think we have been doing #2 quite well and I'm fine with that. If as a Community we want #1 then the way we practice and setup for leagues needs to completely change.

We would have to have a stick core of players that must attend and play with each other at every given opportunity. Only way to win is to put in time, time, time, practice, practice, and practice to the point that it pretty much isn't even fun except for the win.

I like making sure everyone has fun and be that beacon of light for other gamers.

 

[BassMan449]

I agree completely with whon and that has been something I've been thinking about anyway. If we want to win then everything needs to change. With how difficult the teams in the league are we need a fairly set group that has lots of practice with each other to be able to even hope to compete.

We just need to decide as a group what is more important

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

We will be continuing in STA 8 vs. 8 for another season as there seems to be enough interest. 9 vs 9 has it's allure but at this point staying in 8 vs 8 will be easier on me and I think the group overall. Also I've talked with Keero and there is the possibility of his schedule changing in the future to allow him to join us on Tuesday but then he won't be able to come Monday. Sorry Zanthox you are out of luck but we could certainly use you when we have practice on Sundays if you can make them.

As far as our roster goes I've been keeping the regulars in. We've been getting 5-6 core regulars (not naming names but I know you ^^) and have the other 2 made up of semi-regulars or alts. We don't really have a consistent 8 players who show up so we cannot avoid different players even if we wanted too. It's easy enough to get alts now but I haven't had to swap any players out mid game as I did at the start, hopefully people aren't feeling responsible for losing and not pm'ing me anymore to let me know they want to play. No one should feel that way as I haven't seen any single player responsible for our defeats.