Team Fortress 2 Strategy

The game server is one of the most important things about online gaming. With a good server, everyone can spam bullets, frag each other, and generally just have a good time. With a bad server, however, you’ll either find yourself lagging out all the time, lagging badly enough to not be able to kill anything, or spammed into oblivion by hyperactive 11-year olds who have nothing better to do then to annoy other people and waste their time (please note that if you are an 11-year old who actually tries to play the game the way it was meant to be played, you are awesome beyond recognition). Given the importance of a good server to your experience, here are a couple factors to check out.

Considerations

1. Latency/Ping

Most important point out there. If you’re a pro player, you can sometimes get by on a higher ping, but nothing in the world is more frustrating than trying to score that kill on the helpless sniper and dying because you froze. The ping column is one of the entries in the server list (disable the “show map list” option to see it), and you should try to keep it below 100. I highly recommend that you turn on the filtering options (Change Filters>Latency). This bears repeating again: no matter how good the server is otherwise, if you are lagging on it (usually above 200 ms is considered lag), you’re better off finding another one.

2. Number of people on server

If the server is full, you probably won’t be playing on it. If it only has two people, chances are that you won’t be getting a real game. Some people prefer smaller fights, and tend to look for servers with 10-15 people, while some people love larger brawls, and will try to join servers that are 1 or 2 people away from being full. Whichever one you go with, be aware that some servers fake counts (see Server Traps), so take all numbers with a grain of salt.

3. Max Players

24-person servers tend to be a bit more active than 32-person servers. The extra 6 people per team on 32-person servers tends to lead to stalemates and spamfests, but some people love this kind of gameplay, and 24-player servers are a lot looser, which leads to more unexpected deaths. Also be aware
that if the server only holds 16-people maximum, chances are that the people on the server are very good, so be careful.

4. Custom Content

This is a very tricky subject area. On one hand, custom materials can add a nice touch to the game, and some custom maps are brilliant, but on the other hand, too many custom sounds/models or a bad map can lead to horrible gameplay and a headache for anyone who is sane. To avoid this, I’d recommend setting your download settings to not download custom sounds (go to Options>Multiplayer). If the custom content download takes too long, however, or if the server is spamming sounds and lights that make your head hurt, just leave.

5. Plugins

There is no way to tell whether a server is running a plugin/mod, but if it’s running something like SM or Beetle’sMod, it will make playing that much more pleasant (since you can voteban cheaters/@$$hat$). Some plugins are all good (SM mod is almost impossible to go wrong with) while some are a mixed bag. Instaspawn servers especially should be looked at with caution: it’s almost impossible to win or lose anything on them, since everybody on the server is always alive.

6. Community

This is possibly one of the most important ones, since the players make the game, but it comes last under other server considerations. By all means, if you like the regular community on the server, but it has a slightly high ping, or it uses obnoxious models, by all means, add it on. Conversely, if the server is perfect in every other regard, but the people on it call you a n00b, forget them and find a different server—there are thousands of them out there.

Your goals vs. Server Goals/Game Dynamics

This seems like one of the simplest points, yet not everyone out there seems to get it. When you join a server, you tend to have a goal in mind. For example, sometimes my goal is “get better at playing soldier.” With that in mind, I’ll join a 16-man nocrits server with semi-pro players. Sure, it isn’t the most fun in the world getting my butt handed to me by people who tell me I’m going in their highlight reels, but it’s pretty fun, and I get better. However, if I decide that I want to “just want to mess around,” I’ll go play on a 24-person instaspawns, since they let me get right back into the action after I die.

Now, notice that I just joined two different servers for two completely different reasons. If I had wanted to practice, but joined a 24 or 32 player server, I’d be in a bit of a fix, because the people there aren’t that good. Different servers create different dynamics with the choices they make. That being said, allow me to make some generalizations about them…

Instaspawn: Instaspawn servers tend to be good for learning the ropes rather quickly, but the skill ceiling is rather low: because these servers don’t make you wait 10-30 seconds after you die, there’s really no incentive to get better. Also, they can get rather bogged down with spam; even if you kill half the other team, chances are that there’s still a lot of stickytraps and sentries out there. Don’t expect to actually win anything on these servers
• PL/Dustbowl: PL and Dustbowl servers are very good for learning the basics of attacking and defending, since you don’t have to both attack and defend at the same time (you can focus on one and then the other), but these too, can get spammed down (mainly by sentries and stickies). If you’re on instaspawn as well, forget about actually winning a game and just have fun.
• 5CP: Remember these guys from the Game Modes article? Excluding instaspawns, these tend to be filled with slightly more skilled players, and incorporate all aspects of TF2 gameplay (attacking, defending, sticking together, etc.) Of course, the skill level is only slightly higher, and even a new player can join and have lots of fun (and kill some stuff).
• Custom Sounds/Mods: Hoo boy. While some people find “HEADSHOT” and “RAGEQUIT” rather amusing, others find that it gives them a headache. In addition, custom maps can be brilliant or complete trash, and strange things such as the jetpack can provide amusement and frustration. These servers are purely for fun, and if you like winning or fighting at all, avoid them. On the other hand, if you just want some fun, try one out.

Server Tips and Tricks

Servers with SM mod and Beetlesmod tend to be some of the better ones out there, because the admins actually went through the trouble of making the server better
RTD (Roll the Dice) is an awesome mod that will cause both good things and bad things to happen to you if you roll the dice (rtd). Effects include invisibility, noclip, invulnerability, all crits, exploding, being launched into space, running as fast as a snail, and countless other wonders. While these can be fun, don’t expect any serious play on them, because the best defense can be ruined by a single guy with invincibility.

Servers actually lie about their numbers to try to get you to join. If this happens to you, simply add the server to your blacklist (find servers>history>right click on server>add to blacklisted servers). This way, you won’t have to repeatedly deal with retarded servers that claim to have 20 people when they are, in fact, empty.
If there are some annoying people voicespamming in a server that you otherwise like, just mute them (on the esc. Menu in-game)

Remember, these are only guidelines for choosing a server. Ultimately, it’s up to you whether you like the server or not!

Until Next Time
-Chipbuster