TF2 gets updates very frequently as anyone who plays it semi actively knows. this is great for the game, however results in problems with online Leagues that force clients to be run in order to play(currently ESEA/CEVO, the highest ranked leagues) because the clients need to be updated coinciding with valve's or matches need to be postponed or cancelled(forcing one team to take a FFL(Forfeit))
Playing in ESEA open requires every player to pay $6/month for service, and $5 to join a team per season, as well as a fee for the team to join a division(3 month, 16-game season)
here is the conversion that followed on the subject of client issues(The ENTIRE TF2 community wants to have the option to play off-client when updates drop since it takes time for the client to get updated, and rescheduling isn't always an option)
everyone wrote: 5.5.10 at 11:04pm Post #1 exploit (Member, compLexity; top 5 scout in TF2)
We've been through three seasons of this bull****, yet there's still no protocol for when this happens or an adequate enough response team/person to get them out quickly.
Is there any legitimate reason for not allowing us to play off client?
ESEA Owner wrote:the legitimate reason for not playing off client is that it allows us to enforce cvars and deal with the, admittedly small, chance that we need to catch a cheater in tf
everyone wrote:Where was this motivation to bring the TF2 anti-cheat up to par when sandcastles was blatantly hacking in ESEA pugs and matches? VAC banned him and he admitted it, yet he was never banned from ESEA since the Client did not catch him
ESEA Owner wrote:because at the time 1.6 and css ac were in serious need of a little tlc and as those two games constitute 100% of our profit, they get priority
ESEA Owner wrote:it's not a matter of money, if it was a matter of money we would have dropped tf2 ages ago, it's a matter of the client being a core part of what we offer and while it's not quite there now in the ac(Anti cheat) department it will be soon
everyone wrote:maybe that whip could have been cracked let's say... 3 seasons ago?
ESEA Owner wrote:nope, was busy taking over the na 1.6 and css scene, world domination has to be focused and absolute
everyone wrote: everyone here has been presenting the most reasonable, logical solution to the client failure/constant rescheduling problem and you have no answer besides "no" and when people ask you why you say "because i said so"
you're as dense as a f***ing brick
ESEA plans to "pull the plug on its TF2 division" following the end of the current season5.6.10 at 4:06am Post #430 lpkane
anyway, locking this thread as i've got to catch up on some work before i head to bed
good talk though, was fun while it lasted
in the course of 5 Hours & 2 Minutes and 430 posts in THIS Thread, the owner and operator of ESEA completely ignored 100% of its TF2 consumer base because "it does not rake in as much money as CS, so it does not matter anyway" even though he acknowledges the fact not a single person has been caught cheating with the client, and we have to use it "because he says so" even though it means people lagging out, crashing, delaying matches, causing forfeits for no reason, wasting time, and not all gamers are high schoolers, majority in fact have jobs, and many invite players need to take time off work specifically to play, then their match is postponed so they have to take more time off
currently the leagues offering TF2 in order from biggest/most prestigous-worst: ESEA-CEVO-TWL-UGC-STA-a couple others have 15 or less teams, only ESEA and CEVO offer prize pots, only ESEA is Pay-to-play and forces you to use their own servers. The XPL plans to expand to TF2 following the current ESEA/CEVO seasons, ideally the XPL will work closely with active TF2 players/admins and be everything ESEA should
not to mention the CPL withholding millions in winnings by having leagues pretending to have financial backing(actually made press releases stating they had investors who in fact did not exist, fake mailing address, fake phone#) on the basis of "we can get investors if they think the league is legit"
/end factual rant