Announcing Season 7, 5th Cup and new ETF2L partner

Date January 10, 2010

Season 7 sign ups open on Tuesday the 12th

We’re pleased to announce that ETF2L Season 7 will begin for 330 teams on Monday the 8th of February.

Here’s some of the rule changes we’re thinking about implementing (if you have any well reasoned suggestions, please let us know):

  • Teams who participated in and completed Season 6 will have sign up priority over teams who didn’t take part in or failed to complete Season 6.
  • The league will again be supported by our generous sponsors SteelSeries. Details on prizes to follow.
  • Fixed maps for all divisions:
    • Week 1: Granary and Gorge
      Week 2: Badlands and Well
      Week 3: Gravel Pit and Obscure
      Week 4: Gullywash and Turbine
      Week 5: Obscure and Freight
      Week 6: Gorge and Turbine
      Week 7: Freight and Well
      Week 8: Granary and Gullywash
      Week 9: Badlands and Gravel Pit
  • The ETF2L cfg will be updated for the start of the season and will feature fixed weapon spread and tf_teamtalk 1.
  • The Force’A’Nature, Sandman, Direct Hit and Buff Banner are limited to 1 per team. All other unlocks are allowed. Teams are free to agree about limiting unlocks further, but such an agreement must be noted on the relevant match page.
  • Important note regarding unlocks: We’re expecting Valve to make some tweaks to the new weapons soon, and are in contact with them regarding the issue. If you have any suggestions, please make them in a succinct and reasonable manner and we will pass the best articulated suggestions on to Valve.
  • Each team will be granted 2 wild cards per season that can be used any time up to 15 minutes before a game is due to start.
  • Default wins will be enforced for teams that fail to use their wild card in time. The league will only run smoothly if teams adhere to the scheduling rules and no exceptions will be made. If your team has to miss a weekend due to a LAN event, play the game as soon as possible or wild card it. If a team member fails to appear for a game and you have no wild cards left, the other team may wild card on your behalf or you must find a substitute/agreed merc. It is your responsibility to make sure your games are played on schedule.
  • Any agreement between two teams regarding the use of mercs, wild cards or servers must be recorded on the relevant match page. We cannot help you settle any of these disputes unless the issue has been confirmed by both teams on the match page. It is your responsibility to make sure you and your opponent follow this rule.
  • If an agreement can not be reached between both teams about what server your game will be played on, contact an admin as soon as possible to arrange the use of an ETF2L server.
  • The rules about the use of mercs will be updated. Any merc you use must be registered with ETF2L. Any mercs used without express written permission from the other team on the relevant match page will result in harsh penalties.
  • We are implementing a hijack rule that will prevent teams from replacing/changing the majority of its roster after the season has started.
  • It’s our hope that any games featuring any cheaters will be replayed (assuming that a replay would be of a potential points benefit to the other team) to minimise the disruptive and unfair impact cheaters have on our divisions. The detailed mechanics of this rule will be worked out for the start of the season. Obviously, if we find any evidence that a team was harbouring someone they knew to be cheating, no replays will happen and that team will be expelled from the league.

Dates in detail:

  • Sign Ups Open: Tuesday the 12th of January
  • Sign Ups Close: Sunday the 24th of January
  • Divisions Announced: Sunday the 31st of January
  • Week 1 starts: Monday the 8th of February

Sign Ups for the 5th Cup open on Sunday the 17th

Our long-awaited 5th Cup will begin on Monday the 25th of January, hosting 128 teams. The competition is sponsored by ETF2L’s newest partner, Valve, who will be supplying signed TF2 merchandise as prizes for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams.

  • Sign Ups Open: Sunday the 17th of January
  • Sign Ups Close: Sunday the 24th of January
  • All fixtures for all of the rounds will be randomly generated
  • Round 1 starts: Monday the 25th of January

Player of the season poll

We have one last piece of business to settle regarding Season 6: who was the best player of the season? Cast your vote below.

Season 6 Awards : Player of the Season

Total Voters: 766

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204 Comments

  1. huhystah said:

    OMG

  2. Dante said:

    srsafsafassaf 1st post

  3. UPS said:

    win :)

  4. Pacas: 403 said:

    Dante fail :D

  5. Ripple said:

    nothing against fixed maps. but THOSE fixed maps are bullshit.. Fastlane or yukon >> Gorge or well or gullywash..

  6. Didvyris said:

    nice

  7. aVator said:

    omg, so much liths in comments O.o

  8. DroSoPhiLe: o/ said:

    OMFG Gorge as fixed map.
    Great!

    Who has ever played it in a pcw?!

    Seriously, wtf admins?

  9. Bury.: internecine said:

    Great job with getting valve partnered, but those maps won’t be favoured by a lot of people : )

  10. JimmyBreeze: k^m said:

    Who has ever played it in a pcw?!

    Now might be a good time to try.

  11. honeymustard: Phase said:

    gorge owns haters gonna hate

  12. hoppi: TIDS said:

    thanks for forcing the community to play other maps, was about time :D
    pickaxe allowed !? lol wtf FTW !

  13. Silan: (Actual Size) said:

    Great news the whole way through. Isnt this the first time ever that Valve is actively supporting eSport?

  14. Antarion said:

    WTF with the fixed maps cycle?

  15. Furi0us said:

    WTF SANDMAN 1 PER TEAM FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

  16. wpminnows: [PG] said:

    the sandman’s allowed? i’m stunned

  17. AnAkIn said:

    No, Silan, there has been TF2 beta.

  18. Warmaster: -[MG]- - HL said:

    Relax, I doubt anyone is going to use it.

    and week 6 makes me cry:(

  19. Extremer said:

    Gorge? Are you mad? It’s too big for 12v12, let alone 6v6.

  20. suni: [j]\\\' said:

    I for one call BS.

  21. Imperium said:

    Can an admin actually look at gdk? he played I think 1 game last season? Side Effect actually deserved it but because of a russian joke his award got taken.

    Good new rules though, looking good :)

  22. skinnie: TCM said:

    gorge is waaaay too big

  23. lork said:

    gorge is perfect for 24 vs 24 :3

  24. JimmyBreeze: k^m said:

    Gorge was selected for a few reasons:

    – Robin Walker expressed to us that it has been designed for 6v6
    – Seen more demos of it played than the majority of people have even tried it and it played well, close games
    – Good class diversity, even moreso than Gravel
    – The community has already given Yukon, Follower and other potential picks a death sentence. We wanted to give a brand new map a shot and hope that people, once they play it more than once, realise that it’s got potential.
    – It’s not Fastlane!

    The alternative would either be something truly wacky like Viaduct, Fastlane, or a 3rd Badlands and Granary.

  25. appe said:

    Each team will be granted 2 wild cards per season that can be used any time up to 15 minutes before a game is due to start.

    Disagree about this, should be at least 3 (even 5 would be better) hours before the match. That would allow players to make other plans, now we’re forced to sit and wait til 20.50-21.05 CET for a final decision.

  26. JimmyBreeze: k^m said:

    Will be taken into consideration Appe.

  27. JimmyBreeze: k^m said:

    Admin team would love to see your Gorge demos. If it sucks and is too wide, show us.

    Joining a 32 player pub when the update came out and playing Gorge for 5 minutes doesn’t count.

  28. wer: tfortress.no said:

    Great news.

    Gorge is big, but atleast give it a try before you make up a decision.

  29. MasterBlaster: keso said:

    I would like to thank the whole ETF2L staff for finally giving in to fixed maps but I don’t see where JimmyBreeze gets the idea of Yukon and Follower has been given a death sentence when Follower hasn’t even been in any european leagues and Yukon is being played in WPTF2L without any major protests.

  30. JimmyBreeze: k^m said:

    I based that assertion on any time Yukon or Follower are brought up in forum threads or conversations I have with players. It’s not representative of admin opinion, only my own. :)

    (EDIT: Re-reading it, I may have been a bit bold in what I said, speaking on behalf of “the community”. I more meant that whenever the idea has been floated on ETF2L, people have raged.)

    Personally I would have liked to see Yukon and/or Follower being given a shot in ETF2L, but the dissenting army of people who have played 1 PCW on them is mighty. I also took advice from some of our American counterparts on this issue and watched some games.

    Fixed maps is our first opportunity to encourage the community to try new maps, myself and the head admins thought Gorge was the best option at this time.

    As I said, if it doesn’t work and is no fun, we want to see demos.

  31. gl said:

    gorge for 6vs6?, lol. have you played gorge?

  32. JimmyBreeze: k^m said:

    If Gorge makes it to the season, you are welcome to not participate in the league if you hate it so much.

    In the meantime, you can prove to us that it sucks by sending us your 6v6 demos of it.

  33. crzfst said:

    Indeed Yukon is good map & is being played in ladder many times so don’t see why this map isn’t in fixed map list.

  34. GeaR: Epsilon said:

    yep, rather want yukon than gorge. But hey, fixed maps!

  35. SnowiE: -9w- - -9m- said:

    appe the decision to shorten the wildcard time was based around the fact that most problems that require the use of a wildcard don’t show up until under an hour before the game is due to start (most people don’t come home from school/work until a few hours before the game is due to start). If someone’s called in to work late, or their PC crashes or their internet goes wrong and they end up with 300+ pings, it’s usually impossible to let people know this until right before the game. Whilst I sympathise entirely with your view that it can end up to one clan losing an evening through no fault of their own, the aim of the wildcard is to protect clans from unforseen circumstances.

  36. Fisshu: infs - [FB] said:

    Holy shit, an end to the seemingly endless wave of granary/badlands? Whatever will we do?!

    Good decision by the admins, I personally welcome maps such as gorge and obscure to season 7. High skilled games are going to be a joy to watch, stop being scared of change and embrace it :p

  37. Nor: rda said:

    cool maps 8)

  38. Waster said:

    TF2 is going the wrong way. Allowing all those unlocks really gonna slow down the game. I am looking at the shield, the direct hit and sandman. Moreover, we also dont allow maps when they are in the alfa state. Why allowing a weapon like the direct hit who is clearly not final. You cant assume, especially not from valve when you know what Valve-time is. Minicritted from the other side of the map from a silly jump is BS and bugged. Will promote defensive faggotplay of spamming till one of the enemies is minicritted before pushing. Same of buff banner. Will promote defensive faggotplay of spamming till the buff banner is full before pushing.

    Gorge is a really stupid map. Sniper map, really, without posibilities to take out those snipers. Obscure is fastlane with a healthpack in the air. Really overrated but tends to get stuck on the same points as fastlane.

  39. bon: boliyduo - V.A.C. said:

    Gorge, are you srsly? trouble..

  40. mOrest said:

    cool maps!

  41. baerbel: trick17 - trick17 said:

    i disagree, waster

  42. suni: [j]\\\' said:

    Let me guess, decision was made by only few players who think this is kewl. YAY! F.U.C.K Gorge

  43. Aye Doc: d2f~ said:

    rofl gorge as a map

    and people think /i’m/ a good troll, i don’t got shit on the admin team

  44. Fisshu: infs - [FB] said:

    “I’VE NEVER PLAYED GORGE, FUCK IT!!!”

  45. JimmyBreeze: k^m said:

    We have an admin forum to call each other retards in, m0re, but good job nonetheless.

  46. jason: PHX said:

    Good call ETF2L – about time someone shook this league up a bit. You all do know that both teams have access to the unlocks and have to play on the same maps?

    Looking forward to S7

  47. skinnie: TCM said:

    I’m happy it will be fixed maps and I agree you want to put in some new maps but gully and obscure is already enough for this season

  48. GangsterAlgot said:

    awesomesauce!!! gorge ftw! stop hating it, it will be fun.

  49. mOrest said:

    great I can use sword next season!

  50. Waster said:

    If you disagree baerbel, why dont we play all those alfa maps from fpsbanana?

  51. JimmyBreeze: k^m said:

    From reading IRC tonight etc:

    Guys, calm down, we’re not trying to kill competitive TF2 with the introduction of one new map.

    Send us demos. Give us reasoned arguments. Show us why it sucks rather than threatening to quit ETF2L. That’d genuinely help us.

    If you show us Gorge is bad, we won’t include it. Simple as that. It’s not a matter of pride, it’s just about us trying to promote some fresh stuff into the league.

  52. RaCio: GoT² said:

    gorge for 6vs6?, lol. have you played gorge?

    Have you? And if so, could you give some feedback please?

    Another competitive offence/defence map is really wanted and valve put effort into making it for competitive 6v6. I was slightly skeptical about gorge because of it’s huge size. But I imagine people will start playing pcw’s on it the following weeks. If it turns out the map is not working we will revisit it’s place in the map pool.

  53. Admirable: (Toucan Ambassador) said:

    Brave move with cp_gorge?
    I’d be happy to play it, but that’s a big gamble putting it in twice…
    Sad to see cp_fastlane cut on a whim; considering cp_well stays it just seems like an admin vendetta :P
    Not to mention the plethora of other maps that could have been included instead of cp_gorge for a second time!

  54. waiz said:

    no yukon? sad :/

  55. F2 :]: Danmark said:

    At least you could rearrange the fixed maps such that we could play the same map two weeks in a row. That means each week we’d only have to develop tactics for one ‘new’ map. Like this:

    Week 1: Granary and Gorge
    Week 2: Turbine and Gorge
    Week 3: Turbine and Gullywash
    Week 4: Badlands and Gullywash
    Week 5: Badlands and Well
    Week 6: Freight and Well
    Week 7: Freight and Obscure
    Week 8: Gravel Pit and Obscure
    Week 9: Gravel Pit and Granary

    So in week 2 we already had developed tactics for gorge (because we played it in week 1) and therefore we’d only need to focus on turbine.
    In week 3 we could focus on gullywash, and so on…

  56. Sneis said:

    I think this sounds awsum…… u dont have to answer to every whiner jimmy then u wont get any slp :D

  57. Koeitje: AUTOBOTS said:

    Gorge is pretty cool tbh.

  58. Sneis said:

    and i mean the recent changes sounds awsum :D…. will be interesting to see how assembly lan will do now

  59. Dave: Mafia - wMiC? said:

    Seriously guys, there’s just under a month before the Season starts. Give Gorge some thorough testing in the next week or two, and provide the Admins with some valuable, useful feedback on your experiences – is it too big, or was that just your first impression? Does it promote creative new strats, or is it totally impossible to attack/defend?

    The Admins have said they are committed to listening to the community on this, so stop moaning and start testing! We should be seriously grateful that Valve are designing us maps!

  60. ShitFly: Paracoccidioido said:

    Hmm fixed maps are good idea, Gorge is a bad idea. Just to new to put it in the season yet.
    I rather like to see Yukon init since people have more experience init.

    Perhaps the admins can make a vote: Yukon or gorge?

    I do encourage the fact that gullywash and obscure are now officially in the mappool. Makes the game more diverse.

  61. Extremer said:

    How about adding cp_follower instead of gorge? It’s a decent 5CP map everyone seems to forget about. Yanks play it often.

  62. Arnold: DAKKA said:

    Looks like the league is heading for the right direction although i am in doubt of gorge but i haven’t played any matches on it at least we finally got rid of flatlane.

  63. kaidus: 7 - WiK? said:

    I agree with f2. One of the great things about fixed maps is that it enables the playing of less popular maps in PCWs, so I’m all for anything that encourages this further.

    As for gorge.. I have no reason to suppose it’s shit other than a first impression, but what reasons do the admins have to suppose that it is good besides valves word that it has been designed for 6v6?

  64. wpminnows: [PG] said:

    kaidus: jimmy gave some reasons about halfway down the page

  65. gryzor said:

    I was thinking the same thing as F2 as I read the maps, very strange it was not structured in such a way — pretty sure there is a good reason though! :D

  66. Krakyn: rEJ said:

    Loving the look of these changes, all the whiny calls to ban everything had me wanting to quit playing but this makes the season look like it’ll be fun again. F2 is probably right about the schedule though. Good job otherwise admins. :D

  67. JimmyBreeze: k^m said:

    F2: Your suggestion will be noted and I’ll make sure it gets considered.

    Extremer: Follower was considered. I also spoke to some NA people about it, and the majority of people I spoke to kept bringing up some real problems about it that I could see for myself when spectating games. I don’t think it’s a lost cause, however, and I would much rather see us play a new map than more Badlands and Granary if it turns out that Gorge truly is the apocalypse of 6v6.

    Admirable: I actually didn’t include Well in the first fixed maps thread I created in the admin forum 50 days ago. We were really surprised, however, by F2’s Resupply survey that showed that 63% of division 1 respondents wanted to keep it.

    We’re also keen to have each map feature at least twice. Dunc raised this point with me a while ago, actually, that if a map features only once it’s far less likely to be adopted/practised, with many teams skipping it due to it barely appearing. So you get some smart teams that have practised it getting a huge advantage, and some awful fixtures where neither team has played it at all. Of course, if Gorge/Yukon/Follower whatever featuring one time is the solution, we’d go with it.

    Kaidus: Read my post above. I think it’s the least we can do to consider Gorge considering Valve’s support of ETF2L. There’s more to come on that front, as well. If all I get out of this is Gorge tested in PCWs and evidence that it sucks, then all the rage in PMs and here will be worth it.

    By the way, and this goes to everyone, here’s part of an email I got from Robin:

    If there turn out to be problems that prevent Gorge from being usable in competition, please let us know.

    So, here’s your chance to improve it. We all complain about lack of new maps and the GranLands grind, let’s solve this problem rather than whine about it.

    We expected some rage, but to be honest, I’m really surprised by some seriously threatening to quit ETF2L because of one new map that they (in their own words) played once on a 32 player pub.

  68. AnimaL said:

    Week 6: Gorge and Turbine
    Week 7: Freight and Well

    lol`d

  69. Nigh: ¿ - TF2.ro said:

    nice admin decision, respect :)

  70. JimmyBreeze: k^m said:

    Sneis: going to sleep now. Good night everyone. :D

    One last thought, would we play Gravel Pit if it came out in the last update? The map is far from perfect, it’s huge, you can only defend B, but think of all the great games it has given us. I’m not saying Gorge is Gravel Pit – far from it – but I’m just saying give it a shot in case it’s anywhere near as good as Gravel can be.

    I’ll catch up with the comments tomorrow.

  71. JackieBoy: LTG. said:

    nice job admins… gl hf with the new weapons.

  72. Spaceboy McGhee: [Ci] - Ci^H said:

    I really think this is unbelievably awesome and exactly what the TF2 community needed :D Up to this point I haven’t been able to get my own team to ask for any interesting maps in pcws, let alone get the opposing team to agree.. hopefully this will really diversify the maps that get played and freshen up the game for everyone. I have no opinion on gorge (as I’ve never played it 6v6) other than we should give it a go and find out if it’s good or not.. we’re hardly in a position to beg valve to make us a nice new 5cp map if they specifically make us an A/D map for comp and we instantly dismiss it without playing it :)

  73. Leifalot: [Ci] - >sᴛ< said:

    Thanks for allowing the new weapons and for the new maps :D

  74. Norris said:

    nice to see that they league is trying to bring in some new stuff. clearly a step into the right direction.

  75. Ino: dp. - dp. said:

    Sounds like it’s going to be an awesome season, really good job admins!

  76. quickman: fa» - [SpA] said:

    no other league with fixed maps had the structure with only one exchanged map,
    but this shouldnt mean its bad

    I like that etf2fl stopped being conservative
    + new maps
    + new weapons (in the hope that equalizer and direct hit gets some tweaks otherwise please dont allow them)
    + better wc rule (but if you change the time dont go back to longer than one hour ; because at least my team start joining mumble 20 cet and if someone dont come I know this not two or more hours before a match on 21 cet starts)
    + replay of matches (supporting the teams when a unknown cheater was in)

  77. Fisshu: infs - [FB] said:

    I’d also like to congratulate ETF2L on not only introducing some new life into the game regarding new maps, but ALSO because they have partnered with Valve. Its a joke that people are raging so much over a single map and not thanking admins for more prizes.

    and btw

    [20:24] Gorge?
    [20:24] What the fuck
    [20:24] I’ve never even played the map?
    [20:24] Saw it once on a pub?
    [20:24] Quit cause it was epicly shit?

    pretty much sums it up, love you rake :p

  78. kaidus: 7 - WiK? said:

    Jimmy:
    Why not have a one night cup? Why gamble the integrity of the season when there’s a much simpler, satisfying conclusion that will bring a relatively conducive answer without any long term, detrimental effects? I don’t mean to be rude but the inconsistency is baffling me here. A 5cp map that plays in a relatively similar fashion to which we are used to (obscure), that has already been thoroughly tested for months in pickups, mixes, etc, has to have a one day cup in order to confirm that it is satisfactory to be used in s7, yet a completely foreign map with practically no testing is thrust in there? I could design a pompadour hat for use in 6v6 play but, until it’s tested, that statement alone carries no weight in determining its credibility.

    TL;DR version: Can we please have a one day cup of cp_gorge before the season starts?

  79. D2M: vertex » - derptex9 said:

    Kaidus – I think we’re including Gorge in an ESH cup very soon :)

  80. Abunai said:

    a shocking twist;
    good job admins!

    but i’m a shitnerd so it doesn’t count, right?
    peace out~

  81. Jorman: EPA said:

    cp_follower! I would like to see it in map pool. Not over gorge, which I haven’t played or seen demos of. But cp_follower is nice map indeed.

  82. torden: broder - syster said:

    I agree with F2 about the arrangement of maps.

  83. DouGie: CotC said:

    nice one, altho still not crazy on cp_well, but great stuff admins :)

  84. Peio: HolyShit! - Saddam\'s Army said:

    obscure :(((((((((((((((((((

  85. Geten said:

    I also agree with F2. Well said.

    Good decision on the maps and the map picking. I’d rather see Turbine out the window but hey you can’t get everything. I’m gonna enjoy playing Obscure and Gorge. I’ll also make sure to give feedback on how matches/pcws with Gorge turns out like.

  86. Satako: -9m- - -9m- said:

    Excellent news.

  87. Admirable: (Toucan Ambassador) said:

    Was I the only fucker that enjoyed cp_fastlane? :D
    The middle was refreshingly different with lots of exposure and good sniping opportunities.
    Sure it was hard to push back, but that is what made it intense!

  88. kaidus: 7 - WiK? said:

    I never liked fastlane, but I simply can’t believe that well + turbine were left in over fastlane. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to anyone who seriously likes turbine, other than because their team excel at it.

  89. brt: encore - FuDoo :> said:

    Nice 5th cup! :D
    But which are the matchdates?
    One round in one or in two weeks?

  90. iQue: keso said:

    cp_well, sigh… should have thrown it out and used Yukon or something instead. It seriously is the dullest map in TF2, middle is good and something refreshing with the setup time but by god could the 1st and 2nd points be any less interesting. Thanks for not having to play fastlane though, even if it had its bright moments.

    I’m honestly really happy you picked Gorge. It looks like it’s a map that would play great in 6v6 (too big? waa?) and really promote class variety.

    Also, obscure :DDDDD THANK YOU

  91. codcrille: Fresh. said:

    Requesting a poll or an option that both teams can agree to play their vanilla i.e. no unlocks but the medics. I know alot of people, me included, want nothing more then to just fuck the unlocks and go back to that game I had lots of fun with almost 2 years ago with no sandmans, fans, direct hits or any stupid shit. Sounds picky but anyone’d agree that medic unlocks are excluded from this as they actually add to the original gameplay not Stun&Slow Fortress 2.

  92. Tikcus said:

    Admirable

    Nah you weren’t the only one, I enjoyed fastlane too, TBH I like anything that isn’t always 2 scouts, 2 soldiers, a demo and a medic, at the middle fight

    While I mention it Demo limit 2!!! just limit sticky launcher/scotish resistance to 1
    Demo was limited to 1 as 2 demos could lock the game down with stickys, that’s not the case now. A charging Targe could be a good tactical switch at certain points in the map, we can’t do it with demo limit 1

  93. ismo: FAP! said:

    Personally I think new maps are cool etc although I don’t like all of them. But the idear of having a minicrit buffed team pushing with über sounds really, well, err, mindwrecking :-)

  94. Ripple said:

    I never liked fastlane, but I simply can’t believe that well + turbine were left in over fastlane. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to anyone who seriously likes turbine, other than because their team excel at it.

    Actually this is true. Nothing about fixed maps and absolutely nothing about NEW maps. But where’s Fastlane and Yukon or ctf_doublecross? They are way better than cp_well or cp_gullywash. And they would actually be far easier to practice. Honestly, at least in the division i am in, in a IRC-PCW we never play custom maps except freight because at least one of our enemies does not have the map – hooray for obscure – another one we will not be able to play…

  95. ExE: -[S2L] said:

    “If Gorge makes it to the season, you are welcome to not participate in the league if you hate it so much.”

    Considering the unlocks + the mappool I hope enough clans use this option not to participate in this season.

  96. Shadow Monkey: pC* said:

    Sandman >.<
    I'm seeing pushes with a stunned medic :D BTW the weapon is bugged ;) I don't know why, but if I get stunned I just see the thing over my head and the thirdperson…I can move and shoot as well :D And you don't see my "BONK!-Effect" (:

    DH limit 1 is great, it's a nice weapon but with 2 in the enemy team to OP!

    Buff Banner is in my eyes uselless, because of no shottie D: Same for the boots.

    The Equalizer isn't OP, guys! I mean if you have 1o HP yu give instakills to medics…but which pocket soldier can't kill a 10 HP soldier? If you, don't join the next season (:

    BUT WHY, the shield and sword, admins?
    Oh my fucking god I hate the shield…I mean….you give a demo 3 direct hits and e isn't down…
    Sword is with the HP boost a bit to OP, but…ok..

    SR is great for the last point :D It rocks (:

    The fixed maps are awesome!
    But just the idea :D The map choice isn't so great….

    Gullywash – great map…very fresh and new…middle fight is great, 'cause you must get up to cap the point :D

    Freigh t- still awesome!

    But Gorge…I've never played it, but on a pub it's perfect…I think it is designed for 12 vs 12 , but I will send demos :D E-Mail?

    And why not Fastlane? The middle is fucking great….2 snipers killing each other may some pyros/spies, no one wants to get out of the house, because of the sniper…I love that map :D It's just something very different nad that's why it should be played…the map is great…may it's very big and so…but why isn't a big map bad? Just because you don't have Instaspamwns and it's like Deathmatch? A kill on fastlane is like 3 kills….
    It's the kind of map, where you need tactic, not aim!
    So, tell me pls….why isn't cp_fastlane in the mappool?

    And thank you admins, for doing a season 7 (: I think it isn't self-evident to make that…thank you!

  97. dante: epx^ said:

    Looking forward to S7. Gj.

  98. Shadow Monkey: pC* said:

    And obscure is just great :D Kamikazesoli-madpack jump FTW :D

  99. Shabbaman: GoT<3 - HoT<3 said:

    Finally, finishing a season means competing next season. Good job.

  100. Norris said:

    ExE, you can stay out. doubt you’ll be missed :>

  101. jagbama: бекон said:

    I, for one, welcome our new map-picking overlords! GJ guys, mix it up a bit <3

    Unlock feedback: I'd suggest making the Demo's damage reduction of the targe only active when his melee weapon is equipped. It seems logical (the character model needs to be actively using the shield with his non-melee arm to absorb damage, rather than gaining the benefit from having it strapped to his side)…

  102. Iller: tGa said:

    Interesting move to allow the buff banner. It will surely change a lot regarding tactics.
    Time will tell if it is good or bad.
    Also the new maps makes it sound interesting.

  103. klu: -[MG]- - MG// said:

    Nice to see the league getting freshened up a bit, however I think Well and Turbine should have been replaced. My suggestions:

    cp_well: replace it with koth_viaduct, a fresh format that seems to have become really popular over in NA, loads of demos on Gotfrag for anyone that wants to check it out.

    ctf_turbine: why not give http://etf2l.org/forum/maps/topic-8276/?recent=136396 a chance? It’d be nice to at least see it in a one night cup to have clans test it and give feedback on it.

    As for the TDH, I really hope Valve fix the minicrit detection soon, otherwise playing with one of these per team is going to be hugely annoying.

    Also +1 to F2’s idea about scheduling the maps back to back.

  104. eX: [j]\\\' - [j]' said:

    Absolutely KING! Even though I miss fastlane in the pool, gorge will be an interresting addition to the mappool. I believe none would be sad if clans would stay out of the league cause of one map and the unlocks. Rather laugh at them.

  105. angra: [j]\\\' - [j]' said:

    Nice with some new maps. and nice to see that well is till here.

    Only missing fastlane, and do anyone like turebine? :)

  106. Mossad » ETF2L: Season 7, Mossad League: ODC said:

    […] אם אתם רוצים לקרוא עוד על הליגה, אתם מוזמנים להכנס לכאן: http://etf2l.org/2010/01/10/announcing-season-7-and-the-5th-cup/ […]

  107. caliban: fail said:

    WOW VALVE!!!YOU ARE TOO KIND!! 330 Teams.. and some nice free t-shirts or cups awesome

    hihihi i had too giggle – hard

  108. quickman: fa» - [SpA] said:

    http://etf2l.org/etf2l/map-statistics/
    you see div1 and div2 dont like fastlane
    you get obscure now, also sniper in middle and difficult to cap last :P

    imo: turbine is an awesome teamwork map
    and gullywash is pure gold <3 arnold

  109. DouGie: CotC said:

    what klu said – thats perfect

  110. ambra said:

    good maps
    but unlocks?
    LETS TRY NEW THINGS WE ARE SO EDGY AND COOL YOU CANT PLAY ALWAYS THE SAME OMG THE GAME IS FUN

    not

  111. DoN_CORL3onE: Impact - #PDW said:

    Thanks Admins!

    ALL NEW WEAPONS ARE UNLOCKED!!!

    Really a good job…if u were trying to kill this game you are on the right way!

    I bet u’ll not have the same number of teams for this season…surely u won’t have me!

    GL for all teams who’ll play randomTF2!

    P.S. no comment for gorge as newmap…

  112. angra: [j]\\\' - [j]' said:

    quickman: [SpA], wierd to base on div 1/2, what about, 3,4,5,6? (where fastlane was over turbine :) )

    Well well great overall. Looking forward to this.

  113. Mik lo sfregiatore magico said:

    omg, tf2 near death, good job

  114. hoppi: TIDS said:

    CRY SOME MORE.

  115. forcenet: CZetaX Delta - [CZetaX] said:

    while this is all great news overall and I agree introducing new maps is defo a good idea, 3 new maps is too much imo.. two would be just about the perfect amount

    I’m not saying gorge is the one which should go, that’s not my point

  116. Jazzman: keso said:

    I think it’s funny that teams/players dont want to play next season because new maps and unlocks. Stop being afraid of change ffs!

    I think this is great news and im looking forward to season 7.

    Well done admins!

  117. quickman: fa» - [SpA] said:

    3 new maps?
    l2count

  118. haze: is good! said:

    I never played obscure and gorge could be kinda weird :/

  119. Randdalf: (0v0) said:

    Rather Viaduct than Obscure tbh.

  120. Fluffy Meowington: TC.Potat said:

    Why is obscure in there twice and yukon 0 times?

  121. klu: -[MG]- - MG// said:

    Every map got put in twice for reasons stated above.

  122. MinDfreak said:

    good maps:) but where is fastlane :'( ?

  123. suni: [j]\\\' said:

    You guys who are cheering for new unlock, do you know that those weapons make this game more like camperstrike?

    It will be slow as hell :]

  124. Randdalf: (0v0) said:

    I’d suggest that you could ditch 1 of both Obscure and Well, and throw in Viaduct and Yukon in their place.

    Loving the double Gorge though :)

  125. a ConFUSed mONkeY: .:ne:. - .:ne:. said:

    Played Gorge in the WP 7v7 league and it was massive but still good fun. We got pwned by a spy. Is it too big for 6v6…..I think maybe yeah, but let’s try it and see.

    No Yukon is sad for me, good map. Dropping Fastlane saddens me too, even though it can stalemate at last, that encourages class variation imo, like a spy or pyro whatever.

    Not even got Obscure downloaded…. :( Better get practicing I s’pose.

    Roll on season 7!

  126. jgmaster: BM said:

    @suni Care to explain?

  127. jgmaster: BM said:

    Also http://www.cad-comic.com/sillies/20091223 :D

  128. sla: MILANO said:

    nice fucking rules….Keep your league

  129. morf: [j]\\\' - [j]' said:

    Really an appreciated update for the new season, congratulations ETF2L for the new partnership as well. Quite impressive. Fixed maps are looking great, really what the community needed in my honest opinion.

    Doubt anyone will miss the players that can’t play a map Valve designed for us solely and only because of this, quit this league and don’t play in it. Looking forward to all of you loosers to do so.

  130. Koeitje: AUTOBOTS said:

    +1 morf.

    (btw, have you noticed that it’s mostly Italians crying about gorge :D)

  131. raQ said:

    fastlane for gorge thx

  132. infussle said:

    keep up the good work admins :)

  133. vlm said:

    let the teams the possibility to suggest unlock limits via scheduling system. i’d like to have option to check vannila (except medic’s) checkbox and if opponent agrees that should be listed automatically on match page. in case of different opinions default limit 1 is valid.
    btw. fixed maps, you did well, finally!

  134. andy: C.S.L said:

    Good solution with the weapons! BUt what a fail with THESE fixed maps (gorge is worse than gravelpit)?!

  135. forcenet: CZetaX Delta - [CZetaX] said:

    nvm forgot gullywash was here in season 6 already
    thanks for being so nice and kindly correcting me, cheetah

  136. byte said:

    Wait for the update by valve about the ‘WAR’ weapons also making TF2 vanilla is the worst idea known to mankind and would start making TF2 ‘dead’. The variations in the game is what keeps this game going not you players who can’t adapt because you end up losing your pride (God Forbid) and getting owned by a different and ‘fair’ gun by a ‘noob’ player (God Forbid).

    Yes TDH is bugged for example it is being looked at by Robin im 99.9% sure, so give it a week or so when they do their update. There are 1 or 2 other weapons that need addressing but enough to disallow all? No thanks.

    Not being funny but i like the sniper unlocks? the spy unlocks? the heavy unlocks? the scout unlocks? why we “vanilla”‘izing a game already?

    Amen to what Fisshu said, you guys/girls are x10 lucky than any other game developing company, least Valve actually give a crap what you ungrateful plebs whine about, sometimes they get it wrong sometimes they get it spot on, the intentions are their though and they do deliver.

    Amen to what morf said indirectly, if you don’t like the new additions of what valve are bringing in, quit the game? :) I’m sure the turnover of ppl joining TF2 than leaving TF2 is higher.

    Cheers

    Byte

  137. autsch said:

    this will be the best season so far. finally there isnt that much granlands going on anymore.

    new maps + stv/lvl^up-coverage = good stuff for tf2

  138. Mr.Magic: TBA - ZOS! said:

    can’t gorge get a limit of 1

  139. xerxes: WWCD - n2o said:

    Wondering if you made any sugestings to valve about fixing the “new” FAN?!
    Its nearly unplayable in its current situation! Two bullets without a freezing effekt is nearly useless. Furthermore it seems that when you hit someone from a very short range it does a lot less damage than when you hit someone from 3 to 5 meter. Seems very buggy to me.

  140. BERSERKER: broder - PRO said:

    Excellent job, admins. I do, however, agree with F2 on the maps, it would make life easier and thus officials and PCWs smoother.

    Looking forward to playing gorge.

  141. hokka: flowerpower/ - wayne tag said:

    It’ll be rather hard to get enough demos of Gorge failing, as in recent days people even quit the server if you want to play freight or gravelpit.. Anyways, do the Demos of Gorge have to be STV?

    PS: Do teams signing up to S7 need to have at least 6 players at the date of sign-up?

  142. Anathema said:

    What have I missed, what is gorge?
    Is it some new valve 5cp map from the update or so?

  143. klu: -[MG]- - MG// said:

    It’s a 2CP map :D

  144. Koeitje: AUTOBOTS said:

    Gorge = fun

    Be gone all whiners

  145. WildEast: .:EnG!:. - <3 said:

    2 equalizer allowed?

  146. el_neco said:

    maps for this season epic fail of the 2010 year! GZ!

  147. MangyCarface said:

    Still no yukon :S

    NA had objections to it to at first but now it’s played in all of the major leagues over here and most frag compilations feature it, especially last point which everyone seems to like… When you first gave the poll for it, no one had the chance to played it and simply voted against it for fear of change. Should really give it another try, I designed it to be different than the standard and it’d be certainly better than Well….

  148. Relentless said:

    I feel kinda sceptical about Gorge, seeing how bad it is on Publics. It might work out in 6v6 but it’s really a huge gamble.

  149. Ripple said:

    why not a poll for ctf_doublecross, yukon or fastlane? It would be something different than granlands, but at least it’s possible to practice yukon or fastlane, since everyone says : “obscure? not on our server” or “obscure? no, badlands plz”

    Deciding everything yourself is not a good way to manage a community. Give us the chance to vote!

    See here: http://etf2l.org/etf2l/map-statistics/

    Fastlane is played more than gully, turbine or gravel – I accept all official maps, but this custommapshit (freight is an exception, everyone has it and everyone plays it) is just annoying. Why not push yukon or the new ctf map(s) – sawmill is also there…

  150. gniedler: T4F - FuDoo :> said:

    i know a lot of people who were sceptical about yukon and didnt want to play it in mixes or pcws. when they did, they liked it though.

  151. xtala said:


    since everyone says : “obscure? not on our server” or “obscure? no, badlands plz”

    Isn’t that one of the main advantages of fixed map?
    You more or less force people to learn new maps.

    I’m fairly sure that most people who’ve played obscure, think it’s a decent map.
    So if you put it in with fixed maps everyone must have it on their server and will have to play it.

  152. perry: [MIPC] said:

    Well, at the very least the admins have realized not to make polls anymore – knowing the results of the polls won’t be followed anyway : ]

  153. Aye Doc: d2f~ said:

    perry u mad

  154. LTK: WR_AWESOME said:

    can’T wait to begin the new season :-D

  155. Aye Doc: d2f~ said:

    u mad, perry?

  156. Aye Doc: d2f~ said:

    mad… perry, u?

  157. Aye Doc: d2f~ said:

    perry, mad u?

  158. KillaloT: eureka said:

    This is how i reacted when i saw this newspost

    http://www.viddler.com/explore/failblog/videos/374/

  159. Extremer said:

    Disregard anything I said, oddly enough gorge works kinda nice in 6v6, bit hard to push last though.

  160. Aye Doc: d2f~ said:

    roffle look at that people actually try the map and it works how strange

  161. Extremer said:

    IT LOOKED SHIT IN PUBS DONT BLAME ME MAN

  162. Aye Doc: d2f~ said:

    TRUST IN J.B.

  163. quickman: fa» - [SpA] said:

    btw why 12 days for sign up, when most likely it will be fill after some hours?
    we could safe one week by reducing this 5 or less days

  164. Krakyn: rEJ said:

    Thus is the fate of all who doubt our lord and saviour, Jimmy Breeze.

    (gorge looked far too big on 32 man servers and I didn’t ever expect to play it in 6v6. Having done so it turned out to be loads of fun with some nice possibilities to mix up classes, engi on attack anyone?)

  165. Extremer said:

    engi on attack is fucking epic

  166. JimmyBreeze: k^m said:

    Extremer you’re my new favourite Russian. :D

    Anyway, busy day at work today, so will try catch up on the rest of the comments tomorrow night.

  167. LaMqTa: fenneks said:

    Tuesday 12 January 00:26:14 CET —-> Season 7 powered by SteelSeries Signups Closed —->>> wtf?

  168. bpf: rockit said:

    still more than 23 hours of tuesday left…

  169. Slick: Epsilon said:

    codcrille for president
    vanilla all ze way!

  170. Kop: [CiC] - CiC said:

    @ quickman,

    Its set so we can sort the cup out and give clans a chance to practice with all the new weapons and maps.

    @ hokka, yes they need to have 6 otherwise they wont be able to sign up.

    @ perry, polls are there purely to give us an opinion, It doesnt mean we will go 100% with the winner if its a fairly close poll. but yes due to people ruining them and certain individuals not having the maturity to reply to the comments in a respectful way we have decided not to put a poll on everything.

    The signups will open sometime tomorrow, Now that it’s not 1st come 1st served there is no rush to get the 1st spot.

  171. LoopeR: FB said:

    gorge?

  172. ETF2L säsong 7 utannonserat : Team Fortress 2 (TF2) på Onlinegamer.se said:

    […] information kan hittas i den ursprungliga […]

  173. Jones said:

    I’ve given some feedback from a PCW on GORGE against r@ts:

    http://etf2l.org/forum/league/topic-8469/

  174. Loco: Mayo said:

    when is the signups open?
    timeframe anyone?

  175. Shabbaman: GoT<3 - HoT<3 said:

    When when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when when! I’m constantly refreshing the signup page, but nothing is happening!

  176. klu: -[MG]- - MG// said:

    Patience, as said above it’s not first come first served so you need to signup up ASAP anyway.

  177. Exfane: EPA - TWIN said:

    jb quote:
    Dunc raised this point with me a while ago, actually, that if a map features only once it’s far less likely to be adopted/practised, with many teams skipping it due to it barely appearing.

    Should ask fisshu how dunc reacted when we switched to well, not exactly the way he said he’d react

  178. dunc: infs - dp. said:

    What the fuck you on about Exfane, I’ve never once said I’d react kindly to having to play TF2’s worst map in a PCW. Anyone that knows me knows I utterly despise that heap of junk wankfest map.

    Not once in that discussion with JB did I say “yes Patrick, I would be delighted to play Well in a PCW, I won’t rage about it at all!”.

    It wasn’t just the shit choice of map that annoyed me anyway, so shut your fucking face :D

  179. dunc: infs - dp. said:

    There wasn’t enough “cunt” in that post, so here it goes:

    cunt.

  180. TeleBear: k^m said:

    Gorge is a fun map! I like it!

  181. futari: fail said:

    Played Gorge about 3 times now, I must say I like it. Except every team seems to run two engi’s on last point which makes it.. really bothersome to cap at times :/

  182. ozonE: Bring! said:

    Disappointed that Fastlane is gone.

    Nice to have new maps to play, and nice that ETF2L has selected maps for us, NO MORE granlands!!!!111 Obscure seems very interesting.

  183. Pozitive: HWarriors said:

    +1 to F2’s system. You’re right, man!

  184. kaidus: 7 - WiK? said:

    What version of obscure is it by the way?

  185. lupus: rhs - RHS said:

    why not demo limit 2 sticky/sr limit 1 btw?

  186. Jonni: [FB] said:

    “What version of obscure is it by the way?”

    the latest version Byte/Codcrille can through at us :P

  187. Ripple said:

    And which one of the thousands available will be the league one?
    cp_obscure_b4 (i haz) or cp_obscure_rc1 (which i couldn’t find, google search included)

    Actually i revoke everything i said about this map. It’s a great map :)

    But still -> Fastlane > Well, since well is just pure boredom.

  188. Exfane: EPA - TWIN said:

    alright dunc, lets play gorge next time then :D

  189. SandeR: m0. said:

    REMOVE GULLYWASH FFS U STUPID ASSHOLES

  190. sick-lizard: cc//(o.o)>~~ said:

    your displeasure I’m sure has been noted, but there is no need to be rude to the people who give up there free time to provide a league for us to play in.

    I think this season with the fixed maps & new unlocks looks the most exciting yet, well played admin & good luck to all the teams taking part :)

  191. wybbi said:

    When can we sign us up for the god damn league?!

  192. RaCio: GoT² said:

    @wybbi

    The signups are open: http://etf2l.org/wp-admin/index.php?page=comps

  193. Netsky said:

    we need cp_orange_x in our map pool… :9

  194. DoN_CORL3onE: Impact - #PDW said:

    Let me understand one thing: here we should play with all weapons unlocked and people from 1st division are thinking about play without all this shit.

    So, admins are u still so sure about your decision??

  195. Pozitive: HWarriors said:

    I have a little request for you, admins to ease finding maps. Could you upload such custom maps to here, ETF2L.org, like Gullywash, Freight and Obscure? I think the most of the people don’t have it.

    Thank you!

  196. SiYiSMA said:

    i quote don

  197. Pappe: .cc said:

    Not a good management if Div1 players are going to playing with their own rules….

  198. wybbi said:

    @RaCio

    Thanks, I’ve never signed up a team before, so I’m a newbie :D

    Sorry for being so aggressive :|

  199. RaCio: GoT² said:

    np, I’m glad you signed up ;)

  200. Warmaster: -[MG]- - HL said:

    Why are the Italians raging so hard? It’s funny to see tho

  201. DoN_CORL3onE: Impact - #PDW said:

    We are not raging…we are just let u see how people is killing the competitive side of this game.

    FACT. (see div1 discussion)

  202. xtala said:

    Signups were filled before the day was over.
    Hardly killing now is it.

    Seriously, if people really think it’s that bad, then go find another league instead of just saying?

    “OMG AMDINS SUX MONKEYBALLZZZZZ COZ OF NEW WAPEONS ADN MPSA”

  203. ozonE: Bring! said:

    Granlands 4 life?

  204. caboose said:

    I guess this is where I should post my suggestion for the new unlocks’ balancing so here it goes:
    I think the Gunboats should be changed to the melee slot. The reason is quite simple and logical and has probably been said and thought by quite a lot of other people. As of right now the Gunboats are no match for either the Shotgun or the Buff Banner,and they will never be more useful than those. And really,it makes sense to have the a team buff or a finisher as choice in slot two but a personal buff will not overpower those in any competitive and most public situations.

    By changing the Gunboats to slot 3,melee slot,you’ll be performing two necessary moves:
    1- Giving the Equalizer a proper sidegrade. None is better than the other as the soldier may prefer faster fleeing or close range defense if he is with the medic. If he is a roaming soldier he may prefer the reduced self damage but even here he may prefer the Equalizer for surprise attacks and faster fleeing.
    2- Making the Gunboats a viable choice. Points for this is in the explanation for the Equalizer getting a sidegrade too.

    I hope this gets through to the ETF2L admins and possibly Valve. This is based on personal opinion and experience.