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[Teatime]

Disclaimer:
I know that occasionally I'm too serious for my own good.
I know that I tend to blow things out of proportion when I'm upset.
I know that the game is primarily for having a good time.
I know that I'm probably too anal about that.

But

Since TF2 is about teamwork and teamwork can be improved enormously by communication I can't help but wonder if some of the defeats I witness could have been turned into victory with better communication.
But improving communication isn't really my point here (But if you allow me one sentence: How about trying to extent the eagerness to communicate about enemy übers and spies to other tactical aspects of the game?).
What sometimes bugs me is the Signal-To-Noise-Ratio (SNR) on the voicecomm. Giving and receiving information is sometimes virtually impossible with all the blabber filling up the headphones all the bloody time.
A couple of weeks ago I increased the voice_overdrive parameter (which lowers the gamesound when somebody speaks). Today during the game I reset that parameter to the default because my gamesound never had a chance to reach normal level.

Nothing against some fun and casual conversation, but sometimes the balance is just off and IMHO the teamwork fails to reach its potential level.

[[ZiiP] Lazzars]

banter = fun

contrary to popular belief, the internet isn't serious business

[mark]

I like talking much better than gaming...anyone up for a round of Vent?

[mode_seven]

Are you a physicist? 'Cos I've spent the past four weeks in labs considering pretty much nothing but SNR in astronomical imaging...

In the meantime, I normally find that the banter isn't a problem, and when the game's particularly close fought people will usually switch over to more important information. Unless Rippy's playing of course. But then it's not the winning, it's the trying to spill your drink over your keyboard while keeled over with laughter.

[DeadlyAvenger]

Ugh....

stupid module last semester looking at auto-correlation, cross-correlation etc. as a means to remove noise from a system.

UGH.

[Vitalis]

No offence, but lighten up?

That's the kind of thing we shout at each other for on Vent when leading up to a match.
This is pub, if you want seriousness go find an IRC.

[phatster]

In the meantime, I normally find that the banter isn't a problem, and when the game's particularly close fought people will usually switch over to more important information. Unless Rippy's playing of course. But then it's not the winning, it's the trying to spill your drink over your keyboard while keeled over with laughter.

rip saw is crazy

[Nineblade]

In the meantime, I normally find that the banter isn't a problem, and when the game's particularly close fought people will usually switch over to more important information. Unless Rippy's playing of course. But then it's not the winning, it's the trying to spill your drink over your keyboard while keeled over with laughter.

rip saw is crazy

Yeah we love the crazy man (and Teatime)

[Magathery]

Feel the love (Lube optional)

[Finaldeath]

Ripsaw > Tactics.

Give me that laugh any day over making sure we have a balanced team or telling me where spies are.

I don't think it's ever as bad as you make it out to be Teatime, tbh.

[Teatime]

I don't think it's ever as bad as you make it out to be Teatime, tbh.

Sometimes it is.
It's the cases where things work well which show you the possibilites.
Yesterday, for example, the communication was very good on the teams I was on. Sentry positions, coordination, warnings and the like.
The game was flowing and the results were satisfying (results not necessarily meaning victory). It was very much fun to play. And I don't think anybody felt bored or thought the game was too serious or too focused.

Having a good game with good teamwork is fun as well, and IMHO it's not a lesser kind of fun than having laughs and taunting each other. The trick is to get the mix right.

[Finaldeath]

You implied that any bad loss is a result of poor voicechat among other teamwork and is entirely *no fun*, which is entirely incorrect. I've had more fun losing some times then winning (with banter, but not teamwork chat), because a close loss is sometimes much more fun then a walkover victory.

If you want to revise your rant, well, fine, whatever, do so, but it seems to me you just dislike any "off topic" chat from your statements above, yeah?

[Teatime]

You implied that any bad loss is a result of poor voicechat among other teamwork and is entirely *no fun*, which is entirely incorrect. [...]

No, I haven't.
My point is that there are games where the lack of communication results in unfocused action which fails to get the team anywhere. Of course lack of communication can easily happen without major talking and joking around, but on those more lively days any attempt of communication is drown.

And please believe me that I don't care much about winning or losing, but I prefer giving it a good shot with a team using the tools at its disposal. Beyond that: May the better team win.

[...] but it seems to me you just dislike any "off topic" chat from your statements above, yeah?

No.
Keywords in my rant are the caption "Signal-to-noise-ratio" and in my last paragraph the word "balance", both pointing towards the same thing: A good mixture of jokes and banter without compromising communication and teamwork.
We have those games just as well, and personally I find those more rewarding and more enjoyable on every level.

[claws]

I know what Teatime means, although I haven't really seen it be a problem on WDG. But as Final says, you can have better games losing than winning in silence.

I think low SNR with voice is more a symptom than a cause though. I don't think you can turn a 'bad' team into a good one purely by talking more. God knows I've tried! But if you have several people who insist on playing unhelpful classes, or won't defend the cart...not much you can do except try and lead by example.

And it can work. Sometimes we've had a minute left and I'm spamming 'ok hit the cart' in voice chat while jumping on it, and maybe 1 guy will help you out...and suddenly it's captured. And you wonder 'why didn't we do this 5 minutes ago'! You can't stop those who'd rather run around spawn with their fists out, but at least you tried

[mode_seven]

You can't stop those who'd rather run around spawn with their fists out

Yes you can, you have admin powers!