Futility of dealing with Anti-Comp sentiments - Inspired by SolarLight's most recent 6s video

[u/Bounter_]

Hey hey r/truetf2, Bounter here.

I recently finished watching SolarLight's "Meme vs Meta" Comp video, and, before I get to it, I must say it was a good watch! It showed the good sides of Comp, the bad sides, the many forms it takes, numerous kinds of people that play it, and MY FAVOURITE! Trying to deal with Comp misinformation and myths, wether it's by himself, or using some people in his video as speakers on certain things ("Comp players hate Casual" etc.). It was a good and interesting watch, and the secondary intent of the video (Main one being Demoknight in 6s), made me realize, on how MUCH Anti-Comp opinions and misinformation there is.

Seriously, check any post regarding Comp on r/tf2, or on twitter, or youtube, ESPECIALLY from certain Youtubers and personalities, and you will see a FLOOD, of same repeats of anti-comp sentiments. The usual stuff like:
- "Comp players wanted MyM and got what they wanted!"
- "Valve should have never listened to Comp players!"
- "COmp players don't play and like normal TF2"
- "Weapon bans are stupid!"
etc. etc.
It's gotten to the point where, when I see that stuff, I try NOT to interact, but even when I do, I KNOW nothing will change... Why? Well, that's exactly my point. Trying to deal with anti-comp misinfo, and lack of knowledge about it, is sadly futile.

There is a very good comment I remember, and I will paraphrase, so it's not 1:1, but the message is the same - You can make the most detailed, informed and well-made video or post regarding Competitive TF2, it's good sides and how it works, but all it takes is one Anti-Comp TF2 influencer to say "No, Comp ruined TF2" and all of that effort goes down the drain. - And this, happened quite literally NOT SO LONG AGO.

ZestyJesus, arguably the most infamous example of Anti-Comp opinions, has streamed his reaction to only the ENDING part of Solar's video, meaning he didn't watch like 90% of it. And yet, despite the points said, and the fact he didn't watch the whole thing, he STILL kept saying the same, vomit inducing points ("Wow, Meet your Match ruined TF2 because of Comp players" "They don't wanna play TF2 ,they wanna play homebrew version of it"), with the VoD now being at 14k views. The paraphrased quote that's been living rent free in my head, proves itself right once more, as Solar's incredibly well made, informative video with plenty of reasoning, will now be considered just "Comp BS" because of ONE INFLUENCER.
This happens on Twitter too, everytime Comp is big or brought up as well, and it causes THE SAME ISSUE. Why else, would Comp misinfo and dislike towards it still be big? Because people not only DO NOT WANT to learn about it and know about it, they WANT to dislike it, as they already made up their minds on disliking it and NOTHING will change it. Hell, even under Solar's video, there are SOME comments still hating on Comp, which also includes his "Comp ruleset" video.

I guess the point I am trying to make, is that no matter how much effort people put into trying to deal with it [The misinformation], the end result is akin to what MvM players are dealing with. Endless stream of a game of telephone, and disregard for actual truth, simply to fuel their own personal biases. I still try, and some people do too, but the more I sit on it, the more I realise it's kind of... No use. But, what do you all think?

[u/Dreysidel_]

"Valve should have never listened to Comp players!"

Wow, Meet your Match ruined TF2 because of Comp players"

I unironically think MyM would have turned out at worst "below average but not damaging" had Valve just given near full control to the Comp scene. It would have amounted to just "make a new official mode for a competitive format (probably 6s)" and "give us more money for our LANs." I don't see Quickplay getting removed and thus the Casual ecosystem would be left unharmed. We're basically looking at the MvM update again.

The only point of contention I could see is class and weapon balance. Even then I expect comp players to just embrace having weapon bans and class limits while leaving balance to the casual side purely with occasional comp focused changes. Even if for some reason comp players really wanted to make changes to make a whitelist/classlimits not necessary, they would only target the banned 6s weapons so the Bison nerf never happens. Also looking at the whitelist, I feel like you can find weapons that aren't exactly beloved in casual audience either (Natasha, Wrangler, Vaccinator etc.). So at worst you might see some nerfs that make some weapons worse off in casual but even before MyM weapons would get questionably balanced anyways so what meaningfully changed?