TF2M Motivational Thread.

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
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Mar 4, 2008
5,441
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After haven spoken to a number of members on the behaviour in the community, lastly a semi-comprehensive discussion about respect and the growth of TF2M with Rexy this morning, i wondered about how we could bring the community together more, rather than fighting over scraps and "their" little piece of TF2M.

Last night was the first time i had realised the stresses of being a TF2M admin were affecting my personal life when i had become physically agitated over some things being said and done by members of the community. It's not so much the work load as it is dealing with issues, both social and physical, with no simple answer/resolution. There are some things people are starting to take for granted and some things people should first understand.

TF2M never always had a web forum and never always had multiple servers, nor did it always run gamedays and nor was the site so well formated for your needs. Many new members have turned up with certain expectations and demands of TF2M and kicked up a fuss about things they feel they deserve. Whilst we try to provide the best services possible off of our bare back, and often DrP's wallet, sometimes there's not a mutual respect between members, other members and the admins.

Back in the day the people who had level design as a hobby worked very hard to understand what is currently readily available from multiple sources, doing much research and experimentation on the subject in order to become as good as they have become. There were few people to ask who had easy answers. Many of the original TF2M members were veteran mappers from these days and as such had much mutual respect for each other. whilst we cycle through the generations of active members here, the newer and often much younger members have had much handed to them on a plate and some attitudes towards each other and the community in general have been rather blazé as of late. Never before has a community provided such a specific and comprehensive service to a community of custom content creators and we all have so much at our finger tips to be greatful for. Yet people continue to do little but whine and moan, the more that is given to the community the more that is demanded of it and/or complained about.

So now that maybe i've given you pause for thought about what it is exactly you and i have here, it's time to look at each other. Why don't we take a moment to recognise the positive qualities of others we admire and try to be not only serious about this but chose someone from the community whom you may not necasserily interact much with and maybe we can form some much needed positive bonds between our younger members. Maybe we can prevent resentment before it occurs and maybe even resolve existing resentment.

DaBeatzProject:

A relatively new member in terms of my own ancient membership here at TF2M, i was amused by the fact that his name was that of a cheesy kids cartoon aired on cartoon network. Such an alias made little sense to me... However he continually improves on his own talent in hammer, continually surprising the community with his aesthetic touches. Importantly he always has something positive to say. His constant (metaphorical) smiles in TF2M are returned back to him with community acceptance and support. I would probably vote DBP for a trophy in community spirit. A roll model for other members if there ever was one. Even if he has a crappy name.
 
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TMP

Ancient Pyro Main
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Aug 11, 2008
947
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-SNIP'D-

When I think of older members, my mind drifts to good ol' Dr. Spud. As a member, I remember when he first joined the chat, and his first drive with the map pl_problematique. I didn't really recognize his abilities until HAARP, but since then, with Landfall, I really feel like he is a strong mapper willing to make interesting and well thought out choices for the sake of his maps. I still think the decisions on the initial layout of Landfall are some of the most clean and brilliant simplistic layouts of any map ever made, and the flow into the thematic is perfect. As a member, he was a part of the slightly more sarcastic but nice people, and he was always a joy to playtest maps with.

I do not understand the idea of threads.
 
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Moose

L6: Sharp Member
Nov 4, 2009
312
616
Supersandvich:

Pretty much a bro all the time. Whenever any kind of drama comes up in the chat, he always tries to defuse it somehow, even if he ends up insulting a couple of people in the process. His approach to mapping, especially in dealing with feedback, has helped me a lot since I began. Also he's pretty hilarious.

Also LeSwordfish. I can't really name anything in particular about him, but since he joined he's been all around a pretty great person.

EDIT: I should mention Prestige, he's improved a lot and it's only uphill from here. plus he's cool.
 
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grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
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Mar 4, 2008
5,441
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Whilst i appreciate the motivation to post about more than 1 member i feel it would be better to keep things to 1 member. This encourages people to read each others posts and really think about all the community members before deciding who to pick. It's as much an exercise for the community social perspective as much as it is an ego boost/anti-rant for the recipient members.
 
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Wilson

Boomer by Sleep
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May 4, 2010
1,385
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Frozen:

When Frozen came here, his first post was his map that was total trainwreck (Ironic, as it had shitton of trains) and everyone help him to improve. Now look at him go! Backlot is a load of fun and it looks good, he even got forum admin and he is all around friendly.

Prestige:

Prestige for div 1!
 
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REEJ

L420: High Member
Aug 26, 2010
437
176
Lack of respect is a common thing, but then again, those representing such behaviour are usually not mappers. After last gameday I stopped working on my map for 2 months, I had received good feedback from the real members but at the same time got my motivation utterly shattered by uninformative shit talk about my work.
 

Fruity Snacks

Creator of blackholes & memes. Destroyer of forums
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Sep 5, 2010
6,394
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I think this is a great idea grazr.

Wilson: (funny how he posted me, I was planning on posting about him anyways)

The first guy I really met here, while working on offtrack. The map was an absolute trainwreck (ha ha... -_-"), and probably wouldn't go anywhere. But he still took the time to download it and post pictures of things I should notice and change. He didn't do this for just me though, he did this for a lot of new-mappers. Even with his over obsession of MS paint he's a great guy and a great community member.
 
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Jimmy

L420: High Member
Jul 6, 2009
421
228
Id like to say Midget and StickZer0. They have both helped me greatly on many an occasion with my maps and provided great feedback and a welcoming attitude to all the newer members, and now that I'm back here for a while I'd have to say they haven't changed one bit. Though I do see less of midget...
 

Ida

deer
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Jan 6, 2008
2,289
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This is such a nice thread. I'm glad we're getting a break from some negative atmosphere (although in my opinion we've gotten better at avoiding it lately).

There's a lot of people I could praise for being awesome, but seeing as you created this thread, I really have to mention I'm happy you're here, grazr. You've been around more or less forever, and since the day I joined I've seen you as an experienced guy who always knows what he's doing. I could go on about your extremely helpful insight into design theory and all, but more importantly, it seems like you've always got a good understanding of the community and you're always supportive and helpful.
 

Ravidge

Grand Vizier
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May 14, 2008
1,544
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EArkham:
I don't have any personal encounters with him, this guy has been around for years now and is always showing his best side on forums. I've noticed how he is stopping by in a lot of (especially fresh/new) threads over the years leaving short personal, and most importantly; motivating comments to mappers and content creators. And honestly, when you're building a map there is nothing better to read than a little happy message telling you to keep up the good work. That is not to say EArkham is just a happy-joy motivational bot, far from it, he himself produces a lot of top quality models, textures and maps, this guy does it all.
Basically a nice talented guy. Keep it up Kep.
 

Trotim

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Jul 14, 2009
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why do I get the impression I'll never be mentioned

no I am not trying to "spread negative atmosphere" or something, this is just something that has been on my chest forever and I still find it sad people here never liked him, he tried to help and is probably more sensitive than most of you so people here saying bad things about him hurt him a lot

Selentic:
First met him during a test of some bugged CTF map where we both had Okami sprays and added each other. Probably one of the best coincidences of my life as he's been able to tell me a lot about modeling and the like while I was able to help his psyche some as he had mild versions of disorders I used to have years ago when we met. Now one of my best friends and if we were to get into game development we'd do everything to get the other on the same team.
Most importantly he's honest and has shown me that if you want to really get better at something you have to bear and, hell, eagerly anticipate harsh feedback as it's most likely to lead to a productive change. The majority of people isn't tolerant and humble enough for this (when you're told your model needs work from a guy who's modelled for five years you'd better listen, otherwise you and him are just wasting your time).
Also constantly helps me realize more basic game design things simply because of great discussions and debates about things. The weapon whitelist we had already made and applied a few months ago when we still had our private server (before he stopped playing TF2 as a whole and moved on) and it pretty much made everyone in the group think about how to improve the game. To be frank the discussion on here hasn't been very productive at all.
We need more honest people ready to actually give harsh criticism just like we need more honest people ready to accept it and realize their work is not part of their self. When your model is bad, it is, and nobody telling you is attacking you in any way - they're all helping. What would NOT help is people saying it's good when it's not, leaving you with absolutely nothing to improve and an inflated ego.

and grazr: if posts on an internet forum stress you out maybe you should take a break or something, there's no reason to worry about trolls like me saying stupid things
 
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Fraz

Blu Hatte, Greyscale Backdrop.
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Dec 28, 2008
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1,152
To be honest, there's so many people I could choose from really. A lot of them have moved on in terms of TF2Maps and are doing other things. I would like to say though that I really respect a lot of people, but one person who I've never really talked to as a "friend" or whatever but has helped me a lot is grazr.

He helped me with my first ever map (which never got released nor anywhere), 4 out of the ten posts in the thread were his and 4 were mine. He genuinely is probably the reason I stayed, well thought out feedback with reasons/advice to give me. His numerous tutorials to do with scale, layout and other hints and tips he provides are a great help, the theoretical side behind mapping/level design is something I love reading about and not many people write tutorials/whatever any more. He's helped, a lot in the way that I think about maps and how I work. Thanks for that :)

I'd also like to mention StickZer0, who I don't really talk to do with maps as much any more, but other things in private steam chat and he's a cool guy to talk to. I really do need to hang around in chat more to see who else is worth talking to, there's loads of people I've seen recently that I don't know much, due to me going AWOL for a month or two. There are loads of people though who are fun to talk to and impart wisdom here there and everywhere; for this I thank you all.
 

StickZer0

💙💙💃💙💙
aa
Nov 25, 2008
664
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Rexy:
I like his hair.
Nah, Rexy is a great guy who really knows what he's talking about, and is such an inspiration to look up to. His work on Manor creating an entirely new theme just for one map was really amazing, and seeing how much effort he put into his markings in one of the old TF2M Contests where he sampled what color schemes people were using for warm and cold areas, I thought was fabulous. Sure, he can be a little childish (and drunk, and Aly-chasing) at times, but that just adds to his undeniable charm, and I know that I can always count on his feedback to be very accurate and helpful just from seeing how experienced he is.
 

REEJ

L420: High Member
Aug 26, 2010
437
176
I'll keep mine short and odd:

LeSwordfish & Fr0Z3n - those two post, help and act naturally, without any internet personality facade.
grazr - his elaborate tutorials are a real powerleveling for my mapping skills.
 
Mar 23, 2010
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trotim: taught me tf2 is awful and some stuff about game design

Edit: forgot how awesome of a dude boojum is
 
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Boylee

pew pew pew
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Apr 29, 2008
1,068
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I've been visiting TF2M for a few years now although at first I only lurked and read tutorials, I have to give credit to YM for inspiring me to come here in the first place with the work he did on Bloodstained and Hoodoo.

Having stuck around and contributed a bit I found that amongst the trolling and bickering (of which there isn't as much as everyone makes out) there's many, many, talented, interesting and helpful people here. I'd like to give a shout out to Seba, Midget, StickZer0, grazr, DJive, Ravidge, gerbil, grazr, VFIG and Leminnes, all of whom I've either had the pleasure to have worked with or have become friends with.

The one person that I'd like to thank more than anyone else would be A Boojum Snark. I've only really talked to the guy once, maybe twice, but he basically gave me the leg up required to be able to make maps by making hammer a much friendlier program to work with. I honestly don't know how long it would've taken me to get up to speed without the toolkit he provided. So thanks for that Booj. :)
 

Seba

DR. BIG FUCKER, PHD
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Jun 9, 2009
2,364
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I'd like to give a shout out to Seba, Midget, StickZer0, grazr, DJive, Ravidge, gerbil, grazr, VFIG and Leminnes, all of whom I've either had the pleasure to have worked with or have become friends with.

Grazr is so awesome he gets mentioned twice c:

Choosing one person is really hard to decide for me, because I've helped, been helped by, and become friends with so many people (mostly through chat) that my first and only choice for all-around best person would be TF2M (yes TF2M is a person dealwithitmole.gif). However, I have to say that the person who's helped the community the most lately would be yyler <3. Sure he can be a giant dick at times, but that applies to pretty much everyone ever. Yyler <3 provides accurate feedback, supports map authors, offers help, tests regularly, and is pretty knowledgeable when it comes to mapmaking. He gets my vote for helpful helper of TF2M.
 
Jun 19, 2009
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Rexy:

I have to say that he is probably one of the most genuine people here. He's got a lighthearted outlook on things and a constant need to be inclusive when it comes to others. He's definitely a great person to have on gamedays / playtesting days because of his attitude, his great feedback that he gives to mappers (a lot of the time his feedback impresses me), and most of all his charisma. I can't begin to explain how much he helped me with modeling, and I really felt that this was the first time that somebody here on TF2M actually cared about a "new guy" (me at the time). No offense to any of you, but Rexy was really the person to give me that encouragement that I needed and the knowledge to pursue what I wanted.

So thanks, Rexy, for being a generally awesome person. I know that I can't thank you enough in one forum post, but thanks again for all your help.