When the man behind VanillaTF2 and the scornful voice of the Torden Factor on TF2TV’s weekly podcast comes to me with an article I stand up and take notice.
The less travelled readers will at least recognise Sivert "Torden" Bakkeng as a regular panellist on the TF2 Top 10, but believe me when I say competitive Team Fortress 2 owes a debt to the man.
Torden adds that:
"This article has been approved for publishing by FakkelBrigade. During the time of writing, Arie (scout) has decided to step down his gaming activities."
I Care Too Little: The Mysterious FB Code
We as a community are great at thinking highly of ourselves. We want the same recognition as any other, the same opportunities and the same prize money. We reign hell on anyone that doubts us and despise Valve for "casualising" our game with unlocks and hats. It's an important and arguable righteous fight. But what about the internal side to the battle?
Make sure to be positive about TF2 around these guys. (Image: FakkelBrigade.eu)
There's a jackass (as in: Johnny Knoxville) culture in top TF2. The TCM roster will heckle a player who had a bad day or poor internet. The Epsilon players will troll their own, even if it means extending the retrieval period of a lost steam account. Players from Dignitas will leave their friends sleeping on the LAN ferry boat, even if it means him missing the bus home. That's just to name a few. None of these activities are serious or ill spirited, in fact they aren't spirited at all.
It's a harmony of carelessness that both causes and soothes those situations; if you happen to care, you're a buzzkill. Thus, the most common working procedure is to take it all with ease, show up a few nights a week and play a few games, before leaving not to be seen until the next game. It's a relatively successful recipe, proven by the longevity of mentioned teams. Commenting Byte's recent Cadred revelation, one Epsilon member even claimed “not taking it too serious" the one and only way to stay afloat...
...but is this the pinnacle of team based e-sports?
The Bumblebee of TF2
For a long time now, one of the most feared premiership competitors is FakkelBrigade. Not necessarily because of their strength, but because of their capabilities to surprise and the embarrassment that is losing against them. Deserving or underserving, they've been flamed, ridiculed and deemed unworthy of premiership ever since they entered. At some point, they even asked to be relegated themselves. But lately, this unwanted bastard child, this brigade of retards has been knocking on the door to Europe's cream of the crop.
During this season, I've observed, spectated, listened and played with the people behind the enigma that is FB and their way of success, an attempt to solve the FB code. What I've discovered, is in fact what made this game fascinate me to start with. Let's indulge.
One of the images that got Fisshu (middle) elected "Most handsome in TF2", both by a female expert panel and a community vote. (Image: FakkelBrigade.eu)
I've described FakkelBrigade using the Bumblebee metaphor before. One could think it's related to the colours of their butt ugly avatars (speaking of which, 2003 called, they want their iPod commercials back). But, in fact it relates to how nobody can quite explain how bumblebees are physically capable of flight, with the populist hypothesis that they simply believe in themselves hard enough to succeed.
And like the bumblebee, FakkelBrigade's success is a bit of a mystery. They are led by Exfane (Soldier, caller), renowned as being their only talented player, but spends half a match shouting like an angry interpretation of Adam Sandler's "Happy Gilmore". Soldier Leon and Scout Arie are known as the worst Premiership deathmatchers of their respective class (I believe this myth to be true). I've encountered Fisshu (scout) more stoned and confused than sober or lucid. Kaidus, the demoman with a broken hand, got his formal training from Pickups on granlands. Their medic, Mirelin, literally needs a dictionary to formulate a cohesive English sentence (no, really).
Compare this to their competitors, who have the most complete collections of "player of the season" talent, experience and intelligence. On paper this Idiot Brigade should be miles behind, but they aren't and as I take a deep dive into the behavioural mechanics that constitute FakkelBrigade, a pattern emerges:
Every member of FB takes their own performance, their team mates and the game very seriously.
It's about consistently giving it the best, be it officials or practice games. -Everyone to take charge and communicate as active callers. -The urge to compete even in public or pickup (often together). -The friendship, socialising, spending more time with each other than with anyone else. It's more than just the x-factor, popularly called "team work", or the benefit of a long term roster... it's an overall passion for TF2.
Cadred journalist and TF2 superstar, Admirable, discovers the FB code. (Image: FakkelBrigade.eu)
The Chaotic Passion
This passion, of course, comes at a price. "People who care" are rare to come by and explosive when combined with people who care less. Its means for chaos, one I've experienced myself from both sides of the equation. Excluding Exfane, the current FB roster is at its 4th, 5th, 6th or even 7th generation per respective player slot.
But they prove that "not taking it too seriously" isn't the only way to proceed, even if it is the easiest one. "Not caring" is far from the pinnacle of TF2. If FB can fare so far fuelled by passion for the game, there's an immense potential here to be realised. What happens when you combine this passion with the best players? Was this what we saw in the old 4Kings, Fracture or WotR? Will that be the next step in the evolution of FB?
One can argue which is the best game, or how unlocks and lack of prize money kills a game until the end of time, but at some stage a multiplayer experience becomes less about the game and more about how you share it with whom. Ultimately, we as players decide it's worth amongst the e-sports heavy weights.
I was once part of the FB roster, but only for a brief, they were far too serious for me.
-Sivert "Torden" Bakkeng
FB, old school, new school...middle school. (Image: FakkelBrigade.eu)
The Many Costumes of FB
Soldier #1: Exfane
Soldier #2: German (heavy/sol), Gnomocide (heavy), Dipsy/ Llots of Llovely Llamas (who disappeared, then later on secretly reappeared as "Itchi", then "Fragga"), Vice, Zyrre, Leon, Cook, Admirable (as a last resort)
Demoman: Worst player (now Major Malfunction, was heavy first), Quartz, Medic, Hulio, Mistav, Extremer (Merc, epic no mic demo), Complx (merc), Emptynoflow, Byte, Looper, Morf (merc), Kaidus
Scouts: Pyle (was demo first), Jonni, Lowkey, Kirill, Turbulus, Ilia, Demourge, Arie, Tedman, Reveral, Ziit, Fisshu, Nvc (merc)
Medic: De Jee Er Bee, Medic (yeah same person), Donkey, Torden, Gir, Braindamage, Klugas, Albert, Akill, Cake, Animal, Cook (yeah, same person), Mirelin , Admirable (i39)
Originally published on Cadred.org on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:15:33 +0000 by James J. McDonnell.
Archived from I Care Too Little: The Mysterious FB Code as part of tf2esports.com's preservation of Cadred.org's TF2 coverage. All rights remain with the original author and Cadred.org; reposted for historical reference.