[Tarquin]

This is a cute thread. People are arguing over the title of biggest pubstar. The real truth of the matter is that fragging people who are bad or don't have a clue isn't very hard. Some people are better at pubstarring than others. It really isn't indicative of raw skill.

All sillyness aside (this thread is and was intended to be silly), I have never really bought the "Pubstar" argument. I do have a lot of competitive gaming experience under my belt, and from my experience, the best competitive players tend to be the best in pubs as well, and it usually works the other way around, too...

I, however, gotta admit that I haven't touched the competitive scene in TF2, and this game might be a little bit different. But I doubt that it really is. 90% of what makes you effective in pubs generally also does so in a scrim or match -- aim, movement, awareness, etc., all come into play on either battleground. Have you ever seen any famous Quake 3, CS 1.6 or CS Source "Pub Stomp" videos? I never have seen an impressive one from someone who isn't a top-level player at the competitive level.

But I do agree that, at some level, getting really good at racking up as many pub kills as possible isn't the same as knowing how to play well in a match; or I should rather say, I don't really disagree with that statement. But it's like this: I would estimate, with ~90% confidence, that a player's pub skill is within 1 standard deviation of their "competitive" skill/aptitude. I say aptitude becuase many people don't play in leagues, but if they did, their skill would transfer over -- especially if they had someone to show them whatever differences there are in competitive play.