Balanced class-based multiplayer shooter

Do I look like I gave a fuck about compfags

Of course, dipshit, that's how it works. Classes are made to specialize in specific situations and are powerful in such situations but weak in others. But due to the nature of the game, some situations come up more often than others. And that's why the game lets you switch classes in the middle of a match

>objectively easier and stronger than others
Stop thinking in such binary terms like "stronger" or "easier." Every class in TF2 has their own unique purpose/set of skills. Spy can be considered "weaker" than the other classes but can also be seriously deadly in the right situation. If one class is giving you a hard time, then switch to another class. The game already gives you solutions to your problems so use them.

Attached: tf2 counter chart.png (1269x718, 222K)

I think the problem comes up when you really stop and think about the balance. Fact is that Soldier, Demoman, Scout, and Medic outperform every other class in every situation. They don't always win, but they're always more efficient. Demo and Soldier have better DPS than Heavy and Pyro and destroy buildings in 1/10 of the time Spy can. Medic supports the team way better than Engi and can singlehandedly change games. Scout picks people off and harasses enemy lines better than Spy or Sniper. Yes a really top tier Sniper or Spy can be a pain in the ass but ultimately if they're that good at aiming or flanking they'd be doing more playing Demo/Soldier or Scout respectively, and if an Engi is really good at micromanaging he will help the team infinitely better by switching to Medic. Heavy and Pyro are inefficient to the point of uselessness and only succeed with a pocket Medic or by ambushing braindead players. In either case you'll contribute more and be a lot more self-sufficient by swapping to the one of the aforementioned four "core" classes.

tl;dr TF2 gets really tough to play when you figure out it's designed with a 2+1 soldier or 2+1 demo, 2 medic, 1 scout composition in mind that will completely stomp any other composition except its own, and that 5 out of 9 classes are nothing but gimmicks to fuck around with but not actually accomplish anything.

It's funny because nearly every one of the top tier competitive players (back when it wasn't just 10 people and a dog playing it) were soldier, demo, or scout mains, and in 6s you almost never saw heavy, pyro, spy, engi, or sniper and if you did that person was either laughed at or kicked for throwing

some teams would try to swap a scout for a dedicated pyro or sniper, but it never worked out that well. I think it's retarded that 6s is the most accepted competitive format for the game

So outside of 6v6, do larger player counts favor other classes?

There were a few heavy mains but most if not all quit or switched after the disaster of a nerf he got a few years back.

Sniper mains are out there but they seem to play 1 or 2 games then never play again and just exclusively go to pubs to stomp on carlos.gonzales2007s, a one and done situation. Spy's the same way.

I don't know of any genuine competitive pyros.

The only engineer main out there is Uncle Dane who doesn't even play competitive and just appeals to little kids with le randum humor or trolls his fans by making videos about how engi needs nerfed.

they favor engi & soldier

That is not a crocket launcher.

If you translated a 6s comp to 12 players it would absolutely massacre any and all pub teams of 12, invariably.

6v6 is the game's balance at its fundamentals.

It actually evolved pretty recently so while 6s is common for traditional reasons (and how TF2 is permanently lowpop now), Unrestricted 6s and Prolander are much more popular now.
Unrestricted actually shows a lot of strategy and theorycrafting ceiling combined with the ultimate test in teamwork as stuff like double medic is hard to hurt, but also hard to win with, and skill comes out on top as a deciding factor. Shame then that comp TF2 teams at the moment are also mostly consolidated into one team and some half baked enthusiasts everywhere else.
Prolander stops the bland 6s meta while also opening up more maps in the pool, enabling the appearance of off classes but fixing two major sore points of highlander with lower team sizes and no full time problematic support classes like Sniper or Spy.

Highlander has issues with things like full time Sniper making few classes who have no way to deal with him change their playstyle for him or underperform on top of their already underpowered status, Engineer on offense and "yes we know you're a spy because you're the spy" etc.
Larger pub servers were also messy and chaotic that just encourage splash and passive classes like engineer. I think that's mostly to do with maps being designed for 9v9 though and not 12v12 default servers are set to. The days of pubbing really need to go back to >2 round matches and HUGE maps with lots of space to play your class e.g. secret engy nest in sewer/attic type stuff.