#tdmpickup is a IRC channel Discord channel where a bot automatically organizes TDM matches, currently hosted in the House of Quake discord server along with it's brothers, #ctfpickup and #capickup.

Players simply need to join the channel, type !a, and they will be queued for the next TDM match. As soon as 8 players have queued, the bot automatically assigns those players to a match, sorts them into balanced teams, tells them which server to join, and resets the queue to 0 until 8 more players type !a, and then another match starts, etc... Sounds easy right? Yeah, it is!

In addition to handling the queue and setting up matches, the bot also keeps track of each player's individual performance through their ratings. This allows the bot to create roughly balanced teams, and it works surprisingly well, with close matches happening frequently.

Of course, there is a bit more to the pickups than just typing !a. There are advanced bot commands, the intricacies of the rating system, the ever-debatable map pool, the respect and etiquette, the friendships and rivalries, the pre-match strategies, the post-match blaming, the draft cups, the eternal 7/8s, the shamanic moments, the overtimes, the mercylimits, the tears, blood, sweat and lulz... and most importantly, the guidelines to keep things running smoothly. You can view them by typing !help. They are built on foundations of common sense, so you will hopefully only need to read them once.

To summarize, #tdmpickup is fun as fuck.

No problem! You don't need to install a Discord client on your PC. Thanks to the miracle that is Discord Webchat, you can open Discord directly in your browser. #tdmpickup is quite literally two clicks away:

https://discord.io/houseofquake

Please remember to use a Discord nick similar to your in-game nick to avoid confusion.

No problem. If it's your first time playing in #tdmpickup, you will need to tell the bot what your Steam ID is so it can track your match history properly. Make sure you are using the desired Discord nick and then type the following command:

!steamid <steamid>

You will only need to do this once. Your Steam ID is the ~17 digit folder that can be found in C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Quake Live/ by default, and looks something like 76543210987654321. You can also use http://steamidfinder.com/.

Wrong! The average elo rating for any given match these days is around ~1300.

Players of all skill ranges and backgrounds play in #tdmpickup, from the likes of noctis, fearzzz and winz, right down to people who can barely strafe and shoot at the same time, like ins. Actually, noctis hasn't played in months years. Yes, you may die a lot. Yes, you may cause your team to lose. Yes, you might not actually enjoy your first game that much... but trust me, you are more than welcome no matter how bad you think you are.

The best part of playing pickups, as with Quake itself, is the satisfaction of gradual self-improvement. With a different ping to get used to, new maps to learn, and all the different variables to consider over 20 minutes of non-stop action, it can be a little overwhelming at first, but give it time, and you will come to love it.

The *only* requirements that #tdmpickup asks of you, regardless of how bad you think you are, is that you A) follow the rules, B) bind and use dropweapon, and C) know most of the maps before typing !a:

Campgrounds
Deep Inside
Dreadful Place
Grim Dungeons
Hidden Fortress
Limbus
Purgatory
Ragnarok
Tornado

Also occasionally included in rotation:

Arcane Citadel
Intervention
Realm of Steel Rats
Retribution

Lam and Whodares stepped down as admins and left the channel years ago, as did un4x, and the toxic elitism that plagued the channel in the early days has practically evaporated. It is a very relaxed and newb-friendly atmosphere these days, and while you still get the very occasional idiot (it is the internet after all), trust me, things are a lot nicer now. Drayan is the head admin, he wouldn't hurt a fly.

That's understandable, ping after all is the highest priority for most of us, but if this is the main reason that is putting you off, please take a moment to check your ping on one of the new servers, as your ping might have improved since the last time you checked. You can paste these URLs in your browser and Steam will handle the rest:

steam://connect/hunter.frags.net:27970/tdm
steam://connect/hunter.frags.net:27971/tdm
steam://connect/ranger.frags.net:27990/tdm
steam://connect/ranger.frags.net:27991/tdm

Even if you have higher ping there than on your favourite CA server, please play a few games to get used to it and see how it goes. The sacrifice is worth it.

Get well soon.