I think I'm the overall word-count winner...at least used to be......oooohhh, those sunny days.
There is another answer: start or join a newbie clan. Clan [muTTs] started out as a newbie clan, and some might argue it still is.
And it wasn't exactly young either: most of us are mid-20s to 30s. It was simply an attempt to play regularly with a few people that could rely on each other.
There wasn't ever any discrimination against us for being newbies. In fact, at the start, I think we enjoyed great praise because we had a positive attitude....even if we didn't have as much skill.
This might have been said already, but CTF is inherently a team game. Success often relies not only on skill levels, but the ability to organize a group of people toward a common goal. Clearly, when you play with others with some regularity, you can develop that skill. Not fragging skills...people skills.
I played a server the other night and had some players exclaim, "DAS, YOU ARE AWESOME." It was a great feeling. But what made them say that? Because I led the team in frags? No, I get smacked all the time. It was because I had my keypad bound to say: CARRIER GOING HIGH, CARRIER GOING LOW, ENEMY INCOMING HIGH, AMP IS AVAILABLE, etc... I was talking it up and letting everyone know what they needed to so they could play a good game, as a team, themselves. Mostly a group of newbies, but they came back from a 4-flag deficit to nearly tie much better players (though the lost) 4-5.
A long time ago I proposed having a newbie or HPB-only server for many of the reasons being discussed. But it's more important, I think now, to really show that you're a team player and to play regularly with some groups....clan or no-clan....and the fragging skills will come. You have to take a bit of a hit at first, but they'll develop quickly. If you show earnestness at developing a team attitude and thinking as a team member, people will be happy to play with you and
will feel better about their own game.
Just my 2c. As for the llamas...well, as was said earlier....there are a$$holes in clans, and a$$holes that aren't. The "better" players might gravitate toward being on teams, since they play regularly, but it's attitude that should determine how fun it is to play....not the number of frags someone gets. Whether or not someone is a jerk is usually independent of whether or not they're in a clan.
In fact, I think there's more pressure *not* to be an a$$ when you're in a clan, because your actions reflect on a whole group, and the community labels clans as "good" or "bad" pretty quickly...your reputation when you're in a clan (and that of the group) always precedes you.....
Scott
[muTTs] Das
TextureUniverse