Frequently Asked Questions (Community Opinion-Heavy Version)

[Jet]

Previously known as: >̲̲̿>̲̲̿> READ BEFORE POSTING! MVM FORUM FAQ "STICKY" <̲̲̿<̲̲̿<
Also known actually as: HELP ME WITH THE FAQ REVISION, YOU LAZY F*CKS.

You can now check the final version of the new draft here.
Once you've read it, please enter this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TT2VRmmcxmB6fAtEO3Mm_7mkSVzZStnlGv5QtKwzvdI/viewform?usp=send_form so that I can keep track of the people who are aware and approve of the FAQ. Thanks in advance.

Mann vs Machine - Community Made Frequently Asked Questions

If you have any question that IS NOT mentioned in here, drop it in this thread as a comment and we shall add it to the front.

*If you DON'T wanna read all of this super detailed and well explained guide, >>HERE<< is an abridged version of the whole FAQ. Now there is no excuse to not read the FAQ! Hooray! (Suggested by wux)

MVM FAQ BULLETIN BOARD - NEWS, UPDATES AND OTHER STUFF
RECENT NEWS

April 25th 2015
Reminder that you people can check and comment on the final edition of the draft right here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XLzl6tV4_e1drbd2tLHA9ckw5WQ0FbDH1pBB_ckmjqY/edit?usp=sharing 
Drop suggestions and stuff that we shall add to the final and official version!
Right now, no thread bumping is required. However, it is encouraged to comment on the Final Draft progress so that we get a pinned thread we all agree on.
Did you miss something?
Click here to check the archive of all the updates, changes and PSAs in the FAQ.

Special little announcement: Due to many people using the search function in the forum, there has been some necros (bumps of threads that were finished long ago) that clog and spam the front page too. While we fully encourage the use of a search function, we also ask to read the thread and check the date of the last post. If it has been long abandoned, don't post on it. We heavily recommend that people come to this thread for the most common questions and also get to use the search function in this same thread to find the answers that you need.

MOST ASKED QUESTION IN THE FORUM: Why was I kicked?

Believe it or not, there is always a reason for getting yourself kicked. Sure, its unlucky to get kicked sometimes, but exceptions involve you doing absolutely bad/not helping the team. Simply put, most kicks occur because:

• You were playing an unnecessary/overdone role (NOTE THAT IT SAYS ROLE, NOT CLASS, and most classes, if done correctly, can pull off a DPS role. DPS ROLES ARE NEVER REDUNDANT)
  
• You had a gimping/useless weapon (i.e Gunsliger)
  
• You bought crappy upgrades (i.e Burn Time for flamethrowers)
  
• You used a weapon in the sh*ttiest way possible. (i.e Fan O War on tanks)
  
• You weren't doing well enough to carry your own weight
  
• You were wasting time (i.e Not readying up)
  
• You were being annoying/offensive to other players (i.e Micspam)
  
• You weren't listening to someone else in the group, being them either right or wrong in their statements.
  
• You weren't doing your meant role for the class you chose. (i.e not medic picking as Demo) NOTE: This one is the most common cause for kicks in MvM. This one is pretty important because most of the time things can slip past some players, making the robots push easier because somebody wasn't taking care of "x" situation. This can be bothersome and becomes one of the main reasons for losing waves. Specially when somebody must put up for everyone's slack. Always remember the roles and ropes of your class, keeping in mind what's coming up next, and how should you act according to common sense. (Paraphrased from -=TLF=- Roxas)
  (Extra info from sigsegv)
  
• You were hacking/exploiting
  
• You were kicked on accident (this happens often with either noobs who F1 for anything or when attempting to kick hackers in the server; yes, it's sad, but sh*t happens) (Suggested by Zeldafan2000)
  
• They were waiting for someone else to join
  
• They simply didn't happen to like you

If any of these sentences happen to be true, then there was a legit reason to you getting kicked. BUT ACTUALLY VERIFY THAT YOU DID ANY OTHER THAN NOT BEING LIKED. Whenever you post your "I got kicked!" threads, you are severely subjected to criticism, so remember your class, their classes, weapons, upgrades, take screenshots and mention other valuable data regarding your gameplay. IF YOU DONT HAVE ANY OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED, WE CANT HELP YOU. Also dont expect us to magically fix the situation. We dont have any power over the MvM community.

So if you got kicked, deal with it, learn from your mistakes and move on. Also, preferably don't make threads about getting kicked, since we personally have an entire thread devoted to MvM shenanigans right here. (Suggested by Prince of Whales) (Extra info from itsgalf)

Why is my ticket used?

If you went into Mann Up mode, your ticket is consumed upon the completition of a mission. You need multiple tickets in order to clear a full tour. If you dont want the game to consume your ticket, simple leave the round or play a mission you've already done. Your ticket will remain in your inventory, but you wont get any loot.

Why wasn't my ticket used?

For the reasons above. A ticket is only consumed when you clear a mission you havent cleared in your tour progress yet. There can also be issues with the item server and also some Mann Up servers suddenly turning into bootcamp. Stay calm; either your loot will come later on consuming your ticket or you'll just have to remake another match. We can't give you the items instantly, so don't expect anybody here to magically fix this issue.

How do I get loot?

In order to get loot in MvM, you must use a Tour of Duty ticket. Using a ticket means playing to the end of the round with a ticket in your backpack, which is later consumed to give you items at the end of the mission. If you happen to complete a tour, however, you can gamble it out for a higher level of loot that involves botkillers and australiums. You do NOT get loot by repeating missions, nor is your ticket consumed upon completing the mission again.

What kind of loot can I get?

YOU COULD BE THE LUCKY WINNER OF THESE ITEMS!

Loot you can win in Two Cities only:
Robot Parts
Killstreak kits

Loot you can win in other tours and not in Two Cities:
Botkiller weapons, requires tour completion and each tour has its own combination of common and rare botkillers, for instance Gear Grinder drops carbonado and diamond botkillers.

Loot you can win in any advanced and expert tour:
Australium weapons, requires tour completion

Loot you can win in any tour:
MvM specific cosmetics

Any item, but not crates, in normal drop system drops once for each completed mission in all tours. (Stolen from Enter Sandman)

Why didn't I get loot?

Either you lost connection to the items server, you replayed a mission, which doesnt use your ticket, or the bad connection suddenly made the server become Boot Camp. Its unlucky, but bear with us, we can't fix those things. Either wait a bit, play another mission, or replay the mission.

How much is my MvM loot worth?

Usually we get this kind of questions in the Subforum, but being out there multiple sites where one can check for pricing/offers, we prefer that this kind of questions remain in the Trading Subforum. Limit the Mann vs Machine subforum to anything gameplay related.

Would you like to buy or sell me a ticket?

That goes in the Trading Subforum. Please refrain yourself from posting such things since it is a bannable action according to this sticky in the front page of the General Discussions. The rules apply both here and there.

Would you like to buy or sell me MvM related loot?

Same answer from the last question. Don't push it!

Can I get free tickets/MvM loot?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=385780887
Begging is a bannable action in every section of the forum. For the love of everything, don't do it.

Why did I crash? Why do I disconnect/time-out in the middle of the round?

Some servers are located in Neptune hard to reach places like Dubai or Europe. Consider the fact that this might offer some high ping situations and force the whole server to crash. It's unfortunate, but we can't fix that either. Try to check for any skins/mods that alter the game and can offer some extra lag that may have caused your game to crash. If none of that works, then your internet/computer/toaster is crap. Keep on trying until you can get a smooth play and avoid high pingrate.

Why is my progress gone?

Your tour count is tracked in your MvM badge of each particular tour. If you happen to delete the badge, your tour count resets like if you never played Mann Up for that tour. Youll have to start over from scratch. Upon completing a mission in Mann Up corresponding to the deleted badge's tour, you will be granted another badge, starting from zero.

Where can I get Australium drops?

Since the Two Cities update, you could only get Australiums from playing the tour of the same name. Now due to a recent update, all Advanced and Expert tours have a small chance of dropping an Australium. To get a golden weapon, you must finish the tour, so that means dumping several tickets AND clearing all the missions in a tour in order to get one.

What is your favorite YouTube video?

Guess. I might reward you somehow.

Is it true that "x" tours have higher chance of Australium/Gold/Diamond Botkiller?

Not at all. Coding is entirely set to a definite percentage for all tour numbers (about 1% chance of getting high tier loot). Deleting your badge to make yourself a first tour again doesnt increase your chances. Its just a myth. There's also a thread to register an empirical statistic collection about how many tours does it take to get an australium right here.

Does doing "x" increase/decrease my chances of getting certain loot?

No, it doesn't. You either get loot for the wave/tour, or you don't. It's hard coded for each drop, and it just depends on the tour on what would be available to drop. Nothing in terms of tour, join time, damage done, class played, alignment of the planets, or anything else will change that drop chance. (Submitted by TMWHerrJon)

Is playing Mann Up worth its price?

Yes, no and maybe. The deal with the question actually has to do with what you're looking for:

• If you are looking for a fun time, it's a maybe depending on the people who go with you. Going with randoms can lead to either noob hardcarry or metaworshipper kicks. If you want to have fun, expect these kind of people. It's okay if you get kicked, either you screwed up bad or they simply aren't worth your time. If you actually want to guarantee this fun times, go with a couple of friends which you can trust or join a group which can help you by getting teammates. Don't post a thread recluiting teammates. (read below)
  
• If you are looking for profit, you can always play Two Cities and profit from killstreakers and robo parts. Just remember that this gamemode is still a gamble, so dont expect a huge earning out of nowhere.
  
• If you are looking for challenge, Gear Grinder and Mecha Engine are some of the best ways to go. Remember to have some experince in the gamemode and that you can actually pick your own weight while playing. Its better to gather a group of friends and plan ahead a strategy for the mission. If you are still a newcomer, you can always try Steel Trap.

Why is "x" glitchy?

MvM is kind of a glitchhole, mainly affected by PvP updates that alter this mode's appearance/functionality. If you happen to find some uncommon glitches, its okay to share them here. We may not have a solution, but filing a report to Valve so that they can fix it can mean plenty. Not that they have been ignoring MvM for a pretty long while now...

Where and how can I practice MvM in the best way possible?

First, if you dont even have a little bit of PvP experience dont try anything higher than normal. Knowing the basics of the classes, weapons and upgrades is a vital step. And that includes weapons of other classes even if you arent capable of playing them yourself.

Although Boot Camp often leads to some bad experience, you can still check for factors that make it too easy. There are servers, for example, that can have infinite cash (or a lot of cash, whatever is the same thing), and sometimes have dozens of waves. Furthermore, some have more than 6 players. If you'd actually want a decent source of training, play in vanilla servers or official Boot Camp servers only. In such situations, Boot Camp can still help at getting the basics. You might not win most of the time for many reasons, but even then people still seem to try.
Grab a general grasp of what each class can do, each of the roles it can pull off and how can it work with other classes. (Fixed from Alias)

Which class should I start with?

Regardless of your pubbing experience, early on you will generaly be forced to be a Soldier, Heavy or Engineer. However, it's greatly encouraged to experiment with the other classes on your own in order to fit the best team composition whenever the case is given.
Dont be afraid if you are poor at a class if that class isnt one of those 3 and you mention it to your team. It might in some cases result in a kick, but if you are poor you would probably get kicked anyway. Just try to perform the meant role of the class as nicely as possible (Fixed from Alias)

What classes should my team use?

MvM isn't about classes. It's about roles that the team can maximize and use so that they can tackle whatever inminent threats the wave/mission happens to have. Almost any setup is viable, but having certain classes does make the mission easier and smooth to play.

Role 1: Money Collector
Scout and Spy are the most suitable for that role, but every other class is able to do it too. Yes, i played with Soldier, Demoman, Pyro and Heavy collector.

Role 2: Ammo Supply
The Team is using ammo at a high excess, and in some maps, there aren't much ammo crates. This role can be ONLY filled by an Engineer, because he can build a Dispenser.

Role 3: Damager Dealer
Role 3.1: Crowd Control.
Demoman, Soldier and Sniper are the best suited. They can take out large groups of robots at once. Altough Pyro is suited there too, he is below those 3 classes, but still can be a decent one.

Role 3.2: Uber Medic Picker
Only Demoman and Sniper are reliable Medic killer. They can destroy ALL Medics in one Blow/Shot, without taking a risk popping them.

Role 3.3: Tank Buster
Scout, Pyro, Beggars Soldier. Those 3 Classes have the highest Tank DPS output.

Role 3.4: Single Target
Spy, Heavy and Engineer have all a good single Target DPS, Spy has the highest.

In order to have a working team, you must fill in these roles:

• Money Collector
  
• Ammo Supply
  
• Crowd Control
  
• Single Target
  
• Uber Medic Picker*
  
• Tank Buster *

* = Some Missions don't have Uber Medics or Tanks.

Almost any team setup can pull off the roles mentioned above with different strategies. It all depends on skill and knowledge when it comes to team setup in the end. (Stolen from Eye)

What weapons should I use?

Pretty much any loadout works. Most loadouts don't actually interfer with the classes' normal duties, which are killing robots, although some loadouts are more viable/reccomended. It is heavily encouraged to visualize the benefits/counterfeits from every weapon in MvM and how to correctly use them. So far, the only weapon you actually need to play a class is the Dead Ringer for the spy, who can hardly play the same without it.

Kicking someone for using stock weapons is a bad reason. If someone's performing poorly that's all the justification you need. Those are good weapons to use, but mostly people need them just to not get kicked. Since robots can see you while invisible dead ringer is the only one that's usable because it has: "90% damage reduction to both the initial activating hit and to all subsequent incoming damage". (Submitted by Ronald Railgun)

If you find yourself in the need of a weapon quickly, you can always trade for them with a bot here[scrap.tf] for another weapon of your choice, or you can always ask for a free trial of the weapon at the Mann Co. store for one week, although this only works once. (Suggested by sigsegv)

Why do you endorse the meta?

Fun fact: We dont. The people youll get to meet in here actually like to test different playstyles. Meta can give a general gist of the MvM universe and help noobs get started, but later on it becomes boring and unreliable. We heavily endorse people to learn all the classes, perform different strategies and have fun, but also to carry their slack and make an average attempt in the battlefield. The most we do is actually give some reccomendations on loadouts/playstyles, but we never force players to go "x" class in Mann Up (we can however recommend some setups at times). If you found someone who kicked you because of this, they werent worth your time. Verify what you could've done wrong at the time, and move on.

Originally posted by Everyone in the MvM Subforum:

Everything is viable, as long as everyone picks up his own weight.

Why do you hate the meta?

Simple. Its boring, it dumbs down players over time and it makes everyone give out their minimal efforts. We seriously endorse players to feed on knowledge and play other classes. Nobody here likes meta endorsers. So if you think that everyone should go the class of your liking, you are killing everybody's experience.

You must <<< You should. Thats the way anyone can learn.

If you wish to know why the meta happens to be severely flawed, check out this guide made by MvM Veteran CAR_. (yes, he is the one who broke your precious meta when you were playing Mann Up, but you might want to read this guide so that you can walk a mile on our shoes) His guide covers up most of the common myths that occur in the team setup and it happens to be well organized and structured in order to understand and encompass the idea of how the MvM community can learn and have actual fun without skin tight rules and b*llsh*t set ups. A must read to anybody who wishes to have a good experience in Mann Up and people who get kicked often:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=289059169

Should I make a thread to get teammates for a mission?

Preferrably not without using the search function first. This kind of threads are usually made by people who are too bad to play a difficulty they want to, but don't realize how bad they actually are. All of the MvM subforum is pissed off not only because of this spam inducing threads, but also because there are a lot of other threads about it and people dont take their time to use the search function. Besides, if you want to find someone to help you, you can always go into this steam group here. (Submitted by Dr. Saharan (Team Spy FAS unit))

Should I make a thread offering to carry people?

Brief note: "Carrying" refers to using your skills in order to help some more incompetent players through the game, which could also mean winning the game for them. Asking for loot in exchange of your presence in a game is also a form of carry (and a bannable offense, read below)

These topics are generally a VERY bad idea, as people will instantly check your profile for information relating to your "skills", from tour counts, hours played, robots killed, stats, achievements, SAM, etc. Making topics like these are the equivalent of running into a room full of angry zombies while wearing a jacket made entirely of meat, so you'd better get ready (and we're not talking about making your profile private, because this will just enrage others even more).
Additionally, Steam forbids topics of a nature of "soliciting, begging, auctioning, raffling, selling, advertising, and/or referrals", so please avoid doing anything banworthy. (Submitted by [ATG] Jakapoa and Dr. Saharan (Team Spy FAS unit))

Why do you guys check my stats? How can you even do that?

Whenever somebody comes into the forum and asks for a team, its usually because they aren't experienced themselves, so we check beforehand your achievements and tour numbers. To do so, we simply look into your profile, check the amount of gameplay hours, then we check your inventory for your MvM badges, which track the amount of tours you've made. Then we click on the TF2 achievements section, and we check a particular achievement that tracks your amount of robots killed. This proves whether you have some experience or not within the game, and it happens to be the only failsafe way to prove if you are worthy of playing with. We usually think that 10k robot kills are enough to know the basics, but more is always better, specially when we can witness your skills with proof like scoreboard screenshots (when you press tab and then F5 to save your scores in MvM), or video/broadcast.

We check this info not because we are stalkers, but since this is a team based gamemode, we wouldn't like the idea of carrying someone who can't pick up his slack. A personal recommendation is to save some screenshots or video to prove that you happen to know the basics and that you wont be deadweight. We can actually help you if you need in Boot Camp, but Mann Up is a much more serious issue.

Also for the same reasons mentioned above, don't post from your alt (we take the stats from the profile in which you post), don't use SAM (your robot count vanishes and you will lose all sympathy from this forum), and don't pull out lame excuses for your actions. If you got turned down by us, just show proof with screenshots or video in which you actually made a good work and we might consider it.

What if I used SAM?

Tough luck getting any sympathy here. SAM deletes our only failsafe way to check your experience through the robo kills achievements and also proves you are quite selfish. We won't waste time carrying someone who will probably get VAC banned mid round and who possibly wields no experience whatsoever, forcing us to carry him. We don't like cheaters in here, nor anywhere in the TF2 forums. If you happen to have used SAM, then stop reading here and get off the forums.

Should I post a thread about a bad experience I had in MvM? Why should I post in the "bad players" thread instead of making a new one for a single story?

Posting your "Bad experience" thread results a bit useless when we already have a fully dedicated thread to bad players in the forum. If you wish to share your experiences with us, feel free to post it in the Bad Players in MvM thread. Posting somewhere else just ends in spam.
Posting your "I got kicked" thread never ends well. Reminder: this is a discussion board, so we will ask for details and such just to help and evaluate your situation. But the forum isn't your personal hugbox. In fact, everyone here believes there is always a reason for a kick, no matter how stupid it was. Even if you post such thread, we cannot help you. We can't send you back in time, nor we can't kick them back, nor steal their loot, dox them, etc.. The best course of action is to move on and keep on playing, but make sure you actually learn from your mistakes.

Happy complaining!

Why is class "x" so looked down upon?

This is mostly so because a lot of people in MvM can't play outside of the meta, and refuse to adapt to things outsiede of their comfort zone (AKA If I dont know how to play class "x", NOBODY else can do it either.) We don't happen to do so here, since every class has some degree of potential and can do a pretty good job with skill and knowledge.
For this subforum, you might want to check the point about medic. (Submitted by Death the Joshua)

Why is everyone mean?

If you're talking about us in the forum, we happen to be somewhat tired of "carry me for free" threads and people who sh*t talk on good strategy and combinations and refuse to listen or give any valid information about their situation, expecting for help when we can't do anything at all. To make it simple: we happen to dislike people who refuse to take criticism and act all egocentric in a team based game called TEAM FORTRESS 2, where communication, teamwork and synergy are vital.

If you talk about people in the gamemode, read below.

Why is "x" so rude?

They are simply misguided and consider themselves the center of the world. They arent worth your time. We are different however. We respect every single player that comes here and asks for help. Sure, we cant teach over such a broad gamemode, so we will try to give as much as we can offer. In the meanwhile, if you still collide with "these" players, find some friends and play with them so that you dont get any trouble (and so that you can ensure not getting votekicked)

How do I kick someone in spectator?

You can't kick someone in spectator like you would normally kick a player in your team. In order to do so, open the console.
Type status in console.
Check the player's ID number.
Type callvote kick id# in console.
After that, just press F1 and hope for the best. You can also votekick yourself this way if you want. (Stolen from Hot Pockets)

There is also this guide made by SkyborneScout. You could keep it handy as a favorite in case you forget how to do these kind of kicks:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=346541587

Why can't I upgrade?

Sometimes a glitch can occur where you are unable to use an upgrade station (the menu does not appear). To fix this, either switch between classes, type kill in the console, or use your refund credit. That or you're forgetting to press accept. (Submitted by [ATG] Jakapoa)

Why does MvM only have RED players and not a mixture of both RED and BLU like in the trailer?

During the beta testing of the Mann vs Machine gamemode, there actually was a mixture of RED and BLU players. The robots were supposed to be green, too, which explains the green tracers from Deflectors, but all of this this was later removed due to the fact that beta testers got severely confused and began firing towards their own teammates. Even though this happens to be a mediocre reason of why it was removed, Valve only placed RED characters and BLU robots to avoid further confusion. Now the only way to see a mixture of both teams is either skins or firmly lying to yourself that the pyro's shade of red is actually somewhat purple, which at the same time is somewhat blue. These same guys are the reason cp_snowplow doesn't exist anymore (Extra info from Hell-met)

IF you happen to have any questions that we HAVENT mentioned up here, feel free to post it and we will update you with some details. IF you notice any mistakes in the FAQ, let us know and we shall fix it ASAP.

Thanks for reading!

[EyeOculus]

Do you see any kind of mod here?

[Jet]

Originally posted by Eye:

Do you see any kind of mod here?

Thats kind of the thing I want to adress. Just make a normal thread with a colorful name and bump it daily. Its somehow a sticky, or it kinda works like it, since mods wont lend us some attention.

[Dark Frank]

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15

Drop a post in there. Make sure you are persistent when someone tries to pass the buck.

[Daisuke Ishiwatari]

I got ninja'd by frank

[Jet]

Originally posted by Dark Frank:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15

Drop a post in there. Make sure you are persistent when someone tries to pass the buck.

Shouldnt it be game specific? I cant imagine what would happen if Stickies could go everywhere.

And I dont feel as reliable. I have an idea of what I want to say, but I can articulate it yet.

[Jet]

Originally posted by Death the Joshua:

We need our own mod, how exactly do you even apply as forum mod?

So Francis's link was for us to post for mods?

[Dark Frank]

Only if you want them to ignore and kick it right back here. So no one else will read it, of course.

To put it simply: they don't give a f*ck and don't want to hear it. But we already knew that.

[Jet]

So is the plan ok? We just bump a normal thread to the sight of everybody else?

[Daisuke Ishiwatari]

This one or a seperate one

[Jet]

Originally posted by Death the Joshua:

This one or a seperate one

This one. We just edit the title and desc. with the FAQ and frequently bump this f*cker.

[Daisuke Ishiwatari]

Is it a faq to this subforum or one to mvm general? If its the first, we should start coming up with questions

[Jet]

Originally posted by Death the Joshua:

Is it a faq to this subforum or one to mvm general? If its the first, we should start coming up with questions

Subforum.

Questions like
why is my ticket not used
why i get no loot
why my progress is gone

[Daisuke Ishiwatari]

Why is my ticket used

why didnt i get loot

why did i crash

why is x glitchy

Why do you hate the meta

why shouldnt i make a "i got kicked thread"

why should post in the bad players thread instead of making a new one for a single story

why is x so rude

why do you dislike medic so much

[Rusty Shackleford]

Originally posted by Death the Joshua:

Why is my ticket used

why didnt i get loot

why did i crash

why is x glitchy

Why do you hate the meta

why shouldnt i make a "i got kicked thread"

why should post in the bad players thread instead of making a new one for a single story

why is x so rude

why do you dislike medic so much

Do that, and we will have to close this sub forum. :)

Joking! I think this is a good idea.

[Jet]

Originally posted by Death the Joshua:

Why is my ticket used

why didnt i get loot

why did i crash

why is x glitchy

Why do you hate the meta

why shouldnt i make a "i got kicked thread"

why should post in the bad players thread instead of making a new one for a single story

why is x so rude

why do you dislike medic so much

Perfect for starters. Gonna add all this so far.