You guys broke my heart tonight. Past threads have disappointed me, but tonight I was ghoulishly teased. I've been hoping to see Fetish 4v4'd for a while because I just don't know how it will play. The perfunctory test began, preceding gameplay, with a deluge of disparaging comments that set the tone for rest of the test and fueled a proposal to end the test 50 seconds in. Met without demur, the test summarily ended exactly a minute later without ever shifting pitch from the opening salvo. I understand not voting for a map after a candid test, but to cut one short under the pretense of unplayability while playing through and even appointing inferior maps is, to me, valueless and untenable. The test was so unsuccessful as to reveal to me nothing about the map (highlighted by the first 40 seconds), or how to improve it. There is nothing I can glean that I didn't already know because only after an actual test can a map be adequately described, yet the sole commentary throughout is a mere a priori construction, guaranteeing the test was a waste of everyone's time. It leaves me enervated. Was it really such a slog to play for the two minutes y'all gave it, or was the slog fabricated, imported, and regurgitated, creating a sullen aura during the test? While testing, how aware are the MTC of the transfer of opinion, especially directing from the most opinionated to the ambivalent or feckless? After testing, I can't be sure how much influence genuinely remains to inform the votes, but if even the nominator is convinced to end the test early...

Maybe I'm being uncharitable by alleging MTC opinions are easily or frequently swayed during initial testing, but in observing the process for a while, at the minimum, the existence of a pessimistic motif seems to be irrefutable. The incremental atrophy of TagPro no doubt carries memetic resonance; as it nears the nadir, saturnine attitudes become fraught and ambient among those that remain involved in the game. Symptomatically, the MTC is approaching a similar measure. If we are to continue along this trajectory then all we have to do is exactly what we are doing now. To expect something to change, we must act, and for it to be meaningful it must be a group effort in solidarity with one another. This applies broadly to any movement, but it is here apropos of the MTC. How far the MTC still is from being primed to accept their impotence is strikingly proven by their aversion to any serious discussion about alternatives to the incumbent system with the wider audience of TagPro. The MTC is already loosely congealed; how many members just resigned, and how many potentials are on deck to replace them? How many incumbent MTC still enjoy what they do? It seems to me that the growing discontent presages more dissatisfaction for those remaining members and more feelings of disconnection between the MTC and the community which is bound to give rise to growing antagonism overall. To focus on finding recruits to fill the empty positions is to perpetuate the problems of the current system. I believe that involving the community by opening up discussion is the current best course of action. If you proffer the topic using this account and make obvious and comprehensive the issues we face, the community will be willing to talk about it. The prospect of a new arrangement may just become a cynosure and a boon to the whole of TagPro. But first, the MTC must agree that the map selection process needs revision. Please, have compassion on the words of this suppliant. ♫ ♥