"The mind can be likened to an iceberg, with the conscious mind being the tip, and the unconscious mind being the vast bulk of the iceberg beneath the water's surface".
-Albert Ellis
Achology Quotes
Back in my earlier blog post discussing the rhetoric of Deep Rock Galactic, I gave a short remark about how Team Fortress 2 (TF2) didn’t really hit the mark of “team” as the name had suggested. However, this is not necessarily true. While a lot of players agree with the sentiment of the lack of team focus within the game,, there is so much more going on behind the scenes that is not realized. What they are experiencing subconsciously, is only a fraction of whats going down in the waters of the unconscious. With subtle game design and subliminal messaging, TF2 taps into the person’s psyche, unconsciously persuading them to cooperate as a team without realizing it.
Render of Engineer and Pyro protecting the control point- TechSpot
Before we get any deeper, I want to take a step back and summarize the concept of TF2, why many players feel this way of having a lack of team focus
The "Team" of Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress Two is a First Person Shooter created by Valve all the way back in 2007. The game features up to nine district and memorable classes specialized into roles. We have classes such as the Scout, which can move fast and ambush unsuspecting enemies, to classes such as the Medic, who can heal and even “Ubercharge” other team members to give them stat avantages. Classes get access to unique weapons that can benefit other team members, such as The Pyro’s Homewrecker being able to protect the engineers buildings from his counter class, the Spy. The game even features many game modes that involve team play, such as pushing a payload card into the enemy base, or capturing control points.
Medic healing a Scout, gaining Ubercharge,
Pyro weilding the Homewrecker, allowing hits to break enemy sappers.
With points like these in mind, you would think that team based efforts would be almost second nature. However, what you will find out in most matches, that the experience is very casual, almost too casual.
Thumbnail of Conga Fortress 2- Credit to Dr. Face
Video of Sub-engaging moments of Tf2- Video credit to Zeyo
In essence, winning or losing the game has very little effect on the gameplay. The player is not punished or rewarded outside of winning the match when they successfully completed the objective. There are no class limits, so players are free to play whoever they want, even if their selection won’t benefit the team, and communication is scarce, with little to few people actually talking together on the Mic, and when they do, It is usually for a gag.
What happens then, is that the games’ player base shifts more into the small moments inside the match rather than the overarching objective. We have everyone in their own little world, completing their own self made objectives. In the most casual setting, most players are not concentrating on completing the official objective until the very last minute of the match, which the community collectively calls this physiological phenomenon “The Pub Push” (A moment where the team suddenly collective collaborates as a team the minute before the match ends).
I think this Video overall the displays the extreme examples of the average casual TF2 atmosphere.
However, we still get plenty of moments where there are “attempts” at teamwork, through the unconscious decisions Tf2 plays on us with its game design.
“The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again.”
-B.F Skinner
Behavioral Conditioning
Positive Reinforcement
We can use the analogy of Behavioral Conditioning to describe as a major persuasion to how TF2 subtlety influences teamwork. Behavioral conditioning explains that “conditioning is a learning process where voluntary behaviors are modified by association with the addition of reward or aversive stimuli.” (Wikipedia). Just like how B.F Skinner in the experimentgives treats to rats after completing a task, The player will receive subtle hits of positive reinforcement that are designed to resonate with the player, and encourage them to continue doing them.
These reinforcements are often centered around actions that contribute to the team effort, such as building teleporters as Engineer to get your team to the front line faster, or healing up hurt allies as medic. Automated voice lines will be played from the team member that received these benefits, such as a “thanks” in a normal or funny tone, or a warcry when you Ubercharge your team member.
- It makes you feel good as a person to receive these compliments, and makes it more likely that you will do it more often. Players will often expect the reward of the voiceline from completing the task of teamwork, such as the rat when he expects the treat from the lever.
Example of positive reinforcement- Video by Matthew Duncan
Respawn Mechanics
Another example of this positive reinforcement is the aspect of respawn times. When players die, they have to wait for a certain period of time before they can start playing again. However, with teams that decide to push the objective to certain points, they will receive less respawn time. This overall gives the notion to the player –”Oh, if we do well and complete more of the objective, we will spend less time waiting for respawns and be able to play more”-. Overall, tricking the player into playing the team objective but only for their own benefit.
Grouped Respawns
My teammates and I died at different times, but all respawn in 11 seconds.
On the subject of respawns, players would also notice that their respawn times are often at the same time as multiple people, even if they died at different times. This is intentional, where respawns are groups in “chunks”, where you will be accompanied with at least one other person, if not more when reviving. This results in the player entering the battlefield as a group, giving the feeling of a group fight, when it is only perceived as one.
Dominations
Dominations are also another genius design mechanic placed into the game to give the illusion of teamwork. Whenever a player racks up kills on an enemy player without that player killing them, the killer will be “Dominating” the other player. This will result in a noticeably loud audio cue, with bold font in the kill feed, and a pulsing icon above their heads.
Domination Icon presented above the Soldier’s head- Image by TF2 Wiki
Domination presented in the kill feed, being bold and loud to the dominee- Image by r/tf2
How does this tie into teamwork? Imagine these scenarios:
Scenario 1: One domination- The team ends up scrambled and disavantaged.
Scenario 2: Three dominations- they gang up on the player and kill the high value target.
On one side, we got 1 player dominating another. Dominated players will usually focused on attacking who dominated them for revenge killing and to mend their frail ego. However, no one else but the dominee can see the big flashy icon, so a group will usually end up scrambled fighting 1v1s on the battle field, giving the team a disadvantage.
But players can rack up more than just one domination. The more dominations they have, the more of a high value target they pose. What is this player racks up 3 domination? As a result, they now have all 3 individuals targeting them, initiating a “group focus fire” that can wipe out the high value target, resulting in a respite for the rest of the opposing team. This group effort was simply crafted by the psychological design of Team Fortress Two.
- Tf2 places less focus on teamwork and more on small engagements rather then the objective. To the players eyes, when they want to play TF2, they want to goof off and not really focus on the objective, rather, their own personal goals.
- However, TF2 ploys serveral design choices to make players subconsciously provide for the team effort, even if they did not intend to. Using B.F Skinners Theory of Behavioral Conditioning, along with positive reinforcement, Tf2 has players unwillingly follow the rules of the game due to mechanics that feed this self interest, such as revenge killing through the use of Dominations, or feeding their ego through the use of positive and sometime funny voice lines.