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FAQ: Playing with VIP– an extra player, or a sacrifice?

A frequently asked question to the competitive TF2 Classified community from outsiders is how the mandatory VIP player (the “Civilian” class) is added to the existing game formats like 6s or Highlander. Do we add an extra player to increase the player count of the standard game formats, or do we keep the same player count and sacrifice one of the “normal” class players for the VIP? The answer is yes, and yes. Basically, no definitive decision is given, and both game formats are defined and played by the current competitive TF2C scene. If this sufficiently answered your question, you can stop reading here. I advice otherwise if you are interested in the history and discussions surrounding this unique, staple feature of our scene.

Competitive TF2 Classified has existed since April 2023 in the form of pickup games (PuGs) organized on its own Discord server, and as far as the knowledge of the author goes (member since January 2025), the approach has been to play “whatever” format to include everyone in the PuGs. Once CompTF2C (used synonymously with the competitive TF2C community since the website was published in April 2025) wanted to lay out proper win conditions, game formats and plugin/vscript tweaks for a viable gameplay in preparation of an event that never happened, this was one of the first questions raised. That period also coincided with the Double Down update of EMINOMA, which introduced the VIPR (VIP Race) game mode, and the question became bigger than ever. We looked at the possible answers, and their possible consequences.

(What is VIP and VIP Race?)

VIP plays A/D (Attack/Defend), like Payload, or A/D CP (cp_steel, for example). BLU attacks while RED defends. Teams play two rounds where they take turns to be BLU/RED. They try to make the better score (points captured) in less time, making use of the in-game stopwatch. VIP is part of the BLU team, and the only player that can capture the objective (point).
VIPR is a two-way road, like 5CP, Payload Race (PLR), or CTF (capture the flag). Teams have objectives (control points) to defend, and objectives to attack, simultaneously, and a VIP each. Unlike 5CP, and much like PLR, these points are always available for capture, regardless of your points being captured or not.

Option 1

Some believed that VIP (Civilian) should be added as an additional player to the existing game formats. EMINOMA themselves used to call the Civilian “the objective”, and not a “class” the way we understand it. According to this view, occupying a normal class spot with Civilian is a big hit to the overall output of the team, crippling it beyond what is acceptable.

If the game format is 6v6, this option corresponds to playing the VIP game mode 7v6, with BLU having an additional Civilian player.
In VIPR, this option corresponds to 7v7. Mind you, it is not Prolander 7v7 where class limit is 1 (a format that exists mostly in fun/alternative cups). It is still a 6s game in essence, with its class limits (2 for Scout, Soldier and Spy; 1 for the others), with an additional Civilian in each team. (In Prolander, Option 1 VIPR would result in an 8v8.)
For Highlander (9v9), as you can already guess by now, it means 10v9 and 10v10 for VIP and VIPR, respectively.

This option comes very handy in pickup games. In case of odd number of participants on Discord, VIP game mode is played in this format. One participant plays as the dedicated VIP, while normal player classes are divided evenly to the teams. Teams swap half-way as per usual while the dedicated VIP always stays in BLU and strives for both teams.

In an official league/tournament setting, though, where every team should have their own VIPs, this option comes with a lot of problems.
As said, VIP (A/D) game mode would be played with uneven number of players (7v6, 10v9 etc.), with teams having alternating number of players per round. The VIP player of the attacking team (BLU) would have to sit out during the defense (RED) round, and the VIP player of the defending team would only join the game during the attack round.
This problem becomes even more prevalent if the maps of that official match includes non-VIP/R maps as well! In a Grand Final match played best-of-3 (BO3), if the maps are vipr_drizzle (7v7) – cp_process (6v6) – vip_harbor (7v6) in order, that makes the VIP players of the teams wait around half an hour after playing their first map, and then re-join for the third map only to alternate between playing and sitting out per round.
Note that spectating is a rule violation in competitive leagues, so, this requires either a plugin solution on the server side, or the VIP players disconnecting and re-connecting the server every time.

Option 2

The other group believed that the VIP should be added within the existing number of team compositions, in place of a normal class. Although he is not a “full class”, the mini-crit boost of Civilian’s Umbrella with a cooldown of 15 seconds, and the 20% damage resistance aura, was enough to balance the game, according to this view.

This option makes things easier for any setting, in terms of logistics and player engagement. On the other hand, it raises the question: Which class to “sacrifice” for the VIP in 6s or Highlander? When it comes to 6s, it might be an easier decision. Highlander, however, is the game format in which every class has its own place. Although engaging because of its importance, Civilian gameplay barely offers something more than a walking simulator. It might eventually become customary for the competitive TF2C Highlander teams to swap their least important class (whichever is suggested by the meta by then) to Civilian in VIP/R maps, but that future is yet to come.

An interesting idea that was argued by some in the community, which falls under this option, was that Prolander is probably the most natural game format for VIP/R, and by this way the whole of TF2C competitive. Prolander matches always involve situational, improvised decision making when it comes to class compositions, and results in the “sacrifice” of the remaining 2 out of the 9 classes. Option 2 in Prolander does not only overcome the logistic and engagement problem, but also makes the sacrifice feel completely normal by blending in a format that already has it.

Input and filter limitations

As CompTF2C, we have not seen ourselves in a position to give a definitive decision on how competitive TF2 Classified is played. The history of competitive live TF2 or any other community-built competitive scene shows a much more gradual process on a much bigger scale where game format and mode options are eliminated in time to leave a few remaining pillars. The “standard” formats we speak of today, 6s and Highlander, were not the only options on the table in November 2007. 8on8, for example, a format inherited from old competitive TF scenes like Quake 3 Fortress’, was still played in 2008, and the relevant discussions are available for TF2 history enthusiasts in GotFrag and Cadred archives. These formats are tried out in various leagues and tournaments hosting teams spanning levels from newcomer to premier divisions, in addition to pickup games (mixes) and scrims (“private clan wars” at that time) played every single day around the whole world in distinct timezones. A similar evolution is observed for game modes as well. 5CP for 6s, and PL for Highlander has not become the staple modes overnight. The feedback taken by the leagues to decide on the map pool of the next season is massive– nothing comparable to what we have as CompTF2C. Game modes is a whole different discussion, and not for today. For now, we will conclude by saying that just as the formats may become extint, some unique game modes may be off the table for certain formats as well. We only know that neither formats nor modes are our call to make as few newcomer-to-intermediate players sitting as admins in a Discord server, especially with the limited number of games, variety of player base and the amount of feedback we have.

What we could do, was to lay out all options properly so when things seriously take off, the infrastructure is ready. And that’s what we did.

CompTF2C’s formulae

As Option 2 (the “sacrifice”) does not change the team compositions in VIP/R, we decided to call them with the same, standard terms– 6s, Highlander, Prolander. For Option 1, we added plus (+) at the end of the term, indicating the extra VIP player– 6s+, Highlander+ etc. On non-VIP/R maps, 6s and 6s+ play the same. On VIP/R maps, normal 6s keep the same players, while 6s+ sees VIP players being added to the game.

Before the Steam release, we developed a server plugin to make the plus(+) format viable. Civilian was made available in the class menu for all game modes through our config pack. If a player picked Civilian in an escorting team (BLU team in VIP; and both teams on VIPR), they became the VIP (natively, VIP selection requires a server vote). If Civilian was picked in a team that is not escorting (RED team in VIP and any team in a non-VIP/R map), they only spectated their teammates from the first-person view. This eliminated the logistic issue of the plus (+) format, enabling all players to remain in the server throughout a match. The 6s+ gameplay was simulated and streamed in a show match.

In the Steam era, we concentrated on building the infrastructure of systems that suddenly became a lot more relevant after the inheritance of the live TF2 code, like native Ready Up system, or logs. Nevertheless, for the plus (+) format, we have the established idea in our archives * and collective memories, and we know it can be technically achieved if needed. Although not on a full match scale, we still use the term to categorize and record the pickup games logs * we play.

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