So you just signed up for ESEA, and now you're wondering "What do I do now?"; Here's a quick rundown of everything you should familiarize yourself with during your first few days as an ESEA member.

Finish the Checklist.

The Checklist gets you started on being a part of the community.

Fill out your profile.

Every community member has their own profile. Fill yours out so you can meet new friends, and get to know each other (or just show off your fancy computer specs). Here you can also set your Steam ID, which is used to authenticate you on ESEA Servers, and your language setting for the website, client, and servers.

Check out the forums.

Our forums are extremely active and work like most other forums on the internet - with a few exceptions. Here are a few pro-tips on forum usage:

• Include a #1 in your post to quote the first post of the thread - This works for any numbered post.
• Positive Karma is good, it shows others that you're well-liked and generally a good community member.
• Negative Karma is bad and can limit your forum posting, certain abilities in the game, and your ability to play all together.
• If you really like the thread, subscribe at the top right to receive notifications of activity.

Avoid being banned.

Don't get yourself banned! It's not hard to avoid being banned, so read up on the few guidelines we have to prevent yourself from being disciplined.

Explore the Client.

The ESEA Client is a lot more than just a server browser and anti-cheat. You can collect your demos, chat with friends and find scrims easily. The client also blocks certain cvars from being used in the game to even the playing field. We also do not allow custom models/sounds/sprites that may give you an advantage over others (colored/spiked models, ultra-loud sounds, no-smoke sprites), and we require Ambient Occlusion to be OFF in your graphics card settings. All this is to ensure the fairest playing field available online.

 

Play a PUG.

Queue up for a pug through the ESEA client by pressing the create a lobby button. Here are a few pro-tips to get you going:

• Leaving a pug early earns you a "leave", you'll be unable to join another for a certain period of time, and your Karma is affected
• Most importantly, and key for any pug - Be friendly, and play the game!
• If you want to play with friends you can queue up with a group of players via the lobby.
• You and your friend can buddy each other on the website. Visit your friend's profile and click "Add Buddy" in the top right corner.

Utilize the Block system

ESEA has a block system in place to prevent users who may be disruptive from playing PUGs. Simply add them to your block list on the website, or type .block username while in the game to block them there. The block system is a collaborative effort that only works when people actually use it - so don't be afraid to block that person that's negatively affecting your game.


Above all, have fun! All this information and more can be found in our knowledge base. There's plenty to do around here, so make the best of your ESEA account and get started!