TCM-Gaming’s devastating demoman, Seb "numlocked" Barton, makes some time in his holiday itinerary to answer your questions

Last week we asked you to pose the questions to Seb "numlocked " Barton for Team Fortress 2’s third attempt at the much-loved Ask series. You took us up on the offer and bombarded us with your entertaining enquiries and quirky queries.

We have since sorted the wheat from the chaff, selecting the best of the bunch and forced Mr Barton to endure the mental trauma of answering them for his screaming fans. So thanks to all those who took the time to ask.

It was no easy task to lure Seb away from his Northern Irish love-nest long enough to answer the questions, but we persevered and secured the client with a lucrative beverage compensation package at the much-hyped i40 event in Newbury this August. Yes, the beers are on me!

Be sure to check out numlocked at the incoming Assembly event in early August, where he will be hoping to take the gold with current European #1’s, TCM-Gaming, and avenge their disappointing 4th place finish last time in Helsinki. Cadred will of course be all over it, but until then here’s the boy Barton...

What would you say to the allegation that you used to have one of the best haircuts anyone has ever seen? (Aveng)

It pains me to see that photo. I deserve the abuse.

We all know you come from a Counter-Strike background; tell us about your previous CS teams and the characters you must have played with, with relevance to your TF2 career. (ArcY)

Arcy is cool I loved playing in wotr with him it was lots of fun (was that pretty much what you wanted from me?)

Your girlfriend gotten bored of you yet? (Nostalgia)

Nope, can’t drive her away :(

What do you think separates top-level demomen (top Div1) and sub-top demomen (bottom Div1-Div2)? (SoniXzR)

Pretty much everything lol. Deathmatching skill, judging skill, speed to mid, gamesense. The list goes on. The top demomen will always be that bit ahead of the others. Someone said put any div2 demoman in a top team and he will do fine – this just isn’t true. Everyone knows the demoman is the key player in all teams, changing him out will always have an effect on the team. Change him for a lower skilled demoman and it will have a negative effect.

How did you go from not very good at CSS to top of the scene in TF2? (matt-)

:D dunno, phenomenon

Is Byte actually the most depressing person to play with when things go wrong, or am I just a terribad pickup hero? Or both?! (Admirable)

Both. He doesn’t half go on :(

When you return from Northen Ireland will you still be as whipped as you were before you went, or will you be too red-raw from the trip that you need a break? (Aveng)

She’s confirmed the whip will be firmly back in place :(

How much money have you won at LAN? And how much have you actually been paid? (UKeSA :D) (n0vaaa)

Something like £3000 in total, I’m not entirely sure anymore lol. I’ve been paid about £200-ish. :(

Bros before Hoe's. Discuss. (SoniXzR)

Muff before mates.

How long did it take you to get where you are in the TF2 scene now and how much work did you actually put in to get there? (Jimaxx)

It took me about 4 or 5 months before skinnie invited me to Vale. During those months I played pretty vigorously.

Pretty simple question but, why do you still play TF2, whats kept you interested for so long? (DouGiee)

It feels like a job sometimes, so being able to play off-class occasionally helps because it adds a lot of fun back into the game. The winning is also pretty fun :P

We had a good time at i39 and even a little cuddle, I think we have come along way since I punched you at UKeSA... So I was wondering whether we could move our relationship onto the next level? There have been rumours going round that you are already taken but I can deal with him and I will be a better man to you then he ever will be! (joske)

Not looking for a bromance as of yet, I’ll let you know though.

Seb in the depths of an i39 hangover :(

So from going from being really below average (REALLY) CSS player how did you manage to go to a decent level in a good game? (joersqy)

4dafanz

Why haven't you done anything good since that triple air we saw about 810,789,743 times? (CommanderX)

I’m a one hit wonder :(

Why did you make the switch from CS to TF2?
What advice would you give people looking to make the same switch? (SnowiE)

I made the switch purely out of interest. My last team in CS:S being wotr, I heard a lot about the wotr tf2 guys and decided to watch a few of their games. From there I asked for demos of top demomen (I decided on this class after watching Byte’s frag movie) and played mixes with other friends that were new to the game.

Is Byte a 'backseat driver' when it comes to your demo/medic partnership in TCM? (SnowiE)

Haha, definitely. He’s always telling me what to do. It stops me from going stupidly aggressive :P

Why your nickname is numlocked? (huhy)

Because I always have the num lock key turned on, lol.

After playing for Team OnlineGamer in ETF2L Season 7 what was the best piece of advice you gave them? What was the most obvious mistake that you saw Division 5 teams making? (SnowiE)

Christ, you’re putting my memory into overkill. Erm.. I can’t really think of a distinct piece of advice I gave them, but it was general stuff like needing to organise their communication – everyone spoke over each other so that really needed to be worked on. I changed it so that it was mostly me calling, everyone else would just call what they saw. I also made sure they called everything they did, saw or were going to do. It helps the caller a lot if you know what everyone is doing. The obvious mistake was their understanding of aggression and defence. It’s kind of ironic to be taught by me to know when to go aggressive and when to be defensive, but that was a big flaw in the game play.

After the US leagues have started to ban Natasha, do you think European leagues should follow suit? (SnowiE)

I think it should be restricted to one heavy per team. Nothing annoys me more than a Natasha and Sasha heavy – or even worse, double Natasha. As for banning the weapon if it was restricted to one heavy? No, I think it’s good to be able to change the pace of the game like that (even if it’s annoying). It allows winning teams to try and defend and keep their win (turtling, if you will).

As a demo, what class do you most fear going up against in a 1v1 situation? (SnowiE)

Medic. It’s embarrassing if you don’t kill him :(

How much do you play now compared to when you were on the rise to greatness? How does this impact your form and playing at your best potential? (kaidus)

I play a lot less than when I first started, God help me if I still played that much. I don’t think I ever really play to my best potential, because I never think over my actions in-game. I prefer to just jump in and attempt to kill shit. It’s more fun than thinking of doing so then deciding against it because it would be stupid. Fuck it.

Who do you prefer bullying you, skinnie or dunc? (Haunter)

Can’t I say neither? :( if I had to choose it would be skinnie because he’s easy to wind up

If you could play another class for a top team, what class would it be and which team would you want to play it for? (kaidus)

Soldier, but I wouldn’t play it for a top team, I’d play it for TwistedPlay (d3/4 team)

Who do you think is the best demoman in EU? And why? (F2dk)

Ryb. I’ve always thought of him as the best because he always knows how to play for the situation he’s in, and he does it so well. It would be nice to see him knocked off that #1 spot though.

What was your favourite offline and online matches to play in? (SnowiE)

Offline would be i38 – the game was extremely close and tense to play, I loved that game and have watched the shoutcast a couple of times since :). As for online it's any game against Dignitas. they're always fun to play against because they always give us such tense, exciting games.

numlocked, ever gracious at i38 (Source: Multiplay)

What qualities do TCM have that make you the best team? (F2dk)

Intelligence and anticipation

Not considering team chemistry, which 6 players would you pick for an ultimate all-star team? (F2dk)

Medic: byte
Scouts: Zerox and Skinnie
Soldiers: darn and hocz
Demoman: Ryb

What are your favourite competitive maps besides Granary/Badlands/Gravelpit? Do we need more maps or should we stick with the ones we have? (F2dk)

Turbine! It’s always been my favourite :) I just love the constant deathmatching on it. I don’t think we need more maps – look at other games’ amount of competitive maps and then compare it to ours, we have too many. We don’t need any more than 10 in my opinion.

What is your opinion about the new engineer unlocks? Ban or allow? (F2dk)

Since I’m away, I haven’t had the chance to play them. I’ve heard they’re lots of fun though!

Which websites do you visit daily? (can be non-tf2 related) (F2dk)

Erm.. Facebook and ETF2L. Not much really, lol

Where do you see yourself in 6 months in competitive TF2? (F2dk)

In TCM still at the top hopefully!

How do you think your month long summer break will impact on TCM's chances of actually placing at a Assembly this time around? (Admirable)

I’ve been given lots of grief for going away for a month because we won’t get any team practice now for assembly. The last time we played together as a team was the EMS game versus idk? (I think, might be wrong) so skill and teamplay may be scarce :P

Which player do you think you have learned the most from over your gaming career? (Admirable)

Byte and nos. byte gave me a lot of demos to watch, and nos mentored me. <3

When was the last time you didn't wear your hoody, and has it even been washed since i39? (Aveng)

Lmao. Haven’t worn it in a while, weirdly :O