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A lot of times, you may be convinced that someone on the enemy team must be cheating -- they just always seem to know where you are and manage to turn around at the perfect moment, they get a headshot seemingly through a wall, or get random crits at the perfect moment. While it may be hard to believe, people can in fact be better than you at the game. Some explanations for the above:

• Casual servers, competitive servers, and most community servers, are protected by Valve Anti-Cheat. Hacking on these servers will result in a permanent ban. If you're certain you're on a VAC secured server, it is unlikely anyone is cheating, as they would otherwise be banned. (Note: Brand-new, fresh accounts should still be treated with suspicion, as sometimes it can take a few hours for VAC to kick in. An established account over a year old or with many expensive items is almost certainly NOT a hacker.)
  
• Gamesense comes with experience. If an enemy player sees you enter an area that only has one or two ways out, it's likely they'll be waiting for you when you leave. If an enemy player sees your disguise smoke or you moving in a certain direction while cloaking, they may rightly assume you kept moving in that direction and kill you even while invisible. Remember, invisibility does not equal invulnerability. For more clarification on spy's cloak mechanic and how to use it, a friend of mine has written a guide specifically designed to educate you about how cloak works. For more information, click here: https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2032531880
  
• Teams have a feature called voice chat. You can speak, if you have a microphone, by hitting "V" on your keyboard to talk to your team. This is useful for calling out where someone saw a spy, or a group of enemies entering your base covertly. If someone always seems to head you off, they probably got warned about it by the last enemy that saw you.
  
• Team Fortress 2 does not have wallbanging. This is not COD, this is not CS:GO. You cannot be shot through a wall in Team Fortress 2. What you can be is screwed over by TF2's lag compensation algorithm, whereby a shot that was in fact perfectly legitimate on another players screen can seem to "go through walls" on yours. Your view and someone else's view are not 100% in sync, due to the fact that it takes time for packet information from your computer to go to the server, and from the server to your computer. Sometimes this will work to your advantage, other times, to your disadvantage -- but it's not cheating.
  
• Additionally, if you're spectating someone and their view seems jittery or not smooth, this is also another side-effect of latency in Team Fortress 2. It does not mean they're aimbotting, unless you witness them aiming at the sky and getting headshots, or headshotting someone behind them. Your poor internet connection while spectating them does not a hacker make.
  
• Random crits are random. Random does not care about the odds of getting a certain outcome a certain number of times in a row. A coin flip can be random, and still get 50 heads in a row. It doesn't mean the next one will be heads, it can be heads or tails. Probability does not care about previous outcomes, and to believe it does is actually called the "gamblers fallacy". Ergo, it is not hacking if someone manages to crit you a few times.
  
• Sometimes, people are just that good. Yes, you're very frustrated about being killed for the tenth time in a row, but that's just the way life is sometimes. Some days you're the fu​ck-ee, some days you're the fu​ck-er. Today, you were the -ee.

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It's important to remember that nobody is forcing you to remain in the server. Instead of throwing baseless accusations or resorting to name-calling and spoiling someone else's time, why not simply leave the server and find another game to play? There are many community servers, some of which exclusively cater to players who aren't very experienced with the game, and you may be able to find one to better suit your skill level. You may even get lucky and find a highly experienced player willing to tutor you, to better prepare you to face off against tougher opponents.

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It's understandable that you may be frustrated with your inability to get kills, but votekicking other players or typing out tirades or hackusations in the chat won't enable you to improve. If you're the one having a problem finding the server fun, why should other people be forced out just because you can't stand being outshone by them? If you just votekick everyone who's better than you, how will you challenge yourself and get better at the game? Finding a server where everyone is worse than you is not only unlikely, but even if you managed to find one, your skills won't be improved by playing against novices.

If, despite reading the previous section, you still find yourself getting worked up over the game, you should try the following steps.

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"THEY HEADSHOT ME AND THEREFOR THEY MUST BE CHEATING! REEEEEEEE"

Put down your keyboard and mouse. You don’t want to break them in a fit of anger, so the best thing to do when you first notice you are feeling angry is to gently put your keyboard + mouse down. You may want to shut down your computer as well to remove TF2's images and sounds from your environment.

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"Oh my fu​cking god, this fu​cking Direct Hit soldier..."

You might show signs of anger in your body, even before you realize that you are feeling angry. Pay attention to how you are feeling physically. You might be headed toward an angry outburst if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms:

• Tense muscles and clenched jaw
  
• Headache or stomachache
  
• Increased heart rate
  
• Sudden sweating or shaking
  
• A dizzy feeling
  
• An overwhelming urge to call hacks
  
• An inability to get frags

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"That sniper had to be cheating! They were such bullsh​it!" "Ma'am, this is a Wendy's."

If you have become angry, you should take a break from playing TF2. Distract yourself from the aspect(s) of TF2 that made you angry by doing something else for a little while. Taking time to cool down may allow you to return to the game with fresh eyes, and you may find yourself more successful upon returning to TF2 later. The next time you need a distraction from your frustration you can:

• Call up a friend (if you have one)
  
• Make yourself a meal or snack
  
• Clean your room, the kitchen, or the bathroom

Hopefully, this guide has helped you understand that it's okay to be bad at a video game, but not okay to insult others or votekick people because their skill upsets you. I'm positive that if you follow the steps outlined here and keep the information above in mind, you can not only improve, but actually be quite good at the game someday! That day just hasn't come yet. Best of luck!