Hey guys, owned the Orange Box for 360 since it came out and only recently considered trying out TF2.  I haven't played any online games since Quake 1 (more or less), but for some reason this game looks like it could be really fun to me.

I generally only play single player games ever (I'm more at home with Persona 4 or Valkyria Chronicles than Call of Duty), so I'm not use to multiplayer games, let alone competitive games like this.  Now, I realize everyone and their niece has been playing this game for years now, so just jumping right into the game and expecting people to be cool with a complete newb doesn't seem likely.

So, I'm wondering, what advice do you have for someone in my shoes?  What class do you think would be best for someone just starting?  I don't know anyone who owns this game, so I can't just play with friends/people I know. Is there anyway to find people who are friendly playing on the 360 who would be patient with someone new to the game?  I'd like to avoid as much verbal abuse as possible :)

Thanks for any help!

In my opinion the best way to start would be dive in, try all the different classes, game modes and servers. See what you like and what you don't like and in a week or two you'll be a decent player. :)

Doesnt matter which class,  just depend what kinda player you are,  just choose either a defensive or offensive type, which ever type of role your better suited for.
Then try and stick to a class and figure out the best tacktics for that class,   if you keep switching just because it aint goin well, you will never get any better.

- be patient and work with your team
- talking is never necessary
- it is okay to mute people
- people will be upset if they lose

I guess start out with medic. run around healing people. Be aware of surroundings and use uber when you get it, better to activate it early to be safe instead of dieing and losing it. Don't blindly follow teammates calling for medic, it can lead both you and the person you are healing to a premature death. Always keep moving.

Also there's lots of handy videos on youtube or threads on the steam forums for general advice on how to play certain classes. Map type also has a lot to do with play style.

Pyro is a good starting class in my opinion, and once you get the hang of the engineer it's pretty easy to get a few kills with sentry guns, even if you're not good at aiming.

What should you do?

I found the Engineer is a good class to start with.  You just need to know where to put the sentry guns and you are set to kill folks.

Here you go:

1. Join game

2. Choose Pyro

3. Hold forward and the shoot button

4. Make sure to pick up ammo

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4

Personally, I'd recommend you to first try out teh classes and see which you like. If you fall in love with any of the frontline classes, a good idea might be to go medic and observe how other players do it before you try seriously yourself, and uh... don't play spy before you're decent at the other clases.

Here's what you should do: Get it for the PC.

I agree that Pyro is easiest if you're starting out. Then once you get a hang of it, and learn the maps a bit, play as an Engineer or my favorite.. Soldier.

This game is VERY easy to get into, there's no need to start with an 'easy' class, considering that, if you've ever played an fps, you'll get the hang of it soon enough. Just play what interests you the most, and try a wide variety of maps, within ~10 hours of playing you'll have a reasonably solid understanding of how each class works and know most official maps well enough.

1. Shoot people
2. Press 'G'
3. ??????
4. PROFIT

Find a server with a good community of skilled, friendly, helpful players and just play the game and try and pay attention to what others are doing.

" Here's what you should do: Get it for the PC. "

I wouldn't recommend starting out as a medic.  Medics are kind of integral to beating good teams, and if you don't know what you're doing you'll probably get yelled at.  I think Heavy is probably the easiest starting class. 

I third? the recommendation to get the game on PC. It's so much better in so many different ways, from great user created maps to the weapon unlocks and hats!

Start with medic, it's the easiest class to play but the most important. Find a good soldier/heavy or even pyro to latch on to while making sure nobody else dies (don't go out of your way to heal someone and put yourself in danger) and just STAY ALIVE. That's it, your über is more important then the lives of who you are healing (if you're on offense) and if you're on a good team people should know this. 
 
Demoman is a decent class too play on defence, does not require much thought or skill (but skillful demomen are a huge credit to any team) and it's a lot of fun.
 
You should avoid Scout, Spy and Sniper I'd say, at leasy until you've learned the maps.
 
Also try to avoid the 32 player servers, you'll die way too often and IMHO 32 player servers just suck. 24 is the sweet spot for me, even 18 is great.