I'm sorry to hear that your experiences with some TF2 players have left a negative impression, and I say that because I've dabbled in that particular area (Incidentally, I like the game, but I couldn't get it to run properly on my old 'computer'; that's not the point, anyway) and from what I've seen, they've been no worse than any other Fandom I've seen. 

Long story short, from my experience, all Fandoms have terrible people in them, but they also have a lot of nice people. But almost without exception, the nice or at least ordinary ones get overshadowed by the crazies, the elitists, and the general wankers, and I find that regrettable. Therefore, for the sake of egalitarianism (and convenience), I just group 'Rabid Fans' under one banner, regardless of their origin. 

Though I don't know why I'm saying all of this, considering that I seem to subconsciously avoid getting too 'involved' with Fandoms. :P