The guideline for my servers is that everybody should use the quad and other powerups whenever they are in the game. If it spawns, take it and use to your advantage, no questions asked, no matter what your skill level.
The reason is that if some players skip the quad it becomes unfair and overpowered for anybody who does use it, and pretty soon everybody is guilted into skipping it, and it's impossible to play with the quad at all. This is pointless because there is already an option to vote out the quad just for that purpose.
To be clear I have nothing against playing without the quad. What I am asking is to leave the option available to play with the quad as well. Since the quad only works if everybody uses it, you should use voting to decide when you want to take it out, and play with it otherwise. This way games both with and without the quad work properly and fairly.
Why is the quad enabled by default?
The reason it is generally enabled by default on my servers is to respect the design of map authors. All maps containing the quad have it because it was placed intentionally by the map creator, and it often serves purposes such as to reward going to a certain location or to balance powerups on different sides of the map. I prefer that the default settings reflect the way that maps were originally intended to be played.
Is the quad only for beginners?
I don't think there is anything wrong with the quad in higher skilled games. It just causes some different game mechanics, like the difference between CTF and FFA. You have to make obtaining or defending against the quad part of your playing strategy.
What is the reason for the auto quad?
It's meant to help players not feel pressured into not picking up or using the quad. If the server gives out the quad automatically it's harder to blame somebody for using it. Since there is already an option to disable the quad by voting, there is no reason for people to be skipping it in games that keep it in.
How do you vote out the quad?
Open the console with the ~ key (or Shift + ESC on some clients).
To remove quad from current game: /callvote -q
To vote a map without quad: /callvote nextmap ctf_voy1 -q
To bind 'Q' key to call a quad removal vote: /bind q callvote -q
