I had to do this after a couple of in-house games as well. Of my most discouraging HoN experiences, none have taken place in pubs. They've all happened during in-house games, or even more sadly, in the OCR community channel.
I understand the competitive nature of the game. That being said, most people distinguish the in-house sessions as "friendly" games, and through experience I find this a trifle misleading. Most people call them "friendly" games yet regard them as competitive scrims. If a full in-house game is ever being designated as a scrim, I'm sure myself, Luke, and Jade would be more than happy to spectate or find something else to do. So just let us know what we're getting in to.
I got pretty angry the other day when someone told Luke that he should (and I'm paraphrasing) "focus on 2-3 heroes like Jade and Rambo, instead of being shitty as all of them"
To an extent I agree. It's nice to have some solid, assured picks. But considering that every time we do an in-house game we play in style of a banning draft, I don't blame Luke in the least for testing the water with every hero, and it's ignorant to tell him otherwise in a "friendly" match. If you're going to try a new hero, when would be a better time to learn. It doesn't help that the hero picking order is determined from highest to lowest PSR. This means that if he did focus on 2-3 heroes, even if they WERE in the pool, he's still unlikely to play them. And I can assure you that it's stressful not having your "core heroes" available to pick, knowing the tension in some of these in-house games.
I hope zircon's post gets taken to heart, because it sums up what I would hope for and expect from any OCR group.
@Tensei: No worries about that game. And thanks for that guide to TB. I can assure you I'll be revisiting it until I don't need the reference anymore.
/rant