I think I figured out where some of the frustration of fighting W+M1 Pyros comes from

So in my classes I've been taking a social psychology class and one concept we learned about is called counterfactual thinking, meaning thinking about what could've been. It's basically why missing your flight by 30 minutes sucks, but missing it by 5 minutes is truly much more painful. Because missing it by 30 minutes, "Oh well, we were gonna miss it anyways..." But missing it by 5 minutes, "DAMN IT, IF ONLY WE HADN'T BEEN STUCK BEHIND THAT SLOW POKE PRIUS (or insert any other car here)"

How the hell does this connect to rage about Pyro? Well, here's the thing. If you see a Sniper in the distance aimed at you, you get super tense. He strikes fear into you because you know you'll only be safe until you find cover. If you die, "Ugh, well, he got me." What about Pyro? If you see a Pyro, you probably won't get tense until he's right next to you, and even then, you just try to keep your distance and shoot at the same time. And when you die to afterburn, "GOD DAMN IT FUCKING W+M1 PYROS GETTING THEIR CHEAP-ASS KILLS"

Here's my guess: People aren't afraid and feel rage at the afterburn not because it's too strong, but because it's too weak. You see a Sniper, and you figure your chance of survival is as close as cover is, so if cover is nowhere near, you wouldn't feel like there was much more you could do. But with afterburn, it's so weak, and there are so many ways to extinguish it, that you feel like you should be able to survive it. You feel like there are many things you could do to keep yourself safe. But you didn't, and it feels frustrating because of that.

Let's be honest: Pyros are weak. Lack of range game. Less-than-stellar DPS. Not particularly strong in any situation, a Jack of all Trades. Maybe it's time to buff afterburn, that way if a Pyro was skilled enough to avoid being killed before getting close enough to do jack shit to a target, he can actually get the kill right then and there, and he will likely get fewer posthumous kills, leading to people feeling less like survival was right there.

I dunno, just another dumb thought. If you think you have a better idea, please do share.

EDIT: Giving a TL;DR just in case. Counterfactual thinking means thinking about what could've been. Pyro causes rage from afterburn kills because survival felt so close, but you still died to something so weak. I think.