The future of TF2 revealed
Light the bonfires! Bring on the dancing girls! Serve the wine, for we have answers at last! Robin Walker has crawled out of his cave – the elusive programmer/designer recently gave Shacknews the scoop on the new TF2 updates. What does it all mean? Check it out on Shacknews, or just read on for the interesting parts.
Shack: Will these items carry bonuses that impact gameplay?
Robin Walker: Right now they’re all cosmetic only, but it’s obviously more interesting if they become more than that, so we’re still thinking about that. Shipping them without gameplay changes seems like a good way to tackle the first problem, which is to ensure we don’t break our silhouette based class identification. It also starts us on another path that we’re interested in, which is allowing players to have some control over their appearance.
Pipe down, you guys! Team Fortress 2 is a class-based shooter, not an RPG. In spite of all the grief you give Valve, you’ve stuck with their games for more than a decade. Obviously, they’re doing something right. To be honest, I’m quite looking forward to seeing where this will go – the idea of a Demoman with an Afro is way too tempting for me.
See? Told you it’s awesome. (Props to Hain for the picture! Check out “The Barbershop” for some other awesome hairdos).
Shack: Some users are concerned that you can permanently delete hard-won items from your backpack. Should they be? How is that system intended to work?
Robin Walker: Not really. We put in some strong wording in the update to discourage them from doing it for now, but as soon as the next update ships they’ll be able to find any item, including ones they’ve deleted in the past. The reason we shipped it in the last update, even though there was no real reason at all to use it, was to get some real world testing. So thanks to the 270 people who went ahead and deleted items! In addition, it gave our support team some warmup practice in handling the inevitable customer issues resulting from this kind of system.
You were one of those 270 idiots? Well, Valve bailed you out this time. Don’t expect them to in the future. Now start groveling at their feet.
Robin Walker: We plan to do more than just cosmetic items, but we like to go one step at a time to be able to measure the effect of each change, both on the game and on the community.
This is perhaps the most exciting (or worrisome) part of the interview. The game we know and love is going to change. However, even if this ends up happening, progress will be slow. The game won’t instantly change, which is great (historically, radical gameplay changes usually have not gone down well – see the backburner and the Sandman for examples). Taking time with these updates will help ease the community into the new changes, and hopefully will decrease the amount of Steam-Powered Forum cribbing.
On second thought, I take that back. The Steam forums will never see the end of complaining. It’s just the way it is. Moving on.
Shack: Will the backpack/head items be part of a separate game mode, or is this going to be patched into TF2 proper?
Robin Walker: It’ll be in TF2 proper. The primary change here is simply the decoupling of achievements and unlockables, which is the source of most of the negative feedback we’ve received around previous class packs. The head-slot items are all cosmetic at this point, so they haven’t resulted in any significant balance issues in any of our existing game modes.
This is probably the best news in the interview. While I have no objection to the presence of unlockable items, I am quite opposed to coupling achievements to unlockables. Achievement farming servers were created in response to this, and I, for one, hate them to no end. I’m glad to see that the days of farming and having screwed up stats are coming to an end. I’m proud of you, Valve. You have delivered again.
Shack: Are there plans for any kind of “vanilla” game mode to filter out the new items for players that just want to play a quick match of the core game?
Robin Walker: Almost all the requests we’ve received in this area have come from competitive players. While we don’t think this update adds any new issues for competitive play, we are aware of the desire for leagues to control what their players are using, so we’re thinking about how we can help them do that. Still, we’re optimistic as ever. We believe that the more interesting & viable choices available to competitive players, the more depth there is for them to use to their advantage. It’d be a shame if they’re prevented from exploring the strategic possibilities that the new items add.
Valve has listened to you, n00bie51. It’s quite nice to see that the demands of the competitive community are being met. At the same time, Walker brings up a good point. Some of the items (especially the Kritzkrieg) brought up some great strategic choices for competitive players. While I sympathize strongly with the competitive community (as evidenced by my dislike of random crits and damage spread), I’m quite excited to see whether the new updates will bring some new strategic choices in. Most games are improved with a good dose of strategy, and TF2 is no exception.
But wait, what about World of Warcraft?
TF2 is going to be an MMO!
OK, enough with the miscellany. Guess what’s in the Team Fortress 2 GCF?
// TF2 MMO
“TF_MMO_LFG” “Looking For Group”
“TF_MMO_Quest1″ “You must kill %s1 %s2 to complete this quest.”
“TF_MMO_Monster1″ “Boars”
“TF_MMO_Monster2″ “Rats”
“TF_MMO_Monster3″ “Bats”
“TF_MMO_Monster4″ “Wolves”
“TF_MMO_Monster5″ “Spiders” (via SPUF)
Ah, this is why we love Valve. Keep up the good work.
Stumble it!
Paper Shadow responded on 02 May 2009 at 5:59 pm #
We need to kidnap a VALVe member and interview them…
Anonymous responded on 02 May 2009 at 6:05 pm #
So… Tf2 is going to be an MMO? Or is this just fake?
n00bie51 responded on 02 May 2009 at 6:16 pm #
Haha, thanks for the plug.
This expresses my opinion on those particular statements Mr. Walker made regarding competitive players, in which I show some strong disagreement. I really enjoy the Kritzkrieg, which I admit hasn’t had a negative impact on competitive play, and I think it’s the most balanced unlockable. However, if Valve has been listening to me, maybe they need to clean out their ears:
http://www.ubercharged.net/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=33718#p33718
tanki54 responded on 02 May 2009 at 6:18 pm #
Thats enough proof for me.
(Shoots self)
Salmonking responded on 02 May 2009 at 7:03 pm #
Yeah, proof of Valve’s excellent sense of humor.
Beautiful. XD
Salmonking responded on 02 May 2009 at 7:04 pm #
Yeah, enough proof of Valve’s sense of humor, maybe.
That’s amazing. XD
tanki54 responded on 02 May 2009 at 7:12 pm #
So is this a joke? Please tell me this is a joke.
Hiho responded on 02 May 2009 at 7:28 pm #
Oh wow tanki54 you sure are an idiot.
Tim responded on 02 May 2009 at 7:49 pm #
I really thought this would be another rant. Good job Valve and Himmelstoss.
God of Pie responded on 02 May 2009 at 8:00 pm #
I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of kidnapping a VALVe member. Let’s go straight for the top and rig the board of director’s seats to trapdoors.
(I’ve already done this, I’m just waiting for an excuse to use them).
xeno responded on 02 May 2009 at 9:08 pm #
lol, valve made a funny.
No, this is serious, but the “quest” gcfs are just a joke. Valve really is adding more customizable (to a degree) weapons, and stuff. s’all good.
tanki54 responded on 02 May 2009 at 10:19 pm #
So this is a joke.
tanki54 responded on 02 May 2009 at 10:20 pm #
also: yay xeno is back
Anonymous responded on 02 May 2009 at 10:48 pm #
Am I not an idiot for deleting Natasha?
Oh, and some of those idiots were the result of people breaking into other people’s Steam accounts.
Ze FirePowered! responded on 02 May 2009 at 10:52 pm #
Oh boi, I’m really looking forward to the next updates.
RJ-Pilot responded on 03 May 2009 at 12:43 am #
Whatever, I still don’t want my sandman back.
Kool4Kats responded on 03 May 2009 at 1:16 am #
Oh lawd, Valve.
Rats, snakes….
Well done Valve.
You kick ass.
HelisPoe responded on 03 May 2009 at 2:03 am #
If valve listened to all of the competitive players the game would be brokeeeeed. As would if valve listened to all of the idiots on the Steam forums.
I hate bad custom maps, I hate random crits, but I think TF2 is best played un-competitively.
My opinion of course. Others may differ….
Wes responded on 03 May 2009 at 3:56 am #
NEW GAMEMODE! Melee-only, go smack a spider.
Treak responded on 03 May 2009 at 5:01 am #
WHERE DID CUDDLE PYRO GOOOOOOOO!!!!????
Ah and nice article there MR.
random_dude responded on 03 May 2009 at 5:02 am #
i was looking foward to leveling up my spy…..
CharlesMan responded on 03 May 2009 at 6:03 am #
lvl 20 spy LFG want lvl5 knife willing to trade various medic weps email me for details
Himmelstoss responded on 03 May 2009 at 6:07 am #
@HelisPoe:
I mostly play public servers, but competitive play is also a good dose of fun. I just don’t like it when competition becomes your *job*, because that’s when TF2 ceases to be a pastime.
Deepsmeg responded on 03 May 2009 at 7:27 am #
Déja vu!
I’m sure I commented on a similar post yesterday. Can’t remember what I said though.
Deepsmeg responded on 03 May 2009 at 7:35 am #
Remembered it!
http://tinyurl.com/c3gl5e
Unlocks the Nerfbat.
HelisPoe responded on 03 May 2009 at 9:37 am #
@Himmelstoss
Unfortunately a lot of people act that way. I know a lot of friends of CP that I’ve had that slowly degraded to arrogance. My so called “friends” have now moved to competitive-eqsue play. It also (most of the time in my experience) brings out arrogance in the most modest of players.
I don’t want to turn into that.
I can see the allure of competitive play;
A small knit team that all know each very well, working as one unit to try to beat the other team.
With the optional bonus of cash prizes : )
Sarda responded on 03 May 2009 at 1:04 pm #
don’t forget “TF_MMO_Monster6? “Spycrabs” !
Also, why would you delete a weapon because you hate when it’s being used against you? That doesn’t help anything, it just means you can’t get good feelings when you use it against them.
Especially so for the sandman. It’s the only thing the scout can tauntkill with, WHY THE #*($ WOULD YOU DELETE IT?
Xriloku responded on 03 May 2009 at 1:54 pm #
@ Sarda
Because you hate it and you don’t want to be tempted by it. And unless you trade your pistol for bonk, it’s taunt is only useful for killing weighted companion snipers.
Hiho responded on 03 May 2009 at 2:49 pm #
lmao n00bie51 is by no means a competitive player…
Jammers responded on 03 May 2009 at 4:27 pm #
Oh man epic troll. Valve rules.
Himmelstoss responded on 03 May 2009 at 4:56 pm #
@HiHo
He was. Lately, his computer has been running TF2 at an unplayable framerate. He actually is really quite good.
Or wait, you’re trolling. GTFO.
House.Keeper responded on 04 May 2009 at 2:48 am #
so awesome – there are a lot of gullible valve enthusiasts apparently!
Coming Second responded on 04 May 2009 at 2:58 am #
Out of interest lads, are the changes to Egypt any good?
Himmelstoss responded on 04 May 2009 at 5:05 am #
@coming second:
Changes to egypt? Really? O_O
Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. responded on 04 May 2009 at 9:40 am #
@Himmelstoss:
Yup. It’s alot less of a sentry farm now.
substance720 responded on 04 May 2009 at 10:41 am #
Silly VALVe face
Secret Agent Clank! responded on 04 May 2009 at 6:41 pm #
Aww. I kinda liked the older one, although I could see how WHINERS would complain about the sentry-farm-tastic-ness of it. =P
Red’s got a height advantage for the most part, yes. Why not just add an extra couple minutes to the timer?
Btw, I’m a lvl 30 Spy looking for guild. Skills include cornerstab, Renzokuken and lvl7 crit revolver
Sarda responded on 05 May 2009 at 8:26 am #
Oh my, a spy with renzokuken…
*shudders*
Sticky responded on 06 May 2009 at 7:39 pm #
http://www.steampowered.com/status/tf2/public_graphs/avgpointshour.png
HUDDA HUDDA HAA!
Niphrendil responded on 06 May 2009 at 11:26 pm #
Love the afro!