Team Fortress 2 - The Official Discussion Thread

[Stoo]

I agree, payload ia a great gamemode, and badwater basin is a fantastic map because the stages between each cap are so different.
It's much better than other grind maps though because if the enemy is turtling (sentries whatever) you can just pile bodies on the load and eventually you'll get somewhere :/ I'm not a fan of the final area in bb though, scouts not useful at all there and it's possible for blu to spawn camp/stall, which is frustrating. Scout is pretty fun to play befroe the final grind though, because you can just blunder past them and onto the roof behind their spawn if you take the right routes :) from there you can pistol their tele entrances then hide in the big crate things and ambush angry engies, also it's good for killing snipers and spies (they're pretty much the only classes who you can kill quickly enough to be able to retreat again fast enough)

 

[Kikuichimonji]

So like what maps do you like the most? I'm usually playing orange x4 and the other day Mr. E dropped by but he seems to hate snipers D:

I like attack/defend maps. Out of the different attack/defend layouts, probably my favorite map style is triangular CP. Gravelpit is easily my favorite official map and I'm a little disappointed that Valve hasn't made any similar maps. There was an unofficial map called cp_junction that I used to play on but currently none of the servers that I play on have it as part of a rotation.

Push (5 CP) is a good gametype but on pubs I often find that teams will immediately begin turtling at CP 2 or 4 as soon as it looks like they're going to lose the center point, and larger usually games stalemate at this point. Push generally doesn't work very well on 24-man pubs, although Granary is a terrific map if you can find eleven other people to play it with.

 

[Mr.E]

FUCK SNIPERS

Orange_x4 isn't nearly as bad as x3, the tunnel underneath kinda makes it more fun because you don't have to wander into Sniperland. Snipers are homorific, though, and absolutely should never be given the kind of advantage they have on the ridiculously plain, wide-open Orange maps. They're fun for a short while for basic "lol go around killing people" action but eventually get boring since the CP objective is basically impossible and the constant three Snipers lurking around every non-corner are so frustrating. I like regular ol' vanilla play more than mindless killing.

what's a surfing

A/D maps are fine, although I generally prefer Push. Not a big fan of Fastlane but I mostly enjoy the rest. Payload owns, the maps just need to be balanced less in favor of Red. CTF is classic gameplay but is more frustrating than amusing to me much of the time. :/ They seem to stagnate/stalemate more often than other maps -- Turbine is often lopsided in favor of the team who can set up in the middle first and then nobody can cap shit anyway, LOL 2fort, Well CTF is a snoozefest compared to Well CP because the map is so big and the difficulty in getting in/out with the intel. And speaking of stalemate, Hydro argh. >:[ "TC" gametype, or at least the Hydro map, needs some slight alterations to make it less of a campfest. I know there's some unofficial maps that do it, but it'd be cool if there were some official 1-flag CTF maps in the future or even an assault-style (reverse CTF) gameplay.

I like Arena. The arena-only maps are especially good at promoting the gametype with the variety in pathtaking they offer to surprise and ambush enemies as well as a good balance between open and restrictive areas. Would be nice to see MVPs not forced to sit, so the better players on the losing team aren't sitting because some griefing asshole or just much worse players made them lose.

 

[Stoo]

Gravelpit rules! Mre pretty much summed up my thoughts in general there too. I used to play orange maps alot, but I totally agree about the snipers now.
You're so right about arena, it really is an amazing gamemode, especially lumberyard and ravine. Also I've played cp_junction, it's on the rotation of a server I have favourited called something like Geekzone[fr]cold. I really love the server, the map rotation is fantastic switching fairly quickly between lots of different maps, one of which is junction. tbh though I'm not such a fan, it's way too small and enclosed for my liking, but, hey, i play scout mostly so of course id say that x)
The only problem with the server is the regulars mostly speak french :(

Oh also has anyone else played custom arena maps? I've played a couple, onof which was pretty interesting, but also arena_mach which is just mach with no intel, nothing special, ad the long tunnels are dumb in arena :/
The interesting one was called arena_grid and was basically a 3 by 3 grid with 9 square areas in total, with each team respawning in opposite sides of the grid. There are big doors between each square area that open at the same time for both sides, and each door has a set open/close time. This leads to some interesting strategies, surprisingly. The most common is to just follow your team round in the direction the paths open first, and stay alive in your cluster until the middle cp opens and the fighting spills onto it. ALong the way any stragglers who thoguht they could take on the mob will either die or take out a few then die xD It can be fun to go spy though, because if you stay in your spawn the enemy cluster will work towards you and you can cloak behind them and stab a few, though there's some serious human dodgems trying to not be touched while they all run to your square xD
It really makes for some interesting bonds between the brave few who stay behind and fight, too!
i reckon people should at least try it, because it's different from any other arena, and fun in it's own way, though doubtless it's hard to find

 

[Kikuichimonji]

www.teamfortress.com was updated about five minutes ago, apparently the lack of blog updates has been the result of the work being done on Left 4 Dead by the Team Fortress team. I'm guessing that the entry title is hinting at a potential spy update.

 

[matty]

Good news. I was hoping for either the Spy or the Scout

 

[jc_rcw]

FUCK SNIPERS

:(

Orange_x4 isn't nearly as bad as x3, the tunnel underneath kinda makes it more fun because you don't have to wander into Sniperland. Snipers are homorific, though, and absolutely should never be given the kind of advantage they have on the ridiculously plain, wide-open Orange maps. They're fun for a short while for basic "lol go around killing people" action but eventually get boring since the CP objective is basically impossible and the constant three Snipers lurking around every non-corner are so frustrating. I like regular ol' vanilla play more than mindless killing.

Well the tunnel is only in the map on the server I play on, so it's worst in regular x4. I enjoy playing sniper but it is true that it's pretty broken with all the open space and the ability to headshoot you from the other side of the map.

what's a surfing

You go around a map by "surfing" on ramps and there are different objectives like capturing a point or none at all just for fun or killing people with a kill button.

 

[Stoo]

if valve stick to their method so far of support, attack, defense for the next updates i will literally shit myself if the next three are spy scout then demoman :3
ps I really hope they remove that god damn backstab animation, it's so frustrating...maybe a good alternative would be an animation where he backstabs instantly then spend a little while wiping some blood onto a handkerchief or something, if not just a straight removal of the backstab animation.

 

[SgtWoodsy]

I'm hoping for Spy-Scout-Demoman next, even though I main Sniper.

EDIT: Actually, when you think about it, Sniper and Demoman at the same time would be good, since neither of them are direct counters to each other, and a server with 24 Snipers is going to get nothing done.

 

[Cabman]

if the next update is spy, then i'm going to use it to work on my pyro achievements

 

[jc_rcw]

I'm hoping for Spy-Scout-Demoman next, even though I main Sniper.

EDIT: Actually, when you think about it, Sniper and Demoman at the same time would be good, since neither of them are direct counters to each other, and a server with 24 Snipers is going to get nothing done.

I'm sorry but I'm the kind of sniper that actually moves up and tries to cap :/

 

[SgtWoodsy]

I'm sorry but I'm the kind of sniper that actually moves up and tries to cap :/

So am I. In fact, I make it a point to go for Captures/Defences/etc.

It's just that a vast majority of Snipers are the type that hang back, which gets absolutely nowhere.

 

[guraboy]

Hey just wondering if anyone plays the XBOX 360 Version here? It seems like most of you guys play on computers, but it would be nice to get a regular group going on the 360 :D

Plus i cant wait till the update coming this Winter. Then i can finally relate to some of the new maps/weapons all of your are talking about xD

 

[Mr Escalator]

I have access to both :]
From what I know, Mexi-Kade, HotGarbage, and zerowing also have the 360 version, so we could all play sometime?

 

[theamericandream38]

I have both as well, and would be up for a 360 jam for sure.

 

[guraboy]

sounds great! I am not sure what everyone elses Xbox Live Account info is but i go by guraboy on the 360, so if anyone ever wants to add/contact me id definitely be down.

 

[McLovinn]

you play the xbox version gura? I'm getting an xbox with a few games on my birthday in 9 days =D. I'll make sure I drop you a pm with my live account info.

 

[Stoo]

Why would you get the xbov version when you have the PC version? THe PC version is far superior.

 

[Surgo]

Damnit, I finally got MVP as a medic but had killed like 6 people in the process lol :/

Oh well I have enough achievements for the one medic item I want anyway (bluntsauger).

 

[Sunday]

Well, me and my friends entered that tournament I mentioned a while back yesterday. We were really only in it for fun, and as such our team structure was rather... lacking. Generally it was ok, with 2 soldiers, medic, demoman etc. But we didn't really co-operate enough to keep the medic(myself) alive to push lol. In our first match we got placed against the team easily tipped to win the whole tourney without breaking a sweat, psycho. After a few rounds of being dominated we basically went to pieces, deciding it would be more fun to camp the final CP with all Engineers than just die again. Mayhem ensured, and we obviously didn't win any rounds but every one of them we killed was a victory and we sure did have a great time :)

 

[SgtWoodsy]

Damnit, I finally got MVP as a medic but had killed like 6 people in the process lol :/

Oh well I have enough achievements for the one medic item I want anyway (bluntsauger).

Surgo, you want to get the Ubersaw as well.

It's far too useful to let it go.

EDIT: Also, the Kritzkreig is also pretty useful as well, thanks to the 25% faster charge rate.

 

[McLovinn]

I really wanna know what that server filled with snow is... can anybody tell me?

 

[Kikuichimonji]

I really wanna know what that server filled with snow is... can anybody tell me?

I don't think there are any server mods that add snow. I'm pretty sure that there are maps that have snow, though; ctf_snofort comes to mind.

Surgo, you want to get the Ubersaw as well.

It's far too useful to let it go.

Although the ubersaw is unarguably superior to the bonesaw, you really don't lose too much by not having it; the number of situations in which the medic is called upon to use his melee weapon is quite limited. However, I will agree that the Kritzcrieg is definitely much better than it once was. Under ideal conditions, it reaches full charge 8 seconds faster than regular uber, meaning that it's more practical for arena mode. I was also amazed to see that Kritzcrieg was used quite a bit in the first round of the CEVO tournament (which took place on pro granary), I'd recommend checking it out at teamfortress.tv if that kind of thing interests you at all.

 

[matty]

I'm a big Fan of Pwnage.tv
They shoutcast a lot of the pro games and the commentators are surprisingly good.

 

[McLovinn]

I've grown really interested in Arena servers, especially Arena Ravine, and Arena Lumberyard. Though MK is still my favourite.