and don’t even get me started on the stupid ass fucking market gardener.

In agreement with DoctorDisaster. Some of the purposeful early design decisions for clarity and ease of jumping in and picking up the game have been all but lost with all the new stuff (says the man who eagerly laps up any news of new weapon updates). This probably ties into Tom’s happiness post: at a surface level I *think* I’m going to be happy by getting all the new toys and play longer than I might otherwise just to get the drops, but the pay-off, it’s diminishing.

I haven’t played in the new year, due to all my lovely Steam sale purchases, but whenever they release that new game mode they’ve talked up, I’ll probably get dragged back in (assuming they weren’t talking about medieval mode). Introducing new game modes and special event maps and achievements would be examples of how to keep a game fresh without losing out on ease of parsing the game. They seem to be trying that sort of tactic with L4D2 and the weekly mutations.

And don’t get me started on bullshit melee combat. Even when I am in places were I don’t lag, melee combat is and always will be worthless in this game. I was killed by an axe when I was way, way to far away to be getting hit by him. Meanwhile, I am simply unable to hit people, even if I’m right next to them. Melee just doesn’t seem to work.

Before, TF2 was always a case of “I want a quick game of something fun” – now it’s “I gotta spend 30 minutes preparing before I can play.” I’ve got ArmA2 for that, I don’t need TF2.

And I agree, Medieval mode is fantastic silly fun. Except when I’m getting crushed on the gate or skewered on the way in by that fiend McCormick.

New years eve is my TF2 night. I bought it then 3 yrs ago on new years eve, and every new years after ive played TF2 on the PCG server. Ive no intention of stopping :)

But let me tell you. The best part about medieval mode: Demoman, Charge’n”Targe+Headless Horseman’s skullcutte+Red team=going to the top of the castle, using the charge’n’targe to fly down to a sniper, decapitate him instantly, proceed to run around and gather six more decapitations before they finally bring me down.

Also, was finally able to get decapitation-related achievements. YES.

I’ve yet to actually try the medieval mode, but I’m not sure I can even be bothered. Flailing around in melee-only combat is probably second only to Engie-turtling as my least favourite type of TF2 gameplay. I’ve always enjoyed the Huntsman, but its main appeal for me is the fact that it allows you to get hysterically unlikely kills on much tougher, better armed classes. You don’t get that if everyone else is either also twanging arrows around, or restricted to trying to bash your head in.

Also I’m the kind of stuck-up asshole who thinks that the more recent item additions have completely ruined the game’s visual aesthetic. Words cannot express how much I loathe the Dr’s Dapper Topper.

I’ve been having a totally different problem: the unregulated glut of new items has made the game really difficult to parse, even though I’ve been playing for years. I’ll see a pyro charging at me with a rake or something and be unable to sort through my brain’s TF2 arsenal section (which was already absurdly large) fast enough to remember what weird effects it has. The set bonuses don’t help, nor do weapons whose bonuses apply even when they’re holstered; you pretty much have to die and wait for the zoom-in to figure out what you were facing. And every time I think I’ve gotten up to speed, another update drops more community items into the game.

Hell, even the supposedly simple crafting system is no longer something I’m willing to face without the TF2 wiki open on the Steam overlay. Is this weapon an ingredient for a community doodad I want or can I turn it into metal? Oops, crafted it and then realized that it’s an ingredient for an ingredient for that doodad. Damn, what a waste!