Team Fortress 2 Competitive Matchmaking Finally Arrives
Team Fortress 2's competitive matchmaking patch also brings a "casual" matchmaking mode.
When Team Fortress 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/team%20fortress%202?os=%20team%20fortress%202] first began, it was one of the "old guard" shooters - with a server browser that allowed players to pick and choose what ever servers they wanted, and drop-in and out of games at will. These days, matchmaking, and ranked matchmaking are all the rage, and so finally, Valve has implemented the long-requested competitive matchmaking patch.
It'll work much the same way that another class based shooter that rhymes with Smoverwatch's ranked play works. You'll queue up for a match, and the system will place you with a team of similarly ranked players. Winning matches will increase your rank, while losing or abandoning matches in progress with decrease it. There are eighteen ranks to climb through, and at the end of each match players from each team will be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals for score, kills, damage, healing and support (also like "Smoverwatch").
To access competitive matchmaking, you will need to either provide Valve a real-world phone number (for "security reasons") or shell out $9.99 for a lifetime "Competitive Access Pass".
In addition to competitive matchmaking, casual matchmaking will be released alongside it. Now, instead of jumping randomly into an in-progress game, you'll be matched into an unranked 12v12 game with players of similar skill.
You can check out the full F.A.Q. here [http://www.teamfortress.com/meetyourmatch/faq/] if you have any more questions.
Competitive mode is something that fans have been asking for for a really long time, and Valve has even tested a few variants of it [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/166191-Valves-Team-Fortress-2-Is-Getting-a-Competitive-Matchmaking-Mode] as they ummed and ahhed. I certainly feel like the release of Overwatch's competitive mode has finally spurred them into action, but is it too little, too late?
Why is security reasons in sarcasm quotes? Why do you act as though Overwatch adding a competitive mode is the reason Valve added the same to Team Fortress 2, when Valve had announced this new mode last year (and had even set a tentative release date for the summer)?
"Smoverwatch"? Seriously?
Is this what news items have become? Quote, verbatim, things seen elsewhere and make up the rest?
Regardless, this should be a nice addition to the game. In the very least, it's (finally) official support for the competitive scene that's been active for years already.
-> 3 community maps added: Sunshine, Metal Works (Both 5CP), and Swiftwater (Payload).
-> the "Perpetual Beta" mode Pass Time has been added as a full game mode.
-> Normal Quickplay will include a slight XP system to help put players into games with players roughly of the same skill level and prevent good players being stuck on a team with 9 Snipers.
-> According to the TF2 Competetive player B4nny who visited Valve recently, tomorrow will be the day where they release the full list of balances and bugfixes.
-> Someone found the banner image for tomorrow's update and it seems to be a Heavy V Pyro WAR update (Similar to Sniper Vs Spy and Demoman Vs Soldier updates of the past)
Alas, my laptop cannot handle TF2 anymore, so I cannot enjoy the Match Making. I played some of the Beta for it and I thought it was pretty decent. Hopefully this help TF2, especially since a lot of the big TF2 people are moving on/have moved on (especially to Overwatch, which I have no interest in).
What makes TF2 so special that it requires your phone number? No other online game has this requirement. I feel like it's just Blizzard trying to force people who feel uncomfortable giving their phone number over to pay the $10 "fee". Surely a premium account should suffice?
What makes TF2 so special that it requires your phone number? No other online game has this requirement. I feel like it's just Blizzard trying to force people who feel uncomfortable giving their phone number over to pay the $10 "fee". Surely a premium account should suffice?
If you are not aware, TF2, CSGO, and other games tend to suffer from a plague of hackers. The phone verification thing is actually STEAM wide. The phone-number requirement is designed to limit the ability of hackers to simply make new accounts to continue playing- CSGO has a similar thing in place.
Adding the Phone Verification requirement, to my (Limited) knowledge has done some things to reduce the ammount of hacking and scams in TF2.
Steam is, in general, pushing the phone verification to prevent theft and scams, as was commonly complained about in various trading communities.
What makes TF2 so special that it requires your phone number? No other online game has this requirement. I feel like it's just Blizzard trying to force people who feel uncomfortable giving their phone number over to pay the $10 "fee". Surely a premium account should suffice?
Steam Verification has been a big push of Valve to decrease the bad apples in all of Steam. First it was a part of Escrow to avoid scams and hacks. Now it is included in comp to avoid hackers. What is special about TF2? That it is a free to play game in a free client. If you get banned in one account, open a new one and cheat again. And the size of Steam compered to Battle.net makes it a lot harder to track through alternative means. This way it either forces you to have a sinhle comp accoun with verification or fork ten buck every time you create a new account, so banned players are monetarily punished for their ban. That would seem a logical reason to add verification.
OT: It has been a long time and I love this comp mode in the xasual and ranked modes. It is awesome to have more choices and it gives a mixed experience. Hope it increses the player base. I just have to check if nines is a comp mode yet.
Nines hasn't been unlocked yet but we'll see what happens tomorrow. So far it's just 6s which is ok because that's the most popular competitive format. Personally I hope for 9s to be full class-limit Highlander gameplay but I don't hold out much hope for that.
I feel like I'm at a crossroads with TF2. I've been playing it fairly regularly since 2007, and it's hardly even the same game I fell in love with anymore.
I've ranted about the current state of TF2 many times, so I'll spare folks my usual spiel. Suffice to say I've witnessed a game I adore devolve into a twisted mockery of its former self by Valve's own hand.
Yet in spite of all this I still find myself coming back, because there are just enough moment-to-moment experiences that make it seem worthwhile. I feel like a battered housewife at this point. And now Valve comes back to whisper sweet nothings in my ear, promising features that us old-timers were begging to be implemented for NINE. FUCKING. YEARS.
If this doesn't work out, if Valve screws this up or the current TF2 community rejects this, then I think it may be finally time to move on to greener pastures. I hear Overwatch is lovely this time of year...
Vigormortis said:
Why is security reasons in sarcasm quotes? Why do you act as though Overwatch adding a competitive mode is the reason Valve added the same to Team Fortress 2, when Valve had announced this new mode last year (and had even set a tentative release date for the summer)?
"Smoverwatch"? Seriously?
Is this what news items have become? Quote, verbatim, things seen elsewhere and make up the rest?
Regardless, this should be a nice addition to the game. In the very least, it's (finally) official support for the competitive scene that's been active for years already.
I feel like I'm at a crossroads with TF2. I've been playing it fairly regularly since 2007, and it's hardly even the same game I fell in love with anymore.
I've ranted about the current state of TF2 many times, so I'll spare folks my usual spiel. Suffice to say I've witnessed a game I adore devolve into a twisted mockery of its former self by Valve's own hand.
Yet in spite of all this I still find myself coming back, because there are just enough moment-to-moment experiences that make it seem worthwhile. I feel like a battered housewife at this point. And now Valve comes back to whisper sweet nothings in my ear, promising features that us old-timers were begging to be implemented for NINE. FUCKING. YEARS.
If this doesn't work out, if Valve screws this up or the current TF2 community rejects this, then I think it may be finally time to move on to greener pastures. I hear Overwatch is lovely this time of year...
Vigormortis said:
Why is security reasons in sarcasm quotes? Why do you act as though Overwatch adding a competitive mode is the reason Valve added the same to Team Fortress 2, when Valve had announced this new mode last year (and had even set a tentative release date for the summer)?
"Smoverwatch"? Seriously?
Is this what news items have become? Quote, verbatim, things seen elsewhere and make up the rest?
Regardless, this should be a nice addition to the game. In the very least, it's (finally) official support for the competitive scene that's been active for years already.
Wow someone who actually think as I do about Team Fortress 2?!
That the Free-to-play, Hats that give benefits like increased weapon damage, firing speed, etc. actually ruined the game from a competitive and "team-work" element of it?
Wow someone who actually think as I do about Team Fortress 2?!
That the Free-to-play, Hats that give benefits like increased weapon damage, firing speed, etc. actually ruined the game from a competitive and "team-work" element of it?
... Hats don't give benefits. They never have, and probably never will. Where did you get that information? The only benefit Hats give is that certain hats make people think you're better at the game, when Hats don't actually determine anything at all...
We currently exist in a dark, dystopian world where the only good version of Team Fortress 2 is the version on the Orange box that is completely unpatched, and therefore not twisted in an abomination that calls to me even now from my hard drive, begging for death. I hope that the new mode is good for those people who have stuck around, but as long as the game is in its current form, it won't be enough to draw me back.
Wow someone who actually think as I do about Team Fortress 2?!
That the Free-to-play, Hats that give benefits like increased weapon damage, firing speed, etc. actually ruined the game from a competitive and "team-work" element of it?
... Hats don't give benefits. They never have, and probably never will. Where did you get that information? The only benefit Hats give is that certain hats make people think you're better at the game, when Hats don't actually determine anything at all...
For a time Valve was putting in "item sets" that gave passive bonuses, the Milkman set for the scout and the Gas Jockey kit for the pyro come to mind. The Gas Jockey set gave you a passive speed boost if you had all three items of the set equipped while the Milkman set gave the scout a flat 25% extra health.
It was a short lived thing and both sets now only have the effect "leave a calling card on your victims" while the passive buffs have been moved to some of the other things in the set (the powerjack got the speed boost for example)
Wow someone who actually think as I do about Team Fortress 2?!
That the Free-to-play, Hats that give benefits like increased weapon damage, firing speed, etc. actually ruined the game from a competitive and "team-work" element of it?
... Hats don't give benefits. They never have, and probably never will. Where did you get that information? The only benefit Hats give is that certain hats make people think you're better at the game, when Hats don't actually determine anything at all...
Wow someone who actually think as I do about Team Fortress 2?!
That the Free-to-play, Hats that give benefits like increased weapon damage, firing speed, etc. actually ruined the game from a competitive and "team-work" element of it?
... Hats don't give benefits. They never have, and probably never will. Where did you get that information? The only benefit Hats give is that certain hats make people think you're better at the game, when Hats don't actually determine anything at all...
In TF2 you can obtain unlocks that you can equip that have different properties than the stock weapons you start with, usually a +/- relationship.
Once upon a time they're was set bonuses for wearing a set of items together, like one for the scout where he got +25 health, but all of them have been removed from the game and replaced with a cosmetic bonus.
In general, any unlock you can equip is generally a side grade from the stock weapons you start with, so it's a pretty level field when you start for the first time (except melee weapons, but even then it's fine to a degree)
What makes TF2 so special that it requires your phone number? No other online game has this requirement. I feel like it's just Blizzard trying to force people who feel uncomfortable giving their phone number over to pay the $10 "fee". Surely a premium account should suffice?
Then that begs the question, why have competitive TF2 at all? If hacking is so much of a problem that it deters the game and the devs themselves can't keep hackers out, why have the mode?
Valve isn't all that secure either, Steam being hacked isn't all that uncommon. Putting a phone number into Valve's databases isn't the smartest idea.
Charging 10 bucks for competitive is a pretty garbage move though, even if TF2 is F2P, as Bogos pointed out, its the only game that does this as a requirement for a mode. Steam is known for pulling anti-consumer moves and because 80% of PC gamers use it they can get away with it here and there.
This doesn't help grow a TF2 competitive scene either. Until I see vanilla loadouts only the games will go on favour of whoever spent money in TF2 stomping out those who didn't.
I had a go through the full changelog in the other thread so I figured sharing it in here would be handy. Just... Dear sweet god some of these changes...
THE UPDATE HAS GONE LIVE! Let's break down the changelog!
July 7, 2016 - TF2 Team
An update to Team Fortress 2 has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Team Fortress 2. The major changes include:
Added Casual and Competitive Matchmaking modes
Additional information available on the website (http://www.teamfortress.com/meetyourmatch/)
Casual mode replaces Quickplay
Added the Heavy vs. Pyro war
Additional information available on the website ( http://www.teamfortress.com/meetyourmatch/war.php )
Nothing we didn't know already in here.
3 new community maps
Sunshine
Metalworks
Swiftwater
Again, nothing new here.
Added 3 new community taunts
The Balloonibouncer (Pyro only)
Disco Fever (Spy only)
The Fubar Fanfare (Soldier only)
Added 1 new official taunt
The Carlton (Scout only)
Added the Perfect Stranger crate
No surprises here either. Cmon Valve.
General
Reworked the main menu
All play-related buttons are now accessible by clicking the "Find a game" button
Moved the Workshop and Replay buttons down the bottom group of mini-buttons
Enemies killed by energy weapons now play a special sound as their body dissolves
Improved stopwatch UI to help better communicate game state
Added new sound vo files for Competitive Mode
Added sounds to all attacks where the target player resisted a part of the damage
Added Prinny promo items for purchasing Disgaea: Prinny Hat, Prinny Pouch, and Prinny Machete
Added AsiaFortress Cup Mercenaries Cup Season 7 medals
Added TF2Maps 72hr TF2Jam Summer Participant medal
Added Random Acts of TF2 medals
Added check to prevent players with P-REC loaded from participating in matchmaking
Prevents P-REC crashing which results in players receiving abandon penalties
Updated the Demo Support feature
Added an option to only record matches that are played using Tournament mode (mp_tournament)
Added an option to auto-delete matches that don't have any events recorded
Fixed a bug where tickcount values were being noted incorrectly
Options can be set using the Adv. Options menu
Updated model/materials for the Bonk Boy, Dr's Dapper Topper, The Sole Saviors, and The Dark Falkirk Helm
Updated the localization files
HOHBOY HERE WE GO! Workshop and Replay have been moved down on the menu and we have new voice lines for Competetive. Nothing special there but it's nice to see the UI being fiddled with. The Prinny items and medals aren't really important but Valve don't seem to like P-Rec at all. Which is odd because there's a reason people use the plugin instead of Valve's own demos. Some good maintenance though.
PASS Time update
No longer in Beta!
New Items Available
An Early Participation Pin will be awarded to everyone who played PASS Time during beta
Two new achievements with item rewards
Tune Merasmus's Multi-Dimensional Television
Jackpot!
Map Changes
All maps are tweaked, polished, and out of beta
Renamed pass_pinewood to pass_timberlodge
Renamed pass_warehouse to pass_brickyard
Added a new city-themed map, pass_district
An updated pass_template for level designers will be released on http://www.escalation.com/news
Game Mode Changes
Changed the score limit from 3 to 5
Tweaked various JACK throwing parameters
Pack Running
The JACK no longer heals the player carrying it
A player carrying the JACK with no nearby teammates is marked for death
Teammates near a player holding the JACK will be slowly healed, and can run as fast as the fastest nearby teammate
JACK Power
Passing the JACK increases a power meter
The power meter will decay over time
Filling the power meter unlocks a special goal worth extra points
Art Changes
New view model animations
The HUD provides more information about goal type and status
Player pips for Spies will reflect cloak and disguise status
Misc Details
Added cvar tf_passtime_scores_per_round
Added tf_glow entity that can be used to enable the glow effect on any entity
Updated trigger_passtime_ball FGD entry to hide unimplemented features, temporarily
Spawnflag added to func_passtime_goal to indicate to the HUD that a goal is unlocked by JACK power
Honestly I don't care for PASS TIME but that's a meaty update for the game mode so if you do play that mode I hope you like the changes.
Fixed being able to repeatedly activate taunts before the current one had ended while underwater
Fixed disguising with the Conniver's Kunai while spotted by a Sentry causing the Sentry to ignore the Spy
Fixed class change notifications appearing to the enemy team for a period of time after teams swap sides in Competitive Mode
Fixed a case where players would sometimes see other players carrying the wrong weapon(s)
Fixed a bug where the Engineer couldn't remove the Sapper from a linked teleporter if was building (not active)
Fixed a bug where the Engineer was able to heal a linked teleporter while it was building. This now matches the behavior for the other buildings.
Updated several hats to fix the Sniper not removing them while taunting
Fixed hiding the Pyro's head when using the second style of the Fear Monger
Fixed using the wrong ozfortress medals for divisions other than Premier
Fixed a few UGC tournament medals using the wrong names
Fixed the Engineer's missing pelvis hitbox
Thanks to Justin G., aka sigsegv, for these reports
Fixed airblasts sometimes sending reflected projectiles toward friendly players, buildings, and projectile shields
Fixed demo record/read stringtables not writing/reading past 512kb
Fixed inconsistency between items that use mini-crit buff (TF_COND_ENERGY_BUFF)
Fixed multiple Mann vs. Machine bugs caused by bot AI functions being executing after the bots have died
Fixed a bug related to lunchbox items, where the ammo bar can be drained in cases when it shouldn't be
Fixed Medics sometimes instantly reviving players in Mann vs. Machine
Some fixes to Spy and Engineer which were needed. The engineer has had his pelvis and the associated hitbox retrieved from Medic at last too. and fixing airblast reflects is nice for Pyros.
Fixed several cases of loading and rendering hitches that would cause abrupt changes in FPS
Improved Flamethrower flame performance in Mann vs. Machine on clients and servers by up to +500%
VGUI .res files are now cached after loading, reducing framerate hitches. Custom HUD authors can disable this by setting vgui_cache_res_files to 0.
Improved rendering performance of zombies
Improved VGUI font performance
Custom HUD Versioning
In order to reduce crashing and broken UI elements after updates, custom HUDs now must explicitly specify the version of the TF UI with which they are compatible.
Custom HUD files must now be installed as add-ons under the tf/custom/ folder. Loose .res files extracted to the game directory will not be loaded.
Custom HUDs must now contain a file named "info.vdf" in their root folder, with the key "ui_version" set to the TF UI version with which they are compatible.
The current TF UI version is 1.
Non-HUD add-ons under tf/custom/ will continue to work without an "info.vdf" file, but may not load .res files.
Good to see Valve working on the game's performance, especially with fixing the FPS hitches that sometimes plagued people. And making custom HUDs work a little more easily should pay off in the long run as well as people will be able to use them more easily without TF2 exploding at them for something wrong with it.
[spoiler"Mann Co. Store"]
Added the Competitive Matchmaking Pass
Added new class starter packs
Added new key-less cosmetic crates
Revamped main store pages
Added a spotlight item
Added ability to mouse over and preview items in a bundle/crate/collection
Adjusted some weapon prices for consistency
Nothing new here but it's nice that the store page got revamped and people can preview items in the crate list ingame with ease.
cp_granary
Added new ammo pack locations in final and yard areas
Clips and blockbullets added to stairs
cp_badlands
Final cap point capture time increased to 2 seconds (from 1 second)
Clips and blockbullets added to stairs
cp_foundry
Reduced ammo kit in final cap entry room (attackers' side) to medium
Slightly reduced attacking team's spawn time when working on final
pl_upward
Fixed an exploit where players could sometimes build sentries in the cliffside by capture point 3
pl_thundermountain
Fixed the first and second cap points of stage 3 each awarding 2 points to the capturing team instead of 1
Mannpower
All official maps now set Mannpower mode without requiring the use of the tf_powerup_mode convar
Oh wow, where to begin on this? It looks like they are fixing the stairs which is good and some minor changes to ammo pack locations and capture times is nice to see, as is bugfixing Upward.
I'm gonna have to break these balance changes down by class aren't I?
Crit-A-Cola
Added Marked-for-Death debuff for 2 seconds after the buff effect expires
The Soda Popper
Added "On hit: build Hype"
Removed "build hype by running around"
Shortstop
Added an Alt-fire attack -- reach out and shove someone!
Removed +healing bonus
Reduced pushback vuln to +20% (from +40%)
Sun on a stick
Take 25% less damage from fire while deployed
Ok, some good changes here. Nerfing the Crit A Cola has been vital for Competetive since some people have been breaking the game with 3 Crit scouts and 3 Quick Fix medics in their 6s line up. Here's hoping this weakens that meta a bit. The Soda Popper change is nice since Scouts can't run round in a corner somewhere to charge it then leap on your face and... Did they give the Shortstop a pseudo-airblast? Ok Valve you just keep being you. Finally, they seem to have at least tried to buff one of the worst items in the game and it has some utility against Pryos which is handy.
The Righteous Bison
Fixed a bug causing players to be hit by the same projectile multiple times, causing the damage dealt to vary wildly
Per-shot damage has been increased to compensate, resulting in slightly more damage on average
Point-blank deals 54 damage (previously 20-80)
Maximum range deals 24 damage (previously 14-56)
Slowed projectile by 30%
Projectile damage reduced by 25% for each enemy penetrated
Updated projectile impact sound
The Disciplinary Action
Reduced duration of speed bonus on teammates to 2 seconds (from 3)
The Rocket Jumper
Updated model/materials and sound
A moment of silence for the OP Crit Bison... May it live forever in Valhalla. It's much less of a fun, spammy chokepoint weapon now and I'm not sure what utility it has since the shotgun now easily outclasses it at close range and you have your rocket launcher for mid range fighting. And it looks like whipping your teammates in the rollout will now be less effective but I still predict it will stay in a lot of rollouts since 2 seconds of speed boost on a Scout or Medic goes a long way.
Cozy Camper
Now requires a full charge to gain flinch resistance
The Sydney Sleeper
When fully charged, or when making a headshot, now applies Jarate in a radius
Scoped shots now extinguish teammates
The Cleaner's Carbine
Removed hidden +10% damage taken multiplier while under the effects
The Cozy Camper got a slight nerf which is nice since the Sniper's shields are ridiculously tailored to ruin his hard counters. Buffing the Sydney Sleeper into an explosion of Jarate sounds hilarious on paper but could be less fun than you think. The Carbine getting that slight buff is also good because just getting the crits on that gun is annoying and taking 10% more damage while you have a crackling red/blue gun out will make you die very, very fast.
Natascha and Brass Beast
20% damage resistance now only applies when spun up and below 50% max health
Huo-Long Heater
Added -10% damage
Added +25% increased damage vs. burning players
Reduced ammo drain to -4/sec (from -6)
Reduced pulse damage from Ring of Fire to 12 (from 15) due to increased damage vs. burning
Buffalo Steak Sandvich
Fixed "damage taken" multiplier accidentally being +10%, instead of the listed +25%
Dear God Heavy... What have they done to you? I agree with half the nerf on the BB and Natascha, that is, I like the resistance only being in effect when spun up, but making it arbitrarily only apply when below 50% health makes the buff more situational than it needs to be. The Heater's changes specialize the gun even more and make it work well if you have pyros around but reduce its overall utility in the game. Finally, did anyone ever ask for the Steak to be nerfed? Why Valve Why? Are you trying to make Heavy sympathetic so people vote for him?
Base
Max speed increased to 320 (from 300)
Enforcer
Attacks pierce resist and absorb effects from all sources
Spy now runs very slightly slower than the Medic (Medic has a theoretical speed of 321 based on what I can figure out from the wiki which only gives me values in %s). So if you aren't s Scout or Medic and you want to escape from a Spy by running away? Fat chance now. Everything will be stabbed.
Seriously Valve, flat buffing the Spy's movement speed? Why!?
I do like the Enforcer changes though, that's now a nice Anti-Vaccinator pistol which also counters the Darwin's Danger Shield nicely too.
All Flamethrowers
Added: Direct damage reduces Medi Gun healing and resist shield effects by 25%
Medics hear a "healing interrupted" sound when this is happening to their heal target
The Manmelter
Removed (hidden) 20% fire rate penalty
Buffing the Manmelter slightly is nice but the gun needs more of a rework. Making Pyro directly counter Medics though... Wow that's actually kind of terrifying.
Base
All Mediguns allow the Medic to match the speed of their heal target
Previously only available on The Quick Fix
Quick Fix
?berCharge rate reduced to +15% (from +25%)
Overdose
Increased movement speed bonus to +20% (from +10%)
Increased damage penalty to -15% (from -10%)
Dropped Mediguns
Stored ?berCharge begins to decay over time after coming to rest
So.... Now we have Krit and Stock Uber medics running behind Scouts not just Quick Fix medics... Ok Valve? I don't think you understand that was the part everyone loved about the Quick Fix and was what gave it the utility in exchange for the lower overheal. You also then nerfed the QF flat out so I think you just hate that medigun or something.
Buffing the overdose to pretty much be the "RUN AWAY" gun is nice though. In theory you will now run almost as fast as a Scout when it's fully charged (380 vs Scout's 400). Woo!
Also, thank god for nerfing dropped mediguns, the mechanic is nice but it lead to way too much time just spend rolling over enemy medics, grabbing their medigun and rolling over them again to repeat it using the charges they had built up.
Base
All boots now require a shield to activate any move speed bonus listed on the item
The Iron Bomber
Decreased the fuse time to 1.4 seconds (from 2.0)
The Quickiebomb Launcher
Increased charge time reduction to -70% (from -50%)
Increased damage bonus for (max) charged shots to +35% (from +25%)
Increased clip size penalty to -50% (from -25%)
Removed "Stickybombs fizzle 4 seconds after landing"
The Sticky Jumper
Updated model/materials and sound
Well boots lost some of their utility outside of Demoknight loadouts which is a shame, the did buff the Iron Bomber which is actually really nice and the rebalanced Quickiebomb launcher sounds very interesting.
Base
Level 1 teleporters now cost 50 metal (previously 125)
Widowmaker
Damage increased +10% when attacking the same target as your sentry
Eureka Effect
Reduced "50% less metal from Dispensers and Pickups" to 20%
Added "Teleporters cost 50% less metal"
The Short Circuit
Base projectile attack is -10 metal (hit or miss) and then add -5 metal for each projectile destroyed (sometimes a buff, sometimes a nerf)
The Pomson
Fixed an exploit with shooting through your own buildings
Increased close-range damage to 72 (from 62)
Reduced long-range damage to 32 (from 42)
Updated projectile impact sound
Holy hell Teleporters are now easy to build! Hurrah! That means with a 200 metal starting limit you can build a dispenser and 2 teles which is fantastic news for people who don't play the universe's most selfish Texan and only build Sentries. Plus with the Eureka Effect they now cost 25 metal each meaning that with a small ammo box you have enough to build a Level 1 sentry and have metal left over!
They seem to have nerfed the Pomson too which is nice, making it a more viable close range weapon and making it less of a "Spam the thing into a chokepoint and make medics cry" weapon. They are also desperately trying to balance the Short Circuit which is fun.[/img][/spoiler]
I had a go through the full changelog in the other thread so I figured sharing it in here would be handy. Just... Dear sweet god some of these changes...
THE UPDATE HAS GONE LIVE! Let's break down the changelog!
Snip
Just one little nit-pick: the only time you're gonna be running away from a Spy is when you have next to no HP, even if you're playing one of the more fragile, indirect classes, and even then he's gonna be using his revolver: his butter-knife is definitely sub-par if you know where he is. So, I dunno... I guess you're right that he's gonna be more annoying if you're trying to sprint to a health kit, but still: his extra speed gets reduced whenever he disguises as a slower class.
I had a go through the full changelog in the other thread so I figured sharing it in here would be handy. Just... Dear sweet god some of these changes...
THE UPDATE HAS GONE LIVE! Let's break down the changelog!
Snip
Just one little nit-pick: the only time you're gonna be running away from a Spy is when you have next to no HP, even if you're playing one of the more fragile, indirect classes, and even then he's gonna be using his revolver: his butter-knife is definitely sub-par if you know where he is. So, I dunno... I guess you're right that he's gonna be more annoying if you're trying to sprint to a health kit, but still: his extra speed gets reduced whenever he disguises as a slower class.
It also helps with certain kinds of "trickstabs" though since the extra speed lets you move around people for the 'matador' or 'corner' stabs with them being even less able to track you.
What makes TF2 so special that it requires your phone number? No other online game has this requirement. I feel like it's just Blizzard trying to force people who feel uncomfortable giving their phone number over to pay the $10 "fee". Surely a premium account should suffice?
It's a steam account security thing. Having your account bound to your phone number makes it nigh impossible to break into your steam account, even if they have your username and password. They'd need to have your phone or the SIM card, too. It's also a preventative measure against hackers, because it's harder to just make a new account if you get banned when you need a new phone number too.
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