Team Fortress 2 update: "Meet Your Match". *Fix patch is out.*

[vallorn]

[HEADING=1]So here it finally is, TF2's ranked Matchmaking has arrived, and it's more than we bargained for.[/HEADING]

http://www.teamfortress.com/meetyourmatch/



For those not in the current Beta, The current set up is 6 vs 6 with no random crits, bullet spread or rng damage and best of 3 for king of the hill and control point maps while Attack-Defend maps have whoever finishes the map quicker on Offense winning the game. There are no class limits or weapon bans at this time.

We also have a large overhaul to Quickplay with players now able to rank up in that game mode and be put with players of similar skill level (Hurrah! No more getting shoved into a game with 9 spies on my team!).

Pass Time is now out of beta as well and has been rebalanced a few times since it began.

Three new maps: Swiftwater (Payload), Sunshine (5 Control Point), and Metal Works (5 Control Point as far as I remember but I haven't played it in ages). These are actually interesting because Swiftwater is one of the favorites of competitive Highlander players and Payload isn't in the 6v6 playlist.

----------

Tomorrow will be the main day of the balance updates according to people who have been to Valve recently (See: B4nny) and we're promised a "Huge list of rebalances". Furthermore it seems like it will focus on Heavy and Pyro as some enterprising soul found the Day 2 banner image by altering the URL of the Day 1 image.

Spoiler

EDIT2: Changlog:

Spoiler

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:
The Meet Your Match Update has arrived!

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 )
3 new community maps
Sunshine
Metalworks
Swiftwater
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

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
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

Bug fixes

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

Performance

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.

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

Maps

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

Game Balance

Scout
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
Soldier
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
Sniper
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
Heavy
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%
Spy
Base
Max speed increased to 320 (from 300)
Enforcer
Attacks pierce resist and absorb effects from all sources
Pyro
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
Medic
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
Demoman
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
Engineer
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

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I still wish they'd add those lovely female models that I've seen a while ago, made by some fan. I'm not into this whole gender equality in gaming thing, I just really liked those models, and more options isn't a bad thing.

I know what some people are thinking. It doesn't fit the lore or some shit like that. Well, TF2 lore is weird. Valve could always come up with a science-fiction reason why suddenly female versions of the characters materialized. It's the easiest thing in the world.

 

[vallorn]

I still wish they'd add those lovely female models that I've seen a while ago, made by some fan. I'm not into this whole gender equality in gaming thing, I just really liked those models, and more options isn't a bad thing.

I know what some people are thinking. It doesn't fit the lore or some shit like that. Well, TF2 lore is weird. Valve could always come up with a science-fiction reason why suddenly female versions of the characters materialized. It's the easiest thing in the world.

The fem models are pretty good but it's mostly to do with how the original design for the game calls for specific color set ups and silhouettes to make characters instantly recognizable. Doubling the number of silhouettes players need to recognize wouldn't really be a good idea in that scheme. Unfortunately, hats and cosmetics have undone this a little but it still retains most of the concept of each class having recognizable silhouettes and so it's mostly kept as a mod. And it's a fantastic mod for those who like to use it.

 

[Neverhoodian]

I'll just leave a truncated version of the comment I left on the main news article for this:

Nine years. NINE FUCKING YEARS. That's how long we old-timers have been begging for this, Valve. But no, you had to inundate the game with those godawful hats[footnote]Some of the hats fit the art style, but others...Jesus Christ.[/footnote] and crates of yours instead. Oh yeah, and you killed off community servers with your oh-so-precious Quickplay. Classy.

I've stuck around this long partly because I've been hoping against hope that something like this would finally happen. DO. NOT. SCREW. THIS. UP. I'm seriously considering switching to Overwatch if this fails to deliver.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

What I'm gathering from this is that we'll get a Half-Life 3 once Blizzard releases something along the lines first.

 

[vallorn]

So, here's day 2 of the update, [http://www.teamfortress.com/meetyourmatch/war.php] and the main thing is the upcoming class updates. It looks like Heavy and Pyro are both up first at this point in time but we get to choose which one gets an update before the other one. (We also got a fun comic so that's nice)

Thankfully, it's unlikely we will see 12 heavies v 12 pyros like we did in the old WAR updates since the rules this time are different. When you log into TF2 you pick Team Heavy or Team Pyro (and you can't change later). After this, every point you earn in game goes towards you chosen team. Sounds like a good plan.

And yes yes yes. Blah blah blah crates, blah blah blah new taunts, etc. Though, we now have an option for smaller viewmodels on weapons so people playing Competitive have better view which is a welcome change for the game.

Finally, we don't have the balance changes and update notes up yet but this will probably come later today. I await people screaming at Valve when they break something hilariously like they did with the previously superbuffed Phlog...

 

[vallorn]

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:

Spoiler: Meet Your Match

The Meet Your Match Update has arrived!

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.

Spoiler: New Maps

3 new community maps
Sunshine
Metalworks
Swiftwater

Again, nothing new here.

Spoiler: taunts and crates

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.

Spoiler: gameplay changes

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.

Spoiler: PASS TIME

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.

Spoiler: Bug fixes

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.

Spoiler: Performance and Custom HUDs

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
[/spoiler]
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.

Spoiler: Map changes

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?

Spoiler: Scout

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.

Spoiler: Soldier

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.

Spoiler: Sniper

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.

Spoiler: Heavy

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?

Spoiler: Spy

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.

Spoiler: Pyro

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.

Spoiler: Medic

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.

Spoiler: Demoman

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.

Spoiler: Engineer

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.

 

[Neverhoodian]

I'm reading the patch notes in stunned disbelief. It's like a Valve from an alternate universe (one where gameplay takes precedence over hats) took over. I'm VERY happy with what I'm seeing, though of course my reaction may change when I actually get a chance to play it (just got home from work).

Performance IMPROVEMENTS?! I never thought I'd see the day. Maybe I can finally stop playing TF2 in DX8 mode!

The class/item tweaks sound pretty good for the most part. As a Spy main, I'm rubbing my hands in glee at his speed boost. Not only will stalking Medics be easier, but I'll also be able to outrun Pyros (provided they don't have the Powerjack equipped)! I'm also liking the sound of the Engineer changes. I'll have to try out some ninjaneering action with the new Eureka Effect. Having said that, I'm scratching my head as to why Valve felt the Heavy needed yet more nerfs. I was planning on going Team Heavy for the war, and this pushed me firmly into that camp.

As for the death of Quickplay...well, you'll forgive me if I don't shed any tears over it, seeing as it killed off all of my favorite community servers. In fact, reading the TF2 subreddit's reaction to it on my break was a moment of pure schadenfreude. It's full of special snowflakes whinging over how they can no longer "be dead weight" (I swear to God one of them was proud of it) and "not give a shit about anyone and do what I want."

Look princess, I've been known to goof around on 2Fort on occasion, but only if the other players are okay with it. Selfish assholes like you are part of the reason why TF2's community has gone downhill over the years. I hate to be rude, but if you can't be a TEAM player in a game all about TEAMWORK, then kindly move your keester to a different game (or at least a trade/idle/"fun" server). You've had plenty of time to run amok; now it's time for us to reclaim what was once ours.

I only hope this brings about a revival of decent community servers and a return to form for the community, back when folks were friendly, helpful and actually cared about the objective. If that makes me a "sweaty tryhard," then so be it. Playing with teams like these for years will do that to you:

 

[vallorn]

I'm reading the patch notes in stunned disbelief. It's like a Valve from an alternate universe (one where gameplay takes precedence over hats) took over. I'm VERY happy with what I'm seeing, though of course my reaction may change when I actually get a chance to play it (just got home from work).

Performance IMPROVEMENTS?! I never thought I'd see the day. Maybe I can finally stop playing TF2 in DX8 mode!

The class/item tweaks sound pretty good for the most part. As a Spy main, I'm rubbing my hands in glee at his speed boost. Not only will stalking Medics be easier, but I'll also be able to outrun Pyros (provided they don't have the Powerjack equipped)! I'm also liking the sound of the Engineer changes. I'll have to try out some ninjaneering action with the new Eureka Effect. Having said that, I'm scratching my head as to why Valve felt the Heavy needed yet more nerfs. I was planning on going Team Heavy for the war, and this pushed me firmly into that camp.

As for the death of Quickplay...well, you'll forgive me if I don't shed any tears over it, seeing as it killed off all of my favorite community servers. In fact, reading the TF2 subreddit's reaction to it on my break was a moment of pure schadenfreude. It's full of special snowflakes whinging over how they can no longer "be dead weight" (I swear to God one of them was proud of it) and "not give a shit about anyone and do what I want."

Look princess, I've been known to goof around on 2Fort on occasion, but only if the other players are okay with it. Selfish assholes like you are part of the reason why TF2's community has gone downhill over the years. I hate to be rude, but if you can't be a TEAM player in a game all about TEAMWORK, then kindly move your keester to a different game (or at least a trade/idle/"fun" server). You've had plenty of time to run amok; now it's time for us to reclaim what was once ours.

I only hope this brings about a revival of decent community servers and a return to form for the community, back when folks were friendly, helpful and actually cared about the objective. If that makes me a "sweaty tryhard," then so be it. Playing with teams like these for years will do that to you:

Funny story. Competitive forces DX9 and certain graphics settings "For a level playing field".

As a Medic main, the fact that Pyro now hard counters Medics (Especially Vax and QF medics) and that Spies are even faster (hello matador stabs...) is going to be unpleasant. However, I can always just idiot leash a scout and run away with any medigun now. The blast jumping doesn't work with non quick fix guns but I wonder if following Demoknight charges does...

Furthermore, the main menu flat out lists what used to be "servers" as "community servers" with a blurb about what those are which is nice for getting players to click that. In fact, I really like the new main menu, it seems much less cluttered than it was which is excellent. And... well... Reddit is Reddit. I never expected anything from them except idots trying to copy their favorite TF2 youtubers and be "neato Troldiers!" or hoovies or spycrabs or something equally stupid. If this update can hasten the death of the "9 snipers 'mains' and the poor, solitary medic" team composition then good going Valve. I do wish you could select a single game mode though instead of having to choose a minimum of two.

With that in mind. What the heck has happened to Beta? Cactus Canyon is... well... gone completely and so has Robot Destruction. The latter, meh but Cactus Canyon had a lot of potential and had some fun ideas so I'm actually kind of sad to see it vanish from the game without anyone even noticing that it's gone. Did Valve just silently kill off the idea of having those Beta maps and game modes?

 

[Neverhoodian]

With that in mind. What the heck has happened to Beta? Cactus Canyon is... well... gone completely and so has Robot Destruction. The latter, meh but Cactus Canyon had a lot of potential and had some fun ideas so I'm actually kind of sad to see it vanish from the game without anyone even noticing that it's gone. Did Valve just silently kill off the idea of having those Beta maps and game modes?

No idea. Valve seems to have gotten into a bad habit of half-assing ideas that have lots of potential before seemingly losing interest and scrapping it without warning. It's not the first time we've seen something like this; the TF2 Beta was supposed to be a way for players to test new weapons before they were added to the game, except it was ignored and eventually shut down after a handful of updates.

 

[vallorn]

With that in mind. What the heck has happened to Beta? Cactus Canyon is... well... gone completely and so has Robot Destruction. The latter, meh but Cactus Canyon had a lot of potential and had some fun ideas so I'm actually kind of sad to see it vanish from the game without anyone even noticing that it's gone. Did Valve just silently kill off the idea of having those Beta maps and game modes?

No idea. Valve seems to have gotten into a bad habit of half-assing ideas that have lots of potential before seemingly losing interest and scrapping it without warning. It's not the first time we've seen something like this; the TF2 Beta was supposed to be a way for players to test new weapons before they were added to the game, except it was ignored and eventually shut down after a handful of updates.

If memory serves they did replace the TF2 team a short while ago (Robin Walker is no longer part of it for example) so if the beta was a project of the old team's that the new one didn't like I can see why it could be quietly dropped. However, Pass Time and Manpower both came out of that beta system and are now fully fledged "alternate game modes" in the same space in Casual as Payload Race so... Huh.

I dunno, Valve seem to like the idea of running Betas for things but then they just don't manage them well. For example, Competitive's beta didn't receive many updates apart from stress tests and so a lot of people thought that Valve weren't listening (Seriously, would it have killed them to tinker with the UI or other features while they ran the public beta? It would have built hype and let them test some of the features).

 

[MHR]

Good balance changes, though I don't know how I feel about matchmaking giving us abandons for casual matches. My only concern with it is that it places me in some fucking Luxembourg serverwhere I get 400 ping and expects me to see the match through or else take a penalty for trying to find a reasonable server. Quick play always pulled that garbage; did they suddenly make a magic match-maker brain that doesn't do this anymore?

And competitive matchmaking is worthless to me without highlander, let alone a full 12v12 experience. 6v6 is barely TF2.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Just got done playing for a bit, and so far so good. It didn't take too long to be paired with a match, people were actually using their mics to communicate, both teams put up a good fight and there was generally good sportsmanship overall. My only concern at the moment is the lack of decent community servers where I live (they all have some type of gimmick, be it 24/7 maps, fast respawn, randomizer, X10 stats, false player stats, etc.), but hopefully that will change as word gets around. I'd love to see the likes of servers like NomNomNom or TF2Fort return.

 

[Wasted]

The fem models are pretty good but it's mostly to do with how the original design for the game calls for specific color set ups and silhouettes to make characters instantly recognizable.

Have you not seen hats in this game? That original concise visual design was thrown out the window years ago.

But I agree that it is most likely due to at minimum doubling the work with all items including new voices. That is ignoring going back and making sure that previous items will work with new female models.

 

[vallorn]

The fem models are pretty good but it's mostly to do with how the original design for the game calls for specific color set ups and silhouettes to make characters instantly recognizable.

Have you not seen hats in this game? That original concise visual design was thrown out the window years ago.

But I agree that it is most likely due to at minimum doubling the work with all items including new voices. That is ignoring going back and making sure that previous items will work with new female models.

Yes I have, that's why my post had this line.

Unfortunately, hats and cosmetics have undone this a little but it still retains most of the concept of each class having recognizable silhouettes and so it's mostly kept as a mod.

Some of it still works though, the player models still have the same proportions and basic body shape (there's no slim heavy or sumo scout skins for example)even if the hats or certain cosmetics are making them stand out more.

 

[Uncle Comrade]

I played a bit this evening and for the most part enjoyed it. I like the new UI, both teams were taking the game seriously (instead of just ending up with 5 snipers and 3 engineers that put all their teleporters in the same place) and it felt fun the whole time.

The only thing I didn't like was having to wait half an hour to connect to a server. That, and the one guy who was constantly on his mic ranting about how Valve have ruined TF2 forever.

 

[vallorn]

I hope they fix the wait times otherwise this might die like MVM did. Seriously some of the bugs I've seen are insane especially with parties of friends (Funny story, waiting times seem to triple or more with friends in a party for some reason).

What was the point in that long Beta if they weren't going to try and test any of this with it? They didn't even test the final UI which you would think would be something that is the bare minimum that should be tested. Not to mention the Game Coordinator acting up constantly and messing up ranking (Games seem to currently not give any medals out at all and I have games that I played but don't seem to count for some reason, and no, we didn't have abandons).

I really want to like this but right now it's just unplayable for me and that makes me sad.

 

[vallorn]

UPDATE: CASUAL MODE IS BEING FIXED!
http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=22797

July 8, 2016 - TF2 Team

It's no secret that Casual Mode has had a rough launch. We wanted to give you an update on what we're doing to address your concerns.

Ok. Good start...

Short version: We hear you. Later today, we will be shipping a patch to Casual Mode that will remove the penalties for abandoning a game, and allow you to narrow your game mode selections from two modes to a single mode before queuing. Additionally, in the very near future, we will be shipping a more comprehensive Casual Mode patch that will let you select the maps you will be matched into.

Valve, you had a BETA for a reason, to test shit. Why didn't you use it?

We've provided a more detailed breakdown of Casual Mode's issues and how we are addressing your concerns below.

First, and most important, queue times. The queue times you are currently experiencing are a bug, not a feature. It is something we are actively working to correct. Several backend issues appeared post-launch that culminated in long wait times. Removing this issue is our highest priority right now.

So. Why did these issues only pop up after launch? You had the many, many stress tests and it's not that different a system to MVM from what I can see. You also have experience building these systems in Source as evidenced by CS:S, CS:GO, DOTA:2, etc... Though, fixing it and this level of communication is more than we usually see from the TF team so... Ok.

Second, abandonment penalties. We had put in a ten-minute cooldown period to encourage players to complete matches. Your feedback has convinced us that it is more important for players to be able to come and go as they please. Today's patch will remove abandonment cooldown penalties from Casual Mode.

Thank god, Casual should be Casual and abandonment penalties made it way more like Comp than it should have been.

Third, user choice. We'd intended to roll out the number of match options available to players incrementally, so as not to overload the matchmaking system with too many variables on Day One. In retrospect, of all the match options to hold back, map selection should not have been one of them. It is the next feature we are adding to Casual Mode, and you will get it very soon.

Well I understand the reasoning but, again, this is why there was a Beta, to test things like this and see how people responded.

Fourth, Casual Mode levels. Levels are a cosmetic feature that show how much you've played. They can never be lost, and they do not affect matchmaking. We did a poor job of communicating that Casual Mode Levels are in no way similar to Competitive Mode Ranks (which do affect matchmaking, and can be lost).

I'm not sure anyone was really asking about this stuff that I saw but better to have this clarified than not.

Finally, we wanted to note that we value the role the community plays in the development of this game, and do in fact read all the feedback sent to us, as well as through reddit, the forums, streams, and more. We are not always as talkative as we perhaps should be, but we are listening.

Well for once this blog post did show that Valve listened to the reaction so good job.

 

[MHR]

I don't know how I feel about matchmaking giving us abandons for casual matches. My only concern with it is that it places me in some fucking Luxembourg serverwhere I get 400 ping

Well what I feared happened twice today. It wasn't Luxembourg, but I got sent to a Brazilian server. Lots of other people did too it seems, as many of them had yellow or red signal bars. They removed abandon penalties, but this isn't getting better fast.