Major Update Speculation V35 - A Distinctive Lack of Communication - Games

Hoping for the update tomorrow. If it doesn't come out then, who knows when it will.

Just keep checking the official TF2 YouTube channel, a few new private videos uploaded there is a good early warning system for the update coming in the next day or two.

[QUOTE=Slip Nip;51528004]Hoping for the update tomorrow. If it doesn't come out then, who knows when it will.[/QUOTE] Uh.. next week? Most Christmas updates have been *around* the 22nd, which is in 8 days.

[QUOTE=Slip Nip;51528004]Hoping for the update tomorrow. If it doesn't come out then, who knows when it will.[/QUOTE] Tomorrow or next Thursday would be my guess. Whether that's the Pyro Update or Smissmas, or both, we'll see.

[QUOTE=Magypsy;51527304]Would you rather get a small amount of good content, or a large amount of bad content? Overwatch doesn't accept any kind of community content, imagine how few TF2 maps we'd get a year if we only got ones from Valve. And imagine if we got a large amount of terrible heroes at once like how we got ~20 awful weapons in the Uber Update.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Magypsy;51527946]I was talking about gameplay-related content. Overwatch had trashy unlockable costumes from the get-go. There was nothing to ruin. :v:[/QUOTE] oh, you think Overwatch's gameplay-related content updates have been better than TF2's? well, aside from the fact that the Uber Update was during a much more active period of development [B](and I was talking mostly about the about the past few years as far as TF2 went, for a more direct comparison of the games as they are right now)[/B], that update was generally well-received, even if some of the weapons released with it were broken, or in the case of something like the Big Earner, pretty useless. never thought I'd hear someone describe the Uber Update as "a large amount of bad content". man, am I still in MUS? this is the TF2 subforum, right? anyways, no. 2 new heroes who, again, do things TF2 already done (one of us has kritz and the crossbow! the other one can cloak and sap [I]people![/I]) and the symettra "rebalance" (hey man what if we gave the dispenser the ability to overheal everyone in a map-wide radius, boosted his DPS and building time, gave the teleporter more health than half the tanks in the game, and a barrier that makes an entire hero, Reinhardt, essentially worthless in comparison?) is the rough equivalent of rebalancing a few item sets in terms of how much it effects gameplay, and that happens twice a year for us already. also, I don't know what game you're playing, but Overwatch's map design leaves a whole hell of a lot to be desired. Eichenwalde's first point funnels all the attackers through a choke at a height disadvantage, in a game where tanks have huge barriers, automated sentries are significantly more powerful and uber isn't even a thing. it's actually kind of impressive how little fun I manage to have on both sides of the engagement on that map. honestly it feels like Blizzard doesn't even know how to design maps for their own game yet sometimes. I don't know what's "quality" about that. I've had generally great experiences with maps accepted into TF2 (sans a few this Halloween and one last Halloween and [B][I]Vanguard[/I][/B]) though to be frank, I certainly wished that Overwatch had provided the experience and quality of the TF2 Killer everyone said it would be, [URL="https://steamdb.info/app/440/graphs/"]though player count seems to indicate that it wasn't[/URL]. [IMG]http://puu.sh/sPl8s/0c6efca81b.png[/IMG] you know why me and everyone else didn't swarm to Overwatch as soon as it released? it has an active dev team that speaks to its community, something we've begged for for quite some time, good performance, visuals and optimization...and it's made by Blizzard! it should be perfect, right? the friends I have who attempted to make the switch were happy and engaged for about 50-100 hours (I myself was on the lower end of this) before they tired of the game and just wanted to play TF2. this is because, once you look past the pretty coat of paint, Overwatch is severely lacking in the gameplay complexity, player choice and quality of content offered by TF2. like, it's a perfectly fine game, and of course everyone plays it because it's multi-plat and Blizzard pushed it, hard. I still have the game, still launch it semi-regularly to play with a few friends. but it's no TF2 killer, not by a [B]long[/B] shot. plenty of people came to it hoping for that experience, and I'm one of them.

I'm going to assume that the people who would have left for overwatch probably already left the game a while ago. I didn't leave for overwatch either. I stopped because MyM fucking sucked, Im still not over it really.

Just a quick pointer: assuming that Sombra and the Spy are one and the same is a [I]gross[/I] semplification of both, the same goes for describing Symmetra as a buffed up combination between a dispenser and a teleport [QUOTE]Overwatch is severely lacking in the gameplay complexity, player choice and quality of content offered by TF2.[/QUOTE] Your whole argument on this front is about Team Fortress 2 inventory system providing more diversity and customization over Overwatch's stock heroes. While it's a fine argument, I'd also like to point out that, for some years now, the TF2 playerbase has sticken to certain weapons combination for each class and deem any other alternative "worthless", due to the game having achieved a horrible balance as time went on and several unlockables cementing themselves as a must for certain classes. So I really can't see all this "opportunity for diversity" you claim modern Team Fortress 2 has, but I'll concede you I left TF2 two years ago or so, so I may be a little out of touch

[QUOTE=Oizen;51528488]I'm going to assume that the people who would have left for overwatch probably already left the game a while ago. I didn't leave for overwatch either. I stopped because MyM fucking sucked, Im still not over it really.[/QUOTE] That's fair. On-topic, what would you like to see out of this update? I'm personally hoping for the right changes to Casual (namely- a reintroduction of a few features lost by the switch from Quickplay: joining off of a friend, map-voting to stay on the same server and a slightly more conservative autobalancer that, perhaps, only kicks in after X amount of time of a severe player disadvantage has gone by without anyone getting matched into the game) and to Competitive (better map rotation, fucking class limits [B]please[/B] Valve). I'm cautiously optimistic about what they'll do with Pyro- I mean, they can hardly make him [B]worse[/B], and they've at least seen the feedback they were given via the open letter from Comp Pyro mains a while back. Past that it's the go-to contracts, which I personally find enjoyable, the 4 new maps that go along with them, and probably some non-stock weapon skins and shit to top it all off.

[QUOTE=Contra132;51528429][IMG]http://puu.sh/sPl8s/0c6efca81b.png[/IMG][/QUOTE] I'm not one of those that think TF2 is dying in general, but there is a significant drop off when comparing the median most quarters. Compare July 15 to July 16, or Oct 15 to Oct 16. Only April has a marginal decrease. Otherwise it's like a solid 10-15% or more. This is something I hope the TF2 devs are both aware of and interested in addressing. Probably a bunch of reasons for the drop off, but I seriously doubt "Overwatch" is the most significant. Personally my game time in TF2 went from very regular to almost non-existent with the MyM update. Not being able to quickly and easily jump in a server with a map I like and start playing immediately... and not being able to leave a server and immediately start playing on a new one for whatever reason... this just killed it for me, and unfortunately the community servers still haven't filled the gap yet.

[QUOTE=EliaMoroes;51528522]So I really can't see all this "opportunity for diversity" you claim modern Team Fortress 2 has, but I'll concede you I left TF2 two years ago or so, [B]so I may be a little out of touch[/B][/QUOTE] Yeah, you left before Gun Mettle. Outside of, like, the Bison (RIP) there are very few weapons left in the game that are actually useless, and while some loadouts are quite popular, that doesn't mean that others aren't viable. For instance, DR/Amby is one of the most popular loadouts for Spy (even though not many of them can actually use it), but it comes nowhere close to the mobility and pick utility of the L'Etranger and Invis Watch. Also, opportunity is still opportunity, whether players make use of it or not. I see plenty of different combinations of loadouts used in pubs and Comp on a regular basis, and I'm sorry, but 20-something different ways to play the game hella pales in comparison to the 100-something permutations of the 9 classes in TF2. [editline]14th December 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=EArkham;51528545]I'm not one of those that think TF2 is dying in general, but there is a significant drop off when comparing the median most quarters. Compare July 15 to July 16, or Oct 15 to Oct 16. Only April has a marginal decrease. Otherwise it's like a solid 10-15% or more. This is something I hope the TF2 devs are both aware of and interested in addressing.[/QUOTE] I hope so too, but it's also worth noting that TF2's overall averge playercount still hasn't dropped all that much, and stabilizes into higher numbers for major updates. Your criticisms of the MyM update are also quite valid, though if you haven't checked recently, I'd recommend taking another look at Casual. Map-selection is a thing now and the queue times have been greatly reduced from what they were on launch and for a while after- it's still not instant, but yeah. Also, aren't you a mapper? I feel like I've seen you on TF2Maps, or during the Imps...

[QUOTE=Contra132;51528557]Also, aren't you a mapper? I feel like I've seen you on TF2Maps, or during the Imps...[/QUOTE] Yup! Did the Japan pack with Freyja for Suijin, and did Snowycoast, plus a smattering of cosmetics. Also did a lot of Mayan props for JPRAS and co, and working on a Nepal pack for when Freyja gets better. Pretty much all of my playtime now is specifically testing/making maps, models, particles, etc, which I still enjoy immensely.

[QUOTE=EArkham;51528610]did Snowycoast[/QUOTE] OK, so, important question. As the creator of Snowycoast, have you seen this video? [video=youtube;EtQXmUolktk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtQXmUolktk[/video]

[QUOTE=Contra132;51528748]OK, so, important question. As the creator of Snowycoast, have you seen this video? [video=youtube;EtQXmUolktk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtQXmUolktk[/video][/QUOTE] I don't think that video classifies as important in any way

iirc it's from the same guy who made Gravelpit in a nutshell an eternity ago. I don't care much for most GMod stuff, but as far as TF2 YouTube content goes Gravelpit in a nutshell is an honest-to-god classic, and I'd be hella flattered if the guy came out of retirement specifically to make some goofy GMod video (while not quite as time-consuming as a high-quality SFM animation, GMod videos take quite some time to make) about my map. Like, it's not actually-important, no, but I thought he might find it at least slightly amusing. It's basically the most high-effort review of Snowycoast there is.

can't really call it high-effort when it's the "slap thrusters on limbs so you don't have to animate" shtick that's been done to death

There's a lot more going on in that video than that, if you watch it all the way through. Even if it were that simple, the sheer amount of shit going on onscreen at once and all the rigging that had to be done means this video had to have taken a solid 2 to 3 days of work. I don't see a multi-page essay about Snowycoast, so yeah, this is still the most high-effort review of the map, even if you don't like it.

[QUOTE=scoottehbesht;51526207]Sigsegv has found another important exploit that will be patched into the game, so we might end this week with a small bugfix patch.[/QUOTE] Is he making a video or no? or is he waiting until its fixed?

[QUOTE=chandlerj333;51529010]Is he making a video or no? or is he waiting until its fixed?[/QUOTE] Usually major exploitable stuff he doesn't make videos on., rather reports it directly to TFTeam. For obvious reasons, he's no Delfy.

Let's not forget the main feature of Smissmas [IMG]https://wiki.teamfortress.com/w/images/thumb/a/a1/Backpack_Noise_Maker_-_Winter_Holiday.png/100px-Backpack_Noise_Maker_-_Winter_Holiday.png?t=20111216052147[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Fluury;51529457]Let's not forget the main feature of Smissmas [IMG]https://wiki.teamfortress.com/w/images/thumb/a/a1/Backpack_Noise_Maker_-_Winter_Holiday.png/100px-Backpack_Noise_Maker_-_Winter_Holiday.png?t=20111216052147[/IMG][/QUOTE] Gonna bind it to movement keys like I did for the last several years lol...

The suspense is eating away at me; between this and CGI Grand Moff Tarkin, I don't know what to be more excited for.

[QUOTE=EArkham;51528610]Yup! Did the Japan pack with Freyja for Suijin, and did Snowycoast, plus a smattering of cosmetics. Also did a lot of Mayan props for JPRAS and co, and working on a Nepal pack for when Freyja gets better. Pretty much all of my playtime now is specifically testing/making maps, models, particles, etc, which I still enjoy immensely.[/QUOTE] I really like Snowcoast. Cheers for that :)

[QUOTE=Lord Exor;51530697]The suspense is eating away at me; between this and CGI Grand Moff Tarkin, I don't know what to be more excited for.[/QUOTE] Well, it's not like there is a big timeframe. It's either today, or next week.

Tonight's the night, again!

Tonight will never be the night.

[QUOTE=Oizen;51532173]Tonight will never be the night.[/QUOTE] Todays the day then? (Most likely not though, still think its next week)

Oh look, it's Thursday. Going home from college today, so Pyro/Smissmas coming out would be a nice celebratory gift

I am expecting disappointment again. They never fail delivering that!

[QUOTE=Demo-the-man;51532452]I am expecting disappointment again. They never fail delivering that![/QUOTE] Let's hope there's no buff of a cancerous weapon instead.

They seriously need to revamp the lobby system in TF2. It's way too buggy if about last five years can tell you. I think if they can re-code the lobbying system to allow background searching and a overall improvement in how the invite system works. The quality of life change will make the server searching more bearable if it takes longer to kick you into a match. I know i'm yelling in a MUS thread but if i could visualise how i envision the new lobby system, I would.