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TF2 will be the death of me

TF2 will be the death of me

class_sniper.jpg

I am not a gamer. I do not game. This is my chant to ward off the time pit that is gaming, but last night it failed me. I played TF2 until 3:30am.

Starcraft, Half-Life 2 (and Episode 1), half of Doom 3, and twice through the Warcraft 3 single-player campaign summarize my gaming experiences over the last three years. Yet Team Fortress 2 has sucked me in, and all I want today is another round of online fragging.

TF2 is what would happen if Chuck Jones and Jim Henson made an FPS together. All nine characters you can choose from are hilarious caricatures with fitting taunts, and the narrative is glib. You’ll have your favorite character, but you’ll be easily tempted to try other roles, and switch between respawns to cover weak points in your team (like five people yelling “MEDIC!” when no one chose that role).

On offense, the Scout bounces around like a 8-year-old on Jolly Ranchers, the Solider throws rockets at everything that moves, and the Pyro… well, it’s not a pretty way to go. On defense, maybe you’ll want to lob grenades as the Demoman, build turrets and supply depots as the Engineer, or mow the field with a chaingun as the two-ton Heavy. Or, play a support role as a medic (heal and blast needles), sniper (duh), or spy (disguise yourself or use invisibility to knife some lemmings). There’s a character for every style of play, and you’ll quickly try out the field as you rotate between moods and the needs of the round.

So join Icrontic’s Steam group and follow me for some fragging fun tonight. I’ll be the sniper bitch up on the ledge, getting stealth-stabbed by the spy.

Comments

  1. primesuspect
    primesuspect TF2 is just a mod.
  2. primesuspect
    primesuspect I like playing the Pyro for some reason. His range sucks, and he's slow, but man I've had some epic moments, like saving one of my team's checkpoints from a nest of medic/sniper/heavy combos, by kamikaze'ing in there with flames a'blazin. Good times.
  3. Thrax
    Thrax
    TF2 is just a mod.

    Truth. But a fun one.
  4. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum I got back from vacation yesterday and instantly got sucked into this game. As soon as I booted my PC, it seemed that everyone on my Steam friends list was playing TF2, so I joined in.

    I had your sniper back, Keebs. Just not very skillfully. ;)
  5. Sledgehammer70
    Sledgehammer70 I shall DL and get to playing :)
  6. Cyclonite
    Cyclonite I'll be downloading sometime in the next day or two. Woo!
  7. primesuspect
    primesuspect Oh man, there are so many awesome little touches that move this game up from "really good, and fun" to "all time best multiplayer deathmatch game". This is a great game.

    When you die and it zooms in to show you the face of your killer - if there are little pieces of you in the picture (such as a blood smear) there will be a little callout box with an arrow pointing to the bloody bit saying "bits of you!" or "your head!" Hilarious

    Whenever you die there's always a little positive message: "Look on the bright side, you scored more points this round as a Pyro than you ever have before!" or "You beat your old record of playtime as a Sniper", etc.

    The graphics are such a refreshing change of pace. No metal corridors! No dark, evil robots on dark, evil, mechanical backgrounds. You can SEE your enemies. Everything is bright and colorful.

    Each class has so much character. They are not faceless avatars, and yet you don't get so attached to them that you can't bring yourself to go on a suicide run as a spy or pyro.

    Oh I could go on. All I'll say is: GET THIS GAME and JOIN THE ICRONTIC GROUP ON STEAM
  8. QCH
    QCH Sounds like a LAN game!!!! Glad we have more time to plan and play this game!!! :rarr:
  9. mas0n
  10. primesuspect
    primesuspect This will be THE game of LAN 08. I hear UT2k4's death knell, and it says, "Well, ZAT wuz a deezapoint-ment" in a haughty french accent.
  11. mas0n
    mas0n "there is a spy amongst us..."
  12. BuddyJ
    BuddyJ It's me! knife knife knife
  13. Linc
    Linc
    This will be THE game of LAN 08.
    Truth. I could play 2 days straight of this game.
  14. Zanthian
    Zanthian This game is decidedly awesome. The pace just feels right and the graphics are awesome. I too am sitting here at working thinking about how much fun i could be having if i was just playing TF2. So far I think the engineer has been my favorite role.

    I am also loving the new steam community. It tells you whose in what game and lets you join them in the game they are currently in. It was awesome when all of a sudden i was playing the game with a bunch of my friends and it was very easy to find the server they were on. The stats are a really great feature. It is very satisfying to see that you are getting better at a certain class and earning achievements. Last night I just earned the achievement of killing 10 people with one turret. (I think most of them came from Ghoosdum lol).

    Two thumbs way up on this game, if you are on the fence about buying it, stop what you are doing and go buy the game on steam.
  15. QCH
    QCH Unreal Tournament 3 is due out in November... Then there's BF2149 (or whatever)...

    We should have time for 8 tournaments this LAN... We pick 3 games... that's 2 or 3 for each game!!! Oh yeah!!! That's some SERIOUS FRAGGING!!!
  16. mas0n
    mas0n with demoman as my vessel I shall rid this world of all that is unexploded
  17. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum I honestly feel like we probably only ever have time to really play one game at the LAN. Usually it wound up being UT2K4. If I have to choose, this year will be TF2.
  18. QCH
    QCH I think we pulled off a great mix this year. Had I planned better for the server problems... well, we played anyway.

    Age of Empires - CHECK
    Battlefield2 - CHECK
    Unreal Tournament - CHECK
    Half Life DM - CHECK
  19. Shorty
    Shorty I am working on my house, I am NOT downloading this. No, no, NO!

    /me watches download monitor on steam. Come on.. hurry up!
  20. Linc
    Linc Mr. Pass, I expect to see you this evening for your scheduled pwning. :cool:
  21. CB
    CB I've gotten my 'Achievement' for having played each of the characters sufficiently to learn them (the 'Top of the Class' achievement). Not long after, I earned the 'Team Medic' achievement for playing the Medic too much. I think my skills are best utilized in a non-combat role, even if it's not as action-packed some times. :)
  22. primesuspect
    primesuspect I have never tried being a heavy or a soldier. I need to work up on those skills :D

    The only thing that sucks is that the beta is so popular right now that all servers are too full for ALL of us to play on the same server.

    Perhaps Icrontic needs a server :wtf:
  23. primesuspect
    primesuspect I've got this.... thing.... going with Mas0n. We seem to always be put on opposite teams.... And we've had scores to settle....

    mason_nemesis.jpg

    ah, but all good things must come to an end. Mind you, he was running and jumping across the whole courtyard, but oh man did I have him in my sights; and he had no idea:

    revenge_mas0n.jpg
  24. primesuspect
    primesuspect There are other Icrontians floating about. I think I even saw Kiljaeden sign on today

    zanthian.jpg

    killed_by_keebler.jpg
  25. BlackHawk
    BlackHawk But I already have HL2 and I don't want to buy it.... :bawling:
  26. primesuspect
    primesuspect Then enjoy the lovely screenshots :p
  27. Zuntar
    Zuntar Yea, thats what I need, another game to suck my time up, Sheesh!!!




    *Zuntar make note to download
  28. RWB
    RWB [me]* RWB remotes into home PC, begins downloading TF2 via steam[/me]

    I'll be off my night shift in 1.5hrs, and I estimate I will be getting 0hrs of sleep before my next shift.
  29. primesuspect
  30. QCH
    QCH ;D That's funny!!!
  31. lemonlime
  32. CB
    CB Everybody's always hatin' on the medics :( What happened to the Geneva conventions?
  33. QCH
    QCH I love their chocolate!!!
  34. BuddyJ
    BuddyJ
    CB Droege wrote:
    Everybody's always hatin' on the medics :( What happened to the Geneva conventions?

    300 came out, making it popular to kill the messenger and other non-combat roles.

    this-is-sparta-caution-cone.jpg
  35. Thrax
    Thrax
    CB Droege wrote:
    Everybody's always hatin' on the medics :( What happened to the Geneva conventions?

    They picked up shotguns.
  36. primesuspect
    primesuspect This must be a beta thing: Did anyone else notice that the sniper's taunts go from australian outback cowboy to bavarian yodeler? WHERE IS HE FROM? IS HE AUSTRALIAN OR GERMAN?
  37. Cyclonite
    Cyclonite I need an IC invite! Cyclonite4!
  38. Zuntar
    Zuntar
    Cyclonite wrote:
    I need an IC invite! Cyclonite4!

    Ditto here!!
  39. primesuspect
    primesuspect Invited both :) Put your steam names in your user profile!
  40. Linc
    Linc That's actually the last news post I'll ever make; my life is over. I am consumed.
  41. primesuspect
    primesuspect Working out, you have been.....
  42. CB
    CB If you want people to be able to add you to their friends list easier. It works nicely to post a link to your community page. Thusly:

    http://steamcommunity.com/id/cbdroege
  43. GHoosdum
  44. lemonlime
    lemonlime This game is a 10 :D
  45. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum Boy you sure pwned me good earlier lemonlime!
  46. primesuspect
  47. Cyclonite
    Cyclonite I bought the Orange Box yesterday at 2pm. I'm still unable to download TF2. It says my purchase is still processing. I've NEVER had an issue with Steam before. They still haven't answered my support ticket. I'm so freaking mad.
  48. Ryder
    Ryder I am in the same boat as several.... $50 for the Orange box and I already have everything (ok...don't have episode 2 or portal..my bad).
  49. QCH
    QCH I'll see if I can afford to get the orange box... $45 dollars just so I can play TF Beta... we'll see.

    http://steamcommunity.com/id/qch2002
  50. primesuspect
    primesuspect Oh man I had some great times last night. I finally started playing as an Engineer, and found that I really like the class. The highlight of my Engineer career so far has been managed to successfully plant a teleporter exit right in the opposing team's Intelligence room. The game went very quickly after that:

    teleporter_in_intelroom.jpg

    But as in real life, victory is impermanent:

    killed_by_thrax.jpg

    killed_by_thrax2.jpg

    but revenge is sweet:

    thrax_revenge.jpg

    Oh well. Do you see a pattern here?

    killed_by_keebler2.jpg

    killed_by_ghoosdum.jpg

    killed_by_ghoosdum2.jpg
  51. CB
  52. primesuspect
    primesuspect Looks like Sharkydart didn't take well to a rocket there.... :wtf:
  53. CrazyJoe
    CrazyJoe I ordered the Orange Box last night... Haven't gotten to play it yet as it's still at 86%...
  54. BlackHawk
    BlackHawk Death sure does arrive fast in this game :-/
  55. Zuntar
    Zuntar Ok, so how does this work, If I buy the OB do I just download the games or will I get a voucher or what?
  56. Thrax
  57. Zuntar
    Zuntar I'm at 27%:bigggrin:
  58. Linc
    Linc Yay! Only 73% until your life is over! :D
  59. CB
    CB Played this game basically all weekend. Sharky, GH, Zan and I were having a small LAN party in Zan's basement. It was a lot of fun playing it in the same room with some of the people on my team. :)

    Black Hawk wrote:
    Death sure does arrive fast in this game :-/

    You need a medic.
  60. primesuspect
    primesuspect having teammates in the same room is a definite advantage. In sudden death after keebs bit it, he was spectating and calling the shots regarding where the opposing sniper was located, etc...
  61. Zuntar
    Zuntar OMG soooooo worth the wait, killer fun!!!!!!
  62. Linc
    Linc Icrontic TF2/HL2DM server in 3... 2... 1...
  63. mas0n
    mas0n loads of fun this weekend everybody. Sharkydart is one mean sniper...
  64. lemonlime
    lemonlime
    GHoosdum wrote:
    Boy you sure pwned me good earlier lemonlime!

    :ninja:

    I was trying to get on the same team as you guys, but that was just as fun ;)
  65. Hawk
    Hawk Are you guys playing this on Xbox or pc?
    Does the pc version play on the same server as Xbox?
    Just trying to find out if I can get the pc version,then join you all in the game sometime when your playing.
    And where can you get the pc version TF2. All I see is the 4-5 package deal. I've already have Half Life 2.
    And it says pre order....
  66. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum
    mas0n wrote:
    loads of fun this weekend everybody. Sharkydart is one mean sniper...

    He's not mean, he's just liberating you from whatever character class you're playing at the moment. ;)

    You sure are deadly accurate with that grenade launcher, mas0n. I recall being dominated by your grenades a few times this weekend. :bigggrin:
  67. Hawk
    Hawk I assume if you pre order you get the demo?
  68. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum
    Hawk wrote:
    I assume if you pre order you get the demo?

    The pre-order package includes access to the beta, yes.
    Hawk wrote:
    Are you guys playing this on Xbox or pc?
    Does the pc version play on the same server as Xbox?
    Just trying to find out if I can get the pc version,then join you all in the game sometime when your playing.
    And where can you get the pc version TF2. All I see is the 4-5 package deal. I've already have Half Life 2.
    And it says pre order....

    This is PC-only, no Xbox.

    If you preorder you get the package for $45. TF2 alone is going to be $30 but it doesn't release until October 10. The Orange Box package also comes with Episodes 1 and 2 of Half-Life 2 and Portal. It also frees up your original Half-Life 2 code so you can give the game to someone else.
  69. Hawk
    Hawk Oh, Cool, Thnxs GH. I'll post my Steam ID as soon as I get everything setup.
    I have to reload HL2 to sign into steam account. lol
  70. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum We'll see you in TF2, Hawk! :D
  71. Hawk
    Hawk Just one more question and I'll stop buggin you guys. lol
    Do I have to load HL2 again on my pc to get the steam game engine/account etc. working? Between that and the TF2 demo and other games I have loaded it will take up quite some space on the HD.
    The reason I'm asking is I'm running on my 36G raptor and like to keep some space on it.
  72. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum You just need to instal Steam and purchase the Orange Box. Then when your purchase is verified (this took a whole agonizing day for me) you have the ability to install only TF2 if you want. You can save the HD space that way. It runs on the HL2 engine, so there is some overlap, but you don't have to install HL2 first.
  73. primesuspect
    primesuspect you don't need to reload HL2 just to get into steam - steam is a separate program. Just get the latest version from steampowered.com and log in with your account info and you can buy the orange box.
  74. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum One more thing:

    Right this minute... I'd rather be sniping.
  75. Hawk
    Hawk Cool, Thnx guys. I'll post my steam ID as soon as i get everything all set back up.
  76. CB
    CB
    GHoosdum wrote:
    One more thing:

    Right this minute... I'd rather be sniping.

    I would rather be chasing a pyro with my medigun... :)
  77. primesuspect
    primesuspect Mas0n and I played last night with the crappiest team ever. It really cemented the fact that this is a team game that needs team strategy. In one example, we were defending control points. Our team consisted of mostly heavies, medics, and snipers rushing up to the front to try to hold off the other team in their resupply point. I kept calling for engineers and pyros to protect them from spies... It was a debacle. We got overrun in seconds.

    Mas0n and I bailed to another server and got wrapped up in another crappy team. The opposing team really knew what they were doing. They ubercharged a pyro and rushed the intel room, and had another medic/pyro combo on standby. They capture the intel twice in a row within about three minutes.

    We had no engineers in the intel room.... Crappy team :grumble:
  78. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum I got autobalanced away from CB, Zanthian, and sharky at one point yesterday onto a team that really knew what it was doing. The one thing I noticed about the team was how well they coordinated activities over the voice chat. We defended the last capture point of the map for twenty minutes straight.

    That was also the round that I got my "Grey Matter" badge. Twelve minutes between deaths as a sniper really racks up the headshot count. :p
  79. Cyclonite
    Cyclonite Well, of course, at about 8pm last night, my Orange Box purchase finally goes through. I missed an entire weekend of play. Pissed.
  80. primesuspect
    primesuspect Oh there's always tonight. Plus we may have a surprise for icrontic gamers soon....
  81. QCH
    QCH I love surprises!!!! :D
  82. Hawk
    Hawk Hey guys,
    Is there any way to get the steam DL to go any faster?
    I've got dsl extreme supposedly. I tested my speeds- average is 300-315 DL and average 2950-3000 upload.
    But the Steam DL is in between 170-200 KB/s!
    Seems it going to take a couple of hrs or more to DL just the TF2 with the latest Steam client.
    Tried all the settings on DL speed on the steam client and DSL/Cable seems to work fastest, but it's still slowwww.
    Also, Will I be able to play TL2 offline to practice and get used to the game?
    Never played it before.
  83. primesuspect
    primesuspect I think steam is just being hammered right now. It's okay, by tonight when the rest of us are playing, you'll have it :)
  84. Hawk
    Hawk OK, Thnx prime. I'm probably not going to be very good for a while, till I get the game down pat. lol
    I'll need some expierienced players to guide me through some of it, I'm sure.
  85. Cyclonite
    Cyclonite Cool. I've got to bowl tonight, but after I may head home for an hour or two to play some. Then, I'm going to go wait in line for my Halo 3 preorder. Yeah, I told myself I wouldn't do it. *Sigh* I'm going to.
  86. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum Don't worry Hawk. The "experienced" players have been playing TF2 for a week at most. ;)
  87. Hawk
    Hawk Oh, I noticed I need an invite to the Icrontic community to join.
    http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197975030958
    I'll update my profile as soon as it will let me...... ugh.
    Edited it about 15 times now and it doesn't update.
  88. Zanthian
    Zanthian Enjoyed a weekend of gaming with TF2. I am loving the engineer and the demoman. Played the medic like once and got Most health healed:9,253 (as Medic) Maybe i should play medic a few more times here or there.


    http://steamcommunity.com/id/zanthian
  89. mas0n
    mas0n Yeah, I am really liking the Demoman.

    http://steamcommunity.com/id/mas0n
  90. primesuspect
    primesuspect I think I've developed enough of a grasp on the team concept to say that I would like to assemble a real team to go out and take on some of these other clans.

    I would like to lead this team and also be our team's Engineer.

    This is the initial idea I had:

    Our medic needs to not only be able to run around behind an offensive player, but quickly determine the best teammate to receive the ubërcharge and also be aggressive enough (and skilled enough) to defend himself using his offensive weapons. The best medics I've seen so far are the ones who play "rough" and also know exactly where to stand to avoid fire while feeding their heavy or pyro. Also, the best uses of medics I've seen have not necessarily been as feeders for Heavies - I've seen excellent use of a medic/pyro combination on several occasions.

    Our dedicated Pyro's primary job is to defend the engineer - he also needs to be able to quickly identify potential spies, especially when the engineer is busy. The pyro must resist the urge to Kamikaze into a group of heavies or soldiers unless it is a desperate last ditch attempt to save a control point or something.

    Our dedicated scout/soldier needs to be able to play offensively and have tight, twitch aiming. I've been in several games that were won almost immediately by a skilled scout.

    Our dedicated sniper needs to be able to identify the ideal sniping spots and also be quick enough to switch to the SMG in order to tackle opponents close by, and be astute enough to avoid getting backstabbed by spies all the time.

    Our dedicated spy needs to know how to effective utilize disguise to prevent detection - how to "act" like the role he is playing. - "Gee, why is there a medic charging balls out at our engineer and turrets?" Also needs to be able to effectively use the cloak and make his primary job eliminating enemy machinery and snipers.

    Our dedicated Engineer needs to understand the pivotal role that teleporters can play and know the best spots to put them in. He also needs to understand how critical defensive turrets are. After the turrets are built, maintenance must take second place to defense via shotgun. I've found that the Engineer's pistol is also an effective long range weapon, and have gotten several headshots with it. Engineers also need to be able to identify potential spies and communicate effectively with his defensive pyro to help defend the turrets.

    I've got some excellent nominations for who fills these roles for us. Anybody else have any suggestions?
  91. Linc
    Linc I think it's not just a matter of having dedicated roles, but having a primary role and 1-2 secondary roles and have the team be cohesive and coordinated enough to adapt as the situation demands.
  92. BuddyJ
    BuddyJ I think everyone should spawn as Pyros. Let the burninating commence!
  93. Hawk
    Hawk What's the best way to learn the game.
    I've got it installed and have set all my keyboard options/headphones/mic etc.
    Now, I must learn the game.
    What server/servers are you guys using?
    Should I learn any specific player/role first?
  94. Zuntar
    Zuntar heavy = my style
  95. fatcat
    fatcat !hate all of you!!

    20% of TF2 downloaded....
  96. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum
    Keebler wrote:
    I think it's not just a matter of having dedicated roles, but having a primary role and 1-2 secondary roles and have the team be cohesive and coordinated enough to adapt as the situation demands.

    He's right - the key that I've noticed in the most effective teams is that they have a lot of adaptability. There may be a few people who maintain dedicated roles (medic, engineer), but everyone else should be able to play several roles well and switch as the situation changes. Great coordination and communication is also key. The best play sessions I've engaged in had constant communication and well-coordinated assaults and defenses.

    Also, if we're going to be building an Icrontic team, we'll need more than one person per role, since we're unlikely to all be able to play at the same time.
  97. Zanthian
    Zanthian I had fun chunking Keebs into bits last night on 2Fort while i was waiting to get on your guys team.
  98. Linc
    Linc My team was getting creamed on the granary level by a team of 5 scouts plus support, so I switched to Heavy and started mowing the fidgety ****s down to hold our control points from them until we could push back. :D Perhaps coincidence, but we started winning again :ninja: That, or maybe it's just 'cause mas0n joined my team :cool:
  99. Zanthian
    Zanthian How to know when you have played TF2 as an engineer for too long:
    You start to wonder how many hits with a wrench it would take to upgrade your car...
  100. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum I have a pipe wrench I can loan you if you'd care to find out...

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