On the other hand, how much smaller would the current user population be if Valve hadn’t been adding that bullshit? It mostly sounds like a server-problem, not a global problem though. I don’t know that any of the servers I’ve played on regularly have suffered from people specifically not playing. Its been a while since I played regularly though, so it may have gotten significantly worse in the last few months.
Alan_Au
4342
Fair enough. For the moment I’m able to deal with the idiots, although the ability to kick people from the server helps with that. :)
It does make me wonder whether World of Warcraft will benefit or suffer from adopting a free-2-play model as well (up to level 20 anyway). I suppose that’s a topic for a separate thread though.
Definitely a server issue. Find good ones and stick to those, for the most part the servers I play on have a manageable number of idiots.
One thing I have noticed though is the rise of server subscriber bennies making this problem worse. This allows the regulars to all stack themselves on one side, and leave the casual players stuck on the other team with the dregs with no way of evening things out. “Oh look, teams shuffled again… aaaand now we have 5 snipers… oh hey, the subscribers rolled us AGAIN. Who knew?”
I don’t see what they get out of it over the long term - where’s the fun in totally lop sided matches?
Really good servers (like the RPS one) have a team scramble vote which usually shakes up this kind of situation pretty swiftly.
Played this for the first time tonight and it was loads of fun!
I’m not sure I understand your vehemence. I’ve been seeing players melee each other in total boredom during the setup period since I’ve been playing TF2.
— Alan
He never said that he saw it in the setup period!
F2P TF2 have a good thing: at last something beat Counter Strike* in number of players.
*: and even for that, i have to count CS and CS Source as different games. :(
sluggo
4348
To be clear, I’m not talking about about people jumping around and chasing each other and meleeing each other. I’m not talking about meleeing someone for 5 seconds. I’m talking about a guy who spends the entire 60 second warmup completely focused on beating a teammate who’s not responding in any way, the equivalent of beating a single inanimate object for the entire setup period.
You don’t think it’s weird that would hold someone’s attention for a full 60 seconds? I do. I think it’s borderline psychotic.
But what really annoys me is that whenever I see someone do that, they don’t just suck, but they rarely even play. Like in my example, that guy bunnyhops for 15 minutes completely indifferent to the fact that there’s an actual game going on and they’re playing an active part in ruining it. And in TF2, where games often boil down to who can overwhelm choke point with bigger numbers, those guys are absolute teamkillers, and should die in a fire.
Welcome to the internet…
Honestly, those guys don’t bother me much. Especially when we have teams of 16vs16. There are ALWAYS one or two jackoffs on each time on public servers.
Now, when the whole server starts playing Hat Trade, I basically just give up on TF2.
Again, this is nothing I haven’t seen going on during warmup (which is exactly what he is saying Naeblis) on a daily basis in the last 2 years. Doesn’t really matter which server I’m on.
Borderline psychotic? Maybe. Weird? Sure. Bored people are bored.
— Alan
Sluggo all I can say is my experience in TF2 is not the same. I’ve seen all sorts of players do the melee in startup stuff (myself included) and then go into the game and top the board.
Playing as heavy and boxing out a Medic while screaming for Medic is mindless fun. Just like beating an Engy with your fish as a Scout while screaming “dispenser here”.
Blips
4352
Raises his hand as someone who melees people endlessly during warm up
And not only do I not suck, I’m usually near the top of the board. Depends on the class I’m playing through. I pretty much only play scout, sniper, spy. I do most of my warmup melee madness when playing as the scout.
But I probably haven’t done it to you (at least lately). I almost never play the game anymore due to the direction it has taken with hats and everything else. Re-installing it now so I can get one of the summer sale tickets.
I see his point, it’s not the melee aspect or the messing around, it’s the singlemindedness of the act that sets it apart. Trying to jump on a tiny ledge is just a fun little distraction, whanging away at someone without budging just to make an annoying noise is watered-down sociopathy. I would always just hit mute and read a book for a minute.
H.
sluggo
4354
So you’ll arbitrarily pick one person, and mash your mouse button 100 times to melee him repeatedly until the match starts? And you won’t move or switch targets, even if your target is AFK and doesn’t react in any way? You’ll just stand there and keep mashing away?
If so, I can only shake my head and wonder, were you dropped on your head as a child? Are you fascinated with small shiny objects? I can understand people jumping around and spraying stuff during warmup, but as in my previous example, this is a whole different kind of focused weirdness, like walking up to your refrigerator door and poking it for a minute. You can’t help but look at that guy and assume his elevator doesn’t quite make it to the top floor. And in my experience, that guy is usually there to just dance around without any idea there’s an actual game happening.
And all the people saying, “welcome to the internet, there are people like that in every game” – TF2 is not like every other game. When half your team is drunk in Counter-Strike or Call of Duty, it makes it harder to win, but it doesn’t really change the gameplay experience – you’re still picking up kills and the game progresses as normal. In TF2, which relies so much on balance and tactics, just 2 or 3 dumbass teammates can mean the difference between a fun, competitive match or getting steamrolled/spawncamped for long, frustrating stretches.
JM1
4355
You could hold the mouse button down.
TF2 == Serious Internets Business
The goddamn game has gotten so stale and boring anyway that spending 30 seconds shooting an unresponsive teammate during warmup is the highlight of the match.
I have done this, and seen this, and don’t see it as any different to any other warmup entertainment. I actually find your extreme response to it very odd.
Actually, I find the opposite. TF2 is built to allow for some of the players being new or rubbish, without the rest of the players being affected too much or even noticing, a lot of the time.
It takes a lot of work to be consistently clueless enough for a fellow player to have reason to be annoyed at you.
Blips
4359
First of all, are the implied insults really necessary? It’s not like I’m sitting there, holding down the mouse button with a wide grin on my face and drool pooling over my keyboard. I’m hitting someone cause I’m bored and waiting for the game to start.
If someone is AFK, I usually will find someone else who is also smashing people, waiting for the game to start. I don’t limit myself simply to smashing people with my bat, I’ll also jump about. It also sort of provides a mild warm up, especially if the other person is running around.
The only difference between spraying stuff on the walls, and smashing people is the key your finger is pressing. This is a game. Not real life. People are filling the time with pointless actions to take their mind off the pointless time.
But actively killing people and setting them on fire… that’s perfectly normal? I think you people (those who have an issue with the smashing) need to realize that the people who are hitting others during the grace period aren’t actively sitting there in front of their computers thinking, “OH YEAH, OH YEAH, GONNA KILL THIS GUY, THIS IS REAL”. At least, I hope not.
Squee
4360
