They are planning to do some that are tied to other stats later on, but I think the latest word is still that the first batch will be achievement-achieved.
I think there’s a genuine business reason to make your online game ‘sticky’ by having achievements (or experience) driving unlocks. People will definitely play longer, and once they’ve unlocked stuff, be a bit more reluctant to change to the next new multiplayer game. I get that. New weapons are cool, and I’m looking forward to having more choices there (though it will certainly raise the bar to entry for new players).
The problem is that, as you mentioned above, most people are going to grind these achievements, and those games are going to be worse. Case in point - I don’t have the “Grey Matter” sniper achievement. Why? Well, I can’t hit the broad side of a barn, but more importantly, being a sniper is often completely useless for my team. In most games, the last thing you need is another sniper, and you can often see this in games with multiple snipers on each side. So no achievement - and it really doesn’t matter.
Now that unlocks are tied to acheivements, I’m going to have to grind all 36 labors that Valve sets for me - not because I necessarily want to bonesaw 5 guys to death in a row, or that it would represent smart medic play, but because that’s what I’ve got to do to get more tools in the toolbox. Let’s take Valve at their word - the unlocks will be different, rather than better, but if you want to help your team, you’re going to want that choice. One of TF2’s charms is that the games are individual moments - jump in, play a round, and that’s it. Winning is a momentary glory, but has no consequence beyond itself. I worry that we’ll see more asshattery now that people have an in-game reason to get achievements.
bloo
1743
Hmmm. Huge numbers of people playing medic to grind achievements…maybe that’s when I’ll get my Sniper and Spy on (less than 5 hours combined in those classes).
The usual TF2 game starts tonight at 10pm EST - and you’re invited! Just join the Qt3 group under steam to check server and password settings. Don’t forget to plug in your mic!
(as an aside, I’m with malphigian in that last week was pretty noisy - I think having all talk enabled makes the game much chattier, and it was the loud sort of drunkenness, rather than Kalle’s quiet English “I have no idea where I am” sort of drunkenness.)
Scrax
1745
Those are my favorite classes!
Yea, Allspeak is only great for certain situations. It doesn’t bother me as much as you guys though. I don’t mind the celebratory “I got you!” phrases people shout out, but when people have entire screaming conversations it gives me a headache.
You can still mute certain people though right? Should help a lot.
I don’t mind that, but when it’s one guy literally screaming, over and over, game after game, “THIS WILL BE GREAT PRACTICE FOR OUR CLAN MATCH. HA HA. CLAN. HA HA.”.
I’ll muddle through, but if that guy is there again tonight I’m going to have to kill him repeatedly.
That will no doubt help him practice for the clan match.
Houngan
1748
Ahem. Please scroll back umpty pages to my recommendation for a key that mutes the current speaker. How much would you pay for that feature?
H.
Last time I checked, EA isn’t maintaining TF2.
bloo
1750
“Dude! OMG, are you ready?! For the clan match! We gotta practice because we’re gonna have the POE clan match against <whoever it was>! We got a clan match! Dude! Clan. Match. For POE! It’s a match with a clan! And we gotta be ready! What’s your name on the POE forums so I can add you to the list for the clan match! The forums? POE? Man Clatch! Come on, dude!”
What was that guys name (so I can switch teams if alltalk is off)?
Scrax
1751
Press ESC
Click player list
Select Syd
Click mute in game voice button
Resume game
Five American Dollars!
Seriously, that would be a great addition to the interface - I hate having to stop playing the game to mute someone. We could call it a hotkey, get Tom on board, and then - Profit!
bloo
1754
i was wondering how you did that. thanks.
The problem with muting people in a MP game like that is that you don’t realize when you’re talking over them, which can make things even more annoying for other players.
I guess you could keep an eye out for the icon.
Houngan
1756
You didn’t see what I did there.
H.
Scrax
1757
New high score last night. I then proceeded to get hit by very large sticks the remainder of the night.
I guess I’m just closer to the PoE mindset, whatever that may be. It’s a relaxed, goofy atmosphere with a few intentionally bizarre maps thrown into it. It’s fun to just drop in and play the game without having to worry about some asshat taking it more seriously and racking up his score.
Yeah, it’s just a retarded night of gaming.
And boy my team sucked on Hall of Death last night. I mean, what the fuck, you idiots?
