Dark Chocobo

So the Demo's items are basically "let's give him only buffs and make him ridiculous in melee range". Great.

Xero, I'd be up for it when finals are over, and I'm sure Chili would as well.

Heeeeeee. http://www.halolz.com/2010/12/02/tf2-old-spice/

Frackin' finally. Steam is once again fully working for me, as far as I know. However, classes and projects are busy, so I won't be making many appearances. Less than Paranoid, anyway. I swear, that guy never leaves the GameLab. I'm sure you all missed me. Or something.

I for one welcome our new Valve overlords. But srsly, I love that Valve is doing this. As far as I know, outside of stuff like paying a few thousand for maps, this is the first time anyone has gotten paid royalties for submitting stuff to a developer and said developer using it in game. Most developers (I'm looking at you, Activision) treat their player fanbase like shit. We're just money givers, we have no good ideas or valid suggestions. Valve has changed that dynamic, one small step at a time - from incorporating player-given ideas (the Equalizer) to community maps to now the Mann Co Store with all the Polycount items. Not only did they take those items and implement them officially (something no other developer, as far as I know, has done for a game), but they are giving money to the item creators. That's something that I'm damn sure no other developer has -ever- done. The trend of players making games (or stuff for those games) has been a long, wonderful tradition for PC games. Modding tools have existed for a while, but no company has ever made the step of not only officially incorporating player-made content into the game through updates, but paying the content creators for what the company made off of it. This is has been a smashing success for Valve and the content creators. I hope other developers take notice of this event and make it less of an anomaly. Developers may make the games, but I can guarantee you they don't know the game as well as the people who play it for hours on end.

That gets even funnier if you replace Gabe's voice with Professor Farnsworth. Ninja edit: Also, in , the group Mav and myself made has a cameo. Click the link, or get to it some other way at 55 seconds, and watch the bottom right corner.

So, Steam has decided to hate my school computer. As a consequence, I'm currently TF 2, L4D2, Mass Effect 2, and whatever the hell else-less until I can figure out what the hell the problem is. On the plus side, I can still trade items and stuff using my crappylappytoppy.

I'd be at the team meeting, but you know, no Steam connection, though I was just playing TF 2. I can only assume Valve has decided to personally hate me.

hay gaiz i found atmuh!

Nintendo had to approve the scene (and all the Nintendo references), actually. Apparently Miyamoto loved it. Also there was an Earthbound reference? How did I miss it?

I'm seeing a trend here, Brushfire. You seem to dislike Heavy stuff.

I'm so glad the Shiv got the nerf, which it sorely needed. Stupid anti-spy weapon, like most other things in the Sniper's arsenal nowadays.

There's also a crucial backstab to get rid of a fully Ubercharged medic, or killing a medic/heavy combo pushing the cart, or sap-and-stabbing an Engineer and his sentry at a heavy defensive point, or getting rid of a teleporter at their spawn, or taking down some Snipers that keep the team back, or getting rid of a Demo and his stickies that are all over a capture point, or backstabbing a few enemies to stop the cart from being pushed, or spycapping points on CP maps... I can keep going on, really. I'm sure Paranoid and Chili can think of some more.

But some classes (Soldier, Sniper, Scout, etc) have a higher impact depending on the skill of the player, and that skill is different for each class - or at least requires some change, even if it's slight. Both Sniper and Scout require twitch aiming, but the mobility and in-your-face aspect of the Scout make it a vastly different playstyle, despite it being twitch aiming. A Soldier who knows how to play Soldier will do much, much better than someone new to it, even if they've been playing TF 2 for a while. Saying that there are no good Spies, just lucky ones, ignores the skillset required by Spies in order for them to have a big impact - knowing when and where to get your targets and the ability to get away fast and intact when the damage is done. It doesn't need the twitch aiming of the Sniper or the hitscan stuff for the Soldier or Demo or the area knowledge/defensive mind of the Engineer. Good Spy tactics require time to learn and put into application. You can't just start at the class, having amazing common sense, and then top the scoreboard. You need to know the maps, be adjusted to them and where to go, know who is a priority target and the constantly shifting nature of the battlefield. Spy is the class that requires the most mental forethought, at least if you want to be pretty good at it. Yes, luck plays a big part of it, moreso than any other class. There's a metric ton of variables that come into play when you're a Spy than with any other class - enemy communication, people having gone Pyro and doing spychecking, Engineers who guard their sentries well, and so on. Denying that luck plays a part in Spy is simply wrong, but the skill of the player matters a lot - even if that skill isn't the usual one required in most FPS games. You can have your viewpoint and opinion on the matter of luck vs skill, but Spy requires a different mindset to play well and be effective. There are those people who can be great at every class, no matter how much they've played it before - bravo for them. In the meantime, the other 95% of TF 2 players will have to put time and effort into the class to learn the ins and outs, and by extension, become good at using that class. -Summer Glau