ParanoidDrone

Okay, just checking.

I keep meaning to bring this up but also keep forgetting. Is there a reason I can access the admin menu with what looks like typical kick/ban functionality, but can't /slap or similar?

So what, exactly, is the cause behind the background map being an option in map nominations? (Also, it showed up as arena_ravine when looking at the server info through Steam.) I assume it's fixable, if only we could figure out what was wrong. There seemed to be debate on the issue in the server the other day.

I've heard something about the updating changing player-specific IDs that some server mods use to keep track of bans, donations, etc. The details are beyond my comprehension. Does that affect us?

Most of my time in TF2 lately has been on the beta maps. I want to like Cactus Canyon but the difficulty curve is inconsistent across the map. And it's hard to form a concrete opinion when there's always a few people doing the conga in spawn instead of playing. </rant>

I'm glad they changed Cactus Canyon, the map was fairly schizophrenic in that it was either a complete faceroll for BLU or a complete stonewall for RED, at varying points of the map depending on when they get their act together. There was also a massive chokepoint on the first point of stage 2, with everyone being funneled through a single arch. Asteroid may as well be a new map entirely, but I wish they'd left the cave systems in.

To be honest, me. I never really liked how the Demoman could excel on both offense and defense, and his ability to lob stickies and detonate them ASAP was a large part of his offensive game. I thought it made sense to nerf that aspect in order to reign him in a bit and encourage more thoughtful sticky placement, laid in advance as traps. It also doubled by making the Demoman more vulnerable in close quarters, which makes sense given that his counter is Scout. The one part of the nerf I disagreed with was how it applied to taking out Sentries as well. The rest of this dives into speculation with a side of ranting since I have no 6s experience, so feel free to stop reading here. From what I understand, Demoman was limited to a single player in 6s because of a combination of high damage and simple trap creation. With 2 Demomen, a team could lock down all possible chokepoints around a given area and that's no fun for anyone. Okay, makes sense. Now that Demoman was nerfed so that his stickies do middling damage at best in direct combat, people started acting like the sky is falling, demanding Valve roll back the change (which they did...) and some proposed a mod to do so themselves. But since the Demoman in his previous state was such a powerhouse to the point that he was explicitly limited to 1 per team, shouldn't have that been a red flag that he was perhaps too powerful? Did anyone in the comp scene suggest perhaps raising the Demoman limit to 2? (Likely not since the trap issue remains.) Or perhaps accept the idea that a 6s team wouldn't have to be Medic/Demoman/Soldierx2/Scoutx2 once one of those classes was nerfed off his pedestal? Embrace change? Explore new options? Evolve the metagame? Anything? IDK, I'm ranting at this point, but it honestly worried me to see very little constructive feedback about the nerf. (Admittedly I don't frequent the competitive forums much so feel free to point me to reasoned arguments if they exist.) And now that it's been rolled back, I assume purely in response to the outcry, I can't help but be slightly annoyed. Also what about Heavy's nerf? That one I can easily see room for improvement but it's been left alone.

Turns out that the explosion on pl_upward is triggered by any prop_physics entity falling into the pit, not just the cart. This includes the bread that pops out of teleporters nowadays. If this happens, the pit explodes and the cart vanishes. I think the HUD also shows the last point as being captured.

Verdict on new Diamondback: It's amazing, my aim just continues to suck.

I concur, MVM isn't really my cup of tea.

No points for guessing what I'll be trying out next time I end up playing TF2.

WTF am I looking at.

The comic is amazing and does a great job characterizing the mercenaries. Well, the ones shown so far. And my love for Ms. Pauling continues to grow. There's a second update that fixes a crash on startup related to custom HUDs, IDK if that has anything to do with the server issues.

The sheer number of Swiftwater versions is kind of funny.

I still prefer turbine_pro because the banana hallway is massively useful to me as a Spy, but I understand your point.