OCR TF2: Stab stab stab!

[Bleck]

- Fixed Engineers being able to build level 3 mini-sentries using The Wrangler for real this time

this is what the fourth time they've patched this

[Powerlord]

this is what the fourth time they've patched this

Third, I think... but yeah.

Didn't they also patch this like a year ago? I wonder if Mann-conomy broke it again or something.

[ParanoidDrone]

Fixed Engineers being able to build level 3 mini-sentries using The Wrangler for real this time

And I'm Mary, Queen of Scots.

Third, I think... but yeah.

Didn't they also patch this like a year ago? I wonder if Mann-conomy broke it again or something.

Yeah, it's not a new bug.

EDIT: Under the Steam news tab, I found this gem of a L4D2 patch note.

Fixed the fix of the fix of the fix of the door exploit in No Mercy

I'm sensing a pattern.

YET ANOTHER EDIT: Frogg has generously relieved me of my spare Eternal Reward in order to craft me a Familiar Fez. You can thank or rage at him, whichever you prefer, later.

[Lord Exor]

So, who here likes Natascha ?

[Cinderwild]

I banged Natascha in every hole.

[Necro]

Frogg has generously relieved me of my spare Eternal Reward in order to craft me a Familiar Fez. You can thank or rage at him, whichever you prefer, later.

He's a good amphibian. I will miss not being able to pinpoint your exact location from halfway across the map because of the decloak sound. The fun part is that you are going to have to use your gun more than you prefer. I'm calling this now, once Polycount items are no longer banned in competition the Saharan Spy set will become widely used with the cloak and dagger. They will force a Pyro into play just to clean an area of back-caps.

So, who here likes Natascha ?

It's a good weapon for harassing (bad) Scouts, Medics, and Pyros. You will notice the lack of firepower against any of the heavier classes though. It works well as a tagging weapon meaning you slow them down, your team finishes them off. It works well in tandem with a Soldier any high DPS class. Also, not my opinion, it is probably the most annoying weapon to play against.

[Powerlord]

it is probably the most annoying weapon to play against.

QFT

10 char limit

[ParanoidDrone]

He's a good amphibian. I will miss not being able to pinpoint your exact location from halfway across the map because of the decloak sound. The fun part is that you are going to have to use your gun more than you prefer. I'm calling this now, once Polycount items are no longer banned in competition the Saharan Spy set will become widely used with the cloak and dagger. They will force a Pyro into play just to clean an area of back-caps.

...

Do you have any idea how much I use my gun anyway? If anything I'll use it less to preserve my disguise.

It'd be lovely if Spy gets used more frequently in comp, but I'm not holding my breath.

[DMaster]

Not that anyone cares, but I just got TF2, so I'd be up for playing with OCR in the future, if you'd like.

[Cinderwild]

That's the thing I don't get about the Saharan Spy weapon set. The L'etranger and Eternal Reward don't really seem like they would mesh well together, but you have to use them together for the set bonus.

Reminds me of how Bushwhacka seems more suited for Jarate instead of Darwin's Danger Shield, but once again, to get the set bonus they go together. I think the TF2 dev team just does things without much thought.

[Powerlord]

That's the thing I don't get about the Saharan Spy weapon set. The L'etranger and Eternal Reward don't really seem like they would mesh well together, but you have to use them together for the set bonus.

None of the guns go "well" together with the Eternal Reward. That's just its drawback for insta-disguise backstabs.

Reminds me of how Bushwhacka seems more suited for Jarate instead of Darwin's Danger Shield, but once again, to get the set bonus they go together. I think the TF2 dev team just does things without much thought.

All the sets have some drawback for having the complete set. There's a reason that the Sniper, Scout, and Soldier sets have no minuses on the set itself.

Having said that, even in the Pyro set, the Degreaser goes a lot better with the Axtinguisher than with the Powerjack.

[Bahamut]

I noticed Don Newman using the full pyro set yesterday, and he made some interesting comments about how it lets you jump to further areas than before, such as in Dustbowl first stage, near second cap - you can jump to the sniper perch from the upper left side (left from red's view). I also saw him around the point A spawn entrance of blue in Steel jumping onto the uphill area from the roof to clear that area out.

[Powerlord]

I noticed Don Newman using the full pyro set yesterday, and he made some interesting comments about how it lets you jump to further areas than before, such as in Dustbowl first stage, near second cap - you can jump to the sniper perch from the upper left side (left from red's view). I also saw him around the point A spawn entrance of blue in Steel jumping onto the uphill area from the roof to clear that area out.

It also lets you catch up to fleeing classes.

However, it makes you even worse than you already were versus Scouts, Heavies, and Engineers due to bullet vulnerability.

[Necro]

Not that anyone cares, but I just got TF2, so I'd be up for playing with OCR in the future, if you'd like.

Jump on the server anytime. The regulars are friendly and will gladly assist you and answer questions. Try all the classes and find what you like.

That's the thing I don't get about the Saharan Spy weapon set. The L'etranger and Eternal Reward don't really seem like they would mesh well together, but you have to use them together for the set bonus.

I think that the synergy is made to come from using the set with the Dead Ringer. The Letranger allows you to take pot shots while refilling your cloak while the set bonus allows you to decloak anywhere. This allows you to get a new disguise every time you decloak. I think that the basic idea would be.

1. Feign death
   
2. Get backstab
   
3. Shoot enemy that notices you
   
4. Feign death again.
   

The Letranger goes great on its own actually. If you decloak early it only takes 2 shots to get a full cloak due to recharge and remaining cloak.

[Powerlord]

Jump on the server anytime. The regulars are friendly and will gladly assist you and answer questions. Try all the classes and find what you like.

Well... most of them anyway.

A few general tips:

1. Anyone on either team could be an enemy Spy. (Spies will piss you off until you learn how to deal with them.) In addition, when a Spy dies, you can't assume they're actually dead unless you saw them cloak or decloak (thanks to the Dead Ringer)... and even this isn't reliable thanks to the L'Etranger gun they can use to recharge cloak.

Attack allies that are acting suspicious (ally with full health running away from a combat zone, ally placing sappers on allied sentry guns, etc...), as they may be spies.

2. If you see your allies all fleeing or hanging back from going around a corner, don't rush around it yourself... there's probably sticky bombs, a sentry gun, or enemies right around the corner.

3. A good starting class is Medic... keeping in mind that your secondary weapon is the heal beam, and that when it reaches 100% charge, right-click will make you and the person you're healing invulnerable for 8s (or is it 10s?).

Medics are one of the (if not THE) most important class in the game.

Other good starting classes: Scout (for the speed), Soldier (for damage), Pyro (for close-range damage, also less likely to get attacked by Spies)

I think that the synergy is made to come from using the set with the Dead Ringer. The Letranger allows you to take pot shots while refilling your cloak while the set bonus allows you to decloak anywhere. This allows you to get a new disguise every time you decloak. I think that the basic idea would be.

1. Feign death
   
2. Get backstab
   
3. Shoot enemy that notices you
   
4. Feign death again.
   

The hard part is not getting spotted between the decloak and stab. Since it still takes 2 seconds to decloak, you're extremely vulnerable during this time.

Sentries, on the other hand, won't attack you until about halfway through the decloak. I've been circling strafing unguarded level 3s to sap them lately.

The Letranger goes great on its own actually. If you decloak early it only takes 2 shots to get a full cloak due to recharge and remaining cloak.

Actually, it's more like 3. DR drops you down to max 40% cloak when you decloak early, and with +15% per hit... and you continue to recharge as you go.

[Rambo]

I noticed Don Newman using the full pyro set yesterday, and he made some interesting comments about how it lets you jump to further areas than before, such as in Dustbowl first stage, near second cap - you can jump to the sniper perch from the upper left side (left from red's view). I also saw him around the point A spawn entrance of blue in Steel jumping onto the uphill area from the roof to clear that area out.

You can jump to the sniper perch on dustbowl without the set bonus.

Prior to the patch, only demos, soldiers, and heavies couldn't make that jump. Not sure if heavies can with the GRU now.... I hope not.

I don't think you could make the jump to the elevated blue spawn on steel before though. I think only medics could. (or engies if you stood on a building)

[ParanoidDrone]

I remember being able to make that Dustbowl jump as a Spy in our Highlander match. Needs pixel-perfect timing, but it's possible. No doubt the +10% speed would make it easier though.

The irony is that I haven't been able to make it since.

[DarkeSword]

You can jump to the sniper perch on dustbowl without the set bonus.

Prior to the patch, only demos, soldiers, and heavies couldn't make that jump. Not sure if heavies can with the GRU now.... I hope not.

I don't think you could make the jump to the elevated blue spawn on steel before though. I think only medics could. (or engies if you stood on a building)

Heavies can make the jump with the GRU now.

But yes, that jump has always been doable by Pyros. I used to go back there a lot when Backburner was a monster-weapon and destroy things.

[Meeting_Gman]

I got a message so I just wanted to clarify that it wasn't atmuh I was talking about. I'm sorry about that.

[ParanoidDrone]

Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Team Fortress 2

Trading changes

• Added some anti-scam advice to the chat window.
  
• Increased trading slots to 8 slots per person.
  
• Added item rarity colors.
  
• Added the item’s original name to the item description.
  
• Made most tools tradable.
  
• Fixed Ellis’ Cap and the Frying Pan not being tradable
  

Hi Powerlord. Couldn't resist. :3

[Powerlord]

Updates to Team Fortress 2 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Team Fortress 2

Trading changes

• Added some anti-scam advice to the chat window.
  
• Increased trading slots to 8 slots per person.
  
• Added item rarity colors.
  
• Added the item’s original name to the item description.
  
• Made most tools tradable.
  
• Fixed Ellis’ Cap and the Frying Pan not being tradable
  

Hi Powerlord. Couldn't resist. :3

I usually quote the notes as soon as they go out to the hlds_linux mailing list. Yeah, they didn't post them today.

[ParanoidDrone]

Damn, I thought I had managed to ninja you.

[Powerlord]

BLU and RED are both in the middle of restarting. I'm guessing that's FireSlash's doing, as I'd already updated them and was trying to update Highlander (before restarting all 3) when I noticed BLU and RED were both down.

Something's munching a lot of CPU processing power (or disk read/write) on the server right now (*coughmincraftservercough*), which is slowing down the game servers startup.

RED and BLU should be up now, Highlander is now restarting.

[Powerlord]

By the way, when they say "Made most tools tradable." they mean "made keys tradeable."

[Brushfire]

Something's munching a lot of CPU processing power (or disk read/write) on the server right now (*coughmincraftservercough*), which is slowing down the game servers startup.

Cry some more.