TF2, Meet the Medic, Free To Play.

[mkultra333]

My favourite game, Team Fortress 2, has released a new "Meet The..." movie, starring the Medic (my second most played class, after Heavy.)

Not only that, but Valve have decided to make TF2 free to play... forever! Hopefully that means the servers will fill up with noobs. Ah, noobs. So easy to kill.

http://www.teamfortress.com/

If you've never seen the "Meet The..." movies, they're pretty good. You can check them all out here, http://www.teamfortress.com/movies.php

[betajaen]

I knew about Meet the Medic video was arriving this week, but wasn't expecting a free TF2.

It makes a lot of sense; they've probably reached the limit of amount of people who have bought it, and they can get extra cash from the Mann-Conomy.

[mkultra333]

Yeah. The micro-transactions model must be working pretty well.

I had a look at the forum, lots of whining about the servers filling up with newbies. Personally I think it's a great idea. An extra boost of energy and longevity for the game... not that it really needed it, but it doesn't hurt. Then again, whiners are always complaining about the game being ruined every time anything changes, it seems to go with the game.

It's pretty amazing the amount of ongoing effort Valve put into TF2. It must be the most updated, best supported game ever.

[betajaen]

It also proves that the franchise model of other games companies that release the same game each year bit with an extra gun or new map pack - isn't necessary.

[Kojack]

Or for a very different kind of multiplayer experience, a version of Arma 2 was released for free yesterday.

Back on topic:
[youtube]JUPzN7tp7bQ[/youtube]

[mkultra333]

Bastards! Though that tele on a train was pretty clever.

The fear is that now it's free, TF2 will be overrun by the above, and the below.

[youtube]5GKlzYGDaHE[/youtube]

[betajaen]

Meh, Cheaters going to cheat no matter what.

All it will do is increase the need and use of private servers, which is better in IMHO.

[Edit]

This is on the FAQ page;

Q. Won’t going Free to Play mean more griefers and cheaters?
We’re increasing our focus on making sure that hostile players can’t ruin your fun. Specifically, we’ll be keeping a close eye on players exploiting the ability to make infinite free accounts to bypass bans. We’ve built systems that’ll allow us to measure and track what these players are doing, and respond quickly.

[mkultra333]

Having played 10ish days of TF2 since it became free to play, I see the following:

1. My Kill:Death ratio has gotten a lot better, as n00bs charge headlong at my heavy from distance and get mowed down easily. I even see my K:D occasionally reaching 2:1, which is pretty rare for me, I'm usually happy if it gets anywhere near 1:1. However, overall, my team will win about half the time as per usual, since n00bs will be roughly even on each team.

2. There's more rage quitting in the last minute of the game. This is a pain, since plenty of turn-around-wins can happen in the last minute of the game, especially on payload maps like Badwater. But new players only see the sentries and think it's a lost cause.

3. The team balance is often atrocious. So many recent teams have 4 snipers, 4 spies, leaving virtually no attack classes. The new players all want to play the 1-hit-1-kill classes. Or they'll load up on engies thinking sentries will save the day (Sentries work for a while, but tend to collapse suddenly allowing easy progress.) Fortunately, no-medic teams haven't increased... they're as common and bad as ever.

Overall, I've actually found it pretty fun. It's a nice change from being slaughtered by pro-players, and there's a certain vicarious pleasure in seeing new players gradually get it together strategically.