When I was a younger lad, I spend many of the later years of my childhood chronically online, I would spend almost all my free time on my gaming computer I got for Christmas when I was in grade 6. I got Steam and played games, went on Youtube and wasted my life to meaninglessness, the primal years of learning and development in my life. Predating even getting this gaming pc, I would constantly borrow my brothers laptop and play an extremely revolutionary game that still holds up almost 20 years later, Team Fortress 2. I would play Suijin and use the trackpad until I evolved to the computer, where I had an actual mouse. 9 classes all with a uniquely simply personality, a bunch of maps, a comedic yet demented community, weapons and hats and game modifications. This whole game is perfectly simple enough to waste thousands of hours for. This is a type of game that is good enough for my attention to be consistent, for example, getting back into it about once a year, something I usually do with elder scroll games.
The design of TF2 is amazing, the individuality of each class does a very good job at setting each class apart and it is extremely rare to see such a commitment to something over the internet. Even the parts that are badly designed, people have entirely accepted over a long period of time and are just simply enjoying the game as a completed product. There is so many aspects of design that are entirely unique to TF2, like the idea of critical hits, one of the things I love most about the combat. I love how I can instantly feel like I am amazing at the game solely based on random chance. I also love that upon the 9 classes and their different weapons, you can build an endless amount of sub classes and not need to add 30 classes like in other inferior games such as Overwatch (not saying Overwatch is not got, just saying TF2 is better). I remember in elementary I had an ongoing argument about which game was better, he was for Overwatch and I was for Team Fortress 2, i'd like to see hot many people are playing Overwatch or its unecessary sequal in a few years. I also love the seasonal events and the wackyness of playing during Halloween, the game always feels chaotic but especially during Halloween. I don’t have a favourite class as I find them all enjoyable in their own way, lately I have just been playing what people on my team are not playing and with that I find a good role. The game just has infinite playability for me, and it truly shows that I want to consistently play this game so far after I have stopped regular gaming as a result of maturity. With scout you get a rush of dopamine running around and clicking when the crosshair of your scattergun lines up perfectly with the enemy. With demoman, you fire a bunch of bouncing grenades in the general direction of enemies and watch them blow up. With soldier you do the same thing practically but the projectiles don’t bounce. With pyro you can engulf the enemy team in flames and watch the damage do itself. With heavy you can feel invincible and simply hold your crosshair over anyone. With medic you can feel like the team’s caretaker and make someone feel invincible when you ubercharge. With engineer you can cozily set up your own base and watch the kills happen with little effort. With sniper you can hide on buildings and in the far distance and let the people walk to your crossahair. With spy you can hide behind enemy lines, waiting for the perfect moment to backstab and dismantle a major team push. All the classes are so infinitely replayable. I like to play KOTH and experiment with all sorts of strange playstyles, I have memories of playing Suijin and hiding in a strange tree spot, sniping enemies on their bridge with such ease.
There is a lot of problems now with bots but if you have a bit of patience, this can be easily overcome. Remember that the steamcharts play count is not real, and the true number of people actively playing TF2 ranges from 15-30 thousand, with the rest being idle bots in the main menu and cheater sniper bots. When I found out that at any given time, tens of thousands of bots are idling in the main menu to get cases, I was shocked that this was being done on such a major scale. Its almost as if people want the game to die. FixTF2 is sort of working, and the in-game problems are at least getting a little better. The lack of moral values that is associated with much of the TF2 community is also troubling, you can easily find all sorts of sexual degradation in such an inherently innocent game. Doesn’t mean you can also easily find a good simple time with another random player, and anything is to be expected on the spectrum of the internet. I also do not like the free-to-play money making strategies Valve uses though they do keep the servers alive. It is practically the first step to a gambling addiction. I do find the whole economy of the game quite a thorough endeavor to put time into as I did a few years ago and was able to find all sorts of items. Weird melee items, emotes and hats, and every once in a while I can use enough weapon drops to make a random hat.
Not sure if I’ll be still playing this game in a month, but for now I will appreciate it for what it is and will continue to going forward, like a good piece of art. Team Fortress 2 gaming...

July 3, 2024 - heavy is ded and mentlegen reference