I used to play TF2 on a regular basis about three years ago. I only jumped on it about once during that gap for a Lan, but I downloaded it again and donned my precious few hats and equipment to enter the fray once again.
After playing for a total of about 8 hours in the last week, I've earned about a dozen new items and a handful of achievements. It was then I realised how much happened while I was away.
TF2 became free-to-play, which I think is a nice move on Valve's part, and a little bit of a kick in the balls for people who bought the game all those years ago before said freeness. A little bit of compensation wouldn't have gone astray, but money is money and they probably put it towards Half-Life 3. Hahahahaha...oh that was funny, but now I'm sad.
So after the flood of new players came for the free game and went, I can appriciate the community now that the game has been around long enough to have a built a sizable, but decent fanbase. Then the tide of new players came, probably got pawned by the better, more experienced players, and those who rage and cry would have quit, but those with integrity kept at it and became good players. So what are we left with? A free game with a very, very friendly, but competitive atmosphere. During my time playing, I've nothing but enjoyed my time on a variety of servers. Players are friendly, the game is challenging and I've never had that nagging feeling that someone is using hacks, nor did anyone claim someone was. Let's face it, nobody knows if it's hacks or just some bizarre item the other player is using.
Items! So many items! My little collection of items may be insignificant compared to the swathe of collectables others have accrued, but I know I have a few special rare items for pre-purchasing Steam games or special in-game unlocks from a bygone era. See my fancies? YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM! But seriously, every time I play now, I see a variety of styles and items, I see different players all the time, and it's very colourful.
It's also nice to see Valve supporting it's community with custom maps. They've just done this recently with CS:GO and I can honestly say a big 'Thank You' to the boys and girls over there for being such a pleasant company to have around, especially compared to the big dogs of EA, Ubisoft and the other money-hungry, community smiting companies out to fill their bottom line.
I haven't gotten to play the co-op yet, the MnM server search sits there forever finding me a server and it's very annoying. I don't like spending real money on in-game items, like the Tour of Duty tickets, because if the game ever shuts down, you get no compensation for your lost items. Such was the case with the Pet Society Facebook game. My fiancé spent a decent, but not excessive amount on special items and rare collectables. Now with the app shutting down, all that money is gone forever.
In all, I'm glad I snuck back to Team Fortress 2. With my fancies, they never knew I left!
The Blog also got a facelift for the first time in a few years. Hope the new design soothes your eyeballs.
Also, if you like TF2 and webcomics, I've been reading, and quite enjoying NerfNow!! A webcomic about TF2 and other games, check it out at the Nerf Now website!
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