Author: aabicus

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The Amputator: Not Really for Amputating

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I was looking over my favorite two loadouts in TF2 and realized I’d dedicated articles to every individual weapon except the Amputator. Well, that’s just weird, so let’s just fix that right now. The Amputator is not an unpopular weapon but it’s certainly not the average Medic’s first choice. I know of far more people who main the Ubersaw, and after that I’m pretty sure the Solemn Vow is second place. I totally get that; the Ubersaw’s reward for landing even a single melee hit is incalculable, and if you’re going to sacrifice that you might as well grab a… [Continue Reading]

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The Wrap Assassin: Christmas at 70 MPH

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Yeah, I know it’s not meta but I happen to really like the Wrap Assassin. Most of the people who complain about this weapon either find it annoying or point out that it doesn’t really fill any niches. The Sandman shoots a much more powerful projectile, the Boston Basher deals more consistent bleed damage while serving as a mobility tool, and if you want to go full utility nothing’s going to beat the Atomizer. There’s just not really a reason to use the paper tube. But there’s also no reason not to use it. It’s downside-free. You gain a projectile bleed attack… [Continue Reading]

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My first time in a first-person shooter!

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Medic wrote a very interesting article describing her early experiences with Left 4 Dead and how it shaped her future gaming career. I thought I could talk about my personal background in the same way. Unlike most of you, I did not grow up playing video games. My parents are awesome, but they were not comfortable with ‘brain-rotting activities’, and for that reason I grew up without a computer, internet, or any gaming consoles. This ‘forbidden fruit’ was likely the reason I’ve dived so heavily into all three cultures. (They let me have a TV, which I quickly grew bored of… [Continue Reading]

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Why 2fort_Invasion is Better than Normal 2fort

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“In other news, and I know this is really nitpicky and off-topic, but I’m a little unsure as to why 2fort_invasion is worthy of the complete Valve seal of officiality. It’s just a reskinned 2fort and there are literally dozens of those…Though once Valve fixes the glitch where that map crashes hl2.exe on lower-end computers perhaps I’ll be able to play it and learn how wrong I was to doubt it.” ~aabicus, roughly a week ago Welp, guess I’m eating my words, because 2fort_invasion turns out to actually be a pretty amazing map. For a reskin with no balance changes from one… [Continue Reading]

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Visiting Engineer’s Hometown

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As you may or may not know, I recently moved to Texas. Recently I was on a road trip with my father who’d flown in to visit for the weekend, and we passed a road sign for a Bee Cave, Texas. This piqued my memory banks, so I googled the name on my smart phone and found out it was Dell Conagher’s hometown! So we took a bit of a break to zip into town and check it out. And, uh, I’m sorry to report it’s like the most boring town in existence. It’s pretty much just your average suburbia, Vons… [Continue Reading]

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WE ARE IN DAH BEEM

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There are a host of things I could say about tdm_watergate, but nothing compares to that damn voice. Actually the “WillFromAfar” emotive text-to-speech voice synthesizer from Acapela, probably used because the current voice actor’s strike makes it too difficult/pricey to find a real voice actor, much less Ellen McLain, it nevertheless succeeds at being completely obnoxious and out of place. First time I heard it I went to the mute menu to find out which person on the server needed to shut up forever. I’m not even sure why the mapmakers decided it was necessary for an audio file to… [Continue Reading]

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Ode to the Sandvich

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A delectable combo of lettuce and cheese, Tomatoes, an olive, and fresh bolognas. There’s no battle ailment you cannot cure When bestowed by the heavy whose heart is pure. The Sandvich might be the most famous weapon in Team Fortress 2. Like the Ubersaw, it has eclipsed its stock counterpart and become the unanimously-accepted default weapon of its slot. Outside of gameplay it has appeared as a Comic-Con collectible and as the star of its own Meet the Team video. And the whole team should love it; aside from the Medigun its the best healing weapon in the game, instantly replenishing the health of… [Continue Reading]

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The Future of TF2

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How’s that for a clickbait title! Let’s commit clickbait suicide and optimistically answer the question right off the bat: Yes, TF2 definitely has a future. Valve has mentioned more than enough pokers in that fire, whether that future is competitive matchmaking, community updates, or something else. I just don’t think it’s going to be the same as what we’ve been getting up to now. It’s not hard to see Valve themselves is updating TF2 less and less. Looking at the history of major updates reveals a parabolic arc where 2011 was the heyday and down the line we get less every year. Valve’s… [Continue Reading]

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Valve Hype: The Long Game

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Companies have different ways of generating hype. From the dregs of astro-turfing to the apex of ARGs, there are entire industries dedicated to stirring interest in a product and spreading a social media net as far as possible. Valve is in the lucky position of owning a number of long-standing franchises that have years and years of development time invested into them almost entirely in-house, and this lets them splurge on the most niche level of hype: the hidden foreshadowing. Whether intentionally or for testing/convenience’s sake, Valve has a number of  cases where they’ve added something into a game that seems innocuous… [Continue Reading]

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New Enemy Added to Payday 2

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The FBI Files update is live for Payday 2, and while the new stat-tracking website is amazing on a number of levels, players are mostly excited about the new bad guy who’s entered the battlefield. Captain Winters is the first police unit that comes with a unique name, unless you count Mr. Hyde the ubiquitous security guard from Payday:The Heist. Protected by his shield and surrounded by a phalanx of lookalikes, Cn. Winters summons an unending assault wave that only dissipates if the heisters exit their comfort zone and go kill him. I find this refreshing, because in a cover-based shooter like… [Continue Reading]

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