Like a lot of my work, I don’t often feel that I’ll bother writing a part 2, since my best work is normally a one-off thing that can’t be repeated. But on Tuesday, the 4th of February, I purchased my first non-Medic unusual, and the fourth unusual I’ve ever bought. That prompted me to write a new article.
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Love is in the air! At least, most other places. Not much love happens in Team Fortress 2 around this time, unless you count hundreds of ring messages cropping up and blocking crucial elements of your custom HUD. Yes, I’m talking about the Something Special for Someone Special, that $100 ring that made Cracked’s list of The 5 Most Absurdly Expensive Items in Online Gaming. It was added to the game on February 14th, 2012. Also added at that point was the Snapped Pupil, which is actually the byproduct of a troll post on Facepunch that a modeler ran with.… [Continue Reading]
Read moreBetween the 742 hats, cosmetics, and visible action slot items in Team Fortress 2, Valve has in general done a very good job of steadfastly keeping them cosmetic-only. While it’s fun to deck your character out in crazy stuff, it’s not possible to actually use these items to gain in-game benefits, right?
Read morePets are a fairly new thing in Team Fortress 2. The very early pets were things like the brain slug for Pyro and the Parasite from that free game with aliens that everyone’s forgotten about. You know, that one. With the four players. Not Left 4 Dead, that was zombies… Oh never mind. But these days, we have a HUGE range of animals to follow us around.
Read moreTF2 has it’s own cartoony and contrasting artsyle, and everyone knows that. In the last years the art direction of TF2 has changed a lot, with the simplicity of early hats being replaced with all the different items, hats, boots and things like that. The robots arrived and then the world behind our beloved/hated pyromaniac’s eyes was revealed… The people agree that TF2 has become basically a clustertruck of hats nowadays. Is it good or bad?
Read moreAlright, so you’ve bought yourself a fancy unusual. Or maybe you unboxed it. Good for you. Well done. But do you realise that you are now 99% more visible to the enemy team? No, I’m not referring to the bug where the Disco Beat Down effect could be seen through thin walls. I’m talking about the fact that you have a large glowing sign that says “Shoot me!” on your head. Maybe we ought to avoid this. Here’s my list of Headshot-avoiding unusuals.
Read moreEver since the dawn of Mann, men have been wearing hats. In fact, it’s because the social norm to be wearing hats. Trust me, brother, you don’t want to be a man without a hat. Would you believe me if I told you that there were over 1,000 cosmetic options for your character to wear (even if most of them are competitive badges)? That is a lot of items. Would you also believe me if I told you that more than half of these items won’t look good with any other item that you wear? Fact of the matter is, committing your character… [Continue Reading]
Read moreBy fast people, I mean people who are fast and run at a speed higher than 100%. So basically, Scout and Medic. Yes, I am talking about the Dr. Grordbort sets. Beautiful, aren’t they? Some might disagree. I can see why, but maybe we should give them a chance.
Read moreTeam Fortress 2 was released initially as part of the Orange Box, which fulfilled the minimal multiplayer requirement to make that package feel worth purchasing. For the longest time, I feel that I’ve made that 49.99 dollar purchase stretch for years, making it worth its while until Keys, and overall, The Mannconomy came out. Once there was a defined path for my wallet to siphon into my all-time online timesink, the game’s metagame evolved. It was no longer about gunning each other down, it was about obtaining the prettiest, shiniest crap that you can don upon your visually self-proclaimed elite… [Continue Reading]
Read moreThe largest element in TF2 that doesn’t affect gameplay at all are hats. You could argue that I could leave out ‘that doesn’t affect gameplay at all’ and still be correct. But anyway, since the Move That Gear Update this summer, the last link between cosmetics and actual gameplay was broken with the removal of the Polycount set bonuses. The only bonus these sets give you now is a merely cosmetic and merely visible tombstone after you kill an adversary. That said, cosmetics can still turn the tide of your battles and may even help your team! Here are several… [Continue Reading]
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