New Team Fortress 2 Gamemode: TF2 Arena

Hectic Glenn

Hectic Glenn

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Monday's slightly delayed "A Heavy Update" finally makes it's way to us, with the new gamemode announced as Arena mode. The mode promises to be much more tactical, with shorter rounds and intense fighting in smaller environments.
Arena features smaller maps that play out in shorter periods of time. The round ends once one team has no players left in the arena, or when the central capture point has unlocked and been captured. Rounds tend to be very fast and highly competitive, with an emphasis on your team?s class makeup and your plan to counter the opposing team?s class choices. Arena mode is great for smaller matches of three vs. three players, while still comfortably supporting huge knockdown twelve-on-twelve brawls.
Click to expand...
We will also be treated to 5 new maps supporting this new mode, 3 of which are the familiar Badlands, Well and Granary which have been 'extensively reworked'. The other two are brand new maps, Ravine and Lumberyard. The latter shows the new Alpine themed environment, which still adheres to the TF2 art style. See some screenshots below of the new maps in action. See the full update on TF2 Arena and the new maps here.[br]<div align="center"><img> </div>
 
Am impressed. Like the forrest look... And yay! No more 16 player teams where everyones a ****ing pyro! I like the emphasis of working as a team and planning out together...

So in a nut-shell, arena games are basically emilination with a control point in the middle... Matter of staying alive but also hunting down the other team...
 
It's a good addition.

I'll just probably never touch it.
 
Sounds awesome..also I'm glad we're finally getting some maps that aren't set in a desert/wild west looking environment.
 
That mountain is definitly a TF2'd version of the one in ep2.

I like, I LEIK!
 
Fiberawptic said:
I like the emphasis of working as a team and planning out together...
Click to expand...

I really don't know how a glorified deathmatch with a cap point encourages teamplay more then the current maps/objectives.
Can someone explain this?
 
Fiberawptic said:
... And yay! No more 16 player teams where everyones a ****ing pyro! I like the emphasis of working as a team and planning out together...
Click to expand...
...and hello to teams of 3 pyros v. 3 demomen. I'm still down though. Actually, we'll be treated with teams of 3 v. 3 heavies if the update coincides with this map.
 
Ugh, this is horrible. I hate Counter-Strike, and I hated sudden death, and now they waste the cool new environment on this crappy game mode. I can't really think of a game mode I would want to play less. I have a feeling this is going to be like when combat mode was added to NS, a game mode that isn't the game I play and love and the only way to avoid it is to constantly change servers. I hope these maps end up in the Hydro shit bin.
 
Hydro is awful. There's very little game balance in it.
 
Honestly? I just play pl_goldrush. Over and over and over again.

This'll be fun for a lark.
 
I don't like this idea. Like V-man said, it reminds me of counter strike. Two teams of terrorists trying to set a bomb. Everyone buys an awp. My god.

I think an objective-based map would have been way more fun and worthwhile.
 
Melee-only Arena would probably be hilarious and loads of fun, just as long as you didn't take it too seriously.
 
I used to really like Hydro, but for some reason it stopped being fun. This new game mode sounds like Valve took a page out of Counter-Strike, the only game of theirs I wouldn't touch with a nine foot pole. And there are FIVE maps for this mode, which is more than any other mode, meaning it will be very difficult to avoid. I remember when Valve added a CS-type maps to Day of Defeat, it was a really terrible idea. Fortunately everyone hated it and they got rid of it.
 
Tsk tsk; If you don't like this new game mode, then don't play it. There is nothing wrong with adding a little more variety to TF2.
 
Thread derailment imminent...

I still like Hydro mostly because I hardly get to play it. Also, the other day was one of the rare times we successfully defended that one 'Blue Hell' level. You get almost zero time to set up, so I ran out, picked a random spot to put a sentry, and just started hammerin'. I got it up to a level III and even had a dispenser (so pyros would hang out for defense), and it kept opponents at bay.
 
Wow, one healt kit and no water. That will lead to some serious disparities among teammates and to some funny moments :)
 
ian1 said:
Tsk tsk; If you don't like this new game mode, then don't play it. There is nothing wrong with adding a little more variety to TF2.
Click to expand...

Easier said than done. It means leaving servers whenever they come up with one of these five maps, and that's a lot of maps; iirc there will only be 4 CP maps, 3 CTF maps, 2 attack/defend maps, 2 payload maps, 1 TC map, and Steel, (which is cool and different than anything else) which means you are more likely to end up in arena mode than anything else. Then you'll have to find a server that isn't a 32 player instant respawn crap hole and doesn't redirect you to one with 3 players, and pray that it's not about to switch to arena mode. That's what happened in Natural Selection with combat mode. I really don't like the idea of this mode; there's a reason I play TF2 almost every day and haven't touched CS in three years. The last thing I want for TF2 is for it to become more like CS.
 
Seeing that there are lots of people who share you're view, there will probably be a lot of servers that don't have arena mode, and they will probably be clearly labeled as not having it. And even if the server you're on does end up switching to that mode, the arena matches do end up lasting a considerably shorter amount of time than most other modes, so you won't play it for long.
You must also remember that the class-based gameplay will still be there, and the maps will be layed out in ways that encourage strategy, so the gameplay will still vary considerably from CS.
 
Still, it's clearly drawing heavily from CS, and that's a game I've been trying to distance myself from as much as possible. The lack of respawning is probably the main reason I found CS to be stressful and overly competitive. I'm really disappointed that the brand new environment I was so looking forward to is only on a map that I don't want to play.
 
ian1 said:
Seeing that there are lots of people who share you're view, there will probably be a lot of servers that don't have arena mode, and they will probably be clearly labeled as not having it.
Click to expand...

I certainly hope so. This sounds like fun if you get down below 4 vs 4 on dustbowl or goldrush and can vote for an arena map instead for some quick matches. Arena seems like it will mostly be a novelty. I will be pleased if only a minority of players prefer arena and the servers represent this.
 
I like it.

I was hoping that both of the new maps would have had the alpine theme, but I guess you can't have everything.

as for the new game mode, I kinda like sudden death, better than stupid stalemates anyway.
2 things that bother me about sudden death normally though is:

1) when your team has clearly dominated the other team the entire round only to get beaten in sudden death due to bad luck.

2) when you end up with an engy on either team that just sits in each corner of the map hammering at their sentries, because they've somehow convinced themselves that "EVERYBODY LOSES!" is better than having a definite winner, not to mention OH SO EXCITING to watch for the rest of the team.
 
oh one thing, they mention that the middle cap will only unlock after some time, does this mean that the teams will have setup time before they go at it, or will they be able to get to fight each other untill the cap unlocks and if so will they manage to stay alive long enough for the cap to even matter?

also I'm very curious about what weapon will replace the shotgun, as I can easily see Valve hitting a bit of bump trying to update all the shotties in the game into something interesting.
 
The cap point is probably to fix endless running in circles when it comes down to the last two guys.

I'm not overly impressed by this new game-mode, but I get the impression that it's not meant to be a 30-minute stretch on either of this maps.
 
I could see myself putting a lot of time into Arena. One life, no pickups, 12 on 12, pure teamwork. If I get the right server.
 
Lumberyard looks immense!
 
also we will undoubtly see some 24/7 melee only arena servers...which I wouldn't mind for a quick fun fix(roll on the K.G.B.!)
 
Those rock models are so goddamned awesome.
 
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