PCGamer UK reveals TF2 changes.

[-Psy-]

Referred to as a 'large-scale modification' by the developer, it turns out it's unlockable weapons that are set to be made available to each of the game's nine classes.

It'll roll out first for the Medic, which will receive two new items, but Valve will then gradually introduce unlocakbles to the remaining class roster.

"These will be alternative versions of their current loadouts that, once unlocked by earning a certain number of achievements, you can pick and choose from on a new 'Loadout' menu", PC Gamer UK explains.

It continues, "The unlockables aren't just beefed up versions of the weapons, they balance major advantages and disadvantages to fundamentally alter the role of that class.

"The first Medic unlock, for example, is called the Overhealer.Instead of temporarily buffing people's health to 50 percent above their normal maximum, it permanently boosts them to double their standard health. The downside is that it'll be dramatically worse at building Ubercharge - in fact, Valve are toying with not letting it Uber at all."

Sauce.

 

[Absinthe]

Hmm... I'm usually against these kind of large changes because they can drastically change a game's experience... something which I've already paid for.

That said, I'm intrigued by this. God knows I'd love a more suitable alternative to the Demoman's grenade launcher.

 

[Trevelyan]

This sounds interesting, i'm looking forward to the new maps and the new achievements being set for each individual class.

I'm intrigued as to the how one might acquire 'half of the thirty-five new Medic achievements' if not all of them.

I hope at least one achievement must be unlocked by acquiring melee hits in some capacity!

 

[nurizeko]

Valve...please....just, whenever you see EA do anything, ignore it. IGNORE IT. IGNORE IT.

*siiiiigh...*

 

[ríomhaire]

This sounds very interesting. I think I'll stick with my normal medigun though.

 

[-Psy-]

Valve...please....just, whenever you see EA do anything, ignore it. IGNORE IT. IGNORE IT.

Hmmm?

 

[Stigmata]

Nurizeko, I think, is referring to the unlockable weapons in Battlefield 2.

 

[Jintor]

Hrmm... we'll see how this works out. :/

 

[Avoidist]

I just hope Valve isn't too proud not to remove the modifications if they do more harm than good. I'm optimistic on this one though. In addition, there should be an easy way of switching to these weapon changes at each death and spotting which person on the team has what modification, so the team mechanic really kicks in. Otherwise it's just a gimmicky thing.

 

[314URBLOC0017]

spotting which person on the team has what modification, so the team mechanic really kicks in. Otherwise it's just a gimmicky thing.

I fully agree. You know the bit in the commentary where they're talking about how they designed the character look so it was immediately recognisable (a) what team they were on, (b) what class they were, and (c) what weapon they were holding? This could easily throw (c) out the window.

But given Valve's emphasis on playtesting everything, there's no way this'll ever be the disaster people are predicting.

 

[PimpinPenguin]

Why do they have to be unlockables, i never bothered with the achievements i now i will have to.

 

[Druckles]

It sounds interesting... in a way

 

[swiss]

could be good, and it will make players want to specialse more in a certain class,
because of the incentive to get the better guns.

 

[Avoidist]

That's not a good thing. A player with a diverse range of class expertise allows for class balance which is unquestionably a good thing when there are so many soldiers/demomen/engineers on one team as it is.

 

[Mahalis]

At least the achievements will finally be useful for something.

 

[Omnomnick]

New Weapons sound like a BAD idea, It'll make the game more unfair and could spoil the game, a heavy will have 600 hp, is 450 not enough. New gamemode sounds like fun though, cant wait...


Hopefully the new weapons won't turn TF2 in to 'Meet the CSS'

 

[Iron_cube]

I'm intrigued as to the how one might acquire 'half of the thirty-five new Medic achievements' if not all of them.

1. Create passworded server
2. Ask a good buddy of yours to join
3. Intentionally do what the acheivements say and easily gain them
4. question question question question
5. Profit

Thats how I got half of mine :cheese:

 

[PvtRyan]

Why do they have to be unlockables, i never bothered with the achievements i now i will have to.

Look at the new medic achievements. Most you will get by simply playing and not being clinically retarded. Some will take effort in the form of time, but none take truly immense skill that only a few lucky ones have.

 

[-Psy-]

New Weapons sound like a BAD idea, It'll make the game more unfair and could spoil the game.

The new weapons won't be better. They will advantages and disadvantages like all the other weapons in the game.

 

[Stigmata]

Look at the new medic achievements. Most you will get by simply playing and not being clinically retarded. Some will take effort in the form of time, but none take truly immense skill that only a few lucky ones have.

Yeah, one of them is "extinguish flames", which you do by healing someone who's on fire. You get an achievement for doing that once.

 

[theholygod]

Im deeply curious about engineer upgrades and whether they will include new/different buildings.

Fake buildings to distract the enemy? How about a small audio device that emulates the beep of the sentry gun as a cheap repellant?

 

[Hamsocks]

Sweet, I can't wait for everyone to play classes like sniper or spy, just to get a new weapon when it's released by Valve. That will make for some balanced gameplay.

As much as I loathe class-restricted servers, it looks like those may be the only ones I'll be playing in for a while.

 

[ellimanest]

I am not looking forward to the fact that a the teams will be mainly composed of medics for a week or so.....or am I? Wouldnt be so bad running in as a heavy with 5 medics on your back .

 

[Kinslayer]

One of the worst ideas ever introduced to FPS gameplay was unlockable weapons.

They make for an even wider gap between the newbies and the veterans of the game, essentially driving away players. Plus, balance is relatively awesome right now; I don't want it ****ed to oblivion just because valve thought it would be cool to cheat off of EA.

 

[-Psy-]

I think CoD4 did the unlockable weapons pretty well if I'm honest. I don't see why Valve couldn't pull it off.

 

[Trevelyan]

Thats how I got half of mine :cheese:

:naughty::monkee:

 

[Hamsocks]

Do you guys think this might give rise to grind servers, where you go just to participate in order to get achievements?

 

[Iron_cube]

On the other hand, killing someone using the same class as you with a original weapon while he's using unlockable equipment could sure feel satisfying.

 

[-Psy-]

Do you guys think this might give rise to grind servers, where you go just to participate in order to get achievements?

Erm? This isn't an RPG. I got most of the achievements by simply playing the game so I don't see why these would be any more difficult to obtain.

 

[Hamsocks]

Because you're a normal player. But you know there will be morons out there that think the unlockables will give their opponents an unfair advantage. It will start with a few friends jumping into a game together to get achievements, but eventually someone will reach the pinnacle of laziness and create a server dedicated to it.

 

[Absinthe]

Because you're a normal player. But you know there will be morons out there that think the unlockables will give their opponents an unfair advantage. It will start with a few friends jumping into a game together to get achievements, but eventually someone will reach the pinnacle of laziness and create a server dedicated to it.

Meh. Who cares. This isn't like an MMO/RPG where you spend days and weeks leveling characters. If such servers do pop up, they won't last long. You could probably get most achievements (if not all) in the course of a day if you really wanted to.

 

[mastapenguin]

This is intriguing. At the moment, I'm seeing this as a whole new level of complexity for TF2.

And I don't think this will ruin the gameplay. Really, Valve is rewarding play time with what basically amounts to more options. If you think about it, this was a very smart move because:

1) new players will not be overwhelmed by the number of options available
2) Players will be rewarded not just by play time, but by using that play time well, with the achievement descriptions providing hints on becoming a better player
3) Veteran players will have a variety of options to cater to a wide variety of playstyles, so that they don't get bored with the game.

Of course, this all depends on whether Valve can get these options balanced. Still, the method of altering one class at a time seems like the best option. I mean, could you imagine trying to balance all 9 classes and their unlockable weapons at the same time? (Looks at Relic's Dawn of War) No, testing one class at a time against the well balanced original classes seems like an excellent method for changing the game.

But what I really, really want to know is: Will this be coming to the Console Gamers as well?

 

[Hamsocks]

Will this be coming to the Console Gamers as well?

Why wouldn't it? Sure, small updates don't make it off the PC, but with something so game-changing, I would think Valve would have to port it.

 

[-Psy-]

Because you're a normal player. But you know there will be morons out there that think the unlockables will give their opponents an unfair advantage. It will start with a few friends jumping into a game together to get achievements, but eventually someone will reach the pinnacle of laziness and create a server dedicated to it.

I see no harm in that.

 

[Asknoone]

But what I really, really want to know is: Will this be coming to the Console Gamers as well?

More than likely. I can't see Valve snubbing them when there's LIVE.

 

[Warbie]

Great news. TF2's accessibility and simplicity are also it's greatest weaknesses - there's just not enough to the game to keep many shooter fans interested. Publics are spam fests which need more variety and competive matches are far too uber focussed (hold point, build uber, make the other team uber first, kill, rinse and repeat). The new medic gun alone - if it does as suggested - would promote a more aggressive spawn and charge approach and would be a very welcome addition to current tactics. Valve will have to be careful in balancing these new weapons and i'm having trouble imagining what classes like the sniper and soldier could get that won't change the class dramatically, but overall this is pretty exciting new

 

[Para]

I don't like it.

Mainly because it means I have to play to enjoy the full game experience.

I've already paid for the game, I have already been given a set of content I can use. Don't differentiate my free time (which has lately become rather scarce) from those who can grind Achievements for weeks.

 

[KennyJC]

i'm having trouble imagining what classes like the sniper and soldier could get that won't change the class dramatically, but overall this is pretty exciting new

Well snipers in the military normally have a spotter of some kind giving them additional information outside their sighted scope.

 

[Planetary]

Larger clip for the sniper's machine gun, 45 bullets maybe?

Slightly faster rockets for soldiers?

As long as it works, I don't really care

 

[Jintor]

Mainly because it means I have to play to enjoy the full game experience.

I'm not saying your point isn't valid, I'm just saying it's funnier if I selectively quote parts of your post out of context.