Team Fortress 2 Update (Ambassador Improvement)

[Jintor]

I disagree with 'beta testing' being the same as 'releasing the update to the public'.

 

[Danimal]

imo they should just make achievements increase your chance of getting a random unlock.

 

[deer]

Folr those that don't get any achiwements.
Make sure you are connected to friends network and that steam cloud is working on your profile.
For some people reseting stats helped (my brother did that and it worked) but then your stats will be F up (they can reset randomly and other stuff - see steampowered forums).

 

[bam23]

What do you dislike about it? It's the same core concept as the achievement system: rewards for people who play the game more often than those who don't.

except you had complete control over what you got when you want to get it. Those who really wanted items could grind the achievements out and get them all the day they are released. Those who just wanted to get them during regular play got them during regular play.

Now we have to wait and wait and wait and hope for something to come that has a chance of being something we ALREADY HAVE. Not only that, but getting what we actually want can normally take a long time for one person and instantly for the next person, even if this person plays only once a month or never plays the game unless a class update comes out. So a person that really pounds this game into his head can end up waiting longer to get what he wants than a person who rarely plays. Or a newbie who has joined his first ever server in TF2 unlocks 3 hats during one session, which I've actually seen happen.

But of course, it's completely fair cause its random!!!!111!1

 

[Druckles]

Perfect solution for people who aren't unlocking new items; delete all your old ones, and every found item will be brand new!

 

[alpha incipiens]

For the most part, you're criticizing the implementation rather than the idea behind it. I agree that, as it is, the system needs to be fixed. I'm not here to argue whether it's fair that someone who plays for hours gets nothing while someone who plays for half an hour gets three hats; if these scenarios are indeed real and unimagined then I certainly feel they should be addressed.

I get the feeling I'm going to be repeating that quite a bit if I want to stay in this conversation.

Anyway, to address your first point: I can understand wanting more control over getting the unlocks, but the point of the achievement system was never to sit down and get all the achievements in one day. In fact, with the achievement system, the same newbie joining his first ever TF2 server can have all the unlocks before a veteran player actually putting effort into the game.

I do think that this feeling of having no control over when you receive unlocks is what most people find frustrating; since the system is entirely invisible to the player, it's easy to feel like you're just not getting unlocks and it's happening for no reason at all. I think that a more visible way of tracking progress would be the better route. Maybe a progress bar showing how long you have to go before you get another chance at an unlock? Or something like in Super Smash Bros Melee (possibly in Brawl as well, but I've never played Brawl), where you receive coins for just playing the game normally and you can put them in a vending machine to get trophies. Including something like greater number of coins = greater chance of getting something new would also ease frustrations over getting the same weapons over and over again.

I disagree with 'beta testing' being the same as 'releasing the update to the public'.

I didn't call it beta testing, and that's not at all what I meant. I'm not saying that Valve is releasing unfinished work to the public; I'm saying that right now, as they do with every other release, they're gauging player response, taking note of glitches, problems, or complaints, and seeing if the system does or doesn't work as they intended. Which is essentially the same as playtesting, but on a wider scale.

 

[Absinthe]

I would still be pissed if I dumped money into a machine and got a third Kritzkrieg.

The issues for me are thus:

1) The random element in the drops is frustrating and should not be in the game.
2) Measures of playtime in deciding when something drops does not account for any skill.

I can't help but keep repeating this, but a currency system that rewards in-game actions (instead of simply idling) would be a better measure of skill and would remove the randomization element while still being entirely accessible to casuals. Everybody would get what they want.

 

[Eejit]

Perfect solution for people who aren't unlocking new items; delete all your old ones, and every found item will be brand new!

Already done that!

 

[Hunter-Killer]

I'm reposting this as everyone gave up on the last discussion:

Like everyone I have an opinion on the new system. Instead of writing a wordy description, below are my personal Pros, Cons and Ideas for the new system.

Pros:
-No longer have everyone playing as one class thus the game isn't unbalanced.
-New players and people who play the game casually get equal opportunity to get new unlocks.
-People no longer grinding to achieve achievements.

Cons:
-Idle players unbalancing games.
-Getting multiple unlocks.
-No skill required to get unlocks.
-Achievements are almost pointless now.
-No sense of reward for getting an unlock.
-Get items for classes you may not even play.
-Still have achievement maps, just they are now "idle" maps.

Ideas:
-Give unlocks to everyone on day if release.
-Do not give multiple unlocks (the trade idea is unlikely to get used very much).
-Have a "point" system similar to Call of Duty or Battlefield where as you "level" up with the points you earn you unlock weapons.
-Choice of which unlock you wish to have.
-Valve could have told people this idea before the unlock came out to see what people thought or at least told people on the day of release.

I play TF2 either way so I don't feel like I'm being force to play it with this new system just I think it's such a shame that probably one of the biggest TF2 updates has been rather annoying and confusing. The new levels and unlocks in general are very good, it's just a shame about the new system in my opinion.

 

[Eejit]

Several of those cons aren't cons.

 

[Jintor]

My TF2 is updating atm. What's up with that?

I BRING YOU UPDATE NEWS:

Team Fortress 2

Added Sniper/Spy milestone achievements as an additional way players can get the new unlockables

Arena Mode

Added tf_arena_use_queue server convar. Turn this on to get the old queue behavior. Default is off

Added tf_arena_round_time to set a timelimit on the round

Added the userid of the player who built the teleporter to the "player_teleported" event

Fixed player killed event causing server crash

Fixed Spies not being telefragged when standing on an enemy teleporter exit with the Dead Ringer enabled

Fixed attackers seeing the mini-crit particle effect for full crits if the victim has the Jarate effect enabled

Fixed the Ambassador not doing damage to buildings

Fixed Spies disguised as their own team not drawing blood effects

Fixed players killed by flaming arrows not showing the appropriate death icon

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I get the feeling I'm going to be repeating that quite a bit if I want to stay in this conversation.

Not really; I understood and completely agree with what your saying, I do like the idea that you laid out, especially giving the player more control and freedom over what s/he can claim in terms of unlocks, and visually showing how far you have till you can claim the next unlock/weapon