The Sniper Update — Part One

The pinning feature isn't a Sandman-like buff. Its just a funny visual effect. Just like the crossbow in Half-Life 2, the arrow won't pin them unless it finishes them off and they're within distance of a surface.
 
Darkside makes a point. It seems that since the heavy update, Valve has jumped the shark and they're adding more and more stuff to make the game more "comical" or "funnay".
 
chimpmunk said:
Darkside makes a point. It seems that since the heavy update, Valve has jumped the shark and they're adding more and more stuff to make the game more "comical" or "funnay".
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Comical and funny work though, and I don't think any of the additions have made the game worse (although the Sandman may yet need some fine tuning). All the achievements have a place where they work in my opinion. What weapons are you thinking of, specifically?

Corp. Sheepo said:
I will not even bother trying to actively participate in an argument with so many damn words, but I will just say: The flare gun is awesome and awesome and so awesome and if you insult it I will kill you in real life. Really. I have gotten so many more kills with it than the shotgun.
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Yes. Not only is it funny to shoot, but when you've got a sniper waiting for you to run across an opening, what's your option with the shotty? Run fast? Bunny hop? Set him on fire a couple of times and wait for him to step away for a moment. Works for anyone turtling anywhere without a medic or dispenser nearby.
 
I play as Sniper mainly, and while it's still fun (and so easy to snipe, compared to other games) I like how this update sounds. I didn't read all of the posts, but I want to say this: maybe classes are "designed" to be played one way or the other, but how you play them effectively depends entirely on the situation.
And to the Bonk drink being kinda useless: I teamed up with a scout one time on a pub, think it was turbine. I got in with Bonk, sentry hit me, other scout ran in, got the intel, capped, I died. And it was so damn satisfiying that this stupid sentry couldn't stop us from capping, even if it meant I had to die. So, for this one scene alone, Bonk deserves to be there :D
 
If Bonk is useless, nobody will use it.

If the bow is useless, nobody will use it.

Everyone will have their two days of fun and stopped using it. People won't have paid anything. The only people who will have lost anything will be Valve having lost time developing this thing that nobody will use.

Stop whining.
 
I have seen a kind of custom payload map, in which both red and blue team push the same payload. The red team push the payload west and the blue team push it east. They contest the payload in the field until it goals into one side. I wish I will see this type of official payload map someday.
 
Viperidae said:
Remember the last time you tried to prove me wrong? Me vs. 6 on Lumberyard. I gutted all of them like cornish game-hens.

Let's go, or, MMMMFFFMFMFMFMFFFFF.
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What point were you proving me wrong on? I remember being quite impressed, but nothing else.
 
lol @ people that think Bonk is useless.

BTW FAGS:

02_background.jpg
 
Viperidae said:
Prove me wrong.
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It's saved my ass countless times during chases, or when you hide in a corner, and a Heavy is slowly turning into said corner with the gun spun.

It's also pretty good for drawing fire from Sentries, while a Pyro or something runs in and kills it.

Sometimes when people are smart enough to realise I can't get hit, they'll let me pass them, but most of those times, they don't expect me to come back from behind, you know?

It's also good with demomen that have stickies all over the place, he seems to set them off at the first thing that runs into the room (i.e. scout using bonk), and either kills himself, can't lay anymore in time to kill the scout, or the scout runs past.

I admit it hasn't got much use in terms of actual objectives, bu t I think it's great for the inbetweens. :p
 
Darkside, I'd just like to say that my speculation is not completely baseless. It's based on the observation that Valve games are usually pretty damn intuitive and what I described is what I think would be the most intuitive way to have the bow operating.
 
"Valve games are intuitive"
"so you should probably be able to run around with the bow fully charged at regular speed"

hwat

so basically the only thing you're going off is how YOU feel the bow SHOULD operate, correct? And it relates to nothing that Valve has said about the bow, or anything you've seen about the bow...you just feel it will probably be this way

because Valve is an intuitive designer

and your intuition tells you that the bow will probably allow you to move at top speed while charging




a big ol' hunting bow

while drawing the heavy string

you will be able to run around at top speed

because Valve is intuitive








Well ok then.
 
The information so far on the bow is pretty vague. I'll withold judgement still beyond saying "hurray, we get to nail corpses".
 
Darkside55 said:
"Valve games are intuitive"
"so you should probably be able to run around with the bow fully charged at regular speed"

hwat

so basically the only thing you're going off is how YOU feel the bow SHOULD operate, correct? And it relates to nothing that Valve has said about the bow, or anything you've seen about the bow...you just feel it will probably be this way

because Valve is an intuitive designer

and your intuition tells you that the bow will probably allow you to move at top speed while charging




a big ol' hunting bow

while drawing the heavy string

you will be able to run around at top speed

because Valve is intuitive








Well ok then.
Click to expand...
Yeah pretty much. I meant more the part about holding primary fire to charge more than the running about thing. In fact, I had forgotten I said the whole running about at full speed thing. I meant more that in order do any damage with the rifle you need to zoom to charge which can be pretty damn disorienting to people who aren't expert snipers. Being able to do damage without changing your POV will probably allow non professional snipers to react. Now you're going to say I have no idea what I'm talking about and your right, sniper is my least favourite and played class (despite what my stats will tell you) but this bow sounds like fun to me and would certainly get me to try out the sniper to get it, which is probably what Valve wants more than anything than appeals to people who already play the class and know exactly how it "should" be played. But of course this makes it casual.
 
It would be pretty awesome if the reason the first unlock is so vague is that this is actually the Spy update.
 
ríomhaire said:
Yeah pretty much. I meant more the part about holding primary fire to charge more than the running about thing. In fact, I had forgotten I said the whole running about at full speed thing. I meant more that in order do any damage with the rifle you need to zoom to charge which can be pretty damn disorienting to people who aren't expert snipers. Being able to do damage without changing your POV will probably allow non professional snipers to react.
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Well, that was the only part I was claiming was baseless, moving at top speed. Which isn't to say they won't go that route, it's just that saying that it might work that way isn't based on anything.

Charging by holding down fire isn't anything new. The TFC sniper rifle actually required you to be holding primary fire to charge, then release to fire. So it'd make sense if they actually went back to that method. Part of me wishes they'd change the regular rifle to that style of fire again, but then again that's usually my answer for everything; "Make it more like TFC."
 
Evo said:
come again? :p
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As in the reason they give so little useful info about the bow is because it's a placeholder, disguising the real update which is for the spy!
 
I agree with Eejit. It would make more sense than if it had occurred with the Scout update.
 
I think I might actually really like this thing. In games I don't usually go for shotguns or snipers. My favourite guns are most often the ones that are medium range, slowish rate of fire, pack a punch and are accurate. My favourite gun in HL2 is the revolver, in Medal of Honour: Frontines it was the M1, in Fallout 3 the hunting rifle and the revolver and in Oblivion I much prefered the bow to magic or melee. TF2 has a lack of these types of weapons, due to Valve's plan to not put too much emphasis on pinpoint aiming, and the bow might be a refreshing change. I can certainly see myself standing just behind the front lines and letting arrows fly over the charging Heavies and Soldiers.
 
It would be amusing to see this as a spy update, replace the revolver with a bow, which doesn't make any noise, and perhaps won't blow your cover? Sniper update? Bah, it was just a spy in disguise.
 
Note: I don't actually think this is the case, but it could be, and it'd be awesome if it was.
 
Doesn't seem like it anymore, Part three is extremely anti-spy.
 
How am I thinking backwards?

I think that for the spy update, rather than the knife for backstabs, you get a syringe that, when you backstab someone with it, it starts ticking health away really fast, but doesn't blow your cover. Something like a syringe hidden inside a ballpoint pen.

I always thought that it would be nice if you could get really degraded weapons, but they didn't blow your cover, allowing you to do a little more covert action.
 
The only acceptable melee replacement for the spy will be the garrote wire he was supposed to have in TF2: BoA.
 
True enough, but if you think about the real life physics of the garrote wire, then you will have to approach just like a backstab, but it will take a lot more time to kill the victim. IMO a constantly disguised spy, but with less powerful weapons, is a much greater threat than otherwise.

EDIT: @ Darkside
 
Darkside55 said:
The only acceptable melee replacement for the spy will be the garrote wire he was supposed to have in TF2: BoA.
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Sounds kinda useless, seeing as it would take a few seconds to kill someone with a wire. I've seen suggestions for a knife that would recharge your cloak with a successful kill or one that flickers the disguise instead of removing it, both with some other weakness to make it "balanced."
 
Don't you guys remember what the purpose of the wire was? Yes it would take longer to kill than a backstab, and you'd lose your disguise, but originally in TF2 the only time you could disguise was after you killed someone, and even then you could only take that player's clothes.

So instead of a weapon that allows you to keep your disguise, like Higlac suggested, or a knife that recharges cloak on successful kills, you'd get a garrote wire that has a one or two second start up time, you lose your disguise while using it, but as you're killing the enemy you slowly start to disguise as them. By the time you've choked the air out of them, you're that person. It's a kill without having to run for cover and disguise post-kill.

Not much use in a crowd situation, but against a lone enemy (or a straggler at the back of a group), you kill them, take their position, and the enemy team is none the wiser.
 
I can only imagine the rage the target would endure in those two seconds of garroting.

Then again, it's better than shitting your pants at the sudden loud crank of a crit.
 
Either way, I'm down, if the Spy's knife was similar to your idea, it'd suit me pretty well. I always thought it was stupid to attack groups anyway.
 
Darkside55 said:
Don't you guys remember what the purpose of the wire was? Yes it would take longer to kill than a backstab, and you'd lose your disguise, but originally in TF2 the only time you could disguise was after you killed someone, and even then you could only take that player's clothes.

So instead of a weapon that allows you to keep your disguise, like Higlac suggested, or a knife that recharges cloak on successful kills, you'd get a garrote wire that has a one or two second start up time, you lose your disguise while using it, but as you're killing the enemy you slowly start to disguise as them. By the time you've choked the air out of them, you're that person. It's a kill without having to run for cover and disguise post-kill.

Not much use in a crowd situation, but against a lone enemy (or a straggler at the back of a group), you kill them, take their position, and the enemy team is none the wiser.
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But still, how much of a time benefit could is there really to be gained from this as opposed to stabbing and running like hell while redisguising or cloaking? If you have some cloak charge left you can backstab and be invisible in two seconds. You can backstab and redisguise in a manner of seconds too, with the added benifit of not being near the dead body by the time your disguise is ready.

Perhaps if the wire had no kill icon, gave you the enemy's disguise and made the body disappear it would be useful for replacing enemies, as you suggested.
 
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