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[PK Gaming]

So there's this sentiment that Team Fortress 2 has gotten progressively worse over the years, focusing more on gimmicky novelties like hats and cosmetics over actually improving the gameplay. I'm here to tell you why that's absolute nonsense. Starting from the top:

1) The map design

TF2's map design at launch was pretty subpar. Maps like 2Fort, Dustbowl, Well, and Hydro while fun, where nonetheless poorly designed. Fortunately, newer maps have the distinction of being significantly better designed and fun (not to mention more varied), so TF2 has only really improved on this front.

2) Game balance

I realize the majority of players don't care about balance, but launch TF2's imbalances were really apparent. Classes like the Soldier and especially the Demoman were blatantly overpowered, while the Engineer, Heavy, Pyro and Spy were damn near unviable. Modern TF2 fixes this aspect of the game with its ongoing patches. The Soldier and Demoman have received smart adjustments, and while the underpowered classes are still kind of lacking, they're considerably stronger than they were at launch (and way more fun to boot). The best part is how transparent they've become with the process, and it's something I wish was more common in gaming as a whole.

3) New Weapons

This one is obvious. New weapons = new content = more fun. I've seen the argument that unlocks complicate the game (they don't) (they do, but not to a significant degree) and that they're unbalanced (kinda). Very few of them are broken, and only in high level play, so it doesn't really make a difference in practice for most players. And real talk, I can't get over how fun the new weapons are.

4) New game modes

Also self-explanatory. New ways to play means a way to change up the gameplay, so if you ever get bored of team based multiplayer, you can hunker down and play through the surprisingly solid PvE game mode (Mann vs Machine). They've also added a "competitive" mode (6v6, set maps), and while not perfect, you can expect the quality of matches to be significantly better there than in "casual" mode.

5) Hat Fortress 2

The big one. It's so easy to write off TF2 by saying "Hat Fortress 2" and calling it a day but is that really accurate to how the game is played today? Yes and no. It's an aspect of the game that people are obsessed with (similar to Overwatch's cosmetic system), but ultimately it has 0 effect on the actual gameplay. 0%. Nadda. None. If you like customizing your characters, then you're in luck because the options are endless. If you don't, then you can safely ignore it. It's really not that big of a deal in practice, and you'll find a near endless supply of maps to be played.

Overall, despite the occasional issue here and there, TF2 has only gotten better over the years, not worse. While small (and slow), the current team taking care of TF2 is incredibly dedicated. There's this genuine desire this incredibly old game still worth playing, and you have to respect that. They're trying to bridge the gap between competitive and casual playerbase (which is something the old team didn't even bother doing) and it's honestly kickass. Disingenuous videos like this do very little to actually portray what playing TF2 is like nowadays.

It's still a really fun game.

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

Team Fortress 2 now is fine but I'll definitely admit to preferring the game prior to hats, cosmetics, and other nonsense. The pure vanilla experience was just great.

I'm also not a big fan of Valve's whole loot box/microtransaction spunk all over everything, but that's a complaint for another thread.

The big issue with Team Fortress 2 these days is how unwelcoming its player base can be. I've been kicked from so many servers for not playing up to the expectations of the team I was on or apparently not playing the class I picked properly. And that's just frustrating and saddening to someone who isn't super-great at first-person shooters in the first place.

 

[PK Gaming]

Team Fortress 2 now is fine but I'll definitely admit to preferring the game prior to hats, cosmetics, and other nonsense. The pure vanilla experience was just great.

I'm also not a big fan of Valve's whole loot box/microtransaction spunk all over everything, but that's a complaint for another thread.

The big issue with Team Fortress 2 these days is how unwelcoming its player base can be. I've been kicked from so many servers for not playing up to the expectations of the team I was on or apparently not playing the class I picked properly. And that's just frustrating and saddening to someone who isn't super-great at first-person shooters in the first place.

TF2's learning curve is absolutely terrible and the playerbase definitely hasn't helped. On the other hand, I remember that being the case back during the vanilla days as well, as and at least now, most of the elitists have moved onto to Competitive.

 

[GoldandBlue]

I was fine with TF2 until they removed servers for match making. :/

 

[Blam]

I was fine with TF2 until they removed servers for match making. :/

But you can just check community servers which is literally the same thing if that's what you're referencing.

 

[fhqwhgads]

Great thread, I've made my arguement before about how people vastly overrated classic TF2, so it's good that you've provided the other part to the point as well.

TF2 was doing really great until the Matchmaking update, it really threw a spanner in the works with killing Valve servers and failing miserably to get casuals into competitive play by only having 6v6 rather than including Highlander as well. Makes it all the more sadder since they were doing really well at improving, especially with game performance.

But you can just check community servers which is literally the same thing if that's what you're referencing.

The problem with community servers is that the introduction of Valve servers effectively killed off many of them, due to it being the very first option for playing games. It was a double edged sword, making it so less people played community servers, but at the benefit of meaning you could hop into a basic server on any map right away withot having to look in a huge list and weed out the pay to win/bot filled/silly mod servers.

These days the community servers in TF2 are flooded with huge groups rather than smaller independent ones, meaning it's even harder to find a good server without the unnessacary add ons and even harder to find maps that aren't really popular ones (Good luck finding a server that isn't playing 2fort/dustbowl/goldrush/turbine/hightower)

 

[TheBowen]

Pretty much agree.

The new weapons and abilities made playing each class refreshing and different, and the later map designs/ game modes are way more interesting than vanilla, but i guess that's mainly due to my hatred of 2fort as a map.

The only complaint I do agree with is that most skins/hats and aesthetically awful and make identifying who someone is a bit difficult at times.

 

[Kinyou]

What's disingenuous about the video? Graphically it definitely looks like a step back.

And while the new options that come with the new weapns are nice I did like the vanilla game where you knew exactly what every hero is capable of.

 

[UnluckyKate]

It's true TF2 is great lots of loadouts items to vary pleasures and playstyles

 

[Zia]

Nah, matchmaking literally ruined the way mine and many other gaming groups play the game, so it's definitively worse.

Also, updates, which used to be polished Events, now seem slapdash and very uneventful.

 

[KHlover]

TF2 died to me when they first snubbed community servers. Hats, new weapons and PVE mode are fine, but at some point basically all servers I was on suddenly just died and I dropped the game.

 

[zashga]

I kind of lost interest in TF2 when the loot boxes and hats took over. One of the weird things about the game today is going back to the pre-release development videos where Valve talks about how careful they were to develop each character to be easily distinguishable from one another just from their silhouettes. That all went out the window when every character got a layer of cosmetic cruft slathered on top of those carefully-crafted models. In some cases the new weapons further decreased readability, like when the demo man suddenly got a giant sword.

 

[torre_avenue]

TF2 is one of my top 10 games of all time, and its mainly because of how solid and fun the gameplay is, even when Valve breaks weapons. I play Soldier quite a bit, and use the stock launcher, one of the banners, and the Equalizer. I've gotten pretty good with him, and no game I've ever played has ever successfully repliated that feeling when you just tear up the battlefield with him, gibbing folks into oblivion or getting assists with the conch or that lucky random crit that keeps your spree going on. The game just works so beautifully in these moments and its a hell of a feeling.

And there are moments like that for every class: Spy backstab streaks, timing an Ubercharge just right and watching your foes fall, successfully keeping a sentry up for a 10+ killstreak, and so on. TF2 has its flaws, but they all mostly lie outside of the core gameplay. In short, the game is good, that's why its lasted so long, but it could be so much better if Valve found ways to build upon the myriad of ideas its put into the game only to abandon.

If Valve chose to focus on Arena or 5-CP or CTF or Mannpower or Passtime or MvM or Watergate or Hydro and make it great instead of leaving it to die once no one played it, then we could have a much better game on hands.

 

[Trace]

IMO TF2 was perfect just before the Mann-Conomy update, it's been garbage since then. Went from a well-balanced class based FPS to hat simulator.

 

[Vintage]

I agree. There's this shitty video now nitpicking how the game looks worse, not touching tons of stuff that was improved and added to the game throughout the years.

Different game modes, loadouts can make the playing the same class fresh and hats / emotes add more expression to the characters. Just waiting in the spawn room can be fun just watching people role playing and interacting with each other. I haven't seen any fps with this level of expression, not even close.

I heard there's an update coming, might reinstall again, haven't played it in more than a year...

 

[loudbill]

Am i in the minority for liking the cosmetics? It added another aspect to the game for me. It had its own economy, and it was so fun to collect the hats and trade with people. You gotta jump through so many hoops to trade now so i dont even bother.

 

[Visualante2]

Dustbowl was a classic. The game does get more complicated when you add more weapons. And I'd say the way they have added items and change the game over the years only alienates lapsed and new players.

The eyelander update killed my interest in the game.

 

[AJ_Wings]

IMO TF2 was perfect just before the Mann-Conomy update, it's been garbage since then. Went from a well-balanced class based FPS to hat simulator.

TF2 reached some sembalance of game balance just a few years ago. Launch & the years after it were a mess with some classes being straight up unusable. (Pyro)

 

[xErotic]

It's an aspect of the game that people are obsessed with (similar to Overwatch's cosmetic system), but ultimately it has 0 effect on the actual gameplay. 0%. Nadda. None.

Setting aside the idea that the thematic consistency has completely gone down the toilet, it's undeniable that hats and the other cosmetics ruin the character silhouettes. The silhouettes are absolutely crucial at identifying classes at a glance and/or at a distance.

But if you don't care about playing competitively (your point #3) then I suppose it doesn't matter.

 

[torre_avenue]

Am i in the minority for liking the cosmetics? It added another aspect to the game for me. It had its own economy, and it was so fun to collect the hats and trade with people. You gotta jump through so many hoops to trade now so i dont even bother.

They're fun imo.

Over my 5 or so years with the game, I've probably spent about ~$25 on the cosmetics, I think? I have most of my hats via crafting or the Halloween events, and I like the fact I can customize my loadouts with outfits. I'm sure for more trading savvy people, there's a lot of money to be made flipping hats and paints and keys, but I'm happy to just be patient, crafting scrap into hats.

 

[TransTrender]

I dunno what exactly killed it for me and my friends but:

At some point it became impossible to find a game (especially Man vs Machine) and the server list looked jank.

While adding all that crafting stuff could have been neat but I think my account was broken because I basically never got item drops. Even when lanning with friends they would be getting tons of drops and at the end of the day I would have 0.

Crafting all this sort of stuff and farming mats to min/max your character kinda sucked.

Running into characters who had some wacky weapon with side effects or counters you have no idea about, and generally, I would never know because I never got drops.

 

[Vintage]

Setting aside the idea that the thematic consistency has completely gone down the toilet, it's undeniable that hats and the other cosmetics ruin the character silhouettes. The silhouettes are absolutely crucial at identifying classes at a glance and/or at a distance.

But if you don't care about playing competitively (your point #3) then I suppose it doesn't matter.

Apart from very few items, it doesn't ruin the the silhouettes as much as people like to claim. Stance and animation are very much key and even with various skins it's super easy to recognize characters. Maybe at very high level play you need that extra millisecond to identify the enemy, but they have skins disabled anyways.

 

[Puruzi]

I enjoy cosmetics and they in no way ruin the game. The don't affect gameplay so the shit don't matter

 

[Mohasus]

I've seen the argument that unlocks complicate the game (they don't).

Please expand on this other than "they don't".

I don't see how adding new mechanics doesn't make a game more complicated.

 

[PK Gaming]

What's disingenuous about the video? Graphically it definitely looks like a step back.

And while the new options that come with the new weapns are nice I did like the vanilla game where you knew exactly what every hero is capable of.

The music and the way it's framed make it seem like it's the worst thing in the world instead of being a bummer.

IMO TF2 was perfect just before the Mann-Conomy update, it's been garbage since then. Went from a well-balanced class based FPS to hat simulator.

This post is exactly why I made this thread.

Every single point you've made is wrong.

EDIT:

Please expand on this other than "they don't".

I don't see how adding new mechanics doesn't make a game more complicated.

The new mechanics are simple to understand because they're all balanced relative to the original weapon. For example, the Soldier's Black Box Rocket launcher heals health on hit, but has less ammo. That's it.

 

[Iadien]

I still love it just as much as I did at launch. Thousands of hours played.

 

[Randdalf]

Please expand on this other than "they don't".

I don't see how adding new mechanics doesn't make a game more complicated.

Depends on the unlocks, because a large majority of them are variations on a theme rather than entirely new mechanics. For example, there are a bunch of different sniper rifles you can unlock, but you don't have to treat a Sniper any differently than you would normally. Unless that Sniper has a Huntsman, then they're usually playing in a different way.

I actually think weapons like the Flare Gun, Huntsman, Dead Ringer, Sandvich, etc. are way more interesting than the unlocks which are not that different from the original weapon in the slot.

 

[Team Filler]

Most fun I have ever had with any version of Team fortress (including my favorite Quake3Fortress) was playing a Spy equipped with dead ringer and eternal reward, so I pretty much agree that the additions Valve have made have generally improved the game.

 

[Bluth54]

Am i in the minority for liking the cosmetics? It added another aspect to the game for me. It had its own economy, and it was so fun to collect the hats and trade with people. You gotta jump through so many hoops to trade now so i dont even bother.

Tons of people love cosmetics. If they didn't we wouldn't get updates to the game anymore.

 

[nynt9]

OP you might think the game is a better game now, and that is your prerogative, but it's also a very different game compared to years ago. Some people prefer a simpler TF2 and that's valid too. You can't just say they're wrong and act like that's the end of it.

 

[Atom Heart Mother]

Team Fortress 2 is fine from a gameplay point. Game is still really fun to play, despite all the items added. I don't care about hats at all. They can stay in for all I care, my problem is the amount of weapons. There's been so many weapons added over the years that I feel like bogs down the game. I really don't want to learn all these new weapons, but if I don't I might be at a disadvantage (thankfully you're never at a disadvantage). I just feel like there's too many items in the game that it gets confusing after a while.

The maps are still great to play on -- no complaints.

My biggest complaint is how the game is handled. I played TF2 for the first time in 2 years, like 2 days ago. I found the new UI with joining games stupid and frustrating. I liked the VALVe server finding, but with the new UI I have to create a party and then queue for a game, before I can just jump into my friend's game willy nilly. I dislike the levels and progression they put in ON top of hats and weapons. Just reboot the game with an overwatch style if you want to ape Overwatch, it's fine. I feel the game is also really bad at teaching players how to really play. Overwatch is really simple with telling you what your team needs and doesn't need. TF2 never explains fully what each class can do and not do, and the training modes are down right sub-par. Also, comp. mode sucks.


My main point is that the game has too much, and should trim the fat. It should be simpler, but still fun. Like old TF2.

 

[GoldandBlue]

But you can just check community servers which is literally the same thing if that's what you're referencing.

A lot of those servers are inactive. Especially if you're looking for a server with normal map rotations, a lot of what I see is servers like Versus Hale, Slender, and x10.

 

[chrominance]

Like I said in the crowbcat video thread, a lot of the improvements mentioned in the OP don't actually have anything to do with the avalanche of cosmetic items and weapons added to the game, and could have been added to the vanilla game independent of the rest of it.

Also, I'm not sure why people keep saying the pyro was useless at launch. I played a decent amount of pyro at launch, and there were pros and cons same as most other classes. Open spaces were a bad place for a pyro to be, but tight levels with lots of corners provided ample ambush opportunities, and there was the all-important spy-check duty. I would agree that the soldier was maybe a bit OP just because the class is relatively well-rounded, but I really don't remember the balance of launch TF2 being so bad.

 

[muteki]

A lot of it had to do with me just being out of college when it launched and having too much time on my hands (and subsequently after a year or so having none) but I really loved it back then. I stopped playing right around when the first hats came out (I think it was a Halloween event or something) but that wasn't the main reason I stopped. It wasn't even that complicated at the time as I don't think all the classes even had their updates by that point.

But what it boiled down to was all I wanted to play was random Orange maps with low gravity as Scout, over and over, non stop. I might be interested to go back and see if I could still find that, but not really interested in the more standard modes anymore really.

 

[pinkurocket]

Everything was fine until the competitive update got added. Sucked all the fun out of the game and ruined pub servers.

 

[TheYanger]

I think the main issue for most people ist hat nothing you posted really combats the wear of the game next to OW. Like, literally everything in there, OW also does.

TF2 is and was a fantastic game, but you can't blame people for checking out on it over the course of nearly a decade.

Trying to claim that all the weapons don't complicate the game is disingenuous though too, you literally handwave the complaint. The hat section tries to address silhouettes and how they're important, but ignores the main gripe people have with all the weapon unlocks: You no longer have any idea what anyone can do to you unless you play the game a lot. I haven't played in years, if I logged in I would LITERALLY not know what was killing me if anyone was using any weapon since like shortly after the first round of class updates. It's a problem that is smartly solved in other games by expanding the roster rather than the weapons per character, combine it with the hats and it makes the learning curve very large.

 

[PedroLumpy]

Still think they've gone to far with weapons. But otherwise I'd agree. I hated the original maps.

Realistically, the game is like 10 years old. That it's played at all is amazing.

 

[Rockk]

Please expand on this other than "they don't".

I don't see how adding new mechanics doesn't make a game more complicated.

Many weapons don't add new mechanics though. The Black Box is a rocket launcher but has only 3 rockets and insteads heals you based on the damage you do. None of that is a new mechanic.

Honestly there aren't a ton of weapons that add new mechanics. A lot of weapons repurpose ideas and mechanics into different ways. I play no differently if a scout is using a scattergun, Force of Nature, Back Scatter, or any other scout primary.

edit: and unrelated but TF2's movement is still perfection. certainly no game since 2007 at the very least.

 

[RedSwirl]

Popped back into TF2 for a minute during that free Overwatch period. One big difference I noticed was the length of the games.

TF2 matches, at least on private servers, tend to get into long bouts of attrition. TF2 to me is really less of a game and more of a place where people hang out, but that could just be an effect of the private servers. Might just be that one mode (Intelligence). OW matches are are much quicker and more like, well, matches.

 

[Randdalf]

I'd love it if Valve did a TF3 which retained the same characters and art style, but polished the game up to a 2017 graphical standard, and trimmed the fat in terms of maps, modes, weapons and cosmetics. I think that the success of Overwatch shows that there's still a massive appetite for games like TF nowadays. Perhaps they could even add the fabled 10th class.

Popped back into TF2 for a minute during that free Overwatch period. One big difference I noticed was the length of the games.

TF2 matches, at least on private servers, tend to get into long bouts of attrition. TF2 to me is really less of a game and more of a place where people hang out, but that could just be an effect of the private servers. Might just be that one mode (Intelligence). OW matches are are much quicker and more like, well, matches.

Yeah I totally agree with this. I spent a lot of my time in TF2 playing custom maps of questionable quality and hanging out with the regulars on various servers. It's an experience that I miss quite a lot. That said there should be room for matchmaking, but I think community servers should have an equal standing with it.

 

[TheYanger]

Popped back into TF2 for a minute during that free Overwatch period. One big difference I noticed was the length of the games.

TF2 matches, at least on private servers, tend to get into long bouts of attrition. TF2 to me is really less of a game and more of a place where people hang out, but that could just be an effect of the private servers. Might just be that one mode (Intelligence). OW matches are are much quicker and more like, well, matches.

TF2 was kind of always like that to my memory. Log in, play on a map for 30 minutes (with most people only vaguely caring about the objective), change maps, continue. Not that there's anything wrong with it, I love that about TF2, but yeah you would rarely jooin a 2Fort or a Dustbowl map and have people REALLY playing to win. Mostly people in public games just play it like TDM.

 

[Fandangox]

Setting aside the idea that the thematic consistency has completely gone down the toilet, it's undeniable that hats and the other cosmetics ruin the character silhouettes. The silhouettes are absolutely crucial at identifying classes at a glance and/or at a distance.

I don't really think this is an issue, its still pretty easy to identify each class even if some of them are wearing the same cosmetics.

 

[Rockk]

Popped back into TF2 for a minute during that free Overwatch period. One big difference I noticed was the length of the games.

TF2 matches, at least on private servers, tend to get into long bouts of attrition. TF2 to me is really less of a game and more of a place where people hang out, but that could just be an effect of the private servers. Might just be that one mode (Intelligence). OW matches are are much quicker and more like, well, matches.

This is mainly because the game is so heavily skewed towards the defensive side. This has actually been one of the biggest problems with the games since it's inception

 

[PK Gaming]

Like I said in the crowbcat video thread, a lot of the improvements mentioned in the OP don't actually have anything to do with the avalanche of cosmetic items and weapons added to the game, and could have been added to the vanilla game independent of the rest of it.

But that's not my argument though, and ultimately not what this thread is about. My point is that the game is better than people give it credit for because of those improvements. No sense in dwelling hypotheticals, yeah?

Also, I'm not sure why people keep saying the pyro was useless at launch. I played a decent amount of pyro at launch, and there were pros and cons same as most other classes. Open spaces were a bad place for a pyro to be, but tight levels with lots of corners provided ample ambush opportunities, and there was the all-important spy-check duty. I would agree that the soldier was maybe a bit OP just because the class is relatively well-rounded, but I really don't remember the balance of launch TF2 being so bad.

No, the Pyro was absolutely trash at launch. It was a close range specialist class that was outdamaged at close range by the soldier and demoman (generalists). Mitigating fire damage was easy, and outrunning the flamethrower was a joke. The most damning aspect of the Pyro however, was there was no "point" in playing it. (outside of wanting to, anyway). It didn't fufill a unique purpose (spychecking is trivial, and the spy was similarly garbage at launch) and was outclassed at close ranged combat combat. Updates gave it the Air Blast, which allowed the Pyro to at least combat Ubercharge pushes, and the Degreaser (giving it an actual skill ceiling.). Other unlocks the Backburner and Axtinguisher weren't too shabby either.

The reason you don't remember the poor balance was because it wasn't noticeable at lower levelsr. Everyone was uncoordinated and focusing on doing their own thing. If you played against a team of players who knew what they were doing, you'd get stomped.

 

[Mohasus]

Honestly there aren't a ton of weapons that add new mechanics. A lot of weapons repurpose ideas and mechanics into different ways. I play no differently if a scout is using a scattergun, Force of Nature, Back Scatter, or any other scout primary.

Sure, but the problem is, some weapons add new mechanics. That by itself makes the game more complicated. If I'm a spy and I see a sniper with a razorback, I have to approach him in a new way.

And how can I know which weapons add new mechanics and which ones don't? By learning them.

So yeah, in a vacuum, a new weapon doesn't change the game that much, but when you have to consider all the new possibilities, it certainly does.

OP picked a weapon that barely changed and acted like every weapon is like that when it isn't true.

 

[veloxStrix]

More == better?

 

[finalflame]

Well written.

 

[PK Gaming]

I think the main issue for most people ist hat nothing you posted really combats the wear of the game next to OW. Like, literally everything in there, OW also does.

TF2 is and was a fantastic game, but you can't blame people for checking out on it over the course of nearly a decade.

That's fine. I wasn't concerned with the people who passed up TF2 for Overwatch. I'm just tired of the constant "TF2 went to shit because it became hat simulator" garbage that gets perpetuated in nearly every thread related to TF2.

Trying to claim that all the weapons don't complicate the game is disingenuous though too, you literally handwave the complaint. The hat section tries to address silhouettes and how they're important, but ignores the main gripe people have with all the weapon unlocks: You no longer have any idea what anyone can do to you unless you play the game a lot. I haven't played in years, if I logged in I would LITERALLY not know what was killing me if anyone was using any weapon since like shortly after the first round of class updates. It's a problem that is smartly solved in other games by expanding the roster rather than the weapons per character, combine it with the hats and it makes the learning curve very large.

Maybe it complicates things a little, but not to a ridiculous degree. As I said earlier, nearly every weapon is balanced relative to the default weapon, so it's not difficult to grasp. Heavies will still rev up their Minigun and shoot at you, so don't get close. The Rocketman shoots rockets. The Engineer builds machines, and so on. Even if you don't understand the intricacies of a given weapon, how you play against a certain class doesn't really change. Now that obviously doesn't apply to stuff like the Dead Ringer, but that's still a part of the learning curve (which is admittedly pretty atrocious) and more of an exception, not the rule.

Sure, but the problem is, some weapons add new mechanics. That by itself makes the game more complicated. If I'm a spy and I see a sniper with a razorback, I have to approach him in a new way.

And how can I know which weapons add new mechanics and which ones don't? By learning them.

So yeah, in a vacuum, a new weapon doesn't change the game that much, but when you have to consider all the new possibilities, it certainly does.

OP picked a weapon that barely changed and acted like every weapon is like that when it isn't true.

Yeah in retrospect, saying it doesn't complicate things was a bad choice of words on my part. That said, weapons that change matchups like the Razorback are more of the exception and not the rule, and learning how to deal with them isn't that hard.

 

[AJ_Wings]

More == better?

More interesting options & alternative playstyles is better. Yes.

TF2 is currently the best it ever has been despite the general incompetence of the TF2 team lately.

 

[ElectronicOldMen]

The variety of weapons and items by, say, the time it went F2P absolutely improved the game, it allowed for a way wider range of legitimate, fun, unique playstyles which almost became like entirely new character classes within the existing one. Like, I barely played Demoman with the original loadout, but once you get the items to turn him into a super-fast melee focused character charging across the map I got super into playing him.