Rickenslacker
Banned
Why put the human equivalent of scat that is Tracer on an otherwise perfectly good poster.
GIVE PYRO UPDATE NOW.
DAMNIT VALVE.
HELL OF A WAY TO CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF TF2.
I thought the Chell one was Michael Jackson at first.If you're one of those people who don't think Funko Pops look awful the Scout, Medic and Heavy funkos were officially announced today (along with Portal Funko Pops)
I thought the Chell one was Michael Jackson at first.
Oh...Upcoming Changes to the Case System
Oh...We don't have a date for the Pyro update that we can share yet, but we're working to finish it as soon as possible.
DAMNIT JILL.
You know, we are still due a Heavy class update. The Pyro vs Heavy only determined which one we got first. Somewhat ridiculous that we'll probably have to wait at least 2 years to get a planned update.
It will be interesting to see what Valve does with the heavy update whenever it eventually comes out, especially since his minigun is likely going to be getting a buff with the upcoming update.
I think we'll see a minigun replacement that supports the fat scout playstyle. Something like the cozy camper that gives the heavy some buffs in exchange for removing his minigun (for example maybe something like health regen, slightly faster move speed and higher jump height).
TTMR said:Valve gave us no info on the new update, but it'd make sense to assume there would be a new jungle-themed map shipping with the Jungle update. Facepunch found the server the tf2 devs used for the matches we played and VNN messaged all of us as soon as we finished the Valve tour. We told him [VNN] the map we played on was 'thundery and mountainy' (because it was literally just regular thundermountain), and he proceeded to believe that it wasn't thundermountain and was in fact the jungle map and then released a video hours later, which we weren't expecting. he believed a locked server with a guy called 'can i get uhhhhh source 2' was 100% evidence the jungle update was coming out in june so
Multiplay's Insomnia Gaming Festival is traditionally one of the most prominent events in the TF2 esport calendar. i61 is no exception with the Team Fortress 2 Open featuring extraordinary players fighting for a share of the largest prize pool in TF2 this year.
Coverage of Insomnia 61 at the NEC in Birmingham, England spans August 25th - 28th. Three solid days of action cumulate in the two best teams of the event stepping up to the main stage to fight for the right to take home a big cardboard cheque.
If you can't attend in person, you can watch all the action live on Twitch at Essentials.TF offering an exceptional and worldly lineup of shoutcasters and analysts.
That worked, thanks, I was able to join a casual game. Once in my analog stick didn't move me so I had to quit out, but I'll solve that one on my own.Does this only happen in Training Mode?
Because then the solution is to not playing Training Mode. One of the worst tutorials in any game.
and got a poster signed by the TF2 team/Valve employees:
and put out a very interesting tweet:
That can't be the TF2 team.So TF2 Youtuber Uncle Dane visited Valve today. He got a little wrench from the TF2 team:
and got a poster signed by the TF2 team/Valve employees:
and put out a very interesting tweet:
i doN't have any informatIoN about the pyro updatE, but i also wouldn't juSt straIght up spill it if i did. we can eXpect something soon.
The capital letters spell out NINE SIX
Looks like we'll finally get the update next Wednesday.
The dream is dead.
I admit my mistake of posting the cryptic tweet. I did it out of excitement literally a few hours after I left Valve's offices. Yep, bad move. I should have either just been clear about what I saw (like my follow-up clarifications) or just kept my mouth shut. And for not making those choices, I apologize.
Since we're approaching the event horizon of the 9/6 update officially being over, I might as well be extremely clear about what I saw, nothing left out. This information does not reflect my opinion or any speculation of mine.
When we were walking through the doorway that leads into where the TF Team has all of their desks, Eric took us past a rectangular shaped board room with a glass wall, so you could see inside of the entire thing from the hallway. We stopped in front of it and he explained to us what it's used for (it's used for meetings, to no one's surprise). Inside the board room was three things: a television on the far left wall, a long board room table and chairs in the middle, and a whiteboard on the far right wall.
I remembered seeing this room through the glass wall during my first visit in January. When I saw it the first time, I remember the whiteboard being basically full of random writings, none of which was clearly visible. This time, the entire whiteboard was blank except for a few things in the bottom left corner, clearly visible (for the most part) through the glass wall. I stared at it for a good long while during Eric's explanation of the room's purpose, and saw that it was exactly the following:
The words "September 6th". Below that, a time of day. This was considerably smaller than the date, so I couldn't see exactly what it said, but it was clear to me that it was a time of day. It looked a little bit like 11:30am or something, but I couldn't be sure. So I have always left that information out, since I don't know what it said. Then, underneath that - a very simplistic doodle that was very obviously a jungle. There were a few tropical looking trees and bushes all sitting on a bit of land. Looked more like a small island than anything, but it was obvious to me that it was a very small doodle of a jungle.
That was the only thing written on the whiteboard. Past that, I have no other information from my discussions with the four Valve employees we spoke with for a few hours over lunch and in their office. I've said it before in other places, but 90% of the time, we spoke to them about what we think is good, what we think needs improvement. They listened, we talked. It was not an official meeting by any means, I only wanted to visit again because I genuinely enjoy the atmosphere of Valve, the TF Team is very friendly and down-to-earth, and I love their game and respect their passion for the game. I was in town, so I wanted to stop by and catch up. I didn't go to just press them about Pyro Update news, or interview them like Tyler did.
Sure, I would have loved to have gotten some sort of hint directly from the team, but they love their surprises, so the lack of new info wasn't... surprising. And if the TF Team would have told me anything in confidence, I wouldn't talk about it publically. In fact, there are still things I learned during my first visit that I haven't spoken to anyone about, and I don't plan to - simply because it was told to me in confidence.
The difference between leaking the date I saw on the board, and leaking something the TF Team told me directly comes down to the fact that I have no idea what it meant. My mistake was that I implied it was "official" via loosely cryptic tweet. The only reason I've had faith in the date being real is because...
1) The implication is pretty damn strong. I mean, it's a date and time over a doodle of a jungle. What else could that possibly mean? I thought it was obvious.
2) It's in their board room, which is used for meetings. I imagine it went down like this: They call a meeting intended to decide the launch date. While everyone goes around confirming that their individual projects are completed, someone doodles a jungle on the board to pass the time. Once they all confirm when they think it will be done, a date is written, along with a time. Meeting adjourned, nothing else to discuss. Back to work.
3) The NINESIX meme has been bumpin' for 4 days. If a launch date decision wasn't the reason for this date being written on the whiteboard, you'd think that someone from the TF Team (like Jill) would publicly debunk it. It would take a second, and it would prevent all the disappointment from happening very easily. It would take 10 seconds. I know Valve employees don't like to speak up or clarify things, but I would imagine that an assumption this popular would warrant at least a "nope, lol" from someone. This is the main reason I was expecting it today, to be honest.
This post is getting really fucking long, so I'll just call it here. Once again, sorry for the bamboozle. I was excited, I made a mistake in the way that I brought the speculation to the public. Thanks for being a tad more understanding than the Reddit, guys. I know the Uncle Dane Hunting Memes are mostly in good fun, but do know that I actually feel bad about the way it's gone down and the only thing I can do now is wait and hope just like everyone else.
Official Uncle Dane song about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQqD1-oplSE&feature=youtu.be. I actually just realized he played Ash on Stupid Mario Bros . . .
I don't get why Valve never comments on this stuff.
Expecting actual communication from the TF team?
Where the hell have you been for the past 5 years?
It has been EIGHTY DAYS since the Balance Changes blogpost was made. Entire video games could be made in that duration of time. For the love of God, I hope they didn't start working on the update after posting the blogpost in June because it seems that way!
We are over NINE MONTHS into the year without a major update. Entire babies could be made in that duration of time.
Summer is basically over and for the first time TF2's history there has been no major update.
Kids are going back to school. They've already missed the period to attract new people to the game and get a player boost.
WTF is going on!?
Valve pretty much doesn't support the game anymore.
I mean I expect Halloween mode to be turned on late and only new crates.
Because its all about money.
I think the reality is that the Heavy update, if it ever even comes out, is going to be the end of support for this game beyond maybe lootboxes.
Had a good run.
As brief as I can put it: Me and Void have visited Valve in the past- Once on a tour a few years back, and one other time having lunch with Dave And Eric while TI5 was a thing since we were all in the area. While we've visited Valve/select tf2 team members in the past with bigger groups of people, this is the first time that Void and I have really sat down one-on-one (one-on-two?) with Eric himself. It was a very positive, eye-opening experience.
Honestly, it was just a really chill time. Best way I could put it was that we were three people who love tf2, having fun talking about the game and how development goes not only on their part, but how the community does things, too. I don't know how much I can say or -should- say, but like I said in those tweets, it was very reassuring that tf2 ain't goin nowhere anytime soon. At least from what I could gather from Eric, anyway.
After the main tour ended was when all the chatting happened. Eric offered us a drink from the main lunch room, we all grabbed a table, and got whisked away with our thoughts. Eric told us that him and the rest of the team have been learning so much from community feedback, both from all the good people have to say, and the bad. No matter what it is, they always try to read everything people are saying; from the passion of all Eric had to say, I have a good feeling that the next update will be an enjoyable one. They really hope you all enjoy it, too.
I may be forgetting a few points since I'm still very frazzled that we got to sit with Eric personally and for so long, so if anything comes up from you all (and within reason!) I'll try my best to fill any blanks. I feel like I'm also making this all a lot longer than it should! It's just been a very busy PAX weekend besides all of this too, forgive me for any spelling/grammar mistakes ahead of time.
As of now though, this is all I have to say. From the tweets I made and from all of this writing, I hope it quells any fears people may have that the tf2 team doesn't care. From all that I've seen and heard today, the team is very tight-knit. The fact that some are in the building even though it's Labor Day solidifies the passion they have for this game too, I think. That's just me, though!