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[TheRedSnifit]

In the classic Smissmas story "The Gift of the Magi", a girl sells all of her hair to a hair warehouse to buy her boyfriend a watch chain, but in a shocking twist, he looks at his watch and remembers she's bald and it's time to break up with her. That's when the Magi show up, and it is a BLOODBATH.

The point is, giving people gifts can bite you in the ass. Too much potential for twist endings. So this Smissmas, why not sit back, scroll down, and leave the gift-giving to us.

. . .

Casual Match Improvements

At the end of a Casual match, players will now be automatically formed into a new match with the same players and teams. You'll also get to vote on which map the new match will take place on.

New Autobalancing System

We're introducing a new autobalance system for Casual Matches and community servers that asks for volunteers to switch sides. Casual matches will reward you for switching teams by giving you the chance to earn bonus XP!

Not on the updates page, but in the patch notes:

Players can now set their maximum acceptable ping by clicking the new gear icon in the top right of the Casual and Competitive matchmaking lobby screens and choosing "Ping Settings"
. . .

• Fixed security issue reported by Justin G. (sigsegv) and Linus S. (PistonMiner)
• Fixed not clearing the teleport condition for players who have their teleport interrupted before the teleport is complete
• Fixed PASS Time exploit related to bonus points
• Updated mat_monitorgamma so it can be adjusted in Competitive mode
• Fixed the ShouldPreserveSquad flag not being parsed correctly in Mann vs. Machine mode
• Fixed a bug related to bot Engineers and teleporters in Mann vs. Machine mode
• Fixed not being able to transfer Strange stats between versions of Jarate and the Sapper
• Fixed incorrect particle position for Unusual taunt effects when using the Racho Relaxo
• Added the ESA Rewind tournament medals
• Added the Winter Wonderland 2016 community medals
• Updated the Dalokohs Bar to fix a bug related to the health buff
• Updated cp_metalworks to fix a texture problem
• Updated pd_watergate - Respawn times will now change depending on which team is in the lead: 8 seconds to leading team, 4 seconds to trailing team - Moved the current beer amount to the center of the HUD - Added a jump to low spawn route to give respawned players something to do en-route to mid - Added a light to illuminate roof-snipers better - Adjusted some clipping

Of course, this updates contains cosmetics. Hats! Taunts! Festives! Hats!

Merry Smissmass!

Spoiler

Image by this Henninsson21: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198073863984/

 

[Modoru]

Serious question - there's an XP system now? I've been gone way too long.

 

[Bluth54]

After no new Valve made content for Halloween we don't get any gameplay changes, no new campaign/community maps and no pyro update in sight. Good job Valve.

 

[afternoon delight]

After no new Valve made content for Halloween we don't get any gameplay changes, no new campaign/community maps and no pyro update in sight. Good job Valve.

At least it doesn't cost 2.49$ to uncrate.

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

Ick.

There's really nothing to see here. Or ever? Killing Valve servers and replacing them with casual matchmaking when vanilla community servers are essentially long-gone was pretty much the end for me. No point in going back.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

After no new Valve made content for Halloween we don't get any gameplay changes, no new campaign/community maps and no pyro update in sight. Good job Valve.

At least they unbroke casual matchmaking.

N E A T O
E
A
T
O

 

[Dylan]

After no new Valve made content for Halloween we don't get any gameplay changes, no new campaign/community maps and no pyro update in sight. Good job Valve.

I hope this means that TF3 is in the works!

 

[TheRedSnifit]

I hope this means that TF3 is in the works!

No chance.

 

[Easy_D]

Wait, TF2 has an XP system now? Does that decide weapon drops and shit now instead of the super secret timer?

 

[Bluth54]

Wait, TF2 has an XP system now? Does that decide weapon drops and shit now instead of the super secret timer?

No they just changed Valve servers to use matchmaking so you earn XP for playing. It's just cosmetic.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

Wait, TF2 has an XP system now? Does that decide weapon drops and shit now instead of the super secret timer?

No. It's purely cosmetic.

 

[Yukinari]

The new demo taunt is the best part of the update. Havent seen all the new cosmetics though. Festive Kritzkrieg is finally here.

 

[TaterTots]

Getting down on this like now.

 

[Coffee Dog]

Hasn't it been like 4 years since they released a non reskin weapon? Has it just been hats/user maps this whole time?

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Wait, who won the heavy/pyro vote war, did anything even come of that?

Haha who am I kidding, of course the answer is 'doesn't matter, and no.'

 

[Easy_D]

No they just changed Valve servers to use matchmaking so you earn XP for playing. It's just cosmetic.

No. It's purely cosmetic.

But.... why?

 

[Gentleman Jack]

But.... why?

Because it's a low-effort addition in a game that has been running on fumes for like five years now. 'see we're just like overwatch, enjoy your exp bars.'

 

[Bluth54]

Hasn't it been like 4 years since they released a non reskin weapon? Has it just been hats/user maps this whole time?

The last new weapons were released in the 2014 Christmas update. Valve has been more focused on rebalancing the current weapons in the game then releasing new ones, with 2 excellent major rebalance updates in 2015 (Gun Mettle and Tough Break) that rebalanced a huge number of weapons in the game.

Valve has announced new weapons and rebalances for the Pyro and Heavy class coming in the future.

 

[Psychoward]

That Heavy hat reminds me of the OW Roadhog winter skin lol

 

[DaciaJC]

Ick.

There's really nothing to see here. Or ever? Killing Valve servers and replacing them with casual matchmaking when vanilla community servers are essentially long-gone was pretty much the end for me. No point in going back.

Matched my own thoughts to a T.

 

[Dylan]

Because it's a low-effort addition in a game that has been running on fumes for like five years now. 'see we're just like overwatch, enjoy your exp bars.'

They shouldn't need to to that. TF2 is still way more fun than Overwatch.

I'd be happy if they just put out one new map every year and ignored everything else.

 

[Bluth54]

They shouldn't need to to that. TF2 is still way more fun than Overwatch.

I'd be happy if they just put out one new map every year and ignored everything else.

I think they did it because a lot of modern games have a cosmetic XP system and they want to keep the game modern.

TF2 has actually had a ton of maps added in the past 2 years, it's gotten around 20 or so community maps made official (including Halloween maps) more then we've gotten in a long time.

 

[Hackworth]

Since when does TF2 have XP?
I quit when one of the updates made my favorite custom servers inaccessible so I'm aware the answer is potentially several years ago.

 

[Visualante2]

Because it's a low-effort addition in a game that has been running on fumes for like five years now. 'see we're just like overwatch, enjoy your exp bars.'

You might be right about it being a low energy addition to the game but I think the truth is changes made to Valve's games are much more cynical than that. Valve isn't seeking to improve enjoyment for individuals, it is just trying to boost user engagement and spending.

 

[Layell]

I think this shows why I love Overwatch and won't return to TF2.

Valve is content on milking the content its playerbase creates, and while it was novel for a time they've kept it going so long I no longer care.

 

[KarmaCow]

It's a shame valve completely abandoned MvM. They don't even bother putting the tickets on sale anymore.

 

[fhqwhgads]

It's a shame valve completely abandoned MvM. They don't even bother putting the tickets on sale anymore.

Damn right. There was so much more they could do with it and it was a huge selling point back when it was fresh in people's minds. Now it's been far too long and the dev team seems more focused on adding new things to the game rather than building on older concepts, so an MvM update seems unlikely to happen.

 

[Bluth54]

It's a shame valve completely abandoned MvM. They don't even bother putting the tickets on sale anymore.

Valve has actually been adding code to the game over the past year to suggest that they are working on new MVM content. They've given medic bots the ability to use the MVM shield, as well as given the bots the ability to use the BASE Jumper parachute weapon and added an air raid sound to the MVM files. It seems like they're working on a MVM map where the Bots parachute into the map. There's also a ton of community made MVM maps and missions they could make official to bolster their own MVM update.

Who knows if Valve will ever ship any of it though.

 

[breadtruck]

I still have TF installed and updating, but Im not sure I can ever bring myself to play it again. And I say "play" loosely, since no one plays the game, they just trade, so I would screw around until I gave up and quit out.

 

[Guess Who]

They really need a major rethink of this game. They lost the thread on what to do with it a long time ago, which pains me to say as in its heyday it was my favorite game ever made.

 

[BigEmil]

I think they did it because a lot of modern games have a cosmetic XP system and they want to keep the game modern.

TF2 has actually had a ton of maps added in the past 2 years, it's gotten around 20 or so community maps made official (including Halloween maps) more then we've gotten in a long time.

Valve make alot of money from microtransactions in this game and the marketplace etc so of course they'll add a few things here and there to make sure those customers don't go and keep spending here

 

[Zia]

Valve's obstinacy in pushing their new matchmaking is seriously fucking baffling. First "meaningful" (yeah... ) update in a long time and the concurrent player count is sitting at 59k. If I didn't know better I'd think that they were trying to kill the game...

 

[Hierophant]

most of my friends who still play are playing because they are too heavily invested in the market and can't offload all their unusuals

Lucky i bowed out of the market like three years ago and have recently moved onto overwatch

 

[Exile20]

most of my friends who still play are playing because they are too heavily invested in the market and can't offload all their unusuals

Lucky i bowed out of the market like three years ago and have recently moved onto overwatch

Havne't played TF2 in sooooooooo long and OW pretty much....replaced it.

Good they are still updating the game tho.

 

[TheSeks]

Does matchmaking still take 30+ mins to find a match? Yes? Then I'm not interested.

 

[Bluth54]

Does matchmaking still take 30+ mins to find a match? Yes? Then I'm not interested.

I connect to the Virginia servers mostly and with 20 or so maps selected it usually takes me less then a minute to get into the match.


The ping settings for the new update actually show how populated each server region is at the time:

 

[TheRedSnifit]

Hasn't it been like 4 years since they released a non reskin weapon? Has it just been hats/user maps this whole time?

Two years, I think.

I'm not super-concerned about weapons. I really don't want to return to the dark ages of 2009/2010 when they just added a bunch of broken weapons that everybody hates. The "recent" balance updates have made this game the most balanced it's ever been. Plus there are other high-priority things they need to look at.

Of course, this last year has shown that the TF2 team is obtuse and stubborn as fuck and ignores the community, so yeah, I doubt we'll ever see anything fixed. Hopefully somebody releases a worthy successor sometime soon so I can jump off. At least in this update they mostly unfucked the mess they made in MYM, and improved The Gift of the Magi.

 

[MatthewB92]

Off topic a bit but is there a Pyro update coming?

 

[TheRedSnifit]

Off topic a bit but is there a Pyro update coming?

Supposedly.

 

[commissar]

Good to see they're fixing things. Wish more people at Valve would care about it though.

Still, despite all the bullshit, TF2 remains an excellent game.

 

[Celegus]

Whoa, I completely forgot TF2 existed after Overwatch... don't think I'm going back though.

 

[QuantumSquid]

TF2 is a dead game. People still play it, but it's dead. Nobody except for the most diehard TF2 fanboys thinks about it or plays it anymore, and everyone interested in the style of game TF2 offers just plays Overwatch instead.

The only reason people still play it is because it's free. If it still cost money, it would be beyond dead at this point.

 

[Yukinari]

TF2 is a dead game. People still play it, but it's dead. Nobody except for the most diehard TF2 fanboys thinks about it or plays it anymore, and everyone interested in the style of game TF2 offers just plays Overwatch instead.

The only reason people still play it is because it's free. If it still cost money, it would be beyond dead at this point.

Its also the massive investment that people sink into the game and continue to do so as long as Valve keeps adding new cosmetics.

Its not an economy as profitable as CSGO but yeah.

 

[commissar]

TF2 is a dead game. People still play it, but it's dead. Nobody except for the most diehard TF2 fanboys thinks about it or plays it anymore, and everyone interested in the style of game TF2 offers just plays Overwatch instead.

The only reason people still play it is because it's free. If it still cost money, it would be beyond dead at this point.

*eye roll*

 

[SZips]

TF2 is a dead game. People still play it, but it's dead. Nobody except for the most diehard TF2 fanboys thinks about it or plays it anymore, and everyone interested in the style of game TF2 offers just plays Overwatch instead.

The only reason people still play it is because it's free. If it still cost money, it would be beyond dead at this point.

44,618 59,374 Team Fortress 2

Yeah, super dead...

Super dead fourth most played game on Steam still, but it's dead.

Spoiler

lol?

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

TF2 isn't dead, but I don't like to call it alive either. It wears most of TF2's skin, but it's not the TF2 we knew.

 

[AJ_Wings]

Good job on unfucking Casual mode Valve! What a great & talented team! /s

Will try it out after work today.

 

[AJ_Wings]

TF2 is a dead game. People still play it, but it's dead. Nobody except for the most diehard TF2 fanboys thinks about it or plays it anymore, and everyone interested in the style of game TF2 offers just plays Overwatch instead.

The only reason people still play it is because it's free. If it still cost money, it would be beyond dead at this point.

One of the most consistent games to be on the top 5 most played games on Steam is dead.

Sure, dad gaem.

 

[Bluth54]

Good job on unfucking Casual mode Valve! What a great & talented team! /s

Will try it out after work today.

The only big problem with the changes they made is the map vote at the end just seems to be 2 random maps that people playing the current match have selected (along with the current map) so you may be playing a payload match and get a CTF map and a Passtime map along with the current map. They really should change it so it's only maps for the same mode (or in the case of the alternate game modes options from the alternate list).

They still haven't added the ability to join a friend's casual game then automatically queue up with them after the match is over, you still need to queue up with them before playing.

CSGO also recently got a feature where you can queue up with people in the same steam group, it's a bit disappointing they didn't add that to TF2 in this update.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

TF2 is a dead game. People still play it, but it's dead. Nobody except for the most diehard TF2 fanboys thinks about it or plays it anymore, and everyone interested in the style of game TF2 offers just plays Overwatch instead.

The only reason people still play it is because it's free. If it still cost money, it would be beyond dead at this point.

The problem is that Overwatch isn't an adequate replacement. It has a low skill ceiling, no community servers, little advanced movement, etc. It's like that anybody interested in Unreal Tournament's gameplay should just play Halo like everybody else.

TF2 has a perfect balance between teamplay and individual skill that no other game has, so anybody who likes that is stuck playing it, even though Valve is beyond incompetent.