>>13901
he could also have dementia or Alzheimers and blame something that never happened on the robo-crates.
...now I made myself sad.

This is Engie, not Soldier.

>>13850

I really liked robo Scout Mom. Also the hub was very professionally done, so congrats upon that.

What I found disappointing about this update was that in terms of the actual game it's just hats: no new maps, no new lines, no new weapons, nothing. That's Valve's failing though not yours; it's clear they're not really bothered with TF2 right now (the TF2 team is down to 2-3 people I believe, not even Walker's working on it anymore) so decided to tide things over with this, something they barely had to put any effort into at all.

If I have a criticism for you it's that it would've been nice to include some non-robo gear, too. There's been some really nice looking workshop stuff contributed recently, whilst a good 15 or so of the robo hats are very mediocre, literally just lol metal versions of existing hats. A bit of variety would have made all the difference.

You seem to be taking the barracking very hard, which is understandable. Don't. You did a good job with what you had.

Yeah, that'd be my contention with it, for the most part. Updates are exciting because there'll be new maps and weapons and maybe even gamemodes. None of which this update delivered.

I will say that I am a little disappointed by the comic's art. There are a lot of really weird faces going on in it and the characters go off model A LOT. It actually reminded me of Cuanta Vida in that way. It looks like Heartsman was doing a very disproportionately large load of the work otherwise and drawing the comic might have been something best delegated to a more solid artist. They certainly had their pick.

It would have been nice to have included more fans of other sorts. As it was, the bulk of the content was existing hats robotized and fanarts. Which is wonderful, but that limited the "Community" update to basically the community's modellers and artists. And at that, only those that knew of or where invited to Facepunch.

But my DEEPEST DISAPPOINTMENT was that in an update that consisted of fifty fkn seven hats?

Not one of them is Soldier's Pretty Pretty Princess tiara? He had a whole new set right there. Tiara, rangs, necklace, and HOLLA HOLLA badge. $20. Missed a grand opportunity, champs.

Y'know the only thing surprising about this update is how a Pomeranian and not a Corgi is the President of Future!TF2 America. In a story by Cat Bountry.

Maybe it wasn't up to her, I dunno.

>>13906
>But my DEEPEST DISAPPOINTMENT was that in an update that consisted of fifty fkn seven hats?
Not one of them is Soldier's Pretty Pretty Princess tiara? He had a whole new set right there. Tiara, rangs, necklace, and HOLLA HOLLA badge. $20. Missed a grand opportunity, champs.


THIS, so much! I was actually looking in the store just in case(well,it isn't a robot!version so...)
I was gonna buy one for Kurmo if it was a thing :c

...next fan update: everyone is a pretty princess? no comic even needed just like...sets of stuff. or a paint that can do sparkly!hats/misc items?

Truthfully I thought this update(before it became offical) was gonna like...add robot!paint and some hats could be painted robot. Like on Neopets,I guess :V

>>13864
>Stop being the cancer killing TF2chan.
it died a long time ago, sweetheart. sorry you missed the boat on that one. tf2ch actually was a pretty swell place in its heyday.

>why do that when it's just so much easier to whine and bitch about something you don't like?
the community was asked for their opinion. people who wanted the opinion in the first place get mad when it doesn't fall in line with the slavish, sycophantic praise they were expecting. fucking deal, son.

>>13866
>everyone will just head on back to Hipstr to be with all their friends/mindless followers
doesn't bountry use hipstr avidly? OOPS!

>>13872
>I don't know why it seems so many people dislike the update, personally I found the comic to be really funny
>personally
>personally
>personally liked it
>cannot conceive of another person personally not liking it
i see this shithole of an imageboard can still into cognitive dissonance with the best of them

>>13892
"shitlord"'s a real Phil Fish-tier insult. just sayin'. step up your asshole vocabulary

Kren hit it on the nose: the people who actually mattered and contributed some worthwhile shit to this community left a long time ago. on the one hand, i feel bad for all of the relative new blood who missed out on some real good art and contributions from the likes of makani, p-ro, alia, pelli, kren, phish, and a host of others i can't recall at the moment.

even so, i can't lie and say that i don't enjoy seeing this place continuing to eat itself from the inside out while inflicting excruciating emotional pain on everybody involved - because, for the most part, y'all deserve it. a years-long process that just grows funnier every moment it goes on. it's like a human got killed by a zombie, rose from the dead, and is now getting killed again by a double-zombie. that is this place nowadays.

god bless you, tf2ch, for giving me some of my best friends who continue to stand by my side even when i'm an insufferable douche most of the time; but also for the endless source of laughter you have been, are continuing to be, and will most surely continue to be. keep it up!

(I WILL EAT YOU,YOU SKINNY FUCK. Best Regards,-E)

>>13915
so can you not?

is there a thread where we can discuss the update in which people who contributed to it aren't allowed to post?

>>13917
I dunno, is there a site we can go to where people who want to be an asshole and exclude other people based solely on their own personal biases can't post? That sure would be great wouldn't it?

>>13919

>Facepunch

osnap

>> This place is weird.
>> You guys are mostly all dopes.
>> The update was reasonable.
>>The contributors talk a lot of shit.

/thread

You can now get a LEGIT UNUSUAL GIBUS

STRANGE BOT KILLER JARATE, THAT WOULD GET THE KEYS PRICE DOWN!!

>>13896

... Man I was gonna try and stay away from the chan for a few days to get my head in the right place but I guess me trying to do some light-hearted teasing was too much.

Too flippant for my own good, dang.

>>13898
Fuck it if this is considered carebearing. I can't stand to sit and watch one of the most decent people on here leave because of one person.

Millia, I sincerely hope you're still around.

>>13898
Holy shit. Grow one of these, please, on your way out. Not saying that to sound like an asshole or anything, but you seriously have a problem thinking Cat is out to get you when she's not. Cat apologized and explained why she acted the way she did, but you kept on crying like a baby and dragging it out. Cat did not mock you at all after her apology.

>>13898

Good Riddance. Pathetic at everything.

SO TELL ME GUYS, WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE HAT FROM THIS STUPID UPADATE. MINE WAS THE RESKIN OF THE SCOUT'S VISOR CAUSE IT REMINDS ME OF GEORDI'S VISOR AND I THINK IT'S COOL.


Millia, I don't care if you go or stay, but I'd be happy to have you back.

>>13927

Man, I don't even have any hard feelings towards Millia I just thought having that kind of concern over a game that has a tone as silly as TF2's was silly and I didn't even mean that as an attack on her or nothin'.

Though, if Millia is unable to handle this kind of thing around the chan perhaps it might be better for her own peace of mind to not stick around? That sounds pretty awful to say 'cause she seems nice enough, but if she can't handle the chan environment then it would probably cause her a lot less stress to just stick around if she's unable to adapt. Last thing I need is somebody giving themselves ulcers 'cause they're compelled to stay in a place that is making them uncomfortable. Image boards gotta be image boards and if that's not right for you that's fine, there are plenty of other places to discuss the TF2s. This is just one of them.

Millia whatever you decide I wish you the best of luck regardless it's your call mang.

>>13907

That would have been too obvious.

>>13929

Unusual Gibus makes entire update worth the weight eff da haters.

Okay, so in regards to the update itself, I found the content underwhelming, with Gray coming across as highly out of character based on his previous appearances and the rest of the comic being too over-the-top in regards to humor – not that punching a Yeti is subtle, more that a time-traveling Engineer with a dog as president don’t quite match the established tone and feel. It felt very much like the whole thing was made by fans.

And by the same token, that’s exactly what I loved about it.

The Team Fortress 2 fandom doesn’t seem to realize how lucky they have it. There isn’t anyone else I can think of besides Valve that’s willing to legitimize fandom productions like this – not Marvel, not DC, not Fox studios, not Warner Brothers or Viacom and Sony or any other major player in the entertainment oligarchy. Even MTV fanfiction contests won’t open the doors to the authors the way Valve did to the artists and writer of this update. Every other fandom I’ve been in has had to figure out the right disclaimers, labels, warnings, secret handshakes and passwords, secure document-sharing networks and blogging platforms, where they wouldn’t get their work erased, or threatened with legal action, or both. No one else has ever considered deigning to entertain the possibility of throwing their arms open and inviting everyone in for a hug the way Valve did here, and will do so again in the future.

I don’t like the content. I love the precedent.

The precedent is what worries me. The content in and of itself, at least the hats anyway, are good. It's just that the robot hat project alone was not suitable for an entire update, no matter how many of them they made. And because of the main selling point on the update, people aren't going to remember it as that time Valve tried to pass off a bunch of reskins as a full update, but as the time the "community" was given the reins and all they did was remake hats and build a disjointed, incoherent hub to show them off in.

It looks like Valve was really hands-off on this in the interests of it being all-community, when it could have been much better if they had given the organizers more direction. Hopefully, they will try this again, but the next update would need to really knock it out of the park if they don't want the playerbase to get the idea that community updates are just substandard tide-overs until Valve can be bothered to make their own.

>>13934
Agreed. Even if this turns a tidy profit to Valve and the digital haberdashers, there isn’t all that much to it. It’s my hope, as well, that the next such community update will be more cohesive and comprehensive – a map or two, something to genuinely add to the gameplay. As an initial demonstration for community-created updates, this demonstrated possibility; the next one needs to establish viability.

And as long as I’m dreaming, who knows, maybe a short story collection or somesuch.

Yeah, that thought occurred to me too, a short story compilation. Or maybe greatly expanded bunch of easter egg and teaser pages that writers and artists could collaborate on.

Like, ideally, in an actual community update (wherein the focus is actually the community and not just that the items are non-valve) there would be a lot of smaller projects that are designed to show different aspects of the community and what they do with the source material. Not just artists and modellers, but the mapmakers and weapon designers, writers could expand upon certain aspects of the story that aren't explored all that much (1850 team or Soldier and Spy cohabiting come to mind), maybe crafty people could submit designs for a new batch of merchandise (maybe start with improved patterns for those plush toys and Lux had a really neat idea the other day about crates with items for the action figures in them). Asking the artists to get involved in this update was a great thing to do, but follow through on that to the next logical conclusion. Consider all viable aspects of the fandom and figure out ways for them to contribute. (Hopefully find ways to monetize it all.)

And THEN, figure out ways for members of the community who don't do any fandom shit to also contribute. Like that time they let people come up with descriptions for items. Let them vote on stuff, or like the WAR! update, let them sway events with their performance in game.

I mean, as long as we're talking about an update that truly is about the community, then inclusivity is going to be a big thing.

And all of that needs to be built around a solid theme and that theme should ideally be built around some new features in the game itself. The biggest problem with this update was that it didn't do the primary thing an update is supposed to do. It didn't get people excited about playing the game. The reason everyone goes apeshit during updates is because new features mean you get to see a new side of the game, you get to learn how to use new weapons, explore and strategize around new maps, and just have fun with your new toys.

This was a Christmas where all we got were socks. There was no actual change to the game this time around, so there's no reason to jump back in with renewed fervor like people did during previous updates. And there's no reason to tell your friends.

So maybe some new gameplay or features that encourage a sense of community. I mean, the whole robot thing in the first place was supposed to be everyone setting aside their team colors and working together. Maybe gameplay that actually reflects that would be a nice addition to build an update around.

Sorry to say, but I don't think fanfiction is ever going to hold much potential as part of an update. If and when people want to read fanfiction, they'll come find it on their own. If they don't want to read it, then shoehorning it into an update isn't going to make them want to read it any more--if anything, it'll creep them out, considering some of the prejudices people have about fanfiction. Besides that, when people have just got this big, exciting new update with all sorts of new toys to play with, the last thing they want to do is sit around and read a story. There's a reason that even the comics, which are fast paced and full of shiny, pretty pictures to begin with, almost never exceed a dozen pages, or take more than two or three minutes to read.
There is, however, plenty of room for skilled wordsmiths to work on these updates, and we should be utilising their help to make our blurbs and descriptions clever and concise, well-written, fun, and consistent with the TF2 style. So if you're a good writer, you can still get involved and help out. Just don't get your hopes up on using the updates to showcase your fanfiction the same way it showcases hats, maps and other playable content. It just doesn't have the universal appeal.

>There's a reason that even the comics, which are fast paced and full of shiny, pretty pictures to begin with, almost never exceed a dozen pages, or take more than two or three minutes to read.

What is The Sacrifice comic, Alex?

I'd read a story as part of the update. Especially if, lol, updates were like the old days of two updates ago where the features were revealed over a period of days and until the update shipped, you had nothing but the hubs to pore over.

But if we're worried about people not being able to read without pretty pictures, then we have artists out the ass too. Let them make comics.

>>13938
The only Left4Dead comic Valve's released so far, and to this date, still the longest comic Valve's put out. Other than TF2, there's been three Portal comics, ("Lab Rat", a turret lullaby, and a Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer parody), and a DoTA 2 prologue. Still no Half-Life comic, although they've said they'd love to make one.

I think unfortunately Valve thinks fans of one game care about all of their games, which is not always true.

<a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/pyromania/thepoopyjoefiles/">THIS IS NOT FICTION IN AN UPDATE AT ALL NO SIR</a>

<a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/pyromania/soldierhome/">NEITHER IS THIS</a>

http://www.teamfortress.com/pyromania/thepoopyjoefiles/

http://www.teamfortress.com/pyromania/soldierhome/

Fiction by fans, yes – they’re also comics done by professionals, so the comparison doesn’t quite work. You do, however, demonstrate that there’s a market for people that want to read TF2 stories in one form or another. (And if you like Michael Avon Oeming’s style, go ahead and give Powers a shot. Good reading.) If an update included a bunch of pieces from the fan community in the form of short comics, that might be easier to pitch than a collection of prose pieces. Still, as someone whose fan contributions are prose pieces – and a 1000-2000 word story wouldn’t take that much longer to read than the comics – I admit I’d much rather see the latter, since I have a shot at it.

Incidentally, since 13941's HTML tags don’t work on this board, does anyone know if it’s possible to embed a link, or is the only way raw text?

>>13943
There's also fans who can become canon writers. Just look at Star Wars, Star Trek, and Transformers. And our very own Makani.

>>13946
Star Wars, Star Trek, Transformers, Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman, Superman, the Avengers, Doctor Who, Doctor Strange, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Battlestar Galactica - the list goes on.

>>13938

You can't compare the Sacrifice to this update's comic. The Sacrifice was a major event, a canon story that had huge significance on the L4D story and lore that was done and controlled by Valve. These fan-related side comics have no real bearing on TF2 canon and are often very forgettable in the long run. Adding the sub-heading "Community update" to the mix further emphasizes it's outside of Valve and therefore lower on the totem pole in terms of significance.

Sure I can. The point was that there was a comic over 20 pages released for an update and people read it. I don't know what you're trying to imply by "fan-related" comics. All the comics were issued as official content from Valve to complement the updates and so aren't "fan" content. If the question is of legitimacy to the canon, as if they aren't just because Valve puts them out for the fans (lolwat?), that they had to go out of their way to say the Apple comic was not canon, would imply that the rest are. Even this unfortunate one.

But if you're so certain that the comics aren't canon or important or memorable, then why do you give a shit if the hypothetical update has one?

>>13949

I DON'T give a shit if this comic is in the update or not, I'm saying it isn't held as an offical / canon comic in the way that an official Valve one is. They've plastered "Community-created" all over the update on purpose, to clearly define the update as a community product, not Valve's own. That's why it's not on the same level as something like the Sacrifice, whose purpose was completely different and was a much bigger deal, a bigger deal that most of the TF2 ones, honestly. Regarding that, it may also be worth noting that this comic is not in the group of official comics on the TF2 page's Comics tab: http://www.teamfortress.com/comics.php

They're not presenting the update up as being community-created to distance themselves from it and reduce its legitimacy. They're doing it in an attempt to capitalize on it being created entirely by those we are supposed to recognize as our friends and peers.

You know what they would have done if they wanted us to feel it wasn't an official and legit update? Not made it one. They would have let the Facepunchers make their fan update like everyone else who ever made a fan update and then picked the best things out of it to incorporate into their own update later.

That the comic is not on that page doesn't say anything conclusively. The only thing it reasonably suggests is that because Valve themselves didn't write and draw it, they're unsure whether they should put it up there. But it's far more likely to be a matter of legal rather than wanting to make vague inference about which comics are "legit" and which aren't.

Also, Sacrifice only seems like a bigger deal because Left 4 Dead hardly ever updates. But in perspective, it really wasn't THAT monumental an occasion.

But if the content of the comics disrupts your ideas about the integrity (lolololol) of TF2's plot that badly, you have my full permission to ignore them completely.

Sacrifice was just Valve trying to get by on a technicality on the promise they made when they released L4D2 that they would continue to update and release new maps for L4D since everyone was complaining about it being too soon for a sequel.

For those of you still mad about the lack of weapons or maps or new play modes in this update, perhaps you should give this a good ogle with your eyeballs:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3124353

>>13957

The behind-the-scenes-testing answers to the first question are really cool to know.

That thread doesn't actually answer that question though. It acts like it's gonna by stating it, and but then the answer belongs to an entirely different question: "What ulterior motives were behind releasing an update of such bulk and yet no substance?"

>>13959
With very little at stake and Valve mostly using the update for field-testing, my guess would be ‘revenue.’

Well, yes, but my point was, while those are legitimate reasons for shipping a lot of hats if they wanted, that information doesn't absolve this update of the failing of being nothing but hats. Could they not ship some weapons and a map or two the old fashioned way?

They would have caught a lot less flack for it if they'd just said that the update was more for the purpose of testing their new infrastructure and look how the community answered the call when they needed the content, rather than trying to make it into a celebration of the community's industry. Then it wouldn't have been a thing of the "community" taking the fall for a anemic and poorly executed update.

If it's any consolation, I did hear of a couple of people in the Kritzkast pre-podcast chat discussing a hypothetical competition where modes like Special Delivery and Medieval that only have one map each would have a map-making competition.

To be fair, it is a hell of a lot harder to make a map than to robot-icize a pre-existing hat.

It is. It's a damn shame tf2maps.net hadn't hosted an MVM map-making competition recently or something.

>>13963
actually i would like more Medievial Maps because just one is boring as hell (MvM at least have 3 o 4 maps).

Yeah, Medieval and Special Delivery are underrepresented gamemodes, but MVM would have been the obvious choice in a robot-themed update. Unless someone got creative and made some maps in those gamemodes that still went into the MVM storyline. Which would have been awesome.

While on the discussion on maps, I would really love to see more maps that work like cp_steel. I really love that map.

You know, the final point is open at all times, but red spawn being next to it makes it tough to cap unless reds are dumb. Capturing other points make the final cap easier bit by bit.

I think it was pretty cool but I would've liked to see some robo-weapon reskins. Just hats...I'm sorta "meh" on the whole thing

>>13967

It's a great map, but there have been few attempts by the community to try anything similar (or at least none that have achieved a similar level of popularity), and Valve are always reluctant to release anything that can't be immediately grasped by newer players.

The Lecture Valley thing seemed to hint at more Medieval stuff and I'd be down with that, but I really hope they don't do any more Special Delivery. Doomsday seriously bites.