Joking, obviously. Thanks to Valve's decision to make TF2 F2P, I basically had no reason not to give it a shot. And it's awesome! Still in the middle of basic training, but currently I'm liking the Spy. Couple of questions for those who are more familiar with the game:
-how's the learning curve? will it take a while to get good enough to play online? -what classes are best for a newbie, and which are most useful long-term? -any general tips I should know?
thanks
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBpfwpOPXNc&NR=1&feature=fvwp I watch Planet Chasers Starlight Excellent all day, every day.
-how's the learning curve? will it take a while to get good enough to play online? Learning curve isn't that difficult. Pro servers and lobbies are for veteran players, but you won't usually find those just picking random servers from either the list or the "Join A Game" button. It's not likely you'll be top of the leaderboards any time soon, but you probably won't be terrible. It's easy to start playing and become a good player, somewhat difficult to become a master.
-what classes are best for a newbie, and which are most useful long-term? Soldier, Demoman, and Heavy are probably the easiest to play, but Medic's the best to start out with. You learn the role of Medic and how important he is to the team and free up other more experienced players to be killing roles. They protect you, you run around making sure everyone's healed up. You learn about pushes, teamwork, how enemy players attack and how best to dodge them, and you can take more time observing all of this running around making sure your healing stream is on the heavy or some such instead of running around trying to hit scouts and turrets and snipers with your guns. You'll spend more time alive than waiting to respawn (unless they've got some excellent spies/scouts). You'll also learn that communication is a big role in keeping your team alive.
Most useful long-term is whoever you find yourself playing best as or most fun with. I've changed my favorite guy so many times over the past two years. Started with Medic then went to Pyro then became a dedicated Demo long after the WAR! Update, then to Engineer, then Soldier, then to Pyro again, now I'm mostly a Pyro/Spy with some Heavy/Medic/Soldier play (I've totally forgotten how to play Demoman even though I have over 125 hours with him) -any general tips I should know?
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“So we’ve cornered Andy and Kyle in the Swarts stairwell and then this guy comes out of NO WHERE like ****ing Batman or something.” ; ExTha is the man
From: BoshStrikesBack | #001 -how's the learning curve? will it take a while to get good enough to play online?
Obviously, that depends on what server you go to, but on most of the pub play, if you know what your class does and can point in their general direction most of the time, you're golden. Don't let the barrage of info on the TF2 wiki intimidate you, I say its one of the most accessible FPS out there, where solid teamwork will make up for any lacking twitch-shooter skillz(and unless you're playing Scout, its not even all that necessary).
-what classes are best for a newbie, and which are most useful long-term?
While everyone has their favorites, the great thing about TF2 is how easy to understand the classes are. Its not like in Battlefield where even the medic has a machine gun; in TF2 your class has a specific set of weapons designed for particular roles. As a Medic, you get behind people who need healing, have them protect you, but don't rush after them into bad situations(which is just something you'll learn to judge over time and experience, like the bad situations in real life!). As a Sniper, you try to get your sniper sight onto the other teams' heads, and then pull the trigger. With the inclusion of the various side weapons you can gain through random drops, the shop, crafting, or trading, some of the roles have expanded without breaking the game, but you can get by just fine with the default weapons for the time being.
What I mean by all that is don't think of it like a fighting game, where you pick a main character and try to stick with them. I have favorites(Soldier, Scout), but I switch between classes all the time depending on what I think can help my team best in the current game. If we don't have any Medics, I'll be the doctor. If we're trying to hold the fort, I might pick the Heavy. If everybody has their attention diverting, I'll pick the Spy to pick off easy kills.
I say, for someone just getting into the game, start with the Soldier. You aim your rockets at their feet(you jump every time you shoot for better angle), they take a lot of damage, rinse and repeat for success. You got a lot of health, you can rocket jump for extended mobility, and your a great class for offense and defense, no matter the gametype.
-any general tips I should know?
-Learn the maps. Learn where Sentries are generally put, what areas are usually defended more prominently, where the health/ammo packs are when you're low on either, when its time to push, when its time to fallback, etc. That just takes time. -Don't worry about the hats. They are purely cosmetic and have no effect on the gameplay whatsoever. -2Fort is glorified Team Deathmatch, so know what you're getting into going into those 24/7 TF2 servers. -If you're a medic, for the love of God, heal your other teammates. I know the Heavy is powerful and sexy, but it'll take two seconds to heal me, he'll be ok. -Don't get discouraged. You're gonna lose sometimes, and that's just how its gonna work. Hell, sometimes its not even really your fault in particular, but the fault of your team as a whole. All you can do is keep trying to do what your class does best and help to win the game.
- Be aware of your surroundings. You never know when someone might flank you. - Be aware of the objective. Control points, payload, capture the flag. Know what the mission is and don't just run around killing people. I hate sometimes when we're playing a King of the Hill map and we lose because everyone's too busy killing off on the sidelines and not pushing point (this includes myself). - Be aware of your teammates. Scouts and Spies can get away most often with running behind enemy lines, and Snipers and Engies are great at staying back, but you want to be with your teammates most of the time instead of straying out too far solo. Don't glue yourself to your teammates, but don't just be Leeroy Jenkins. Also, awareness of your teammates can help with catching spies.
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"Because they don't want to reason about what they consider a masterpiece and be hurt when they realize it was all useless." - Umineko on Lost
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“So we’ve cornered Andy and Kyle in the Swarts stairwell and then this guy comes out of NO WHERE like ****ing Batman or something.” ; ExTha is the man
I actually wouldn't recommend Soldier going in, since it's fairly difficult to hit things with their rockets. Heavy is completely noob friendly. Just get in the habit of always keeping your gun revved up except when you need to move quickly (hold Mouse 2 to rev it) and unload when you see enemies, they die. Pyro's pretty good too, if you feel like being sneakier. They can't win many straight up gunfights, but if you can creep on someone and nail a few shots, being on fire will probably kill the opponent even if he kills you too
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We are thought, and reality, and concept, and the unimaginable
Also, Pyros getting in one good shot on Spy will pretty much ruin them (it ruins whatever disguise or cloak they had up until the flames go away), so feel free to wander around hitting *everyone*, including your own team. Odds are, you'll catch some Spy napping
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We are thought, and reality, and concept, and the unimaginable
Be afraid to die. It's almost always better to retreat and survive than to die.
This is pretty much the best general advice. A friend of mine who just got the game was wondering why he couldn't get much done in the game. Then he watched me and some other players and saw that he didn't retreat like we did. It makes a big difference. (Although sometimes you just have to sacrifice yourself for the team)
Also, enjoy yourself.
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"A single conversation with a wise Black Turtle is better than ten years of study." (Chinese Proverb) Congrats to our Guru champ!
Play the game you downloaded with your own bandwidth as you please.
...Yeah, and "the way I please" is trying to get better, eventually reaching a fairly competitive level if the servers are still on by then. Hence this topic. I'm not one that believes "fun" involves mindless shooting/respawn sessions.
Everyone else, though, thanks so much for the input! This is all really helpful.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBpfwpOPXNc&NR=1&feature=fvwp I watch Planet Chasers Starlight Excellent all day, every day.