This has been popping up quite a bit lately:
I wonder what they're up to. Or is it just happenning to me?
I play a lot of Team Fortress 2. I've mentioned this in the past on Thought of the Day: Gaming, and nothing has changed since. I'm currently ranked 73rd on the leaderboards. I'm a member of Sentry Down, which I place in the top five clans at this game. Hopefully, I know what I'm talking about when it comes to this game.
So, for the few of you who play Team Fortress, or for any of you who just picked up the game, I've got some strategy notes for you. I've been active lately on The Orange Box (360) forum. A regular there, macDBH, posted a noob's tip guide, which was very good. I'm going to repost here in full, follwed by my comments on the thread.
| macDBH wrote: |
Some background: I've been playing this game since December and I've mostly stuck to random games. I have a couple of real-life friends that play it, but I don't get a chance to play with them that much and so I just play any old game I can get in. |
My comments follow:
• Never stand still. This is a maxim of all multiplayer shooters, and it applies to Team Fortress. If you have nothing to do (capping/defending a point), strafe around merrily. It'll make Snipers and Spies work ten times harder to kill you.• If you're a Medic, watch the scoreboard. Support someone who is being effective. Do not run with a Heavy with 18 points, when there's a Soldier with 75.
• Check your back constantly. Learn to walk forward while walking in circles. Move forward while strafing with your back to a wall. My roommate's a newer player, and I get the same feeling watching her Soldier as I do when I have that naked-in-public dream...so exposed. A good player who watches their back is virtually Spy-proof. The only time you will ever be killed is if you're distracted (in combat with someone else). 99% of Spies don't wait 'till then to strike. They run around doing their own thing, wondering "How does he keep killing me when I'm invisible?!
"• Speaking of Spies, when you're playing Spy, avoid bumping into the enemy. First, this makes you shimmer when you're invisible, which means you're about 1.2 seconds away from being turned inside-out by my Soldier. Second, teammates normally clip through one another. When I bump into someone on my team, I know immediately he's a Spy, and blow him up in about 1.2 seconds.
• I add Spy to the list of c|asses you shouldn't play as a novice, at least if you're matched up against good players. As I've said before on this board, there are a host of normal player behaviors and obvious Spy behaviors. As a new guy to the game, you don't know any of these. Veterans will spot you as a Spy instantly, and kill you about as fast. Learn how people move, what people do, and what not to do as a Spy before you play one. If you're going to be cannon fodder, at least be a Heavy; they're harder to kill.
• Listen to veteran players' advice. If someone on your team has 111 points, and the runner up on either team is 58, then he probably knows what he's talking about.
• Medics, use your über judiciously. Do not hit it the second either of you take damage. The Scout trying to snipe your Heavy with his little pistol, will never kill him. At the same time, do hit it if either of you are going to die. Finally, hit it if you hear your Heavy/Soldier screaming "Über! Über! Über!"
• Speaking of übers, don't continue engaging enemies who have übered. The only chance you have of hurting them is blowing the Medic away with a sticky or crit rocket. The only time you should try to do this is if the über pair are concentrating on something else, like a gun. If you are any other c|ass besides Soldier or Demo (that includes you, Pyros) run away! If you are a Soldier or Demo, keep your distance and be very, very careful.
• "Flag" is much easier to say than "intelligence briefcase."
• Speaking of the flag, keep your team posted on your current location if you're the flag runner. When you die, they'll know where it is, which make retrieving it easier.
• Speaking of the flag, avoid the spiral staircase and the sewers (water tunnels) on 2fort. The spiral stair is a deathtrap. If you get killed in the sewers, it's much harder to get it out than if you die on the bridge, moving me to my next point:
• Moving the flag towards capture is more important than your life. It kills me when someone runs backwards (?!) with the flag, back towards the enemy's flag room, all 'cause they're scared of a Heavy/Pyro/stickies/et cetera. Don't be suicidal, but if you can move the flag from the staircase to the courtyard, or from the courtyard to the bridge, it is worth your dying to do so. Team Fortress.
• Know when to retreat. Do not fight a losing battle; fall back and try to create an advantage for yourself. Do not try to duke it out with a Heavy/Medic as any c|ass. Try to get behind them, and ambush them.
• Speaking of that, this is also a maxim of all shooters, though it's Soldier-specific: You are much more effective firing rockets down at someone, than up at him. Do not try to duke it out with another Soldier when he has the high ground. Fall back and get him to follow you to a level (literally) playing field. Like I said above, do not try to press a tactically disadvantageous situation, fall back and re-evaluate things.
| macDBH wrote: |
* no power c|asses on defense = fail |
Totally agree. I wrote a small treatise on sentry gun defense (which I think you commented on), highlighting the fact that an Engineer and his gun will get crushed by themselves against a competent Soldier or Demo. When the entire enemy team is Engineers, Snipers, and Spies, it's a complete crapshoot for me (I play Soldier).
| macDBH wrote: |
* when the enemy is capturing the point - STAND ON IT!!! |
Temper this with good tactical judgement. In certain situations, you can be more useful intercepting defending team members, keeping them away from the point, than you can be standing on the point yourself. If you have two Scouts on the point, you're going to be much more useful blowing up that Pyro than just sitting on the point.
| macDBH wrote: |
* don't put your sentry gun right next to another one - you're just gonna make a demoman very happy |
Agree totally. I see this every now and again. What a horrible idea. Not only are the guns easier to destroy, but they're less effective. You don't have to study military science to know that you're more lethal when you create a cross-fire, as opposed to engaging from a single direction.
| macDBH wrote: |
* unless you're a good sniper / scout, you're just hurting your team when you play those c|asses |
I don't entirely agree with this one. If a Scout can just stay alive, he's helpful for taking points. I completely agree with the Sniper bit, though. Novice Snipers define the term "useless."
| macDBH wrote: |
* don't just yell "SPY!", say where he's at / going / disguised as / cloaked |
Totally agree. "Spy!" is not tactically useful information. "Spy as Demo, jumped in the sewers" is. Also, make sure people on your team understand your nomenclature. We (my clan) use left/right depending on the way we're facing; so it flops if we're on offense versus defense.
Comments on other posts:
| Cabose420 wrote: |
*know how to rotate your buildings! |
Totally. If you didn't know, alternate fire (left trigger) rotates your Engineer buildings. Please, please Engineers, take a second to rotate your teleporter exit so that I'm not facing a wall when I come out. It might save my life, and I like living. 
| Cabose420 wrote: |
*if you don't know how to rocket jump, learn! (jump AND shoot at your feet at THE SAME TIME!) |
Agree. Rocket jumping is mandatory to the complete Soldier.
| Cabose420 wrote: |
*if you think going as a combat medic is a good idea, your not playing it right. (only as a last resort most of the time) |
Agree. Find someone who's good on your team, and heal them. A Medic turns a dangerous player into an absolutely lethal player. If there's no one who good on your team, don't be a Medic.
| guitarhero654 wrote: |
"*If your trying to no scope....leave" |
No-scoping's viable against grunts if you're good at it, but it will not work against good players. Against an expert power c|ass, you will be dead in a second if they get close to you. I'm not saying they don't exist, but I don't know any elite Snipers who try to no-scope other expert players. Retreat and re-evaluate.
| hamn wrote: |
Don't play Medic until you actually know what the **** you're doing. There is no bigger target for hate than a bad Medic. |
I don't exactly agree with this. Bad Medics are bad because they refuse to follow simple directions. Someone like that's likely to suck as anything. If someone is willing to take simple instructions from veteran players, he can be a decent Medic. I've turned many a brand new player into a passable Medic. In a tight game against other good players, a Medic who will stick with you and do what you say produces a far more potent team than just you and some other combat c|ass wondering around.
And I'm done (finally). We make good team!
There you have it. I don't expect this to have a very broad appeal, as Team Fortress lacks the popularity of Halo or Call of Duty. In some ways, this is a good thing. If you're looking for a shooter with immense tactical depth, replayability, and a great community, pick up The Orange Box and try out Team Fortress 2. The game can be a little daunting at first, but hit me up on Xbox Live, and I'll have you chewing through grunts in no time.
We end on a commercial: if you already play the game, and enjoy discussing Team Fortress strategy, join my union, Shrine of the Fighter. It's all about shooters and thoughtful conversation.
It's been a while since we've inducted anyone into the Wall of Shame. This one's not an exchange, just the inductee's post and my response. I shoot down bad posts all the time, so I normally wouldn't Wall someone just for a single post. I'm making an exception here, as this guy's post is so mind-numbingly bad.
Some dude posts up a question about that dumb Avatar game, and asks if anyone else can recommend games with easy achievements. Okay, fair enough. I told him to play Madden '06. Other people answer his questions in a civilized fashion. Then, this guy shows up, and writes the very definition of a trolling post. I try to avoid gamer/Internet jargon, but "Epic Fail" perfect describes this tripe. Check it out:
| k2theswiss wrote: |
| noob why dont u kids play games for the reason they was made not no stupid gamescore means nothi
like really whats the big deal withthem
do u think it gives u braging rights? skills give u braging rights not no little gamerscore specile if u got froma weekgame like that
|
What can you say about this garbage? Really, what the ****? Not only is this borderline unreadable, but if you do manage to translate this crap into English, you'll wish you hadn't.
I let loose on him with the BFG of reason. Yeah, I know I've already used Doom on the Wall of Shame, but this guy doesn't deserve his own theme.
| I wrote: | ||||||||
k2theswiss, I hope you were intoxicated or something when you wrote this, and that it's not an indication of your other 1,600 posts. Aside from its limited readability, everything in your post is just dead wrong. All right, let's get started here:
The reason they were made? Like there's some divine purpose behind games? It drives me nuts when someone tries to tell someone else how to enjoy their hobby. Gaming is a hobby. It is something you do to have fun. How you do this is entirely up to you. There is no wrong way to enjoy a hobby. If you are having fun with what you're doing, then you're doing just fine. If all I do with my games is make little forts for GI Joes out of the cases, then I might be a weirdo, but I'm still meeting the qualification of a good hobby: Having fun.
Yes, having a high Gamerscore gives you bragging rights with other people who care about Gamerscores. Obviously, if you don't care about achievements, well, then you don't care. If you do, and there's another person in the world who does... Do I really have to explain this?
Just like above, being skilled in a game gives you bragging rights around other people who care about playing well in that game. If someone is only into racing games, then they could give a flying **** that I'm in the top 100 on the Team Fortress ladder. I, on the other hand, could care less that someone runs the most powerful guild in Warcraft. And hey, guess what? People who aren't into gaming don't care about any of this. I assumed all this was self-evident. |
You run into these from time to time on the forums, people saying that playing for achievements is the "wrong" way to game. (As if there's a right way.) That's very arrogant, and more to the point, a bunch of bull****. There's no wrong way to game, unless you're griefing or something like that. Friends, please do the community a favor, and deliver a verbal beatdown whenever you see someone spouting this nonsense.
See you on the forums.
