# Team Fortress 2: Now free to play (forever) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 24, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659 "2011-06-24T02:45:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicolas_Bourbaki)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/161 "2011-07-20T20:49:54Z")
It’s really funny when servers turn on friendly fire during the ‘waiting for players’ deadtime between rounds. Sometimes they restrict you to melee weapons, but usually you can’t survive more than a fraction of a second. On an unrelated note, is anyone playing the beta? I’m installing it right now because I wanna see how the junkyard weapons are like before they drop in the real game. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/162 "2011-07-20T21:24:40Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > But evidently on SDMB if you like 2Fort you are not a Very Serious Player. If I wanted to be a Very Serious Player, I wouldn’t spend time on a cartoon shooting game where you wear boots on your head and swing a gardening rake. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/163 "2011-07-20T21:25:52Z")
I don’t think it has too much to do with being serious or not. 2Fort was a good map in TF, but with the major differences between TF and TF2, it just doesn’t work very well as a TF2 map. So it’s mostly just a boring map for people to play TF2:deathmatch on with instant respawns and stuff and everyone ignores the objectives. It’s just not a very good map. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/164 "2011-07-21T00:01:01Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I don’t think it has too much to do with being serious or not. 2Fort was a good map in TF, but with the major differences between TF and TF2, it just doesn’t work very well as a TF2 map. So it’s mostly just a boring map for people to play TF2:deathmatch on with instant respawns and stuff and everyone ignores the objectives. It’s just not a very good map. So what’s wrong with deathmatch and instant respawn? I don’t think it’s boring. It’s just a fun change of pace, and until they stopped tracking late last year, the [3rd most popular map](http://steampowered.com/status/tf2/tf2_stats.php). I don’t think everyone else thinks it’s boring either. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/165 "2011-07-21T04:43:32Z")
Yeah, someone needs to tell the folks I play with that it’s not a very good map - of the 6 2Fort servers I have favourited (yes, 6), during peak times - which is to say from about 1500 to 0200, all 6 of them have players on and generally are up around max capacity for most of that time. And 9 times out of 10, unless it’s a 24 hour round that’s only just started, people are capping like mad. Sure, there’s a shitton of deathmatching but there’s also a whole bunch of capping and defence going on. I like it because it’s actually quite a good map to play Defensive Heavy on, especially when you get Scoutzergrushed at the beginning of a round and can sit in the basement and shoot them down like particularly annoying Bostonian ducks. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/166 "2011-07-21T04:57:28Z")
Am I supposed to be impressed by this argumentum ad populum? Go play COD Blops and tell me that nuketown is the bestest map ever because 75% of the players playing it are on that stupid map. You guys are acting as if I’m the one throwing the insults around here - **Splines** implicitly accused of elitism because we just happen not to like that map very much. You’re creating the situation you’re getting all worked up about. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/167 "2011-07-21T05:43:36Z")
For whatever it’s worth, I was speaking generally. I have no real opinion of the 2Fort map. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/168 "2011-07-21T05:45:57Z")
So… how about them new guns? ---
**Author:** ![Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicolas_Bourbaki)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/169 "2011-07-21T05:48:33Z")
Just crafted the mangler. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/170 "2011-07-21T15:32:53Z")
They seem overpowered to me. I’m not a big fan. Of course, I don’t have one yet. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicolas_Bourbaki)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/171 "2011-07-21T17:30:47Z")
That’s what I thought too before I made mine. The projectiles seem to move a whole lot faster towards you than they do away from you. Also, the big shot takes forever to charge and to reload, and it’s crap against buildings. So if you’re on a server with a bunch of us spamming lasers, switch to engi and you can get a lot of kills with even a mini-sentry. The Bison can disable buildings for a few seconds, but not as many people have that. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/172 "2011-07-21T17:35:47Z")
> [@Nicolas\_Bourbaki](#): > > The Bison can disable buildings for a few seconds, but not as many people have that. The first thing I heard someone say about the new guns is “Well, say goodbye to engies, because nobody’s ever going to play them again.” Load of rubbish. Engineers could use a couple more counters, and every shot you waste on shutting down a sentry is time for the other team to whup your ass anyway. They do look like fun, though. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/173 "2011-07-21T18:06:01Z")
There a list of the new weapons? I looked at the Wiki but either they didn’t have them anywhere obvious or else I’m blind. I got electrocuted a couple times by some Soldier last night. I can’t explain it better than that. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/174 "2011-07-21T21:23:49Z")
What’s the trick to the cow wrangler 5000? Should I just have stayed with the black box? ---
**Author:** ![Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@Nicolas\_Bourbaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicolas_Bourbaki)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/175 "2011-07-22T04:22:08Z")
It’s two rayguns and two hats, announced [here](http://www.teamfortress.com/grordborts/), which appears to be a cross-promotion for . . . [well I’m not sure exactly](http://www.drgrordborts.com/). I didn’t see it on the Wiki either. Looks like I wasn’t correct; the Mangler is the one that disables buildings. Still, four seconds isn’t long enough to actually push if you’re in a public game, and the engineers last night seemed to be having a lot of fun and doing better than usual against slow opponents carrying the same cumbersome weapon. I don’t know if there’s any trick to it besides ‘be really accurate’, which if you like the Black Box you already have down pat. The primary fire doesn’t seem to do much splash damage, only the charge shot. Still kinda crazy that the soldier gets another update right after getting two sets, and with [Junkyard Justice](http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7534716/DumpsterPackPromo.jpg) still to drop on top of that. ---
**Author:** ![HardlySanguine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HardlySanguine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HardlySanguine)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659/176 "2011-07-22T09:40:36Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > So.. how about them new guns? Finally! 1920’s style Death Rays 😃 (OK - 1950’s, but close enough.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/team-fortress-2-now-free-to-play-forever/586659.md?page=8)