UPDATE: I've read a response from EA reps that the Sims 3 leak is, to their advantage, an incomplete "beta" of the game. Apparently it is buggy, glitchy, and is downright missing many of the furniture, traits, etc. bits and bobs of the game that would inevitably make it enjoyable for the end-user. So readers, buy the full game please.
NEXT. Team Fortress 2's updates have been go since yesterday morning and everyone has dove right back into the celebrated fray. And as the icing to such a delicious cake, Steam has given every who hasn't had a go a chance to think about it with the Free Weekend and discount. I was in some ways slightly retarded in having purchased my copy 4 days earlier at $26 when I could've gotten it for $13. *sigh* such is the bane of early adopters, whether it be games or electronics. Hell, I thought I was doing myself a favor of waiting to buy the game two YEARS later from its release.
Well, it wasn't an entirely horrible decision because the game is awesome as ever. And Steam has implemented a new system for its weapon upgrades. Pre-latest update, the way it would work is that for every class with new weapons to unlock, players had to grind away at a number of class-specific achievements in order to get those items. Made sense right?
But this brought up a whole lot of problems. In alienated the "noobs" who found it took longer and harder to achieve some of the crazy things that Steam wanted you to do (i.e. snipe this many people without dying, etc.). It also brought up "Achievement-hack" servers that tried to fast-track getting the weapons or achievements that people were after. The game became another World of Warcraft with all its grinding, statistics, and removed, for the lack of a better word... its fun-ness. Suddenly, all the 15-year old teens with hyper trigger fingers were harping on people who didn't have the Force-a-Nature or Natascha.
So, in a bid to make sure everyone gets rewarded for just having fun with Team Fortress 2, Valve made all item unlocks randomized, and based upon time played. Meaning after an hour or two, you may get a random item, just like that. The only two problems that arise with this are, number 1: people are going to be impatient, and some people are going to get weapon unlocks faster than others. Number 2, why on earth would a sniper looking to get the huntsman bow want the spy's ambassador revolver? And apparently (although I have thankfully not experienced this), you can get the same random item as many times, which could prove retarded if you have played for many hours in hope of getting a specific item, only to get many of another. And Number 3, there is somewhat a tinge of jealousy in seeing someone else get that very weapon you are after, like the little boy who is green with envy when his classmate brings his new gameboy to school.
But Valve has reassured on their blog that for most average players, by about a couple of weeks, they should get at least 20 weapon unlocks.
But for now, I feel it's a good system because people like me who are beginners, still have a chance to get higher powered weapons and play around with them, and not have to spend eons shooting people's brains in order to get the next weapon. Others disagree, and prefer that you are "rewarded" for your dedicated playing skills, but for now, Steam is going with the path they have chosen.
All in all, the new updates are fun, a chock full of achievements for the spy and the sniper, some very easy to get and makes you feel good instantaneously whilst the rest still border on the insane, and require either a sleight of hand or a lucky situation (like having your cigarette lighted by an enemy pyro meaning you have to purposely stand there and execute the action as the enemy is about to set you alight).
For those who have yet to try Team Fortress 2, I urge you to have a go during the Free Weekend, and the game is so dirt cheap it's a crime.
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