Omg.

Yeah, I haven't been around a lot.

I don't think I've played TF2 for a month. First there was the school project from hell, then I didn't feel like playing, then Slaver got Xbox360 and there was shameless Halo 2 co-opping going on for a few nights, then I went to my parents' place for a week, then I got a cat, and then my desktop broke, and now I've been on my laptop for a week. So that's why I haven't been on Steam for quite a while, and you haven't caught me in-game for even longer while.

Planning to finally buy a new computer, since Fallout 3 comes out, like, tomorrow, and Left 4 Dead is supposed to come out next month (although I'm not holding my breath, because of Valve Time and everything...), and if I do manage to get things sorted out with Blizzard, I have 30 days to spend on World of Warcraft. Which I finally succumbed into after a friend practically begged me to play with her. So I have a level 15 Undead Warlock there, on a banned account. I don't know WHY I was banned, all I know is that the payment for the full version (I played the 10-day trial first) didn't register, and I was banned right out of the blue. It's been a week since I sent a support request to Blizzard asking all kinds of whys and whats, but haven't received a word since. Getting pretty impatient, because I haven't even gotten my money back.
So yeah, WoW would probably be pretty addictive if only getting to play it in the first place wasn't motherfucking impossible. Yeah, the 3,3 Gb patch came out right in the middle of my trial and I spent a whole day downloading and installing THAT instead of actually playing the goddamned game. Then there's been server downtime and maintenance and whatnot, and now the banning right out of the blue. Yeah, fuck you, Blizzard, fuck you.

And yeah, I'm dying to play TF2, but what can I do. I'm stuck with a sucky laptop (which incidentally can run WoW, but that's about it), watching Slaver play Dead Space, and reading fuckloads of comics.

I was also starting to seriosly consider making a TF2 map, since I have a good idea, and I can actually use Hammer to some extent. Slaver's probably going to help me.
It's going to be a three CP map, much like Gravel Pit. I'm probably gonna post concepts and screens and run some ideas through you once I actually get to it.
But that'll also have to wait until I get a new computer and Fallouts and Left 4 Deads are out of the way, so don't hold your breath.

You can expect me to blog every day until next Tuesday...

So, like every self-respecting TF2 player already knows, the second part of the Heavy update came out last night (my time). They revealed the fists unlockable and the achievement names (which are as punny as always, and funny as hell. LOL COMMUNISM).

Since I don't really play as Heavy (and won't start because of the update, not yet at least, but more on that later) I won't get into commenting the Killing Gloves of Boxing (and there are rumours already about the remaining two unlockables: apparently a new minigun that sacrifices some of the damage it causes to slow down the enemies it hits, and the shotgun is going to be replaced with a sandwich you can taunt with to get some HP back), but the achievements are somewhat relevant to me, as I plan to be going exclusively Medic after the update hits Steam (because joy! Fatties! Everywhere! I'm going to have a field day! Then again there are bound to be endless swarms of noobish fatties who tend to get on my nerves most of the time, but I'll do my healing job anyway, I'm just not going to stick), and some of the achievements seem to be Medic related.
So I'm planning to be sticking to any friend who's trying to get the achievements (without getting into farming and thus acting like an idiot), Sonneteer already has reserved an appointment with me. And since WE MAKE GOOD TEAM anyhow, I'll be happy to help. And if Slaver's going Heavy and needing assistance, he probably knows where to ask.

The achievements don't yet have any descriptions, but checking the file names gives most of them away. The Heavy is going to be getting a sandwich of some kind (making the rumour about the shotgun unlockable more legit) because one of the achievements is about eating sandwiches, and apparently the POW! taunt will go Hadouken, and be an instant kill after the update. That's cool, I just hope that every class would have an instakill taunt, but since Medic didn't get one, and I can't see how, for example, any of the Soldier taunts could kill anyone, I'll probably have to settle with the fact that not every class is going to get one (Demoman maybe: the Burp of Doom? Scout's BONK! taunt could also be worked into a kill taunt, and Spy's Cornish-game-hen-gutting knife-fencing as well).

But yeah, I'm just gonna sit tight and wait until they reveal the new Payload map and the new game mode (there are rumours regarding that as well, and it appears that the new mode could be a Deathmatch of sorts, which doesn't make me exactly happy. The community seems to be rooting for The Hunted, me included, but I'm afraid that won't be the case) and the new special Meet the... video. I'm giddy about the Payload map (now if we could only get another map like Dustbowl I'd be on cloud nine), and I'm just hoping that the new game mode won't be a complete disappointment.

There also seems to be something that could be a small easter egg concerning the inevitably upcoming Spy unlockables: in the icon for Spyalectical Materialism, it seems that the Spy is holding a revolver, equipped with a suppressor.
Interesting indeed. I am kind of hoping that the Spy would get the next unlockables, and it sure seems like it would be the case. I'm still wanting to learn to play as the Spy, but find myself chickening out, because it's near impossible to stay alive as a Spy these days: everyone's so familiar with all their tactics. And it'a not the constant spychecking or babysitting Engineers or any of that: most of the Spy tactics are just common knowledge these days, and any decent player knows how Spies act or at least strive to act.
Of course most of it is indeed because I suck as Spy, not because the Spy is underpowered or anything: I see from decent to downright awesome Spies wreak havoc every time I play, but sometimes I see even them whining how it's getting harder and harder to survive because everyone knows what they're up to. I don't want the Spy to be buffed, or made easier to play for people who are trying to learn the class, because part of Spy's charm IS the tough learning curve and the fact that not everyone can be good at it from the get-go, but... something to help him a bit would be nice, from the viewpoint of someone who's not a secret agent extraordinaire.
Yeah, I should be careful with what I wish for: Spies are a total pain in my butt whenever I'm an Engineer, and if they get too much help, well... my days of laid-back Engineering are pretty much over, haha.
Just my two cents.
And as much as I want the Soldier, Demoman or Engineer unlockables, I think Spy needs them much more than anyone else.

I kinda wish my little brother would buy his own copy of Team Fortress 2 (or at least take part in the next free weekend), because that would be a great incentive for me to pick up Spy. Because I know how he plays, and that's how I could own his ass, and drive him into paranoia (and teach him a thing or two about Spies: he practically never checks his back). Heh.

In other news, I'm finally getting back to somewhat regular gaming schedule, it's just that I'm playing on my own computer now, and thus suffering the crappy fps. Which is the main reason for NOT playing as Heavy: I simply can't. Sure, I can shoot at people and score some hits and kills, but what bothers me is that the game gets a fucking seizure every time I try to turn around very fast, which means that anyone attempting to circle-strafe me kills me, no exceptions.
The difficulty of fast 180 degree or even 90 degree turns is the worst thing that bothers me about the low fps, no matter what class I'm playing as. It's just that I don't necessarily have to turn so fast as any other class but as the Heavy. Sure I like to check my back for Spies after every wrench hit while I'm upgrading or repairing my sentry, but I can live without it, and I'm a twitchy Medic, checking around me all the time, but at least I don't necessarily have to do anything else (like shoot) while I do that, so it makes it a bit easier. And as a Soldier circle-strafers are not as big an issue as they are with Heavy, for some reason, so I can still make it as a Soldier, somewhat.
But once I got used to the crappy fps and the game getting seizures in bigger firefights once again... it's not that bad. It's a serious handicap, sure, and I'm not doing nearly as well as I was with the good framerate. Right now I'm once again one of those Soldiers who can only kill stuff with crockets, haha.
But at least I can still rocket jump, which I've started to abuse hardcore. Killed five attacking people on Gravel Pit's cap B one night just by firing at them from the roof (I love it how people just don't look up), and I'm starting to like Badlands again, because the spire cap point is awesome as hell to jump to and kill everyone - whether they were trying to attack or defend - on it before even landing. Same with Gravel Pit's cap C (except a server regular scored the most awesome kill ever against me a few nights ago: gibbed me while I was flying. That was so bleeding awesome I didn't even feel bad for dying. I don't think I've ever congratulated anyone on killing me before - not that it's hard, or anything - but he completely deserved that. And it wasn't a fluke, he just said he wasn't sure if it would hit. I wish I could've seen myself, it must've been so awesome). And Granary's middle point.
Also, constant rocketjumping gets me killed so much it's not even funny. My kills/deaths ratio has been horrible lately. Medics still hate me (I know I'm not worthy of your constant attention but HEAL PLZ you insufferable amateurs! And dammit if having a Medic doesn't make a difference: thanks Sonneteer. Sonny? Ha, I like that, can I call you Sonny?), so I'm running around with less than 100 HP almost all the time. Especially since I do jumps that I wouldn't necessarily have to do, but dammit I like to take shortcuts and sneak up on enemies from where they don't expect me to appear. Yeah, I know, it's supposed to be the tradeoff, but that's why the "MEEEDIIIIIC!"
And at least the low fps doesn't really affect my Demoman antics, although naturally it's harder to get straight hits with bombs (getting better at that all the time!).
Being a Pyro is also much like it was before, except that I can't really do circle-strafing, but I don't even do that very much since I'm trying to get behind enemies' backs anyhow, at which point top-notch circle-strafing doesn't really matter. I hadn't played as Pyro in forever, not since I got the Backburner and decided that it's overpowered (and that was before the nerfing), but now I'm finding the fun in it again. And I should really learn to use the airburst. I always, always forget to use it, and only remember it when it's too late, ie. after I've stepped on stickies, or got hit by a crit rocket or mowed down by an approaching über Heavy-Medic combo.

And I'm probably getting the new computer next month, so that will hopefully spell goodbye for the low fps altogether, and I can go back to not sucking this bad.

But, yeah, you can kinda expect me to blog about the Heavy update until next Tuesday. And after that you can expect to hear about the new Payload map and CP STEEL <3 and the new game mode and maybe some Heavy stuff as well.

This is madness!

Oh my god I'm about to write about other games than Team Fortress 2!

Haven't even been playing lots of TF2 lately. I'm getting really fed up with my poor framerate because playing Heavy is nigh impossible with fps that sometimes drops close to 10 in intense firefights. I have no chance against circlestrafers. And because I'm really liking playing as Heavy now since I finally learned how to, I find it extremely annoying to always get my butt handed to me by a freaking Scout running circles around me or even an average circlestrafe-attempting Pyro. The framerate's never bothered me this much before, but I've never before played as Heavy, so. And maybe that's why Pyros kill me so thoroughly when I'm Soldier! That could be it!
And as it turns out my computer doesn't have a PCI-E port, and I had to kiss goodbye to that GeForce 8800 I've been making grabby hands at. So I have to either buy a new goddamn computer or suffer the poor framerate. And since I got my computer only year and a half ago I'm not too thrilled to get a new one already. If I had known I'd actually start gaming on PC more than casually (DAMMIT VALVE), I would've never gotten the computer I have now. Too bad I can't tell the future.
So after I found out that a new graphics card is out of question, I did everything I could to get even a bit better framerate: I downloaded the newest drivers for my current graphics card, updated DirectX9 and even got a Dual Core Optimizer which should help with some low framerate problems that AMD dual core processors can apparently cause.
No change whatsoever, I'm still getting the constant 20.
So then I lowered almost all my video options (except for Model Detail, which I refuse to put lower than medium, because otherwise it will eliminate all facial animations, and I really enjoy the funky expressions in deathcam shots), and got a massive 5 fps more! Whoopdie-fucking-do!
So apparently I'm stuck with lousy framerate, stuck with getting killed by circlestrafers and never able to gib enemies in mid-air because framerate fucks up all the shots I thought were extremely well-timed and aimed.
And I will never know how much better player I would be if my framerate was tolerable. I mean, if I'm doing pretty well with 20... who knows.
(Except that I will definitely try out playing with my little brother's new computer, which, I hear, can run Crysis with highest graphic options possible. Bro's probably pulling my leg.)

ANYWAY.

I've been on a traditional point-and-click adventure game high lately. I've apparently lost my The Curse of Monkey Island CDs (the game in question is my favourite of the series, shut up, I know. It was the first one I played, so it remains the most important to me. Just like The Cure's Bloodflowers is more important to me than Disintegration, which without a doubt is way superior an album than Bloodflowers and I freely admit it, but I digress...), but I found Douglas Adams' Starship Titanic, which is one of my all-time favourites, so I've been spending time small-talking with the Bots and trying to remember how to do the puzzles. It's been ages since the last time I played, so I've forgotten a lot of things.
I also remembered some disturbing things while trying to recall all the point-and-click adventure games that I've played. I played Leisure Suit Larry 6 when I was in fourth grade. What the hell. My uncle gave it to me, and now I can't stop thinking about how fucked-up that was: what kind of an uncle gives a very adult-themed adventure game to his 10-year-old niece?! (Well at least he didn't give it to my little brother. He was only seven back then...) I don't even know if my parents knew about it. Haha.
And now that I think about it, it's no wonder that I turned out swinging both ways, I really liked all the cheesy, busty girls in that game...
The same uncle gave me the Monkey Island a little later, though, so maybe he just liked adventure games and wanted to share.

Also, I have Ace Attorneys Trials and Tribulations and Apollo Justice (damn I hate to call the series "Ace Attorney," I'm so used to calling it Phoenix Wright...) on the way from Play-Asia (the goddamn games are already in Finland, but I have no idea did the customs catch the package or did it slip through. And it's been three freaking days since the package arrived. Pull yourself together, Itella!), so once they're here I'll probably be glued to my DS for quite some time.
Yeah, I'm pretty late to the game especially with Trials and Tribulations that came out ages ago, but I was waiting for it to come out in Europe, and as it turns out it still doesn't have a release date (whereas Apollo Justice does). So I decided to import it and get Apollo Justice too since it was so ridiculously cheap in Play-Asia.
And now I can still retain the symmetry with my DS games. Incidentally, none of my DS games are European versions, all of them are either American or Japanese. And I hate how European versions have fuck-ugly cases, while American and Japanese cases are very pretty and slim. I don't think I'll ever buy a European version of a DS game if I only can avoid it. Besides, if I can get a friend to order with me from Play-Asia and split the postage and possible taxes (like I am doing with those Ace Attorneys), it's usually cheaper to import. Because DS games are ridiculously expensive here.

And I'm sad I didn't realise to buy the Professor Layton game too. Well, there's always the next time...

And I'm finally starting to get really excited about Metal Gear Solid 4. Only a few weeks left until it comes out!
And as it turns out, I don't even have to buy the goddamn PS3! My friend got one for herself and promised me I could borrow it to play MGS4. So all I have to do is buy the game and spend a few days at her place to play through it.
I am probably getting my own PS3 in time, but there's no way I can shit out the ridiculous amount of money to get one before MGS4 comes out. And I have to play it instantly, I'm so scared of getting spoiled.
So all's well that ends well, I don't have to get PS3 just yet and I can still experience what finally happens to Snake and how the saga ends. YES.

Of teamwork

I've been slipping. Ie. I still seem to babble about games in my other blog, and then don't feel the need to write the same things here as well. I need to be more strict with my own rules, dammit.

But yeah, teamwork. Because I played a game today in Hydro with RED being extremely stacked, which naturally resulted in BLU being steamrolled round after round. I was playing in BLU, because I always play in BLU in Hydro (I still play Pyro in Hydro almost always and I've got used to using all the routes from BLU's perspective). I wasn't too pissed off about the stacking (less so than usually) because I was doing fairly well and I got rather lot of defenses and revenges. And I actually felt like I was for once actually contributing something to my team, as hard as it was when we got mowed down continuously. But at least I was helping to fight them off.
But yeah, spent quite a lot of time dead (you know, kamikaze Pyro), and started to get pissed off at my own team by watching them play.
At one point I was watching how a group of RED people were storming the point, and my team mates were just STANDING there, away from the point. Some of them were shooting (Snipers with their pea shooters...), and some just simply stood. I wanted to grab my mic and scream my head off at them, "GET ON THE FUCKING POINT!" but it really wouldn't have helped, you know, me being dead and all. Jesus Christ. I can understand Soldiers and Demos standing away from the point and spamming their 'nades and rockets at the people standing on the point, but even that won't help as much as actually getting on the point. I always try to get on the point and fire my rockets there, even suiciding to kill them off and stop the capture.
After a while I witnessed another display of wonderful teamwork: I'm spectating a Pyro chasing down a Soldier. Nothing unusual there, except that at the same time there were two RED people standing on our point. Good going there, Pyro, nice to know that frags are apparently all you care about. I can't be the only one to stop whatever it is that I'm doing and turn on my heels if there are people standing on our point. Especially if I'm Pyro: I don't HAVE to chase anyone down, if they're on flames, they usually retreat and won't chase me down if I turn tail.
And lastly I saw people running away when there were people standing on our point. WHAT THE FUCK. I watch the point being capped and my team mates just turning away from it and running. They see people on the point, they hightail. Seriously guys, if they cap the point, it's humiliation time and you're gonna die either way.
We also had three Engineers, and at the start of each round ALL OF THEM placed down their sentries. Then they fought for the metal while oncoming enemies just promptly disposed of the three measly level one sentries and proceeded to capping the point. Jesus Christ, guys, would you think TEAM for once, put down one sentry, build it into a level three one all together in a matter of seconds, and THEN start putting down the other sentries? How fucking hard can it be? But noooo, I need it to be MY sentry, they need to be MY kills, I don't get anything for helping other Engies!
I want to change teams, go Spy and rape them and all their sentries, goddamn.
And how stupid can they be for not to realise that their little level one sentries won't hold? If they won't hold and enemies can push continuously, they won't ever get a chance to put the sentries back up again, and so we have three useless Engineers running around shotguns in hand, and then the point is capped. And they will not get any kills whatsoever. Goddamn.

But yeah, I'm the one to talk, I've been sucking a lot once again. Or that's how I feel, I can be on top of the scoreboard and still feel like I'm doing horrible. I should probably lay off playing as Soldier (I've clocked 54 hours as Soldier, which is kinda creepy. I'm not supposed to play it so much! It's by far my "MPC," Medic coming in second with measly 38 hours).
I found it ironic how a few days ago I was playing Engineer on Dustbowl, we were in Stage Three and defending the last cap. And I was doing horrible. I had a sneaky sentry up (after I had tried to get it up on my usual spot on the ledge on the right side of the cap point and ending up with tiny little sentry pieces flying into every direction every fucking time I tried to put it up. People were screaming at us Engies to get sentries up, but what the fuck I can't get my sentry up if you don't give me some suppressive fire! If that fucking Soldier keeps shooting rockets at me freely from the other side of the bleeding map, I can't get the sentry up! I should've yelled at THEM to keep them suppressed for the ten seconds that I need for getting the sentry up, but I'm a jovial player, and I don't yell at people. But once again: TEAMWORK, PEOPLE!), which went nicely unnoticed by the übered people storming the point. So I get killed by something, and as I'm waiting to respawn, I watch in awe as I completely own the people who just stormed past and tried to get the point. Five kills and two defenses. While I'm DEAD.
That's just about how useful I was that day.

And while we're still somewhat on the topic of teamwork, I have one more example to tell you.
I was playing in Gravel Pit one day. I was attacking, playing as Medic, had a nice Heavy buddy to cling to. We got A, but B was preeetty heavily guarded. Not much sentries, just so much people. There might've been some stacking involved, but anyway. So we're camping in the respawn hallways with the Heavy, waiting for my über, and the Heavy informs everyone that we have an über soon, that everyone should come with us and attack B when the charge is ready. I get the charge, he tells everyone that okay, we're going in, and then we go in.
And there's no one there.
Except for the entire RED team.
You can probably guess how well that ended. (Hint: not very well.)
After a while some guy on my team whines that his team sucks. I check the scoreboard and the guy is there on the bottom half, playing a Scout. Playing a Scout when we're trying to get a point that has incredibly strong defense, yeah, no wonder our team sucks.
But yeah, those who whine the most are usually the ones with the least skill.

This blog undoubtedly proves my point.

We never got B, surprise surprise.

And my computer caused me some serious grief yesterday. I was playing in Dustbowl, and for a change I was doing well, and then the game suddenly crashed, proclaiming some sort of engine error about failing to lock vertex buffer. I connected again, played a game in Gravel Pit and then it was back to Dustbowl, and the game crashed again. Then I went to check Steam's troubleshooting guides and verified my game cache files like they suggested. No defragmentation. I deleted my game folder just in case and then checked how much paged pool memory I was using, just in case. That turned out to be not the problem, as I was using only 80. So I was hoping the verifying would do the trick, and later connected to the server to play some more.
And the game crashed in Dustbowl again.
That's when I simply gave up and went to bed, pissed off as hell. I had no idea what the problem was, I've never gotten any game crashes before this, the GCFs were alright, it's not paged pool memory, and I'm not running any of the anti virus programs that supposedly meddle with Steam (I'm using F-Secure).
And today I started playing, just to see if the problem was still there before starting to send angry emails to Steam's support, and played two hours without any crashes. The problem was gone.
I have NO IDEA what the hell caused the problem, maybe the game was just having a bad day, or something.

And now my friend is playing, so I'll just jump in for a moment and hope for not-stacked teams.

Yes, I'm counting days for Goldrush. Must not get excited yet. Remember Valve Time, Chrome, remember Valve Time.