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Thursday, 27 September 2007

Removing Friendly Fire from TF2 [Lurks]









How about what's good about friendly fire being off:


The case for Friendly Fire.




The case against Friendly Fire









  1. I agree with all of the above; and can only add that in my opinion, FF should be an option turned on or off by those that run the public game servers.

    FF forces folk to think and act more as a team rather than a collection of random players each seeking solo glory. You would think therefore that given the game is called TeamFortress 2, such an option would be welcomed by the players and indeed judging by the forums over at, there are a lot of folk equally unhappy not with the official position that FF "breaks things" (which we know is not the case) but that the option should be so firmly removed from them.

    FF should therefore be re-instated as previously; an option set by the server administrator.


  2. Well you know where I stand.. on the Pyro thing by the way, with FF On their flame thrower can still damage their team-mates, it just can't give them the "set on fire" DoT effect afaik. I'd be interested to see what exactly "breaks" when FF is on. I'm not a fan of FF but that reason sounds a bit spurious to me.


  3. It breaks weenies' hearts :/


  4. It's quite frustrating that this is the stuff they chose to 'fix' when they still wont fix the highly fucking annoying broken alt-tab.


  5. The forums gave me a new favourite phrase to describe Valve's attitude towards those who want FF as an option - 'Shut up and colour'...... heheh.....


  6. I actually like FF off, on public servers at least, because with the best will in the World you can never ensure your team will actually behave in a cohesive manner. This is further compounded by the fact that in public non-clan matches people are dropping, automatically reassigned to balance teams, etc. Having FF off means that an individual, or a like-minded few can make a difference without fear of being obliterated by a teammate who is content just to pill-spam.

    As for FF off being a nerf to Spy - I don't see it myself. The games I've played with halfway competent Spies they're usually near the top of the scoreboard. Sure the x2 point bonus for backstabs helps, but the fact remains even with teammates spy checking eachother Spies tend to do pretty well if they use their head. I personally think Spies are too strong in a FF on environment as there is no reliable way of "spy checking".

    All in all I agree with Valves motivation - they want to ensure the game is first and foremost a "fun game". I don't think they want it to become the next eSports/xleague mainstay, and they obviously believe there are enough people who just want to be able to pick up and play the game without having to overthink it - in that respect it does fit well with the "cartoony" presentation.


  7. Well about spies and FF on/off then... how come I've had situations where I've shot at a player who I've suspected is a spy - at close/medium range - and because nothing has happened I've left them be and they've gone off and sapped a turret?

    How many times do I have to shoot a teamie as a spy test? I assumed anything that causes dmg>0, but maybe it is and I was just experiencing a latency issue (3G ~150ms).


  8. Well, I've shot enemy Spies (disguised) as a spy check and not seen any blood splatter. The only fail-safe test is with Pyro really... just torch anyone who comes near you and if they set alight they're a Spy :)

    Depending on your class a shotgun blast normally unnerves most enemy spies into trying to attack you (and thereby coming out of disguise), only the really shrewd ones continue acting like a teammate.