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Hell-Fox's Blog
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posted at 08:31 pm on 08-20-2009
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I have been de-flowered (Hat!)
posted at 08:31 pm on 08-20-2009
[08/12 04:22:02 PM] : Batter's Helmet (level 44)
Well I got my first hat after weeks of using the idle bot and playing TF2. So friggin rare these hats are. Anyways I am on hiatus at this point in terms of casts because I don't want to deal with the work right now.
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posted at 01:03 am on 07-14-2009
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Kittens FTW! Also still a hat virgin....
posted at 01:03 am on 07-14-2009
So my Grandma's old cat passed away a few days ago. It wasn't long before she went to go get a new one but she ended up getting three! All litter mates, one male grey tabby, a female black and white one, and a female tortoiseshell one. So we went to visit Grandma and see her new pets and man its been a while since I got to handle kittens. Not since I was 15 or less I think.
So yeah long time, anyways still playing TF2, still no hat....:-. Been using that idlebot when I ain't playing and to silence the people claiming HAAAAAAX!, Valve confirmed the bot is not considered a hack and you won't get banned for using it. Even using the idlebot you may have to wait weeks or at least a month before a hat drops for you it seems. So either way you're in for a long wait. And thats just to get ONE.....
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posted at 08:23 pm on 07-03-2009
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The Bat Incident
posted at 08:23 pm on 07-03-2009
Interesting how a couple of bats get me to actually type my inner thoughts again. After watching Infamous on Youtube, I decide to go get Cora and then go to bed. However when I found her, Cora had confronted a bat that had gotten into our chimney and was now in our living room. It scrambled on the fencing around our fireplace as Cora eyed it. My first reaction was, "Are you kidding me?" as this wasn't the first time we have had to deal with bats in our home. So I get mom up and we begin trying to figure out how to trap the thing as it seemed to have difficulty flying around. As for Cora, she was getting freaked out by the thing and fled the scene.
Then dad wakes up, not happy about the situation and takes charge. He got his glasses on and got himself a broom to trap the bat so we could get it in a shoe box. Well the plan was good, but what we didn't count on was that it was actually two bats, a mother and her baby. The bat had crawled its way into my room and before we struck I had opened my bedroom window to allow it to escape. Then we struck, with Dad using his broom to pin the bat down so I could get the box on it. However dad had unknowingly knocked the baby off and we both realized then why the mom couldn't just fly away. The baby was weighing it down and thats probably why it fell into our fireplace. The mom was not happy about its baby being seperated as it made alot of angry clicks and squeaks, quickly flying around my room where we had the bats cornered. I was able to get the baby in the box (without touching it) and we quickly fled the room, closing the door behind us. We hoped the momma bat would take the open window, allowing it to escape (which it did thankfully).
Meanwhile we had to do something about the baby bat, so we decided to get the baby bat outside and put the box onto a platform that mom had made for Cora should she ever want to use it. Placing the box outside and opening the lid to allow the momma bat hopefully to find it again. I had my doubts that the baby would get picked up by its mother, as I knew that when baby bats get seperated from their parents it is usually a death sentence for the baby. However this little one looked like a juvenille, so maybe it could fly if it had to. I was pessismistic about the little bat's chances but we decided to give it a shot. After a few minutes we checked up on it and it was hanging off the lid of the box as if it was hanging from a cave. We took it as a good sign and went back inside. I would estimate 10-15 minutes later, as I am looking up information online on methods and where to call to rescue bats should it come to that for the little bat, dad comes in and says that it would probably be a good idea to put a rock in the box to keep the bat from tipping the box off the platform. We go out to see how its doing and the little bat is gone. I had heard some bat noises earlier from one flying around, so we figured the momma bat had returned and found its baby. At least thats what mom hoped, either that or possibly an owl got to it. Either way its out of our hands now, thank the Lord Almighty.
Yet another crazy memoir to add to my unusual life.
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posted at 08:13 pm on 07-03-2009
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After over a month of TF2 madness...
posted at 08:13 pm on 07-03-2009
Yes I've heard, the complaints about lack of doing a cast or what not. What can I say, I'm going through a stage of life as a 25 year old where you have quite a bit of personal stuff going on. Anyways I felt the need to give out my thoughts on the tools that have been given to us on TF2. Despite me giving snipers a hard time in my spy videos I am a veteran spy AND a veteran sniper should the need arise, although rare since alot of people like to go sniper. Since we don't have too much time lets get right to it.
Spy
The Ambassador
The Ambassador had a rough start as an unlock, least for the lucky few who got it. Luckily I was one of the lucky ones who got to try it early on and it was pretty bad. With a headshot ability that only did min-crits for 45 damage the Ambassador was awful during the first few days of the update. Thankfully Valve brought it back up to spec with fixes to the headshots and its damage. Once it was tweaked for 102 damage a headshot, I witnessed people trying to use the ambassador for a "battle spy" playstyle. Heh, while amusing it seems Valve felt it was a little bit much for every headshot to be a crit as well as it having the ability to over penetrate buildings and players, even when the accuracy was reduced after the first shot. Now with a cooldown on the crit-headshots, the weapon is now really specialized to reward players who have the aim and patience to maximize its killing potential. I personally use it as my main sidearm and I like the fact that I can get consistent high damage if I am accurate enough. Though I usually still rely on my knife for most kills. Its a good side grade if you got the aim for it, but if not you may want to stick with the revolver.
Overall a great side grade, hopefully it won't have to change any further as I feel its good enough as it is.
The Dead Ringer
Sigh, this spy tool has gone from a VERY powerful unlock to a slightly underpowered tool made for a spy who's desperate to get through a thick wall of grenades, bullets, and rockets (See dustbowl). I understand the mechanics behind it and even tried to work in a playstyle with it. While I felt the tool works for its intended purpose for the most part, there is one aspect to it that just bugs the hell out of me. That folks, is this. (Cue clip showing off how loud the noise for the DR is)
The loud decloak is intended to inform the enemy players that you are still alive and well. At first people didn't know that and it was fun times to mess with people back during the first few days of the update with fake deaths followed by a sudden backstab. But now that everyone knows the sound, they can quickly zone in and finish you off quickly. With the nerf that causes you to lose cloak if you disengage it early I feel the noise is kind of an unneccesary nerf . I mean the whole point of the watch is to keep them from realizing you're actually alive, yet they have a mechanic which counters the tool's very purpose. People can HEAR THIS SOUND FROM ACROSS THE MAP! Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a tool designed for stealth? Dead Ringer spies these days are usually very easy to spot.
For those who don't know how, time to be informed!
1. An enemy who died in one shot may be a DR spy.
2. Taking down a spy disguised as one of your teammates in one shot may be a DR Spy. (Another hint is listen for the death wail he makes. If he makes the death wail of his disguise rather than a spy death wail than he activated his DR! Though if he uses a spy disguise it maybe harder to spot with this method.)
3. Felt like you ran into an invisible object after you took someone down, its likely a DR spy trying to sneak past!
4. An enemy who doesn't shoot and seemingly wants you to shoot him is likely a DR spy!
The noise really keeps me from using this tool more. I don't like the fact that as soon as I uncloak everybody starts chasing me down since they know where I am. While I appreciate the damage reduction and no flicker for the first 5 seconds, the new buff to not losing as much cloak when uncloaking early, as well as now being able to replenish it with ammo, that sound just kills the stealth aspect of it.
As it is, I don't recommend using it unless you really know how to use disguises effectively, know what you are doing and don't mind having enemies drawn to you like a magnet whenever you uncloak. Hopefully Valve will reduce the noise so its a little more stealthy otherwise I am sticking to the original watch and the Cloak and Dagger. Speaking of which.....
The Cloak and Dagger
This is a tool that I and many other spy players asked for way back in emails to Robin Walker about changing up the cloak, not exactly what I asked for in the email but it turned out nicely. Its a great tool for the spy who is patient and doesn't mind having to slowly infiltrate as opposed to running around all over the place frantically looking for metal to maintain his cloak. Some say its OP, " Why would you use the regular watch then when you have this?!" Simple, speed. The Cloak and Dagger doesn't support the speed that the regular watch can provide through ammo packs. So its best use is for ambush and when you have a lot of time to try and infiltrate. However when time is pressing and you can only move up slowly, its chinks start to show. Also having to wait to recharge when you are running low on cloak can be tense and annoying, especially when enemies are right on top of you and all it takes is one nudge to find you. It can also be frustrating when you spent minutes trying to get inside the enemy base only to have one pyro who just thought to puff the area you were in and find you out forcing you to have to try all over again.
The Cloak and Dagger I feel is good enough as it is, though Valve possibly may nerf it I personally think its fine though you still tend to lose alot of cloak when you fall. Not much else to say about it.
The Sniper
The Huntsman
Lets be honest, any sniper worth his salt is still going to use the rifle over this thing, otherwise its a fun weapon to use. Its powerful, allows you to move about quickly, and with assistance from a pyro can even light enemies on fire. However the trade off is quite a bit, this weapon isn't recommended for long range combat. I know because everytime I duel with a Huntsman sniper and I have the rifle, its usually no contest. Not saying he doesn't get me every once in a while when I ain't paying attention, but if I see him I can tag him long before his arrow can tag me and move out of its way. What is nasty about the Huntsman though is its ability to nail a guy through prediction. Thats something the rifle doesn't have that the demoman and soldier do all the time with their weapons. I've heard people call Huntsman snipers hackers for seemingly nailing them from around a corner precisely but to be honest he probably was just spamming that area and he hit your trailing hitbox, something which prediction weapons like the Huntsman and the Rocket Launcher do alot.
I feel its a decent side grade and fulfills its role of opening a new play style for sniper. Though the rifle is still a better choice when you actually want to "snipe" enemies. FYI, for the longest time this was the unlock which took me forever to get through the item drop system. Thank God they brought back achievement milestones.
The Razorback
People have cried foul over this thing since it was introduced, criticizing its lack of utility against more than one class. The Razorback basically serves as a shield against a single backstab, negating the instant kill of the Spy's knife. Instead spies now just shoot you in the back of the head with the Ambassador (thats what I would be doing). However when you are with teammates and you are the guy in the back of the pack, this prevents the spy from getting the guy furthest in the back of the frontline first. Instead trying to take out the guy in front of you, allowing you to call him out to your teammates and stop him if you can. That is if your teammates aren't already dead :-p. While its a nice deterrent against a Spy's knife, if there are no spies on the enemy team, then the tool is useless and thereby unnecessary. It would be nice to see some utility against the rest of the classes.
My suggestion is to add a damage reduction to hits directed at the back of your torso while you have it on. This allows a sniper to mitigate damage during a retreat and allows it to be a useable retreating tool. However it would offer no protection to shots on the head or limbs, meaning the enemy can aim around the shield as well as kill you with a headshot. But because the torso is the easiest thing to hit, it'd still be nice to have such a function.
Still feels a little underpowered as an unlock, but hopefully it will get tweaked to add more general functionality to it. I'd only use it when spies are becoming a problem and you have the gusto to rely on just your primary and your Kukri. FYI its nice to no longer be 15% slower, thanks Valve!
Jarate!
Trading in the self defense abilities of the SMG and the Razorback, Jarate serves as a general purpose supporting tool. One that can give your team the edge it needs against your enemies. To be blunt, this unlock is just awesome. It does it all from tagging enemies, making them suffer more damage than normal, revealing cloaked spies, and even putting out friendlies on fire! For a sniper who wants to help his team out Jarate is the tool for you. I use Jarate as my primary secondary to tag spies and its always great to listen to the spy's one liners (cue spy one liner clip). Hopefully they'll add more Jarate sounds for the other classes.
There really isn't much for me to say about it other than its perfect as it is and Valve has hardly changed it since its introduction. Most of the changes were just to fix a few bugs, but other than that it works fine. Recommended if you want to give the enemy team a "golden shower". *snicker*
Conclusion
Overall the update was the biggest so far and despite suffering in the first few weeks due to bugs and people's annoyance to the new item drop system I felt it was decent. Just a reminder, Pyros your airblast now can put out fires on teammates PLEASE use the original flamethrower and be a firefighter for your team! No sense letting the Aussies and Medics have all the firefighting duties. And finally, something which saddens me to this day. I am still a hat virgin :*-(
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