I've been playing a lot of Nascar 4; it helps break up the monotonous games of 2fort. Nothing against the game's most successful map, but I do not think I can play another game of 2fort without snapping. Ok, I'm lying, I won't snap, I just won't think anymore, yes that's it! What kind of thought is needed to play that map? Not to go off on a rant here, but TFC really needs some new features. The first is an IQ test, you must be able to score on the positive side. Secondly, you must be able to make a team effort. When was the last time you seen an engineer "spamming" ammo packs for fellow defenders. Finally players need to know you only need one resupply bag. You will only be EMP bait. Better yet take all the bags -- just DISCARD!

*sigh*

Bristol is a great racetrack, lots of action with unbelievable passing, tight turns, and spectacular crashes. Racing there is a rush. Getting caught in a wreck just out of turn four, leading the final lap is just like having Windows pop up that bloody "Critical Update" when you have the flag with 16 health out running an enemy soldier. I'll just credit Bill Gates with the kill there. Speaking of, I should upgrade my computer so that doesn't happen.

I sure do complain a lot, is there any good in me? I thought there was, but it was just indigestion. There also been a growing amount of players that have been complaining and whining. Either way, the community is growing, that is always a plus. New blood means new life and more friends to cap with. One thing I really want to use is voice communications in public servers. I already use voice in clan matches, but adding voice to pubs would be a huge step forward for teamwork. This would even get me to play 2forts for ten minutes -- TEN whole minutes!

Why would I want to listen to lamers when I already have to read the text? Maybe because I am a krazy old bastard. I would be willing to use Roger Wilco (or another voice communication program) that launches with my game and keeps me in the proper channel. Sure there will be lamers and such, but that goes hand in hand with any upgrade. GameSpy Arcade has even talked about new features that will integrate RW (in game) with your buddies. That one feature would attract me to use GSA.

Voice communication is an invaluable tool for clan matches, but would it work in pubs? In recent games I tested my theory. I had two friends and myself on a RW channel and joined a pub. We warned each other of incoming enemies and sentry locations, but the chat was sparse. Like all good TF'ers we auto-teamed. More often than not, two of us were on one team, and third person was on the other. It made me wish for an in-game feature that would have kept me on correct team channel. Since there were 3 of us on RW and 18 on the server, we had to use text messages to inform the other players on our team.

The hardest part is getting everyone to use it. Falling back on text defeats the purpose having voice. Personally I would rather talk to my teammates, but that is just me. Not every person has a microphone and not every player wants to bother with voice. Even with the growth of cable, dsl, and satellite, players want the fastest connection possible. There is more to this game than a fast connection and a quick kill. I am here to play a team game, so I want to tell my team an enemy scout is coming through the front door. I wish there was a mod or a program that allowed everyone on my team to hear my voice.

Valve has talked about adding voice communication to the game, but will it be used? I feel if there were an option to totally disable it, it would not be used. There is no point in wasting man-hours on features that will not be used. Voice could be force fed to us, just like the VGUI menu. I do not use the menu in TFC, but in other games, such as Front Line Force, it has helped me to learn the game faster. Hopefully players will use the voice communication, if properly made would you use it? Let us know, email us at FeedBack@planetfortress.com.