Spam
What is spam, really? When was the last time you read a comprehensive definition of the word as it applies to TFC?
— ThreeDollarBill
Spam. What is spam, really? When was the last time you read a comprehensive definition of the word as it
applies to TFC? I believe it's generally accepted that it means to toss out a large number of grenades
blindly, and with very little finesse, in hopes of snagging some unfortunate enemy passing by. Now, why is
it that spamming is considered a bad practice? It can be annoying, certainly, when someone spends an entire
match tossing out grenades into random places, but it's also easy to avoid. If you simply pay attention to
what's going on around you, it's a simple matter to stay away from spam - since it's most often random and
unprimed. Probably the biggest problem comes with lag. If you have two or three people tossing mirvs
haphazardly onto the bridge in 2fort, people with slow connections and/or video systems are going to
experience ping spikes if they're in the area. It's especially annoying for HPB snipers, since they not only
have to deal with their connections grinding to a halt, but also have their views severely disrupted by all
the large opaque explosion sprites going off (since sprites become unrealistically large in relation to their
surroundings when you decrease your FOV). I have actually considered replacing the explosion sprite with
something less obtrusive, to allow myself to see better in these situations, but this comes a little too
close to what I would consider cheating.
Alright, so now we've established what spam is, and why it's bad. On to the question of whether or not
cutting down mirv carrying capacity to two at a time is really going to solve anything. I suppose it might
help slightly with the above situation (the bridge in 2fort), since anyone who would have thrown out three or
four mirvs, will now only be able to throw out two. However, two or three people thowing out two mirvs
a-piece will still add up, and said spammers will simply return to the resupply to hog the grenade bags more
often (I believe Totentanz brought up this point originally). So, while the change might help a little with
certain situations on public servers, it's not going to remedy any major problems. What it is going to do,
however, is limit the number of mirvs that can be carried by respectable players who actually think before
they throw. Personally, I play soldier or sniper most of the time, but I do, on occasion, play demo as well.
Generally, I've found that mirvs are not a thing to waste. They are extremely powerful grenades, and should
be saved for things such as taking out sentries, or clearing a path through a tough defense. In fact, the
way I have my demo script set up, I can't even throw a mirv without pressing a couple of keys to get to them
first - since I use my grenade key (mouse2) for detonating pipebombs. In any case, I've found that I usually
don't need more than two mirvs on an offensive run, and for defense, of course, I have grenade bags available
to stock up with. This is just my playing style, though. I'm sure there are many great demos out there who
were accustomed to needing all four of their mirvs for a good offensive run - and are now struggling to make
do with only two.
In GHOB's editorial, he makes two major points: one, that HW's do not contribute to spam, and two, that TFC
was meant to be played by clans. First of all, I believe spam - in it's most problematic form, anyway -
generally occurs on public servers only. Clan matches, by definition, involve clan members, who are usually
more experienced than your average pub player. Personally, I don't know how any truly experienced player
could employ spam as one of their tactics, since it rarely does any good, anyway. So, that would mean that
neither HW's or demos really contribute much to spam in clan matches. On public servers, it's another
story. HW's are played on public servers, and usually by less experienced players. GHOB claims that
the HW is a difficult class for newbies to master. I would have to disagree - the HW is quite possibly the
simplest class in the game. You run around firing a monsterous rapid-fire hitscan weapon, and take your pick
between two types of grenades to throw. Not really a lot to it. In my experience, the only truly "good"
HW's are the LPB ones - all they have to do is keep their crosshair in the general direction of the enemy to
constantly sap away their health. Anyway, because the HW is so simple, it is usually played by newer players
on public servers - who just happen to be the group of people mostly responsible for spamming. That said, it
should be clear that HW's contribute just as much to spam on public servers as demos do. Now, on to GHOB's
second point - that TFC is meant to be played in clan matches. I would have to agree with Frodo, here; I
found this part of GHOB's editorial to be somewhat offensive. There are many excellent players out there who
simply enjoy playing on public servers, and don't want to have anything to do with clans. I think the point
that GHOB was trying to make, though, is that clan matches involve teams made up of people who know each
other, and have planned out strategies for offense and defense. I suppose this probably is the way
TFC was meant to be played, but GHOB missed the mark a bit, I think, when he asked Valve if they'd ever
played their game the way it was meant to be played. The people from TF Software are the only ones
who really know how their game was meant to be played - since they came up with it. In any case, I
believe the whole mirv limit thing was an attempt (maybe not a successful one, but it was well-intentioned)
to alleviate a problem occuring mainly on public servers. Not clan matches. Public servers. GHOB seems to
think that clan members are the only ones Valve should be considering in their changes to TFC. There are at
least as many people that play regularly on public servers, as play in clan matches. Valve has to look at
the whole picture, and make changes that take into account the entire rage of TFC players, and the current
trends and problems happening in both pub games, and clan games.
So, what do I think about the whole deal? Well, I can't say that I really care one way or another. In
actual gameplay since the patch, I haven't really seen many changes at all. I still have just as much fun.
Personally, I'm still waiting for all the changes promised for the next patch - you know, stuff that really
matters, like new and improved network code. Whatever Valve decides to do about mirv carrying capacity, I
can't see that it's really going to make that much difference in overall gameplay.
Think the author was right on target or completely off the deep end? Let us know -- mail us or post in the forums!
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