Don't worry about your daughter growing up, that doesn't make you old. :) Seriously, that means that you can retire and have them take care of you from now on! You can send them to the store for an odd number of things like... what ever old people need with strange medical problems, I don't know; lubricant perhaps?

Anyway. You can act like a kid and get away with it because your supposed to be losing your marbles! And when your kids don't want to take are of you any more and your wife runs off with a twenty year old and your not going to a retirement home! You can scare the little neighborhood kids and have spooky stories made up about you and all of that. You especially like Halloween cause that's the only time you can leave your house without a mask. Wouldn't that be fun! I say your life is just beginning!

You might want to write this down. Remember, your only as old as you look!

ps. You can buy some really phat speakers for your computer and turn the volume to the max on your favorite FPS game. All the explosions will scare the neighbors and keep them awake at night!

You might want to write this down too. Remember! Being old is fun!

(Editors note: Sounds like someone speaking from experience doesn't it? As far as lubricant goes, I have been using WD40 on my Arthritis for years now, picked that up from the TV! And by the way, you don't think I would let the kids have a bigger, badder stereo and computer than I have do you? I have Phat covered baby!)

If i am corect - latency=lag? Yes? And the higher it is the worse it is? Yes? Well, i Have a brand NEW pc - how can i reduce the lag as it is usually up around 360.

Please help!

(Editors note: If none of the staff has answered this question, you are in trouble if you listen to me! If you have a PCI modem, a soft modem, or win modem, (the last two being software rather than hardware driven) then you may not be able to improve your latency much. If you have a decent modem and internet connection, I can only advise for you to make sure all your ingame settings are tweeked properly. Let me tell you right up front, I am a total slacker, and anytime I need tweeking done, I usually have my son do it for me. However, I did receive these pointers from Eric Perlinger on how he improved his net play...

Please note: I did what Valve suggested and turned my Modem Compression off. First, I'd like to talk about the RATE command. One day I openned up the CONFIG.CFG file in the TFC folder and saw my rate was "3000.000000". From experience with the QuakeWorld client, my RATE was set to 2500, when I tested 2650. It worked like a charm. I applied the same concept to TFC and set my rate to a way odd number "2256.702341". My ping dropped by the hundreds. From 600-700 down to 300-400, which is very playable in HL over the internet.
Then I pulled my good old friend and companion the PUSHLATENCY command out of my hat. When I gave it an odd number my ping dropped 100 more to be on a constant 200-300 ping. My current PUSHLATENCY is set to "-106". When more players join, and lag gets harder to deal with I go up to "-114". A very big pushlatency like "-250" has always given me more lag and a wierd response time.

Now, if you still have trouble, get yourself a son to do it for you like I do! Thank you very much for the pointers Eric!)

Thats a funny pic of pikachu... http://www.planetfortress.com/pics/index.asp?id=37759 where can I get the .mdl version of pikachu??

(Editors note: I kill them, skin them, eat them, and wear them. I wonder if they are anything like a chickabee.... Bet no one knows what that is....)

I have to say that i disagree with your mercenaries are weenies. Your right about the ytpes and how annoying they are but you missed one out. There is a type of mercenary that, although he plays on his own, does believe in teamwork, honour and the good of the team. We may play on our own BUT we do try to help the team we are on no matter if the whole team is made up of "player" llamas or veterans. Please don't let some bad examples spoil all our reputations.

Oh and if your a combat medic that wants to be part of the community but doesnt want to be in a clan (or can't get on the internet enough to do a clan justice then join the Combat Medic group (if your good) at http://www.eikon.tum.de/~gekko/index.html) [CMG]East

(Editors note: This is in refrence to an article posted at Fort Bundy. However, I can't resist a good arguement! I have been known to argue with a stick you know! [CMG]East does make a good point. THe same as if you see one clan member from a particular clan acting like an ass, don't jump to the conclusion that all the clan memvers are the same. Quite often, clan members do stick up for each other though, I found that out personally. And some clans don't care at all about their reputation. But I think they are in the minority. But the Mercinaries are probably for the most part decent fellows. It is just that the name in it's self leads you to believe they might not follow the team spirit, even if that is not the case. I hope you are confused now and forget all about it. I'm sure we can all co-exist if we try... )

I played TF for a LONG time, after I saw and played TFC for the first time I couldnt go back. After I installed Quake and TF on a friends machine recently I was reminded of the high quality that we now take for granted. We still play TF on the LAN at work and newcomers to the genre are blown away. When we gat TF2 I'm sure I will not look back (again).

How long before we get all the elements of a Flight Sim,'Madness' series and Quake all in one huge virtual world ? Something for the Zelda boys (girls?) to think about!!!

(Editors note: TF for quake is rock solid as far as fun goes. TFC is great as well. Most players just don't realize that they are really two different communities. Like different sides of the railroad tracks. We are all Team Fortress players though. What the hell is a flight sim anyway??? Is that what they call it when you rocket jump? I do flight sims all the time. I fall off the balcony and elevators a lot. The sudden stop is a killer!)

About TF2. Sigh... I have been thinking a lot about TF2... And this is what i'm concerned about:

Almost all of the weapons in TF2 are hit point. Meaning, you fire and they are at their destination instantly. This raises a problem. Have you ever tried playing the mod for Half-Life Counter-Strike as a HPB? I have. It is no day at the beach. There is NO WAY any HPB can hit a moving LPB target with hit point weapons very well. I'm also worried that because TF2 is almost like CS and TF put together, it will be a LPB dominated game. Think about it. TF2 will be like Rainbow6 and CS, you won't be able to take too much damage. So an LPB with no skill will easily kill a veteran HPB, because he can get off the shots first. In TF1, the players are tough, and while unrealistic in some aspects, you have to be skilled to win in TF1. Know strategies and such. I'm just worried TF2 will be dominated by LPBs. If you are a HPB, play Counter-Strike. That is a taste of how TF2 will be played. Hit point weapons, and you can't take too much damage. And also in TF2, no rocketjumping. No conc jumping. These were very fun features in TF1 :) You had to be skilled to do them, it gave you alternate routes out of danger. It was a challenge. Thats all I have to say. If you like the tough-ass marines and rocketjumping, and you are a HPB, you probably won't like TF2. If you are LPB and like the gameplay of CS, and hitpoint guns, you'll like TF2. Me? I'm getting TF2, no doubt about it, but i'll also be getting Quake3. Completely different gameplay, you cannot compare the two, so don't try to. Thanks for your time, and send me feedback. scottman@cgocable.net

(Editors note: I admit I am stupid about some things. So you don't have to tell me ok? Actually, I am just to relaxed to get all excited about this right now. We have no idea what the finish product will be like until it is done. Valve may put something in the game to help with the HPB/LPB issue. Maybe they won't. Maybe, the game will come out a year or two late and everyone will be LPB's by then. You see? There are to many variables to get your ass in an uproar right now I think. LPB's are becoming more and more prominent, and as technology advances, and prices drop for the hardware, (as you know it always does) then this will no longer be an issue. In the mean time, Just keep a list of all the LPB's who kick your arse, and have at them when you get your High speed data line baby! Hold a grudge! I do. And I get even too. And mad....)

This is directed mostly at Totentanz, but I saw no readily available link to mail just Fort Bundy. What is your big problem with mercenaries? What's the real difference between a merc and a normal player if the merc doesn't put a [TM] in front of his name? Do mercs smell bad? Do they look scruffy?

Now, I'll agree with you that some parts of the TM site make no sense whatsoever, like the signup for clans, but why the witch hunt against mercs? I also think you may have misunderstood the three types of Mercs. True Mercenaries are "Lamers and Arseholes"? They should be on the community-wide banlist? I'm not going to repeat anything else, 'cause you know what you wrote, but I disagree heartily. I think a True Mercenary is someone who just does his own thing, smacking down people if he wants, capping flags if he wants, whatever. And what's really wrong with ruining other players' egos? Chances are, if someone takes enough notice to specifically humiliate someone, that person deserved it (at least to some degree) in the first place.

And I don't even know WHY you brought clan matches into the debate. Mercs aren't clans. I thought they made that painfully clear. Mercs aren't "ringers" either. You clan types can go out and frag the holy hell out of each other, you won't be bothered by mercs.

Yes, most of the mercs you picked out to make fun of are quite the idiot, and I laughed at your comments. But labling all mercenaries as "cretins" is clanism. Or anti-clanism, depending on your point of view.
[TM] Longbow

PS - I know you'll make fun of me too now. I don't care. If I can frag you, great. If not, fine, you're a better player than me. Does anything else really matter?

(Editors note: Sweeping generalizations. They can be hazardous to your health. Quite often, while trying to voice your opinion, a generalization is made to back up your views. While I am in no way speaking for the author, (Totentanz), of the article in question, this may or may not be the case. When you have strong feelings for some point you are trying to get across, you might be misunderstood or bring un deserved criticism upon yourself. Or, if you are anything like me, you might have a really big mouth from inserting both feet at the same time.)

I think that this picture (the censored game) is very funny but also makes a very good cultural point.

I am a citizen of the United States and I feel that the point made is quite true. I'm of legal age, yet I wasn't when the first FPS's were coming out and there was such a huff about them. I played them, they sucked, I played it online, it sucked, I've had unregistered gamespy from the time they released the first one. I really like violent games, I and am (relitively) well ajusted. Do you know why? Simple, I had parents, parnets that loved me and treated me like a person. Blame the parents, blame the kids, leave the games alone.

PS: I said relitively because I have a necesity to quote from the Book of Homer:
d'oh nuts... mmmm... doughnuts
-Homer Simpson!

See...

(Editors note: I missed that Pic of the day. I miss a lot of things. XQ makes a good point of course. You don't see them trying to outlaw cars because of all the car deaths now do you? If you are sick, and kill someone, it is because you are sick, not because of a damn game you play. And if you are not sick and kill someone, it is still not the games that should shoulder the brunt of responsibility. Why not blame God. He is the one who is supposed to make the big decisions around here, isn't he? Homer Simpson is my brother, did I tell you that? )

Hey! my name is natanael millan, and i'm setting up a web page. wanted to know if you have any images that i can use to set up a link to your site. i already have a likn to it, but a picture is worth a thousand words. thanks for the help.

(Editors note: Why certainly! Here is the dandy little PF panic button pic location...on a server in CA somewhere...) I'll bet a million words could be written if you saw my pic... Actually the retching that would follow the viewing of it might distract you a bit... Yes, I think it would. I'm certain of it actually.