i feel a little silly describing the act of leaving a negative review as "upsetting," but it is. i've been playing this game for about ten years now, and the last five or so years have been so atrocious on valve's part that it's hard to believe it's even the same game i played on christmas for the first time back in 2014.

i wish i could recommend it. i really do. but i can't. the new player experience is to get demolished by a flood of cheaters and bots. those new players can't even use chat or voice commands, because now you have to use the in-game store at least once to gain access to basic communication features; not that that's ever stopped any of the bots from abusing them anyway.

as much as some of my fondest gaming memories come from tf2, i think i regret ever picking it up in the first place.

i feel a little silly describing the act of leaving a negative review as "upsetting," but it is. i've been playing this game for about ten years now, and the last five or so years have been so atrocious on valve's part that it's hard to believe it's even the same game i played on christmas for the first time back in 2014. i wish i could recommend it. i really do. but i can't. the new player experience is to get demolished by a flood of cheaters and bots. those new players can't even use chat or voice commands, because now you have to use the in-game store at least once to gain access to basic communication features; not that that's ever stopped any of the bots from abusing them anyway. as much as some of my fondest gaming memories come from tf2, i think i regret ever picking it up in the first place.