Team Fortress 2 - Hat Fortress 2: America's #1 War-themed Hat Simulator

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Best class(es) to play as?

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Peak.png
This will always be peak to me, a good trip down memory lane.
 
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Willie B. Hardigan said:
If the Administrator and Zepheniah are representations of the "Community" and "Game" then Saxoton Hale is a representation of the OG Fan who's come back to fix the entire company only to find out he loves the thrill, not the entity himself. So he gives it to whatever janitors remain to have as much fun as he can before he dies with the people he loves. That's probably what the Devs of the original TF2 envisioned the spirit of the franchise all those years back.
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Dead-on take. I've personally played TF2 since the Orange Box and while I miss the glory days I recognize there is no real way to bring them back. There's no perfect solution for Valve here. TF2 cannot be 'fixed' as there are too many people still attached to what it is currently (see: traders and compfags) that changing too much risks killing it. TF3 could still happen with Saxton leaving his company to a 'red' and 'blue', but not in the foreseeable future since the gaming scene is currently inundated with 'team-based hero shooters' that are essentially TF2's progeny. Valve is a relatively small company that just doesn't have the manpower to throw at what is essentially a legacy project, especially with things like Deadlock and (hopium) HL3 on the horizon, so this is them closing the book on TF2's story for now.
I wish they could have done it in-game somehow, but it's a better send-off than Left 4 Dead got (nothing lol).
 
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I felt a massive weight come off my shoulders reading those final panels man. 7 years, 7 long years we've waited and it was all worth it.

And the best part was there was no strings attached either. No nihilistic endings like epistle 3. No infinite loop bull crap like the earlier leak. No "the best days are yet to come" remark. Just giving us the conclusion that we always wanted. Gay as it may seem to say it did make me a little teary eyed. I love the mercs so much.

Also my wigga Scout still gets Pauling in the end
 
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Finished reading.
It's been a while (what, 7 years?) since I last really sat down and digested the comics, but I did re-skim some, re-read the wiki summarizations for each, and re-read the 6th issue in full before diving into this one just to jog my memory up. Maybe I missed some foreshadowing before, but them pulling a deus-ex-machina with Soldier suddenly having an entire cave of Australium felt kinda cheap in the moment and bothered me a bit (as in, it felt like they just heavily diminished the drama of the prior issues). However, after finishing it, I think that's part of the message they were going for with the Administrator and Zepheniah that people here have already pointed out. Soldier's Australium Cave isn't used to suddenly save either of them, they both die, and Pauling is heavily implied to excavate and dump it all in the ocean per Engie's advice. There's probably a way to wax philosophical about this but honestly I'm still just not over the rush of having finally been able to read Issue 7. I can't believe this is real. Maybe my thoughts will change a bit when it settles more but God, I think I'm satisifed.

I liked the feel-good Smissmass ending too.

Star Classic said:
7 years, 7 long years we've waited and it was all worth it.
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Closer to 8.
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Just coming to terms with how much of an impact TF2 has had on me. I was 13 when the last comic came out, it's been with me for so long
A lot of people talking about the Smissmass ending but I also liked the notion of Saxton freeing Olivia Mann from the company, implying that the line of succession/fighting is finally over along with the Australium being dumped
Also I just noticed Pyro isn't anywhere in this lmao
Star Classic said:
Also my wigga Scout still gets Pauling in the end
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did I miss something? I know the turkey said "From Miss P." but didn't Scout and Pauling call it quits mid-journey down?
 
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There's something seriously uncanny about the art and the way it's presented and I don't know why

Edit:
The way the plot, buildup, and narrative stakes just dissolves out of the blue with weird plot conveniences like that is... The plot twist of all time. I've stopped caring about TF2 long ago, but other people might feel more strongly about it than I do.

I guess the only solace I can have is that this issue is clearly the writers just trying to wrap things up when it's been so long that it no longer matters, and had it been released way back then it would have been vastly superior and featured a proper ending to the series. The ending In a way it kind of feels like Epistle 3. Even has that meta commentary / allegory.

Also there's definitely something fucky with the art. You only need to compare it with shots from issue 6 to notice the difference. Feels rushed in a way. The fidelity just isn't there.

NGL, I wouldn't be surprised if they came out and said they only started working on it in the last few months, if that. The nostalgia wave at Valve is strong at the moment and that's probably the sole reason this even saw the light of day. I wonder if they'll do anything with Portal? Richochet? DoD?
 
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piombo said:
e: actually thinking about it, while this ending is just okay per-se, it's still a very sour ending on a meta aspect since as i write again, this is more of a "fuck off we don't care anymore get a life" ending
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I thought it was pretty sweet, all the mercs get to retire to live long happy lives. I didn't really feel like this was a "fuck off we don't care anymore get a life" since it's way too sweet for this, there's even a thank you to the audience/player base, not to mention the torch is passed to the next generation.
One of scout's daughters is taking after her grandpa, another in the Polaroids seems to like the Pyro, Solider has two kids one of which has a Solider hat, the other of which has a demo-man eye patch, Hale sets Olive free and implies she'll go off to live her own adventures or maybe just live a normal life. Sure there's no more Australium, but the only thing that really ended was the Aministrator, the mann family curse, and their endless, pointless quest for vengeance. As well as all of the Australium going missing so Gray's dead as well. Also it looks like Sniper arrived with Heavy's blonde sister so I think they're married as well.
Edit: Also the chicken is from Bonk Farms, so I guess Engie helped Ms Pauling set up some sort of super-turkey farm.
 
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Internet Wizard said:
did I miss something? I know the turkey said "From Miss P." but didn't Scout and Pauling call it quits mid-journey down?
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Yeah I don't think any of the kids are hers. He pretty explicitly moves on from her in that moment. Though one of the kids is very blonde, which makes me wonder if the Bucket Of Chicken girl from Expiration Date is the mother, because it would be funny.
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Godchu said:
There's something uncanny about the art and the way it's presented and I don't know why
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I went directly from reading Issue 6, published in January 2017, to this one, and it felt practically seamless in terms of the same artstyle being intact. In fact, I'd say in some parts the art looks better, which comes with the territory of the artists having eight more years of experience. Writing also feels in line.
 
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Internet Wizard said:
Just coming to terms with how much of an impact TF2 has had on me. I was 13 when the last comic came out, it's been with me for so long
A lot of people talking about the Smissmass ending but I also liked the notion of Saxton freeing Olivia Mann from the company, implying that the line of succession/fighting is finally over along with the Australium being dumped

did I miss something? I know the turkey said "From Miss P." but didn't Scout and Pauling call it quits mid-journey down?
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Beyond the meta part of the final panels, I kind of of was assuming that the person scout's speaking to was Pauling. Unless I'm reading into things wrongly.
 
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Star Classic said:
Beyond the meta part of the final panels, I kind of of was assuming that the person scout's speaking to was Pauling. Unless I'm reading into things wrongly.
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Unless he's addressing her in the third person, then no. He tells the person who arrives last that Miss Pauling bought them a Turkey.
 
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I've realized, I think we need to check on the fags and fujoshis of the TF2 community. They must be fucking seething that the mercs actually aren't all in a homosexual polycule, and that they have families and kids.

Eternal Spirit of Light said:
It's very clear that this comic was written by different people. Not worth the weight.
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It was literally written by the original Valve writers.
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