I learned a lesson today. Now, I'm not saying I got schooled, but it gave me something to think about.
(*grin* I'm kinda tongue-in-cheek here... the incident tickles my funny bone far more than it bruises my tailbone...)
The lesson: Beware what you say. You never know when some off-handed comment will become the classic quote that brands you for life.
Yeah, I was just minding my own business, trying to be an active participant in the forum community, and putting in my two cents worth. And I said:
Dude, I'm a medic. I'm a girl. I'm a casual player. I'm gonna die a lot. *shrug*
For some reason, this caught a fellow player's fancy.... and he made it his sig in the forums:
"Dude, I'm a medic. I'm a girl. I'm a casual player. I'm gonna die a lot. *shrug*" - ]NsR[ buttercup
With my name after it like that, it starts looking like some classic quote that's gonna scream across the Net, propagating from gaming forum to gaming forum and generations after us will wonder, "Who was that gamer girl, anyway?"
(you can call it delusions of grandeur if you like, it entertains me nonetheless...)
That means for all 247 (and counting) posts in the forum, everywhere he shows up, there is an advertisement for my quintessential gaming attitude: a resignation to my fate.
"So, how do you feel about that, buttercup?"
Hm. On the one hand, it's true. I have accepted that I'll spend a lot of time in re-spawn.
On the other hand... that doesn't really coming across as the Mighty Medic I'd like to be for my gaming buddies.
On the third hand, I can take comfort in my multitude of screenshots declaring my usual spot in the top three of a typical match. Can't be doing too badly if I'm there, right?
Back to the first hand: Hey, what can I say? It's true. *snort*
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
TF2 Crafting Success
Finally! At long last!!!! I have my Blutsauger back!!!
I'll try to control the heavy use of gratuitous exclamation points, but I'm just SO SHOUTIN' HAPPY here!
How It All Happened
When crafting was first announced, during the recent war between the Soldier and Demo, I popped into it to try it out. I'm pretty sure this was before they had improved the interface, and there was nothing on the inventory read-out that indicated that any of the items on the list were actually EQUIPPED.
That is, they listed ALL my weapons -- not just the extras.
So when I tried my hand at creating a Medic class token, it asked for any four Medic weapons. I had four Blutsaugers, so I took those and crafted a class token. Cool! Neat! Wowzee!
Until I realized that I'd just cannibalized ALL my Blutsaugers!!!!
Oh noes!!!!! Horrors!!!! Oh, the humanity!!!!
Ahem. Exclamations aside, I was filled with dismay. A medic is a vulnerable enough class without losing my upgraded primary weapon. Boo-hoo!
So I've played without my Blutsauger for a month or so I've felt the loss. When my attack class partner dies, leaving me fending for myself behind enemy lines, the little syringe gun doesn't do much to keep me alive. Where I used to survive maybe 30% of the time by sucking the health of my enemy for my own as I backed away at speed, now I mostly just visit the re-spawn room.
Did I mention, "Oh, the humanity"?
Okay, okay, enough melodrama. I took a little time today and explored Crafting again, figuring that perhaps some gamers with more time on their hands than I have figured it all out. A bit of Google searching, and couple of experiments in the Crafting area, and whatayaknow!
I've got my Blutsauger back. Hallelujah!
How I Did It
Part of the issue is just understanding how the crafting system works, how it is designed to do things. For some reason, it didn't seem obvious to me at first.
It's a building blocks system. To craft my Blutsauger, I followed this line of reasoning:
I want a primary Medic weapon.
Therefore I need:
Fortunately, I had found 5 Huntsman over the last month or so, so I kept one and crafted the other four into a primary weapon slot token.
And finally, I gave up all 3 of my Razorbacks (which I've never used, even the rare times I've played Sniper) to create some scrap metal.
My Advice?
After all this, I have one piece of advice for anyone who wants to try crafting: DO NOT TRUST THE INTERFACE in TF2 to tell you everything you need to know.
It WON'T.
Read up online to find out what others are doing, and it will help IMMENSELY.
During the course of the crafting process, twice the interface had NO BLUEPRINTS listed that would give me what I wanted. I had to go on faith, putting the items from the online crafting recipes together and hitting the crafting button "blind".
Fortunately, what I needed is pretty straightforward, so there weren't really any random factors involved. From what I've read, some blueprints will create a "random" item from the specified class and slot. But since Medics only have one unlockable primary weapon, I got what I was hoping for.
But if I hadn't had the online recipes/blueprints (telling me that they existed), then I would have seen no option in the crafting interface for doing what I wanted to do.
This TF2 crafting blueprints site helped a lot.
Also, TF2Wiki.net has a good page on crafting, with some handy reference tables.
Tell me YOUR crafting adventures!
Leave a comment!
I'll try to control the heavy use of gratuitous exclamation points, but I'm just SO SHOUTIN' HAPPY here!
How It All Happened
When crafting was first announced, during the recent war between the Soldier and Demo, I popped into it to try it out. I'm pretty sure this was before they had improved the interface, and there was nothing on the inventory read-out that indicated that any of the items on the list were actually EQUIPPED.
That is, they listed ALL my weapons -- not just the extras.
So when I tried my hand at creating a Medic class token, it asked for any four Medic weapons. I had four Blutsaugers, so I took those and crafted a class token. Cool! Neat! Wowzee!
Until I realized that I'd just cannibalized ALL my Blutsaugers!!!!
Oh noes!!!!! Horrors!!!! Oh, the humanity!!!!
Ahem. Exclamations aside, I was filled with dismay. A medic is a vulnerable enough class without losing my upgraded primary weapon. Boo-hoo!
So I've played without my Blutsauger for a month or so I've felt the loss. When my attack class partner dies, leaving me fending for myself behind enemy lines, the little syringe gun doesn't do much to keep me alive. Where I used to survive maybe 30% of the time by sucking the health of my enemy for my own as I backed away at speed, now I mostly just visit the re-spawn room.
Did I mention, "Oh, the humanity"?
Okay, okay, enough melodrama. I took a little time today and explored Crafting again, figuring that perhaps some gamers with more time on their hands than I have figured it all out. A bit of Google searching, and couple of experiments in the Crafting area, and whatayaknow!
I've got my Blutsauger back. Hallelujah!
How I Did It
Part of the issue is just understanding how the crafting system works, how it is designed to do things. For some reason, it didn't seem obvious to me at first.
It's a building blocks system. To craft my Blutsauger, I followed this line of reasoning:
I want a primary Medic weapon.
Therefore I need:
- 1 Class token (this tells the system what class the weapon is for)
- 1 Slot token (eg, primary, secondary, melee -- this tells the system what kind of weapon to create)
- 1 Scrap metal
- 4 Medic weapons = 1 Medic class token
- 4 Primary weapons (of any class) = 1 Primary slot token
- Any 3 weapons/items (any slot, any class) = 1 Scrap metal
Fortunately, I had found 5 Huntsman over the last month or so, so I kept one and crafted the other four into a primary weapon slot token.
And finally, I gave up all 3 of my Razorbacks (which I've never used, even the rare times I've played Sniper) to create some scrap metal.
My Advice?
After all this, I have one piece of advice for anyone who wants to try crafting: DO NOT TRUST THE INTERFACE in TF2 to tell you everything you need to know.
It WON'T.
Read up online to find out what others are doing, and it will help IMMENSELY.
During the course of the crafting process, twice the interface had NO BLUEPRINTS listed that would give me what I wanted. I had to go on faith, putting the items from the online crafting recipes together and hitting the crafting button "blind".
Fortunately, what I needed is pretty straightforward, so there weren't really any random factors involved. From what I've read, some blueprints will create a "random" item from the specified class and slot. But since Medics only have one unlockable primary weapon, I got what I was hoping for.
But if I hadn't had the online recipes/blueprints (telling me that they existed), then I would have seen no option in the crafting interface for doing what I wanted to do.
This TF2 crafting blueprints site helped a lot.
Also, TF2Wiki.net has a good page on crafting, with some handy reference tables.
Tell me YOUR crafting adventures!
Leave a comment!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Joining up
Wow. I've been accepted by the natives! LOL. I know it's not a big deal, but it's funny how going through the motions of applying to join a clan can bring out nervousness you never knew was there.
I wonder how many rejections it takes in life (either as a child, teen or adult) before you start dreading any opportunity to get rejected again? Even though several of the guys in the clan invited me, hinted that I was practically already an honorary member, and encouraged me to join up -- I still wondered if they'd say "no" for some obscure reason.
"Sorry, we thought you were one of us, but then we realized..."
Heh-heh. In some ways, nothing has changed. After all, that was kind of the point. I've been playing on their servers for almost as long as I've played TF2, and I had no plans to stop playing with them. Therefore, it made perfect sense to "join them".
And yet. It's fascinating to watch one's own internal reaction to things. The slight resistance to giving up "my own name" and taking theirs onto mine.
From buttercup -- simple, straightforward, standing alone in the field.
To ]NsR[ buttercup -- a flower who belongs in a field with other...er... flowers. Hmm... somehow the metaphor breaks down a bit.
Then there's the vague distaste for having to be clearly labeled as on probation until they make it official. ]NsR-nF[ buttercup -- I'm a "new fish".
(I admit, however, that discovering the "nf" stands for "new fish" really warmed me up to it immediately. I like fish!)
And finally, there's the wondering... Will this last? Will it sour? Is it like so many relationships that seem to do so well when they live together and that fall apart after they get married? Will they change towards me now that I'm officially "one of the gang"? Maybe all the fun of the hunt -- the find and conquer -- is gone now, and I'm just old news. LOL.
Funny how even something like gaming can tap into all these "real life" human emotions. Good thing I can analyze this stuff and put it all in it's proper place. "Emotions! Get back in line! No more sissy stuff! The cart's not gonna push itself!!!!"
*grin*
Go Play at the NsR Servers! They Rock!
So here's a plug, by the way: If you live on the west coast of the US, check out the NsR servers (listed on their NsR clan website) -- it's a great place to play!
I wonder how many rejections it takes in life (either as a child, teen or adult) before you start dreading any opportunity to get rejected again? Even though several of the guys in the clan invited me, hinted that I was practically already an honorary member, and encouraged me to join up -- I still wondered if they'd say "no" for some obscure reason.
"Sorry, we thought you were one of us, but then we realized..."
Heh-heh. In some ways, nothing has changed. After all, that was kind of the point. I've been playing on their servers for almost as long as I've played TF2, and I had no plans to stop playing with them. Therefore, it made perfect sense to "join them".
And yet. It's fascinating to watch one's own internal reaction to things. The slight resistance to giving up "my own name" and taking theirs onto mine.
From buttercup -- simple, straightforward, standing alone in the field.
To ]NsR[ buttercup -- a flower who belongs in a field with other...er... flowers. Hmm... somehow the metaphor breaks down a bit.
Then there's the vague distaste for having to be clearly labeled as on probation until they make it official. ]NsR-nF[ buttercup -- I'm a "new fish".
(I admit, however, that discovering the "nf" stands for "new fish" really warmed me up to it immediately. I like fish!)
And finally, there's the wondering... Will this last? Will it sour? Is it like so many relationships that seem to do so well when they live together and that fall apart after they get married? Will they change towards me now that I'm officially "one of the gang"? Maybe all the fun of the hunt -- the find and conquer -- is gone now, and I'm just old news. LOL.
Funny how even something like gaming can tap into all these "real life" human emotions. Good thing I can analyze this stuff and put it all in it's proper place. "Emotions! Get back in line! No more sissy stuff! The cart's not gonna push itself!!!!"
*grin*
Go Play at the NsR Servers! They Rock!
So here's a plug, by the way: If you live on the west coast of the US, check out the NsR servers (listed on their NsR clan website) -- it's a great place to play!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Cute Nerf Now comic arc
This particular story arc spoke to me on several levels. I've been on both sides of the coin: the newbie (baby) and the veteran. Although I still consider myself more a newb than a vet.
Nerf Now! TF2 Comic: Entire Team is Babies
Enjoy!
Nerf Now! TF2 Comic: Entire Team is Babies
Enjoy!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Another video - The Scout makes a commercial
Okay, so this one just tickled my funny bone (thanks, Steel Duck!). It's a little low-key, but watch the whole thing -- the last comment is perfect! LOL.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Leaked "Meet the Spy" video
This doesn't really need any introduction. My only curiosity is whether they leaked it on purpose or not, since it's obviously a little over the top for an official release. *grin*
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Afterthoughts
Do you ever have conversations replay in your mind, and you think of more clever comebacks than you had before?
Maybe next time some silly male in TF2 asks me if I'm gay or if I'd do his girlfriend while he watches, I could come back with,
"No, I'm not gay, I don't have a web cam, I won't do your girlfriend -- even if you had one -- and as for your other questions, the answers are no, no, no, and in your dreams, fuzzball. I'm just here to play the game, how about the rest of you?"
LOL.
Okay, so maybe that would just make it worse. Trash talk is one area where replying in kind just throws gasoline on the fire.
What would YOU say?
What do you think? Any choice replies come to mind?
Maybe next time some silly male in TF2 asks me if I'm gay or if I'd do his girlfriend while he watches, I could come back with,
"No, I'm not gay, I don't have a web cam, I won't do your girlfriend -- even if you had one -- and as for your other questions, the answers are no, no, no, and in your dreams, fuzzball. I'm just here to play the game, how about the rest of you?"
LOL.
Okay, so maybe that would just make it worse. Trash talk is one area where replying in kind just throws gasoline on the fire.
What would YOU say?
What do you think? Any choice replies come to mind?
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