Mood: Expectant

For me, starting to play Team Fortress 2 was a bit like having children.
(but only a bit)
(in fact, just enough for literary purposes and no more)
The first time you do it just because your friends seem to be enjoying it, and it's just expected that some day you'll join them. ;-P

You look forward to it, but perhaps with a little apprehension at trying something new. You're not sure if you'll like it.

At first, it's really hard. There's a lot of "firsts", new things that you've never experienced before (if you haven't played similar games). You ache in places you never ached before (even though I used a wrist brace right from the start!). You stumble around figuring stuff out. You make some friends along the way (hopefully) who show you the ropes when you need it most.

The game grows on you over time. Becomes more familiar, a bit easier, more enjoyable. Less time thinking about how to play and more time just playing. And then one day, you experience a tough firefight -- and you push -- and you survive! And you realize that it's all gonna be easier after this. You've gotten past the newbie stage and are doing pretty good.

It's an awesome feeling.

I've played predominantly medic in my TF2 time. It's extremely satisfying to me to play a class that is generally needed (it's rare I find a team with too many medics already there, although there are some maps that make medic less useful or a lot less fun). I love providing ubers to my team. It satisfies both my desire to watch things go "KA-BLOOEY!" and my desire to save lives.

But after a while, playing ONLY medic wasn't enough. I realized it was time for something new. Going back to the "having kids" metaphor, it was time for an addition to the family. And even though I knew it would involve a lot of work, there wasn't the same nervousness as the first time. I knew how to walk, how to strafe, how to shoot -- I could "carry" this child easily, remembering the first time.

The frustrations and times when it just seems impossible won't be so bad knowing that they will pass. And someday, perhaps, I will see my name as number three (or one!) on the game stats -- and this time it wouldn't be as medic.

It will be as...

Spy.

After some conversations with other players to figure out if I really wanted to try this reputedly difficult class, I've begun my spy training (thanks, Vision!). I can tell it's gonna take some work. But I have several friends (and have encountered many "enemy spies" in-game) who inspire me to think spy will be really fun once I get the hang of it.

Ah, the glow of an expectant woman.
(Sorry, guys, for the woman-centric reproductive metaphor... Kaliki, you probably understand)

What future TF2 moment do you look forward to right now?
(an achievement? new weapon? doing something amazing that isn't even listed as an achievement?)