So the discussion starts like this:
its basically my take on the TF2 system and what valve has done wrong and right.
To presume to know what Valve has actually intended at any specific point is just.. egotistical. It's like he's taken a bunch of bad experiences and made a huge rant on them, and then made some points on his good experiences to justify it as a "discussion".
He discusses class identity and class ability without discussing the environment, nullifying his point in the broader picture of the "
game" mechanics. Game mechanics functions as just that, the whole game. Everything effects everything in play, and he appears to have catogarised his essay in the same way he discusses how Valve's catogorisation of class role was unjust and naive. Which i found rather amusingly ironic.
Valve and gameplay testing.
He seems to have completely missed the point of Valves take on open beta testing. The quickest way to get a reliable feedback over the function of any change braught about by the inclusion of new oppotunies (weapons/tools) is by having a larger test sample. Items are tested minorly, released, and subsequently updated with any required balancing to get the weapon to scratch before it might have even been released in the past. Lets not forget that TF2 is not the only game Valve works on.
The extra jump while nice plays little use in combat.
He's obviously never played scout much/properly. I'm not even a good scout but being able to double jump to avoid being shot has kept me alive.. more than i care to hesitate a guess. The extra jump is invaluble, especially against good soldiers.
Shovel: I believe this is the least used melee weapon
Again, i'm not sure whether he's played soldier at all but i utilise the soldier's melee just as much as i would as engineer who has it out most of the time. Other than sniper, the soldiers melee is an incredibly valuble weapon. It doesn't take much to run out of ammo for soldier when the heat is pressed.
All of this "discussion" seems completely based on a limited experience of unfortunate circumstances. He was right about the Heavy but the heavy has always been like this. One can only hope that other class unlocks will support the Heavy's existance.
He's expecting a perfect system in a game that's technically still under development.
