It's been a long time coming... Since we struck up our uneasy alliance with those who reside over at VanillaTF2.org we enjoyed a brief cultural exchange that saw us exposed to some great content. Then, much like the competitive TF2 scene itself, it all went quiet.

Following the announcement of the game being made free to play and it becoming the most popular game on Steam as a result, it seemed that now was as good a time as any to kickstart stepping up all things TF2 at Cadred once more.

There was of course the small matter of delivering a piece to VanillaTF2, exposing my opinions to the most critical and hostile of crowds. Much like an Egyptian strongman I had to enter the Lion's den and also like him I'm probably baiting in order to make a point. You Cadredites can judge for yourselves.

An extract from the article reads:

It wasn’t so long ago the competitive community in TF2 were sat staring into their whiskey tumblers like loved ones banished from a hospital where a friend lay dying. There was nothing you could do, the game’s fate was sealed and no matter what anyone said, whatever philosophical bullshit they mumbled in your direction, life did not go on. Try as it might, Brink couldn’t replace what was lost, even if he was a good laugh in small doses. No-one outside even seemed interested in what was happening. What chance then of a last minute miracle, something to save the game at the 25th hour and see it soar resplendent once more.

Well, Valve answered all of your prayers with their decision to make the game free to play. Overnight the game had gone from being a fun online multiplayer game with high production values, championed by PC Gamer if no-one else, to being the most played game on Steam. That’s right, it even took over the great grandfather of team based first person shooters Counter-Strike, a game that has had more longevity than Mumm-Ra despite it’s obvious shortcomings in the eyes of a modern audience.

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