I had very bad luck yesterday - I managed to join the losing team every single game for 2 hours straight....

Demomen are a problem - they are waaayy too powerful en masse.

Another annoyance is the fact that most of the time when I join a team, there will be no medics, so I have to end up playing as medic a lot.

Also, new and inexperienced players choosing the spy and not using the class properly during defense is really annoying (why couldn't you be a medic instead??)

Haha, yeah, I'm medic sometimes, just because nobody else wants to do it. Maybe it's their egos, I don't know.

I think if you just shout at your team and tell someone to be a Medic, someone will listen hehe.

I had the most points on my team last night because I was a Medic...and I wanted to switch for a minute or two to Pyro, because it would have been quite useful to take out a big cluster of enemies...but nobody else would take Medic...and you really need at least one Medic on the Dustbowl map we were on...

Overall, I'm still having a ton of fun with this game though. As you play a lot, you notice how certain classes are unfair sometimes...but there are ways of dealing with every class. Again, I have to say that the Pyro is probably the lamest...which sucks. He needs more range and power with his flamethrower.

Also, all TF2 players here: My friends and I are having a LAN party this Saturday, from 6 pm Central til late. We'll be playing Halo 3 and TF2 mainly. It'll only be like 6 people this time, 6 TF2 owners anyway, so we'll all be on the same team and play online. If a few of you want to join us (or play against us I suppose) at that time, that'd rock. Just letting you know.

Hmmm....I could probably join if you go on a public server (if I can figure out what the time difference is)

I just got finished doing a "I was a medic the whole time" game. I had top score for a while, but finished 3rd. That game finally broke my losing streak. At least 2 medics for a good size team is ideal, and can really turn the tide of a battle.

 There's a lot of veterans playing the game though (they always own me....)

Pyros rock now :)

Yeah, and Demomen are significantly nerfed. I don't mind so much that your grenades don't explode on contact with people after one bounce, but it's made killing sentry guns much more difficult, when it was already hard enough.

To be honest, though, I don't mind the change that much.  You can't expect the formula to be 100% perfect when the game launches, and any change they make is going to affect some class in a negative way.  You can't look at it as "they've made the Demoman useless", you have to look at it like "OK, now I have to play the Demoman a bit differently, and be more careful about taking out the sentries."  There are several tools in your arsenal no matter what class you're playing as, and if you still aren't having any success, there are eight other classes for you to play!

I find that when I get frustrated by something in TF2, I start thinking, what else could I try to get past this obstacle?  Instead of bouncing grenades around the corner, maybe I should edge up to it so I'm just out of the gun's line of sight, and toss 4 or 5 stickies next to it and detonate.  Perhaps that will work, or perhaps someone will see what I'm doing and come kill me before I can destroy the gun.  Maybe I should try a more direct approach with the Soldier.  Maybe I should try a more sneaky approach with the Spy.

Then, when the round ends and I'm on defense, I'll be an Engineer and put a sentry gun in the same place, and see what people on the other team do to try and destroy it.  It's easy to get fed up with TF2 if you're on a losing team and just can't seem to do anything right, but if you just take a step back and think about what's happening, you can often turn a bad situation around even when it seems impossible.  And even if you fail, you might learn something in the process that will help you next time around.

I really like the time period immediately after the first release of a game like TF2.  Essentially, everyone is a n00b!  People may have varying levels of skill, but no one knows any of the new maps, no one knows the best places to put a sentry, or the best ways to organize an offense to break through a given location.  There are so many combinations of things to try, that every game you play is different, which keeps it highly interesting. 

I've learned that two spies working closely in tandem can be devastating for engineers, as well as the fact that if an engineer is alone with his turret while you're a spy, there's NO way the turret will stay alive if you know to repeatedly place your sapper on it.

-and yes, while getting frustrated when you have a team that has a collective IQ of a flea in heat is very common, the best thing to do is take a step back and think strategically. Despite what many of the newer people think, this game definitely ain't a straight shooter.

This is far from a straight shooter. Anyone who thinks that has not given the game a fair chance.

I honestly think the more people on a map the better for maps like Dustbowl and Gravel Pit. I am hoping we will see some 96 man servers but I doubt it. It would be an absolute blast to play Dustbowl with 48 people to a side.

Anyways, the more people there are the more you really have to work as a team and use your medics wisely. And when the engineers are taking full advantage their sentries sometimes a well planned strike with a spy going in just before a heavy and a medic can undo all of the problems. Particularly if you have snipers flank out into the open as they push up. Then you have your snipers focus on their snipers and medics, etc... and in general if you use some tactics and the other team isn't you will do very well.

I am really looking forward to left 4 dead now that I have a taste for how big the team aspect to these games can be. This is like the amped up version of Brothers in Arms because your squad is a person who can think on their own etc...

Yeah, spies are much more effective when they work in tandem with a team. A lone spy is going to be discovered the instant he starts sapping sentries, but if he gives a signal to his team as they approach, a heavy can walk around the corner and start mowing down engineers while the sentries are frying.

My friend REALLY is starting to hate the spy's zappers...but I think it's only fair. The spies are sometimes the only class that can take out a sentry reasonably...it's only expected that the engineers will get pissed.

And yes...you all will need to get Left 4 Dead early '08...I wish more people played these games...