One thing that I always appreciated about TF2 Developers, is how on the teamfortress page, *every single line* has a joke. They never cease the opportunity. Here's how engineer's Jack-Hammer taunt is described: "Pound the ground and your ability to have children into submission with this groin-liquefying taunt". Off the cuff example. It's all written, as if the game was introduced by a sketchy TV-presenter with a keen liking of bathos!
As much as I give Valve flak....I can't say the two dudes, janitor, plant and contractor that keep this game alive ain't passionate or competent! If only they could do this full time!
The multimedia aspect of TF2 (giving fans pieces of information through different mediums) is fascinating to me, because it places fans in a position where we kinda become detectives trying to collect information (Sniper's figurine merch photoshoot is only accessible through the Wayback Machine, and the boxart is where we discovered that his full name is Mick Mundy), or make deductions through the info (Archimedes is a wedding dove Medic stole, so I deduced that the reason why the doves fly around Medic in the Meet the Medic taunt is because they are _all_ wedding doves and have therefore been trained to fly around a subject majestically). The lack of story updates has created this phenomenon (that I've witnessed in other fandoms for ongoing series on a long hiatus, or series that got cancelled on a cliffhanger) where the fandom starts to create their own canon to fill the void (playing around with the plot and characters like a toy) that other fans can contribute to it with fanart specifically for that canon divergence. Specific examples I've seen of this are Emesis Blue (fan film), Lil Pootis (fan 2D animated series), and a really well-written actor AU fanfic I read, all getting their own fanart.
I like to think that "randomness" in humor is when the punchline is unexpected, but also makes sense just enough to be funny. When things that didn't align at first - do, it's satisfying and also frightening in a way at first.
I recently explained the plot of TF2 to my girlfriend (who doesn't play). It was impossible to say "Two brothers fighting over completely worthless land for their entire lives" without cracking a smile
I have to admit im a very new tf2 fan but the comics are genuinely some of my favorite pieces of fiction ever and its made me want to write my own stories :3 i genuinely love tf2 and i will be obsessed with this for awhile no doubt
I'm brand new to all the TF2 lore and really enjoyed watching all these videos for the first time. It brought back a sense of lighthearted goofy yet sincere story telling that I feel like I haven't seen in a very long time in games🙂 Now I'm going to need someone to pick up the Pilot Episode of TF2 because I need more, thanks!
Been a lover of TF2 since The Orange Box days on the 360. Each of these videos about the game I loved always manages to bring a smile to my face. The game has so much lore now than when it first started. Love it 💙
for me the Meet the Team works because in such simple videos it makes us Sympathize with each character individually it works for me because they dont need arcs or complex storylines because they are unique on their crazy way.
Excellent deconstruction, I really like it it when people take normally subliminal, subdued, almost hidden aspects of things like movie scenes and game design decisions and explains them. To me, it's like I was just told how to turn peanuts into peanut butter, and grapes into jam; I'm like "yeah, I get this, I could try doing that, too!" ... even though I won't lol Keep it up, seems like you have an excellent analytical eye!
3:18 Not a single viewer missed that. That line captured the hearts of everyone immediately upon first hearing. It stood out as a piece of comedic dialogue on par with Steamed Hams' Aurora Borealis dialogue.
How the FUCK has no one talked about this in a comprehensive video format before, I’m sure someone has but I’ve been on tf2 RU-vid for years and this is the best dissection of this narrative I’ve seen
"This is a bucket.." "Dear god.." "There's more" "No!" "This is a bucket.." "Dear god.." "There's more" "No!" "This is a bucket.." "Dear god.." "There's more" "No!" "This is a bucket.." "Dear god.." "There's more" "No!" "This is a bucket.." "Dear god.." "There's more" "No!" "This is a bucket.." "Dear god.." "There's more" "No!" "This is a bucket.." "Dear god.." "There's more" "No!" "This is a bucket.." "Dear god.." "There's more" "No!"
“This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!” “This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!” “This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!” “This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!” “This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!” “This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!” “This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!” “This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!” “This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!” “This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!” “This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!” “This is a bucket..” “Dear God..” “There’s more” “No!”
Subbed. I’ve moved on from / have mixed feelings about the team shooter genre after playing for 17 years, but TF2 undeniably stands in a class of its own. Pun unintended. I think a major reason as to why is what you described in the video. 👌
Agreed. Also, its community is one of the major factors that make the tf2 alive. Compounded by the tf2 lore and creative people with the free will to do fascinating stuff to the game, such as sfm videos, community-made maps, and even mods in common, it expands our interest in the game and makes the community itself consistently active. Without them, most of us wouldn't know tf2 existed.
Ever since the first time I have seen official TF2 media, I was hooked to the characters. And mind you I was a kid who didn't understand deep writing and was only in it for the laughs of TF2's comedy. And I say, growing up and understanding better writing makes TF2 hold up very well. It felt like an evolution that never changed and I love that, ever since my first Meet the Class video to the comics, and understanding each class deeper by compiling all of what we have from them, and seeing them interact and work together mixed with the drunken written world, it's blyatiful...
New Weka upload! I love seeing your absolute passion and commentary for the game and its characters! I’d love to see more videos analyzing things like the official animations and comics!
it might just be nostlagia talking but i just wish there were more of these animations, purly for the look. all the meet the team videos have this particular feel in theyr animation that i just really love. god i hopevalve will actually return to this game.
amazingly written video. thank you for making this. tf2 has been one of my favorite pieces of media since i was a child. you've summed up most of my thoughts
There is an explanation behind soldier's behavior.Mercs were once to a place, where water was poisoned by a brain degrading substance. Soldier wasn't aware of the bottled water supply mercs were provided.
Supposedly awhile ago, Valve was collaborating with Adult Swim to produce a Team Fortress TV show, which would of followed the storyline of the comics. But since it’s Valve, the show was cancelled, and recycled into the Expiration Date short. Every time I see a video like this, I can’t help but get upset at the wasted potential of these incredible characters and their world.
This kind of videos make me wanted to still pay the internet. Thank for this, I came in thinking it was gonna be more fun thana anything else but I came out learning CINEMA
growing up i remembered always seeing my cousin on the sfm side of the internet so tf2 had always been a very vague memory from when he’d show me at carne asadas and parties lol. after getting into it i appreciate how devoted the community is and how much quality content we still get despite the game literally being as old as us
TF2 would absolutely thrive as an adult swim TV show. Can’t believe that fell through. It doesn’t even have to be 3D, could just be 2D with a cool art style.
I'm curious though, where this lies in juxtaposition (or similarity?) To the heavy character-arc potential that comes from Overwatch's heroes. People were raving at the abundant story-driven and character-arc-focused potential that the Overwatch introduction animation and following cinematics provided. Almost each and every new hero released has a gripping hook to their backstory and potential future events that they face, with previous characters showing up, making cameos, fleshing out the worldbuilding, dropping hints of other story threads that could be followed. It is SO easy to become attached to these characters, their hopes, how they relate to Overwatch and the Omnic wars... but like TF2, the gameplay is, entirely broken away from all this story in the characters. It is clear the Blizzard devs took a LOT of queues from Valve and TF2 as well with making cinematic animations and comics. But they do treat the storytelling with a serious tone, which gives both gravitas and makes it more exciting for the viewer/reader/fan. Never-the-less, it seems like the "story" of overwatch will never get made, forced to stay in a standstill moment in time eternally; Only, because it HAS so much story, it also leaves so much potential lying on the ground, wasting away. Do you think that because Blizzard devs made Overwatch too serious, they struggled to reach that kind of timelessness and "perfect writing" that TF2 nailed so well? I would be curious to see you look into that sometime.
Sure it does kinda suck that there isn't a proper story playthrough that people could enjoy to get to know the characters more but what we've gotten so far and how the community has filled in the rest does the game some fun justice.
as much as i want the comic to have an end i also dont want them to touch it im afraid they somehow rush it or something happenes that makes the playerbase let go of the whole thing same with the game if nothing moves it feels safer (altho its amazing that they finnaly did something about the bots lol) this is one of the strongest fandoms and im pretty afraid for it to fall
TF2 Is almost perfectly written We just need a 7th comic to finish up this tale of 2 teams, 2forts, 2 brothers and 2 ways of ending things up And the heavy kissing the medic, of course, that is gonna make TF2 great again
For me, the perfect example if tf2 followed a serious path is emesis blue and, for sale, it would have been a really good narrative but i 100% agrre that it wouldnt been as iconic as it is the current one.
The respawn machine messes with time so its possible to have infinite different respawn loops that at times can intercect and cross between events that happen before and after each other in the lore like Red vs Blue and Man vs Machine.
One of the best parts of TF2 as a game is that the silly setting tends to attract equally silly people to play. As the Solder would say; "It's perfection."
while there are some character plot lines that I wish got/hope will get proper conclusions, and those conclusions would probably require some degree of change in how some characters interact with each other (ie: Scout and Spy’s whole thing), I agree with a lot of what you say in the vid. TF2’s mercenaries thrive off of being complex characters masquerading as stereotypes, while also having most of their arcs only amplify who they are and reassure what they choose to be.
I accidentally found tf2 by watching a Pewdiepie prop hunt video, i was hooked to the art style and gameplay. I was 14 back then and still loving the game
Great video, thanks! In the first 20 seconds I thought this video was AI generated, something about text popping up and voice cutoff maybe. Idk might be a me problem. Subbed, thanks again.
I have found tf2 when i was 10 and officially got into it when i was 11. Now i am 19 and i dont wanna leave the game. I. Just. Love. It. There is no way there could be a better masterpiece than this game.
TF2 is simply a mixture of stereotypes, archetypes and jokes of all kinds, ALL IN ONE AND THEY DID IT PERFECTLY and to top it off, you can play them... It's that simple.
Not gonna lie; when I first thought about stereotyping, at first glance, I shined it in a bad light, Because I was thinking about how over time at least when it came to cosmetics or how I thought they had been developed; they had lost their charm. For Example, For Scout, we went from this complete dickhead, who is full of himself; to feeling like he's just naive and silly. For Soldier, I saw him from being a Crazy War-Loving Madman to being a dumbass; and yet it still worked in his favor because of his relationship with Merasmus. Now it's like you can't imagine a soldier anymore without him either Saluting or Finishing his sentence with a Medic. I think Heavy suffered the most from this because he went from looking like he loved to mow down foes with Sascha, to loving each of his Miniguns and giving them a name; but when it came to the Community; the only thing we could come up with was either him stuffing himself with Sandwiches or saying Pootis. Looking back at it; I don't think that it's COMPLETELY, perfectly Written, but despite what I say; damn well has it been close. Perhaps there are still lessons that I have not yet learned.
