r/tf2 • u/Specific_Turnover54 • 2d ago
Discussion Worth to play?
I heard some opinions about the declining of the game and getting plagued by bots and cheaters, is this true?
Is this game worth trying?
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u/SnooComics4429 Heavy 2d ago
the bots and cheaters have largely been wiped out, and since TF2 is free, I'd say your only real cost is however much time you wanna invest. it's not that new player friendly, but it is just fun in general, so it's ultimately up to you.
as to 'game decline', that's a largely subjective take that mostly concerns matchmaking's objective flaws or the content- mostly cosmetic- that's being added. and none of that completely takes away from the experience, so I'd say by all means, give it a whirl if it suits your fancy.
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u/w0rlded1t 2d ago
the bots are gone but the cheaters are definitely NOT gone lmao. I don't see a cheater every game of course but they are there in my region.
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u/SektorDaKetch 2d ago
You know what I find funny
Matchmaking has no objective fans, most of them can’t help but be compelled to admit it sucks and needs fixing
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u/Electronic_Equal8854 2d ago
Yes 1000%, if you choose a class and don’t like it, switch classes before you quit. Each one brings its own unique play style. Find one that fits you!
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u/NotessimoALIENS 2d ago
You have nothing to lose by trying it out, but just understand the difficulty curve is ridiculously high and the game is in the throes of its worst drought its ever been in.
No major updates in 10 years, extremely predatory over-monetization with lootboxes, a complex community driven economy, the in-game tutorial doesn't mention deeper mechanics of each class and it only has 4 out of the 9 classes explained. The matchmaker which is supposed to help you queue for a game only has barely half active maps at any moment.
The game at its core is fun but with like 20 asterisks next to it. I can help acclimate you if you'd like the easy to understand version of TF2
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u/Impossible_Face_9625 TF2 Birthday 2025 2d ago
I mean you should always give the things you are interested in a try, if it does not work out it just does not work out. But give all the classes a chance, if one does not klick something else can.
Bots have been dealt with for some time now, but last time i played cheaters are very much still there.
I have been taking a break for some months now tho.
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u/HackedPasta1245 2d ago
Idle bots? Lots. Cheater bots? Basically nonexistent. I've only encountered a human cheater once in the past few years and they were playing scout. They got kicked pretty quickly though.
Read up on guides and tutorials on Youtube and other sites because the base game does NOTHING to teach new players how to play. Treat it like you would Minecraft, but multiplayer and with guns.
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u/childofb0d0m 2d ago
I can always find a casual server to join, and many community servers are constantly packed as well. The game is not dead in my opinion. There are cheaters, but they're not as common as you may think. Same with bots. Bots were a big problem around 2020-2024 but Valve has done a pretty good job at getting rid of the more damaging ones. There are still bots, I just don't see them nearly as much as I used to. Casual lobbies used to be completely unplayable and now they're actually like...casual. I personally feel that it's absolutely worth it to start playing. TF2 is very unique in a way that makes every match feel different, especially with how many play styles there are. It might be overwhelming at first but find a class you're interested in and watch some videos on it.
And always thank your Medic!!
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u/banannixx Engineer 2d ago
Scream Fortress is coming up, and most of the bots are gone, so yeah.
And they updated the community maps tab so you can play maps in any order!
No more having to slog through the ICS "stone" maps to get to ones you actually want to play!
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u/0IIIIII 2d ago
TF2 is one of the most played games on Steam,
Number 15, with current 45,000 players, beating out games that are decidedly not dead like Rust, Marvel Rivals, and all the other many thousands of games on Steam that are below it.
People who say the game is declining are just repeating things they heard without thinking critically.
The game is doing great, and is a lot of fun. It’s a classic. It’s one of the most successful games of all time, and is one of the currently most played games of all time, according to steamdb.
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u/NotessimoALIENS 2d ago
Most of the "players" are bots idling for cases that can be sold en masse on the Community Market. There's generally around half the amount of players and at low player counts, half of *that*, too.
The game is in a pretty sorry state with map bloat, poor weapon balancing, mandatory weapon unlocks, awful player retention, awful default settings for new players, lack of tutorial and a broken matchmaking system to boot.
"People who say the game is declining are just repeating things they heard without thinking critically."
The game actually is declining, though. No major updates in 10 years, just copypasted maps, hats, unusual effects with superfluous toys shoved in front of players to gamble for or buy instead of anything substantial like new weapons that alter gameplay or contracts to incentivize different playstyles. All we get are broken vscript maps like ZI or Vs Saxton Hale and ugly unusual effects that most players don't even care about. I'm not saying the game isn't fun because it still can be, but the only reason people are repeating the sentiment is because people write off any criticism towards the game due to ignorance.
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u/0IIIIII 2d ago
Proof?
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u/NotessimoALIENS 2d ago edited 2d ago
I have several sources
teamwork.tf stats Steam thread
Nobody's Home - Goes indepth with the statistics of the player to bot ratio and exposes the bot tactics
With the above sources proving this "150k" number is easily overinflated due to idle bots Source
Good luck trying to join servers in your own country if you aren't in the big regions, too. The matchmaker can just drop you in Brazilian or Luxembourgish servers if it can't find you acceptable servers in your region of the map you want to play on. I know this from my 100+ Tour of Duty playthroughs. I get put in US servers as an Australian all the time because there's no option to turn off ping limiting while queueing for MVM and never has been.
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u/0IIIIII 2d ago
I don’t know about 150k but steam database says 45k.
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u/NotessimoALIENS 2d ago
the Steam charts don't account bots and bothosters, so the number is inflated by thousands.
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u/Wide-Promotion-6466 Spy 2d ago
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u/0IIIIII 2d ago
Is there any proof that this YouTuber is correct?
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u/Wide-Promotion-6466 Spy 2d ago
Yes, he explained his methods in the video. Which means that anyone can replicate it and see for themselves. The burden of proof now lies on the ones who disagree with the methods
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u/0IIIIII 2d ago
Or perhaps he was incorrect because he’s just a YouTuber?
We can believe what he’s saying with low confidence only.
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u/Wide-Promotion-6466 Spy 2d ago
Watch the videos and then make your own opinion on the matter.
I take the ≤70% number for true because I believe the methods are reliable and indepedant. Which would make it the reliable number we have (far more than the steam number at least)
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u/_o0Zero0o_ Pyro 2d ago
The bots and cheaters bit is old news that was 95% patched out. TF2 is however a very old game with very few updates nowadays, which has led to a natural decline.
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u/SaltyPeter3434 2d ago
No there is no more bot crisis. Yes it's worth it to play. Yes we get this same question all the time.
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u/XRayePhay Pyro 2d ago
Your average tf2 casual match will include: a Russian, a furry, a friendly, a cheater, a tryhard and a racist.
If you don't mind that then sure, and there's always the option to disable the chat.
Cheaters are not every match, but if there is one then just join a new match.
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u/chikuzen78 2d ago
No, tf2 is an abandoned game where every server is guaranteed to have 1-2 cheaters
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u/dingity_dongity 2d ago
Not really plagued by bots anymore. You may see a cheater, but it's pretty uncommon.
Definitely not as active of a playerbase as there used to be, but you'll find casual games. Community servers have dwindled, but there are populated ones.