This isn’t a rant for or against Team Fortress 2 Achievement servers. It’s a recounting of the bizarre/hilarious/terrifying experience I had on one of them – yes, my personal reactions to what I encountered do inevitably slip in, but mostly it’s a portrait of this unique facet of gaming subculture. Whether you agree or disagree with their existence, these beat-the-system servers are fascinating enough to be worth talking about.
“Were you beaten as a child?”
“FOR FUCKS SAKE DONT SHOOT THE FUCKIN ENGI”
“Scout need 2 kill scouts someone spawn scout”
“Retards ur all retards omg retards!!!!”
Having been away from the TF2 scene for a few months until very recently, I wasn’t previously aware of Achievement Servers. I heard about their existence come the release of the Pyro update, and the idea that there were legions of TF2 players grinding away like Lineage players on special maps for impatient unlock-hungerers was so curious that I had to see it for myself. As the sampling of chat-channel quotes above might imply, I wish I hadn’t.
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