TF2 has been my very favorite game ever since my friend bought me The Orange Box in 2010. In my adulthood, I've tracked down the shirts and prints and lithographs that I wasn't able to afford as a kid. Soldier is watching me write this over a hot cup of celebratory coffee from the picture frame hung over my desk. No game is as near and dear to my heart.

That's why it hurts so much to be leaving a negative review as a result of the current state of the game.

Community-hosted servers used to be How You Played the Game. When Valve rolled out their own servers and Quick Play, they siphoned players away from those communities. The Furry Pound and TF2 Newbs no longer exist due in part to the funneling of players into Valve servers through the updated UI. (I spent most of my time on TF2 Newbs #3 24/7 pl_badwater.)

Now that Uncle Dane servers remain one of the last bastions of functional moderation and community, those Valve servers are overrun with aimbots that make gameplay virtually impossible.

It's an insult to the thousands of people who still love and play this game to roll out shop update after shop update, to monetize the passion players and artists have for this game, while ignoring our pleas for Valve to do the bare minimum and remove hackers and bots.

There is no other game out there like TF2. My heart aches to think about its slow death without even a spiritual successor to fill the void. I know Valve is a for-profit company. But I miss the passion and character they used to show for their flagship titles and IPs.

TF2 has been my very favorite game ever since my friend bought me The Orange Box in 2010. In my adulthood, I've tracked down the shirts and prints and lithographs that I wasn't able to afford as a kid. Soldier is watching me write this over a hot cup of celebratory coffee from the picture frame hung over my desk. No game is as near and dear to my heart. That's why it hurts so much to be leaving a negative review as a result of the current state of the game. Community-hosted servers used to be How You Played the Game. When Valve rolled out their own servers and Quick Play, they siphoned players away from those communities. The Furry Pound and TF2 Newbs no longer exist due in part to the funneling of players into Valve servers through the updated UI. (I spent most of my time on TF2 Newbs #3 24/7 pl_badwater.) Now that Uncle Dane servers remain one of the last bastions of functional moderation and community, those Valve servers are overrun with aimbots that make gameplay virtually impossible. It's an insult to the thousands of people who still love and play this game to roll out shop update after shop update, to monetize the passion players and artists have for this game, while ignoring our pleas for Valve to do the bare minimum and remove hackers and bots. There is no other game out there like TF2. My heart aches to think about its slow death without even a spiritual successor to fill the void. I know Valve is a for-profit company. But I miss the passion and character they used to show for their flagship titles and IPs.