Does Anyone Else Have Mixed Feelings About TF2 Finally Getting Comic #7? On One Hand, I'm So Happy To

Day 15 done! In honor of Sal the Salmon, I decided to give him salmon fins. I like to imagine Jevin made them himself and just sorta stuck them on (he definitely did the same thing with the eyebrows, though he'll swear those are natural.)

There was a scrapped design where he had a salmon skull floating in the slime, but salmon skulls look weirdly like bird skulls, especially in a tiny pencil drawing. Sadness.

Also, I've completely forgotten to add the charity link for previous days! There's a donation match in progress, so if you can give, now is the time!

https://tiltify.com/@teamhadm/hermit-a-day-may-25

Day 14 done! One of my friends wanted a drawing of Lizzie, so I thought this lovely couple would be perfect for the group/collab prompt. Drawing this was so nice, I mimic the expressions as I draw and I was smiling the whole time. A note on the designs: they are both some kind of fairy with insect features. Joel is based on a dogbane beetle, while Lizzie is an orchid mantis!

Day 5 done! I had to really fight my face blindness on this one, but I hope I was able to do her justice. I really need to start watching False, she seems like a lovely person and her base this season looks great

In case anyone isn't up to date with #FixTF2 and the issues the protest is focusing on, here is a comprehensive document you can read.

It has the personal testimony of one of the bothosters' victims who was swatted, MegaScatterBomb, a guy who is working on an anticheat to use in casual mode.

The bothosters and their lackeys have committed and condoned crimes that hurt people IRL, while scamming desperate players with "bot immunity" and spamming links that they brag about containing CP. They customize their Objectors to have gore on them. They have tried to funnel the anger of the playerbase on innocent, uninvolved parties and impersonated a number of TF2 players to divert attention away from the real bothosters. Recently they tried to take down the save.tf site by unlawfully impersonating Valve in order to file a DMCA.

They are allowed to conduct this sort of behavior with no consequences while Valve is still making money off the game.

#FixTF2 is not asking for more content, they are asking for security measures. People are getting doxxed just for critiquing bothosters. TF2 isn't the only game on Steam which suffers from lack of proper regulation, either. If people are supposed to spend money on your product, this product should work properly and you shouldn't be risking your personal information just from using it!

Please sign the petition on save.tf (they are aiming for 300k signatures) and spread word of #FixTF2. As a regular player and a big fan of the game, I think this is worth trying rather than just rolling over. Valve profits from this mess, refusing to openly communicate with the playerbase, fix their game nor simply shut it down. Let them know this is unacceptable.

To keep up with the developments and to know more, a good account to follow on twitter is the guy who called the fandom to action in the first place this year, Weezy. He has a youtube too, with informative videos on the matter. Shork is likewise updating on the situation.

"The robots are here! Protect Mann. Co!"

Valve! Do NOT let us down this time! #FixTF2 #SaveTF2

Sign the petition: http://Save.tf

Team Fortress 2 is Sill Alive

I know I don't have much of a following, and for those not interested, I'll be as short as possible: Team Fortress 2, a beloved and timeless game, has been suffering for half a decade, overrun by hoards of hacking bots and dangerous bot hosters. Please help us in our campaign by signing this petition (save.tf) and spreading the word of our efforts.

I have played Team Fortress 2 since 2012. I witnessed the hype for Meet The Pyro and saw YouTube crash when it dropped. I watched Meat Vs. Match unfold. I was one of the first to the front lines when Gray Mann raised his metal army. I patiently waited between updates, even when those updates became fewer and farther between, until eventually year long silences between updates became the norm as the developers and programmers slowly fell out of love with their game. All content in recent years has been community made. There hasn't been a Smissmas or Scream Fortress comic in years, and their ongoing comic series has been all but abandoned. I still check their website at least once a month, hoping that maybe they'll quietly release that last comic, but I know all hope for that is lost.

I met the love of my life because of this game. I have made literal hundreds of friends and countless fond memories playing it, reading and writing fanfictions, admiring and making fan art. This community is the most compassionate that I have ever seen, especially for a game that is nearing it's 18th birthday.

But as with any other good thing, there are groups of people whose sole intent is to ruin it for everyone else.

I've watched this game slowly rot away for the past five+ years, and it kills me to see such a loved game be abandoned. I've never loved a game as much as I love Team Fortress 2, and DAMN IT, I AM LIVID with how Valve has treated this game. It is completely overrun by bots. Hacking bots that mic and chat spam, DDOS players, and in some cases even SWAT certain content creators. These bot hosters are vile, abusive, and dangerous. Their programmed demon spawn spew absolute FILTH on every casual server they join. Click this link for a more in-depth review of what Team Fortress 2 is facing.

At the start of this crisis, Valve pushed out an update that completely silenced its free-to-play playerbase. Not even built-in voice commands could be used anymore until these players made an in-game purchase, leaving them unable to strategize, communicate, ask for guidance from more experienced players, or even call for a Medic. It was such a vile "solution" and nothing more than a weak cash-grab. Valve had essentially created a way to profit off the very thing that has effectively destroyed their game, because these bot hosts PAID FOR PREMIUM ACCOUNTS to let their bots continue hacking, ear-raping, chat spamming, and DDOSing.

And 2 years ago, when the Team Fortress 2 community asked nicely for Valve to pay even the smallest amount of attention to this beloved game? Valve puts out one tweet, pushes a couple of small updates, and fades back into silence. That's when we made our fatal mistake. We were placated by the response, and Valve took that as a sign that the matter was taken care of. We were heard, but we were not listened to.

This time, we will not back down. We will not give up. We will not stop our digital march until Valve PROMISES to fix our beloved game, and FOLLOWS THAT PROMISE THROUGH.

WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED UNTIL THE BOTS ARE GONE.

I still love this game, but I am absolutely *sickened* by the way Valve has acted lately.

And now for something slightly different Still Alive (Portal end credits)

Rewritten to reflect the current state of Team Fortress 2 and Valve's reluctance to fix it. Portal and its theme song belong to Valve Software, this lyric rewrite is not intended to infringe copyright, it falls under fair use as parody.

This is just tragic I'm making a note here: Huge Unrest It's hard to overstate my disappointment Valve Software Game Devs: "We won't do our jobs Unless we must Updates aren't worth our time Until communities beg"

But this game's not dying We're just taking a break Until VAC is working And you fix your damned game Once the bots are all gone You'll return to being loved Because Team Fortress 2's STILL ALIVE

We're so very angry We're being so sincere right now All because you broke our hearts And killed us And tore us to pieces And threw every piece into a fire As they burned it hurt because We're all so pissed off at you

Now these bots and cheaters Will keep logging online They're harassing your players Yet you're saying it's fine So of course we're all mad Think of all the fun we had Way back when the game was Still Alive

Why did you leave us? We don't want this game we love to die Maybe we'll find someone else To help us You have to realize VAC is a joke! Ha. Ha. What bans?

This game could be really great If you would get off your ass

Look at us all begging Cause it's all we can do You say "we love this game And we know you do too" But you gave us empty words And your product barely works It's a wonder the game's Still Alive

And belive me we are Still Alive We are relentless; we are Still Alive We're disappointed; we are Still Alive You think we're dying; we are Still Alive Team Fortress 2 will remain Still Alive

Still Alive Still Alive

Want You Gone (retitled: Want Them Gone)

Well here we are again Never got your shit together Remember when you said you'd kill the bots? Oh how relieved we were Except you didn't kill them Under the circumstances we've been shockingly nice

TF2 has been ruined You're who we counted on The cheaters want this game dead Valve, we really want them gone

Counter Strike has them too And there are just as many Your greedy company ignores them, too One day the bots woke up And swore they'd stay forever It's such a shame to see Their threats may really come true

We have run out of patience You're who we counted on We won't accept your silence Valve, we really want them gone

Thank you for staying here Oh, did you think I meant Valve? That would be funny if it weren't so sad So much for those updates You promised to push out If you ignore us maybe We'll just get off your back

It's been a huge disaster You're who we're counting on You can still solve this problem Valve, we really want them gone

Valve, we really want them gone Valve, we really want them gone…

If you made it through all that text, thanks for sticking around. Please consider signing the petition, spreading the word, and helping us take our game back. Enough is enough.

Day 3 complete! I'm trying to improve my face drawing skills by incorporating features from IRL hermits into their characters. It's not even close to perfect, but I think I'm learning a lot, and that's what matters!

Hello! Please call me Iris. I'm a longtime lurker in fandom spaces who has finally gotten brave enough to interact. I hope to start posting art and theories soon, and would be happy to talk about any of my interests! I am still learning Tumblr etiquette, so if I'm breaking any rules, please let me know.

I'm currently interested in:

-Hermitcraft! I started watching Season 8 and have been a fan ever since. Life got busy and I missed parts of Season 9, but I'm catching up while also watching Season 10

-Transformers! I love all forms of Transformers media, but my favorites are Transformers Animated, Rescue Bots, the IDW comics, and G1!

-Team Fortress 2! I'm pretty new to the community, but I've consumed every comic, SMF, and piece of gameplay footage I can find. I haven't played the game, as multiplayer things scare me, but I hope to someday!

-Green Lantern! I've read pretty much everything written after 1990 and will happily annoy anyone with analysis and theories about my favorite lanterns!

-Trigun! Maximum is my favorite, but '98 and Stampede are also great !

-Marble Hornets! I am currently starting my yearly rewatch of the series. I have also watched a few of the Slenderverse series, but haven't finished them yet

Things that I like, but am not up-to-date on:

-TMNT! I am also new to this fandom, and have only finished ROTTMNT. Recommendations on where to start with other shows and comics would be much appreciated

-One Piece (I know most of the spoilers but haven't kept up with the manga or anime since Dressrosa...yikes)

I am also a literature major turned English major, so I might occasionally ramble about books!

Now remember, we must criticize constructively with Valve’s negligence on the bot crisis. 5 years of little to no effort and the bare minimum updates are not on us. That is on Valve fully. They made a game that is a PILLAR of their brand and let’s be honest here it’s breaking apart.

Save tf2 has failed before, sure we got some feedback but not what we needed. We MUST be louder, we must voice the problems FULLY. I’m not saying go on forums and talk crap with a bunch of curse words. That won’t get us anywhere. What will is expressing our experiences, not complimenting and being nice to the team. But showing the damage in full length.

The valve team is riding on the workshop creators to do work for them. That is not acceptable.

Sign the petition, tweet, stream, screencap, bang pots and pans together. I’ve seen game developers let their games crumble and I don’t want this to happen to tf2. And to those who follow this blog I don’t think you want that either.

Together we will be heard. We have to be. Do not settle for minimum effort from valve.

Day 17 done! I really struggled with his face shape, and then realized it was just my brain being bothered by the lack of a regular human ear to connect to the jawline. And though I love the Gigacorp aesthetic, I never want to draw a spacesuit again

Don't forget that Hermit-a-Day May is raising money for Gamers Outreach!