Latest Team Fortress 2 update takes steps towards fixing bot problem

The bots aren’t gone forever, but this new update seems like a good first step

Valve has issued a new Team Fortress 2 update. It’s the first one since the massive #SaveTF2 movement that drew attention to the massive bot problem in Team Fortress 2. And while the new update isn’t a cure-all, the community seems to feel it’s a start.

The update, which went live Tuesday evening, addresses several concerns. Among the updates are several that help with the bot problem in Team Fortress 2; users can no longer change names during a matchmaking game, for example. Both teams are able to run kick votes at the same time, as well as a global vote running at the same time as a kick vote. And it cleared out an exploit that allowed bots to clear the in-game chat, disrupting communication.

These updates make it easier, essentially, to kick the bots than it was before the update. Valve acknowledged the issue following a protest in May, saying it saw how large the issue has become and that the company was working on improving things.

The bot wars continue

So what’s the community’s response? Well, it seems to be that it’s a start. Comments on the r/tf2 subreddit seem cautiously optimistic, as players note that some of these fixes—like preventing bots from name-swapping to avoid kicks or get humans kicked—are notable quality-of-life updates.

Fanbyte spoke to ShorK, a Team Fortress 2 community member who was part of the #SaveTF2 protest, and they seem encouraged.

“People are happy that they’re taking small measures, but because of this weird, old bug fix, people think Valve might be getting ready to push out more bug fixes and getting stuff fixed, for once,” ShorK told Fanbyte. “It looks very promising that they’re doing it this way.”

Though Team Fortress 2 has been around for ages, it’s retained its popularity over the years and still draws in players. Hopefully for the fans, this is the beginning. Right now, the community seems to be emphasizing that this is a nice start, but not an end-all solution.