It’s beginning to look a lot like Smissmas in Team Fortress 2

Log in now for your obligatory gift

Not to get all morbid here right before Christmas, but sometimes, I feel like the odds aren’t terrible that Team Fortress 2 will outlive me. (Well, all of us, really.) Valve’s eternal team-based shooter is chugging along with updates, and this week, it’s the traditional holiday “Smissmas” event as you would hope and expect. Naughty, nice — who cares! As long as you show up, you’ll get a Stuffed Stocking.

This week’s update isn’t merely about spreading holiday cheer with cosmetic items. Now, when Casual matches end, players will roll into a new game automatically and have a vote on the next map. There’s also a volunteer-based autobalance system for Casual matches and community servers in which players can gain bonus XP by switching over to the other side to balance things out as needed.

Happy Smissmas 2016!

• All players who play TF2 during the event will receive a Stuffed Stocking as a gift! Stockings contain goodies for good little Mercenaries.
• Added the limited-time key-less Winter 2016 Cosmetic Case to the Mann Co. Store
  • Contains 17 new community-contributed items
  • The Festivizer can be found as a bonus drop when opening the case
• Added 3 new taunts to the Mann Co. Store
  • The Scotsmann’s Stagger (community-contributed)
  • The Didgeridrongo (community-contributed)
  • The Table Tantrum (Valve)
• New weapons for the Festivizer!
  • Fire Axe, The Jag, The Kritzkrieg, Pistol, The Quick-Fix, Natascha, The Sandman, The Spy-cicle, Kukri, Shovel and The Scottish Resistance
• Mann Co. Store winter sale!
  • Look for 20%-75% off selected unlocked cosmetic crates, taunts, and tools in the Mann Co. Store through January 11th, 2017
• Matchmaking Improvements
  • At the end of a Casual match, players are automatically formed into a new match with the same players and teams
    • Players get to vote on which map the new match will take place on
      • There are 3 maps to vote on, chosen based on the maps everyone in the match had selected when they began searching for a match. The current map is always the first option.
    • This replaces the Rematch system
  • Players can now set their maximum acceptable ping by clicking the new gear icon in the top right of the Casual and Competitive matchmaking lobby screens and choosing “Ping Settings”
• New autobalance system to help with balancing teams when players leave a match. The system will ask players to volunteer to switch teams.
  • Automatically enabled for all Casual match servers
    • Players who switch will be able to earn bonus XP as a reward
  • Community servers can enable this new feature by using “mp_autoteambalance 2”

General

• Fixed security issue reported by Justin G. (sigsegv) and Linus S. (PistonMiner)
• Fixed not clearing the teleport condition for players who have their teleport interrupted before the teleport is complete
• Fixed PASS Time exploit related to bonus points
• Updated mat_monitorgamma so it can be adjusted in Competitive mode
• Fixed the ShouldPreserveSquad flag not being parsed correctly in Mann vs. Machine mode
• Fixed a bug related to bot Engineers and teleporters in Mann vs. Machine mode
• Fixed not being able to transfer Strange stats between versions of Jarate and the Sapper
• Fixed incorrect particle position for Unusual taunt effects when using the Racho Relaxo
• Added the ESA Rewind tournament medals
• Added the Winter Wonderland 2016 community medals
• Updated the Dalokohs Bar to fix a bug related to the health buff
• Matchmaking
  • The Competitive maps list has been updated
    • Added cp_granary and cp_badlands
    • Disabled cp_snakewater and cp_foundry
• Updated cp_metalworks to fix a texture problem
• Updated pd_watergate
  • Respawn times will now change depending on which team is in the lead: 8 seconds to leading team, 4 seconds to trailing team
  • Moved the current beer amount to the center of the HUD
  • Added a jump to low spawn route to give respawned players something to do en-route to mid
  • Added a light to illuminate roof-snipers better
  • Adjusted some clipping

Merry Smissmas, Everyone! [Team Fortress] [Image by Steam user Awful Coffee]