Multiplayer titles can't seem to hold my attention for too long these days unless they have some sort of progressional unlock and rank system, for addictive stat whoring. Then those communities following those games die out. Yet there are exceptions, and Team Fortress 2 is a prominent and shining example of this. It's still being played very Heavy-ly internationally and is STILL updated by the developers three years after release. This is the re-telling of my first fifty hours of gameplay. All these timeframes can vary depending on the player.

Hours 0-10

I'm going to be honest, if you plan on playing Team Fortress 2 straight out of the gate, prepare to die. A lot. My first ten hours consisted of constantly failing to help out my team, followed by losses, followed by lots of death. Regardless, it was FUN. Normally dying and losing causes rage in shooters like Bad Company 2 or Modern Warfare 2. 

It doesn't matter whether you win or lose in Team Fortress 2. it's just great fun experimenting with all of the nine classes, finding out their uses naturally and playing to develop a feel for each class and later decide which class you like the most.

In 10 hours I also take in the great sound design. The awesome voice-acting, the believable weapon sounds despite being in a zany cartoon-style shooter all go hand-in-hand with the graphical style of the game. Now I understand why there are internet memes dedicated to this game now.

Hours 11-20

The next 10 hours are spent getting used to every nook and cranny for each map and the phases of each map, as well as the game-types. There are 3 game-types in Team Fortress 2; Capture Point,Arena and Payload.

Capture Point has Attackers rushing on parts of the map to control them as territory, as the Defending team has to do their best to maintain control over all the points and run the clock to zero before their last point is taken. It's a frantic game-type from beginning to end, as the points become progressively easier to capture, and time is added on for each capture. Each Capture Point map spans several phases, switching Attack and Defend roles every once in a while and it also has different variations of the game-type. For example, some maps are tug-of-war style matches where both team attempt to capture and hold all the points at the same time to win, and other maps are simply Attack and Defend affairs.

Arena mode is a slice of Counter-Strike in Team Fortress 2. Players are given one life and one life only each round, and there is time running on the clock. It keeps you on your toes as your team truly comes together to operate as one unit, since time is running so you have to move fast to eliminate the opposing team. On top of that, after a set amount of time, a single capture point in the middle of the map is unlocked and can be captured to win the round. This presents two ways to win an Arena match and is highly addictive.

Payload is another Attack/Defend gametype, but with the Attackers pushing a cart with a massive warhead attached to it over points to instantly capture them. The final point of each Payload match is the Defending team's base, which when captured will detonate the Payload Cart and bring victory to the Attackers. The Defenders in Payload act much like Capture Point, they just have to defend and run the clock to zero before all the points are captured, but the clock time increases after each point is taken.

You also might even already have a few items at this point, and these are typically weapons. You can investigate these weapons in a load-out menu or your backpack viewer at the main menu, and find out the pros and cons. This leads to further experimenting with load-out combinations. At this point I'm starting to get better at this game with a few classes, and starting to break away from the rest of the classes that I'm not good at.

The maps begin to feel like a routine, but the players are never the same so there's always bound to be some sort of curveball based on the classes the enemies are playing, and the varying skill of each person. It's really starting to grow, and I can feel the addiction beginning to sink in.