I gotta be honest, I wasn't really excited when Scream Fortress event hit this year, especially now that we basically get yearly recycled content in October. I always found the maps too gimmicky and spells too chaotic to not be frustrated. However trying to do the contracts and collect all the Halloween costumes I might've missed by doing the contracts, something within me clicked.

Not only were official Valve Scream Fortress maps done extremely well, containing side stories and unique gimmicks of their own, but the community maps as well were extremely unique and different from each other despite most having the same spell and underworld / purgatory gimmick. It seems like it never ends with how far you can go with the spooky theme. A giant eyeball traveling through realms? Demented carnival from hell? Organ gathering in a castle at the top of the mountain? Granted, not all maps are this crazy, most of them being just reskins of existing maps, but just seeing the endless lava ocean on Sinshine or a small town at the bottom of the mountain in Monster Bash proves, that there's still tons for the map to do in terms of visuals. I have to thank all the community members who contributed with their maps and cosmetics.

Maybe is it just me, but most game seasonal events aren't that interesting or fun, they're mostly a backdrop to the actual game, which doesn't change much aside from exclusive cosmetics, quests or whatever. However TF2's Halloween event goes all out and has fun with the setting. It feels like a celebration rather than something tacked onto the game to bring in players (although Scream Fortress does that and more).

However I forgot that even though it's just an event, there still seems to be plenty of effort that went into the general production of Scream Fortress before TF2's team potted plant went on to do different projects. Special mentions go to Carnival of Carnage, probably my favorite Scream Fortress map. Not only Merasmus is a total riot, but I like the map setting and the Mario Party-like minigames at the end. Maybe it's me being so starved for content that anything slightly different makes me excited or maybe it's me legitimately enjoying the event on its own merits - it's hard to say. Tons of effort was spent on something most people will only see once every year or on Halloween 24/7 community servers.

My enjoyment from TF2 came from the general stupidity and me getting enjoying getting better as a personal achievement of sorts, but now I enjoy the game on a new level that I haven't before. I started to relax and see simple joys in a game I was burnt out on for so long. I even started experimenting with new loadouts I didn't even think of trying otherwise like FaN Pistol to force myself to practice my aim, timing and positioning. Really fun and satisfying if you can pull it off. And ragdolls!

Needless to say, I've learned to have fun again.