How Valve could successfully implement the item updates:

First off, pretty much all of us know that a player with more items is ready for more situations because of them.

I propose that there should still be achievement packs released for each class; but that the items should be given from the start.

It'd be balanced, and there'd be MUCH less incentive to farm.  Plus, think of how many less people would spam themselves as a class if they didn't get anything for it but useless (yet nifty) achievements?

I'm Twilight Mage, and I approve of the above message; anybody who doesn't will find a large hole in their head next time they're on the same server as me. 
(Including you Snuts)

Damn nifty achievements, their niftyness attracts me like a moth to flame.

Are you suggesting that ALL classes achievements should be released at once?

I truly want to agree with you Twighlight.  I don't get much time to play, so I might never see the Ubersaw, which is fine.  I'd love to have all the unlocks given to me.  But, when I do get an achievement, or even get that milestone that gives me an unlock, it feels really good.  So, when I do get around to playing Medic a bit more (after all this insanity with Medics dies down), I'll get them then.

I personally feel like I'm at no disadvantage whatsoever not having the unlocks.  I do have the Aids +1 gun, but I think everyone does.

I also feel like, if you don't have alot of the achievements that means you didn't/don't play Medic alot.  So, if you didn't play Medic before the update, why go rush out and try to get all the new unlocks just so you can not play the class again?

If the items were released all at once alongside the achievement packs, said packs would become totally redundant. Sure, people might get a few of them through regular gameplay, but they will just be an overlooked option on the menu, with people saying "Oh, I got (insert achievement name here). I forgot you could get that."

So, I heartily disagree with you here, Twilight. Farming is a totally illegitimate method of getting the achievements, but you can't deny that it works. People set up servers for people who want to spend a few hours getting achieves, I myself went on one to get Family Practice, purely and simply because I would never, EVER get it during normal play, and I got most of the rest on normal servers.

People who want to farm should be allowed to, and people who prefer to do it legitimately can do so if they wish. The items are incentives and that's how it should be.

I agree that all the classes should be released at the same time (or relatively close together at least), but the new items should require the achievements to unlock (but only if they dont upset the balance of the game). doing that would require people to specialize in whatever class they want the upgrades for, and hopefully avoid the massive class spam. I swear, i saw a game on one of the random servers where we started with half the team as medics, and by the end all the medics had switched to something else. All of them. at the moment the new medic gear doesn't seem too game breaking, just a bit of a help, and i hope they keep that trend. now i just gotta wait for the next set of achievements so i can do the rest of my medic ones without being 1 of the 10 medics on a team.  till then i guess i gotta keep up with the pyro (someone's gotta take care of all the medic corpses)

Quote:

Family Practice is totally feasible in regular gameplay.  Yeah, I wouldn't expect to do it in one match, but it's not like you can't join a bunch of friends' games and ÜberCharge them.  That was one of the easier ones.

In my opinion, unlockable features should not be in Team Fortress 2 in the first place.  I play Call of Duty 4 for that.  Actually, no I don't, I stopped playing that game, apologies.  Team Fortress 2's gameplay will never be the same again and these new weapons can ruin the balance of the game itself.  It doesn't matter how much you would rape me as a Soldier, your rockets do the same damage as mine (with the exception of Crits).  TF2's class design has also made it so that you know what you're facing.  The silouhette of any class is immediately recognizable, and you know what weapons each class has and what their potential is.  If you throw in new weapons, then the gameplay becomes much more unpredicatable and inconsistent.

However, seeing as how the battle for not having unlockables in TF2 is unfortunately loss, I think I have a few ideas of what they can do to improve this.

First of all, the Achievements blow.  I've stated before that they're artificial indicators of success and that TF2's Achievements aren't based off skill and merit like they should be.  This is made worse by the fact that the locked features actually require you to unlock these absurd Achievements in order to use them.  This can be fixed if Valve can give Achievements that appropriately reflect the skill and prowess of the players who unlock them.

Second, Valve should try not to make the new unlockables not just superior versions of their standard variation, but instead an alternative.  For example, the Über Saw has almost no draw backs.  There's no reason for you to use a regular Bone Saw because the Über Saw can Crit and raise your 'Charge, except that I think it swings slower or something when you use it.  However, the Blutsauger gives you +3 health with each hit at the cost of no Critical Hits (although right now it's over powered; Valve apparently thinks removing the Critical Hits is a sufficient drawback, I would disagree) and there's still a reason for you to go back to your Syringe Gun.  The Kritzkrieg is a perfect example.  It's different from the standard ÜberCharge and good for taking out swaths of enemies, but in the end it doesn't replace the original and you'll still need that ÜberCharge to rush in an take out fortified enemy positions and Sentry Guns.  They should not be over powered, but alternatives.  If they're used appropriately, then you'll gain an advantage not because you have stronger weapons, but because they're applied in a different way that your enemy won't have without the unlockables.

I think they should just let us have the medic weapons - The achievments would just be there for fun, not something you would be concentrating on getting instead of winning the round. I woulldn't mind so much if the achievments (like NOObie51 said) actually reflected the skill of the player ie. Ubercharge 50 teammate etc. instead of 'ubercharge heavy punch 2 people' which doesn't even have anything to do with the medic other than ubering a heavy...
Also, like nOObie51 said the unlocks should be balanced - the players should pick about 50/50 each weapon, or they should both be useful in different situations. I seriously doubt if players had the choice 50% would pick the normal bonesaw, or that it's even got a much better use in a situation.

I think the achievements should unlock something, but they should be small silly things. Like a monacle or a diffirent graphic for the back of the medic's backpack (Somehow a target board seems appropriate)

Yeah, unlockables should be fun objects/addons/customisations, not inherent to the gameplay, the release has caused mayhem on normal servers, I haven't been able to play a normal game for days now. I can't get any healing with 5 medics on my team because they're all bonesawing everyone or shooting needles at scouts or just standing there healing snipers all round. This is going to happen again and again everytime  a new class's unlockables are released, and I get the feeling it's going to be MUCH worse with more offensive classes. They need to address this problem big time.