The Pyro’s Flamethrower Range Bug
A while back I did a video of how the Pyro's flamethrower worked, trying to debunk some other reports that you could get extra range out of it by aiming upwards, as if it were a firehose. Some other folks bravely took up the challenge of some contradictory data, and came to a startling conclusion: The Pyro's flamethrower sometimes shoots farther or shorter than normal! At last, scientific validation for every Pyro frustrated because an enemy ought to be in-range, or everybody else frustrated because they knew they weren't.
At some point I'll collect all the scripts and console commands from those old tests, but for now I just wanted to put out some information for anyone with more time on their hands to investigate the problem.
The Pyro’s Problem: Afterburn versus smart enemies
The Pyro has always been an interesting class, struggling to find its niche. It's gotten some buffs and some nerfs, but at the end of the day a common TF2 issue arises: A balanced gameplay mechanic against "Joe Average" which becomes disproportionately worse as enemy players get smarter. And with the "War!" update, some of his common enemies have new tools to use against him, such as the Demoman's Targe (+50% fire resistance) and the Soldier's Direct Hit (fast rockets difficult to reflect.) I think the Pyro could use another very circumspect buff which would actually help carve out his own niche in higher-level play...