Valve has announced that the Heavy is going to be the next class in Team Fortress 2 to get called back to the design table for new unlockable weapons and achievements.

This time, though, Valve is doing things a little differently. They’ve invited players to take part in the process, talking about their goals for the Heavy and welcoming suggestions.

Now, playing the armchair game designer is already practically a pasttime on message boards, as evidenced by this fan-made mockup of the as-yet-unannounced Spy patch. Maybe the TF2 team isn’t gathering ideas so much as they’re saying “Hey, this is harder than it looks.”

Changing a multiplayer game is certainly tricky. No two players ever seem to agree on what needs to be changed, or what in the game is overpowered or underpowered. Even if the problem is clear, a well-meaning developer can wreck the whole delicate balance of a game as players use newfound abilities in ways they never intended. The recent Pyro patch in particular was murderous on anyone facing down one of those rubber-suited maniacs since it removed the damage falloff, something that has since been scaled back.

Still, I’m always interested to see the thought that goes into game design. Even if the next patch does out a little wonky at first, it’s nice to see the goals they’re shooting for.

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