http://store.steampowered.com/app/440/
It's this weekend only, a lot of people around here say they don't like TF2, I enjoy it, some of the server side mods are really fun.
I just got into playing UT2k4, so if you're in the market for a fun FPS, and haven't played either, I actually recommend UT2k4 over TF2, but if you're some kind of graphics whore who only plays NEW* games, then I guess a cheap TF2 is for you.
If you've been on the fence about TF2 or you have a friend who you know who'd like it, get it. But again, I recommend UT2k4 first.. here is why.
Tell me, why the minus 2? you disagree? Tell me, or are you too chicken?!?
I figured people would be appreciative of the notice of sale. DIAF.

I am actually on the fence. So, any of those "lot of people" who don't like TF2 want to give their reasons for it? I've already read plenty of reasons for why people find it fun, which is why I'm more interested in what the other side has to say.

Anyone who hasn't already picked this one up should go ahead and get it. I'd say it's the best team-based shooter ever made.
As for TF2 vs. UT2k4, I never really liked the Unreal Tournament series that much. Maybe I wasn't around when that sort of gameplay was revolutionary, but to me, Unreal Tournament doesn't have that special something that makes it stand out from all the other games out today. Maybe that's more of a commentary on the games that came after the original Unreal Tournament than the series itself, but I still don't have much fun playing UT compared to other team-based shooters like Team Fortress 2. Unreal Tournament 3 didn't really do much for me, either.

I know where you're coming from, the best I had in it's hey-day was the demo for ut2k3. Anyway, TF2 is pretty good.. but I still think L4D is a good team based shooter... perhaps not to the job specifics.
Anyway, one thing I like about TF2 though, is that of most modern shooters (with some exceptions) have dark, drab, uninteresting areas. Sure, TF2 is cartoonish, but it is kind of refreshing in an over-realistic hell hole.
I only wish the deaths were more cartoonish, it'd be a lot more satisfying..
Anyway, for me, as far as pure fun goes, I've been able to sit down and play TF2 for hours, as different classes. What throws me off of it now though, is that it's broken. A few classes have an advantage over others, because of the updates, and it hasn't been balanced out yet. I hear they're bringing those updates to Xbox 360 now, and I'm not really looking forward to it. I wish they'd complete the class changes..
but anyway, I just found myself immediately having fun with some of the server side mods in UT2k4, and to me it seems like it would have a longer staying power (i mean, look how old it is and there are still plenty of servers), TF2 has gotten fairly stale now, I admit it's good, and fun, but it is nice for a change in pace, however with UT2k4 now, and nearly every server using a different mutator, it's a little more interesting imo.

My older brother is in the army, and it's exactly the cartoonish humor of TF2 that he loves. He's not even a huge gamer, but I bought it for him for his birthday and he's been playing it like crazy for over a month.
I agree with balance, but I'm curious what exactly you find unbalanced? I thought demos were broken and Scouts were too weak, but that's all. The new Demo nerf, while not what I was expecting, actually seems to fix it imo. Offensive stickies were preserved, while unskilled, zero-effort 10x10 patches of unpassable instant death are gone. Placement now matters, it seems.
Scout update is coming up, thankfully. They changed Goldrush finally, but it remains to be seen if it fixes the unbalanced win ratio (8 to 2 in Reds favor). The new upgradable teleporters evens the playing field for Blu on those larger Attack/Defend maps.

I feel, with the extra achievements and extra weapons those classes are getting, it means servers are unbalanced, meaning there are more players playing X class because they need to have X ability... it's really lame.. if they all came out at once, you'd have I think, more of a balance..
edit:
well, I was telling you how I feel, you obviously disagree, so post about why, or are you too afraid of me?

Meh, most of the new weapons are crap IMO, except the gloves and the Medic's kritsaw (dunno its name).

I do agree, though, that releasing the class updates the way they do, ie one at a time over a long period, can sort of break the game. When a update for a certain class comes out, everyone flocks to that class, and it can destroy a game when everyone's a pyro and no one's a medic or a heavy.

Yeah, I was playing last night and in the opposite team they unnecessarily had a gazillion pyros. But that only happened in one match, the rest seemed to be ok and balanced. I usually don't play to get the achievements, I just play depending on what the team needs or what I feel like playing. But this comes from the guy who has zero upgrades (I only play it every now and then and go "why don't I play it more?, this game is a blast!)

If you're looking at "value-for-money", UT2004 is definitely the way to go. First of all, you can play it offline if you want to, and tweak the difficulty to suit your needs. This is definitely an advantage for inexperienced players. Secondly, there are a lot more game types in UT2004. And finally, UT2004 has a TON of free extra content available. Everything from maps, player models and mutators, to entire new game types and full-blown total conversion mods.
I'm admin in a Danish gaming community. We run a Christmas themed UT2004 server throughout December. There's something unbelievably hilarious about running around in Santa's workshop and blowing away other players wearing Santa hats and bags of presents over their shoulders. Or a round of Capture The Tree, priceless :-D

Server info PLZ!

That does sound awesome, awesome enough that I may get the game just to play in it.

Very well.
You can find the game-monitor page for the server [url=http://www.game-monitor.com/ut2004_GameServer/78.46.72.40:7777/WanParty.dk_XMAS-PARTY_2008.html]here[/url].
And here are a few screenshots from the server, just to show you a bit of what you can expect.
http://wanparty.dk/images/stories/UT_maps/DM-Howdys-XMAS-2004.jpg
http://wanparty.dk/images/stories/UT2004/WanPartyXMasBabes.jpg
http://wanparty.dk/images/stories/UT_maps/DM-MPC-XMAS-PARTY.jpg
http://wanparty.dk/images/stories/UT_maps/CTF-ChristmasRush_UK4.jpg
Be warned that there are quite a few mutators and stuff you'll need to play. I'm not sure everything is in the cache, so you might want to download our X-mas pack and install it beforehand. You can download the pack through this link. The pack is 214 MB, and contains all the maps, music, etc. It's packed as a self-extracting 7zip file (if I recall correctly). It contains no trojans, viruses, or anything of the sort. We did not make any of the content ourselves, but put the pack together from content that is freely available.
The server is public when we're not running an event (which is every 6 days), at which time it is password-protected and members-only. I'm afraid membership is restricted to Danish-speaking people (we use Teamspeak for events, and a few of our older members speak almost no English at all), but outside of event time, you're very welcome on the server. At the moment it runs with a minimum of 4 players, meaning that if there are less than 4 people on it, the rest of the slots will be filled by bots.
Happy X-mas fragging :-D

btw NSFW poster on the wall on that third link....

You know, now that you mention it, Unreal Tournament's community has the homebrew, Mom-and-Pop kind of thing going on that's always fun to jump into. Expect me on your servers sometime soon!