The Demoman stuff looks like Valve's way of trying to create another class. I don't care about them too much, they're just like Pyros but less threatening.
 
The equalizer is pretty annoying, but it's like the only fucking useful thing the Soldier got.

As someone that doesn't play enough TF2 to really unlock a lot of weapons or abilities, yes the game is completely fucked up now, IMO.  There's no playing it competitively for me, I lack most of the special abilities all the other everyday players have.  It's a fucking dumb way to run an online FPS.  I can also tell the character balance is all kinds of fucked up and weird now, too.

No, but bots are.
 
I went into a server that said 30/32 players and only 3 of the players in that match were real players, the rest were bots.
 It was such a shame.

I don't really find it nearly as amusing as it used to be at launch day. You know, before all this crap? 
 
I like the Spy update a lot though. But I could totally do without that. I miss that game, Team Fortress 2, it was a good game. This is Team Fortress 2.5. Might as well just release a new game and get this over with.

I like the war update, i know that the weapons are tottaly different than the stock ones, but its still very much balanced and none class is stronger than the other.

As an avid Competitive TF2 player, many of these new updates have mainly catered to the 32 man spamfest on most publics. Valve have done well to keep classes well balanced but many weapons are just plain silly, they encourage bad teamplay which is what makes TEAM Fortress 2 so special. In the TF2 league I play in, many unlocks are just limited to one because of how unbalanced they can be ina 6v6 format. Such as the buff banner, making mini crits to all nearby which was seen as way too much to have 2 soldier having one.
 
P.S.
The Scottish Resistance is complete bullshit, the only good thing about it is the taunt!

The updates have been amazing. When our server lost connection to Steam and we played a few 'vanilla' games, I realized how much improvement Valve has heaped on that game.  It's much more balanced and dynamic than it was 2 years ago.

Hmm it seems like competitive TF2 players are completely different from the average TF2 player.  I think the new items are great, new new Sniper equipment means that it's possible to play a much riskier, closer game while the new Soldier equipment encourages precision, preservation and crazy come back killing sprees.  I think the worst weapons that they've added are the ones that are only slightly different and don't change the play style of the class at all, Nataha, the Backburner and the Sandman for example.   I do agree with you with the demo sword shield combo though, it annoys the crap out of me, I'd rather they come up with a completely different weapon to replace the stick bomb.  As Rockanomics said though, each of these setups has a disadvantage to counter the advantages they bring.
 
I liked that persistent rumour that Valve would split TF2 into 2 different games, the current TF2 with over powered and crazy items and then the competitive TF2 with a lot more focus on balance.  Something like that would keep both camps happy. 
 
I just can't wait until they start adding alternate skins for weapons and hats.  That could make TF2 even more diverse.

I have never seen any evidence that the competitive TF2 scenesters know anything about building a balanced game -- they just strip it down and make it 6v6, which ends up reducing all the normal complexity to a few moves that pros know well. 
 
Which seems to happen in the 'competitive scene' in every game. I love tournaments, but playing 6v6 is not how TF2 is meant to be played.

My bro plays a ton of TF2, and he seemed happy with all the recent updates.  I don't play enough for it to matter to me.  I think it's good they're putting the time and effort to keep it fresh.

" I have never seen any evidence that the competitive TF2 scenesters know anything about building a balanced game -- they just strip it down and make it 6v6, which ends up reducing all the normal complexity to a few moves that pros know well.  Which seems to happen in the 'competitive scene' in every game. I love tournaments, but playing 6v6 is not how TF2 is meant to be played. "

I dont know about you guys, but I really like the new update. 
Yes i understand that playing with sword with demoman is a lot different than camping around with stickies but its still really fun and well ballanced.

Calling 6v6 'competitive' is just propaganda, considering it's not really an improvement over vanilla. 10v10 (or higher) actually makes the games somewhat dynamic and doesn't reward lone wolf twitch players. 
   
I mean, 1v1 basketball obviously does a better job of letting 'the best player' win every time -- as opposed to 5v5, which has an element of randomness and chaos built in. But guess what? Reducing team games down (something the CS community is *obsessed* with) doesn't make them more interesting to watch or to play. And it doesn't really make them more competitive either.