Hey, better late than never 
So what will this year bring us? As much as gaming is concerned I hope that Valve will finally release TF2 (yeah, I do believe it will happen after all). Personally I’m looking forward to TF2. I expect a game which will combine the more realistic approach towards weapons and physics like CS with a more forgiving damage system and the complexity of the class system of TFC. This could be an interesting and exciting kind of game, though I expect it to be drastically different from TFC.
This is one thing people should realize. From all I have heard about TF2 (and I know just as much as everybody else) it will not lift the known concept of TF to its next level, but rather create a variant to TF on more realistic terms. I expect a lot of people who love TF in its various forms (whether it’s TFC, Q3F, UnF or whatever) to dislike what TF2 will be like. I expect those mods to lead their own lives separated from TF2. In a way I fear TF2 will probably attract the CS-playing crowd a lot more than the TF-community, at least in the long run (and I hope time will prove me wrong).
But besides all these, the release of TF2 will have difficulties to create a homogenous community, and at least the initial phase will immensely test our patience and our persistence, as everybody will give this game a try which will include every moron and retard on this planet. TF2 will be braindead-central for a while. Actually the smart thing would be to wait two or three months before starting to play TF2 (but then again nobody ever accused me of being smart before, so why start now)
Which elegantly leads to the next prognosis for this year. Every time I thought things couldn’t get any worse community-wise I was proven wrong. As much as I understand Valve/Sierra to release new versions of HL to keep cash flowing and as much as I welcome new players in general it prevented the TFC community from consolidating itself, to reach a general level of skill and experience and to reach a point where the chaff has separated from the wheat. Instead the community has experienced wave after wave of new players (which also means the related amount of lamers and morons) and a lot of turmoil created by the changes brought by TF1.5 and the resulting loss of good players and clans, which just stressed the presence of the lamers. And somehow it doesn’t look as if things would get better any time soon 
Of course it is a reasonable assumption that the release of TF2 will eventually achieve exactly the cleansing and consolidation of the TFC community which circumstances has prevented so far. At least one glimpse of hope on the horizon.
And as a general prospect - with or without TF2 - I expect honor and sportsmanship to become more and more alien terms for a gaming community which increasingly defines its values with personal glory and success, disregarding any respect and consideration for their fellow players.
Well, like the Chinese say: Shall you live in interesting times ... 
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