ValveSoftware
[TF2] gameplay: allow non-giants to be tickled in MvM
Holiday Punch is currently completely non-functional in the mode otherwise, and common bots can already be stunned by other sources. it's only giants that are supposed to be immune.
I am not a fan of this, robots do not have animations for laughing and would just awkwardly stand still while playing a laugh voice line. There are animations for bonk stuns inflicted by Sandman, Thermal Thruster, Sapper, etc. so it's not really comparable.
Edit: It is definitely a deliberate choice (see: https://store.steampowered.com/oldnews/15440)
Right, but that patch was in response to a video iirc that showed an exploit with stunning boss bots, I think this one: https://youtu.be/zAqyQnpl2ds?t=39, which got shared around user forums for quite a while. Before that point, it was okay to stun normal robots using the holiday punch for years despite there being no animation. As said in the original post, normal bots get stunned by other sources, so it's not necessarily a deliberate balance choice. As it stands, the holiday punch does nothing in MvM, which is awkward. I don't think the lack of animations alone is enough to justify removing the functionality entirely from a weapon.
Ultimately, Valve are the ones who will know what their decision making was, and how that informs the decision they'll make now.