Team Fortress 2 Adds Microtransactions

[Irridium]

So can I buy hats?

Just the polycount ones so far. In time they'll probably add much more though.

 

[Grey_Focks]

New announcement going round to deal with all the complaining that's obviously erupted rofl:

http://steamcommunity.com/games/TF2/announcements/detail/866007064483224660

Oh also John, you may want to make more mention of how as well as micro-transactions they're adding the 5 new sets of items (you mentioned it but didn't exactly draw attention or elaborate on it) and adding item trading, item customization, and doubling the size of the backpack.

Item trading? So my friends who've been playing for years can finally throw me one of their dozens of "Backburners" and "Eyelanders" (two items that refuse to drop for me)? Excellent!

OT: Meh, I really don't care. I probably will never use it, but I hold nothing against those who do. Sounds like a smart way to make money.

 

[TerribleAssassin]

Oh dear... This will make the proverbial shit hit the fan.

As long as they don't provide paying players with an advantage, I guess I'm ok with it.

This is Valve, everything they make end up balanced.



And also this should turn to be intresting, if you could get it on Xbox, there'd be floods more people buying The Orange Box.

 

[Pandora92]

I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and post this:

THE STORE
Q: What's a Mann Co. Store?
A: Accessible from inside TF2, the Mann Co. Store will now let players buy, trade and customize the largest addition of inventory items in the game's history, using your Steam Wallets.

Q: What's a Steam Wallet?
A: Steam now has a feature called the Steam Wallet. It allows you to put money into it, which can then be spent either on in-game items, such as the ones offered in TF2's Mann Co. Store, or on full products like games in the Steam store.

Q: Are store items priced in points, or some other weird currency?
A: No, the Steam Wallet uses the same real-world currency Steam currently supports (USD/GBP/Euros).

Q: Can I put whatever amount I want into my wallet?
A: Yes. We won't force you to buy "bundles" of currency. You can put the exact amount you need to buy the specific items you're interested in. However, each time you fund your wallet, the minimum amount of funds that you can put in your Steam Wallet is $5 / £4 / 5? to keep transactions and payment service provider fees to a minimum.

Q: Can I trade or craft items I've purchased?
A: In the short term, no. You can only trade or craft items you have earned or found through gameplay (see Trading & Customization below). We have adopted this policy for the time being, until we can see what effect trading purchased items may have on the Mann-conomy.

Q: Is my "TF2" money good elsewhere in Steam?
A: Yes. The money in your Steam Wallet can be used to purchase anything on Steam.

Q: Will you only sell Valve-crafted items? What about community-made items?
A: The Store will sell both. Additionally, community contributors will receive a percentage of sales on items they've created! We'll be releasing more information soon about exactly how this will work.

Q: I'm a community member who contributed an item that's been put in the game. Why isn't it in the Mann Co. Store?
A: Initially, we will only be selling the Polycount Pack community items, as this is will let us work out the kinks with a small number of contributors. Once we've mastered contributor payments, we'll be expanding the store to include all the community contributions. We plan to do this as soon as possible.

WHAT WILL CHANGE (AND WHAT WILL STAY THE SAME)
Q: Does this mean the updates are over? Are you going to stop releasing free content now?
A: No. Our plan is to continue updating TF2 just like we always have, adding free maps, game modes, new features, and more. The Mann Co. Store is simply an alternative way of obtaining items that other players can earn during gameplay.

Q: Will I have to spend money to remain competitive?
A: No. Any items affecting gameplay, and even most purely cosmetic items, will still be obtainable simply by playing the game.

Q: Did you adjust the drop rates for existing items?
A: No. We haven't made it any harder to obtain existing items through gameplay.

Q: Why have all my items switched to "Vintage" items?
A: Some items that used to be rare will become more common when they are available for purchase. We wanted to give players this option, but still recognize people who obtained those items "the old-fashioned way" in the past. So we decided to perform a one-time conversion of all the old items into "Vintage" versions, which will never be attainable in the future. This way, those older rare items remain rare (in fact, they're even rarer, because they're limited editions now)

Q: What about items I earn in the future? How will others tell them
apart from purchased items?
A: There are not currently any plans to make this distinction visible to other players. However, purchased items are not currently tradeable or craftable, so there's still a benefit to earning your items "the old fashioned way".

TRADING & CUSTOMIZATION
Q: Will I be able to trade items?
A: Yes. We've added the long-requested Trading feature, so you can swap items with friends.

Q: Are all items tradable?
A: No, not all items are tradable. Some limited-availability items are not tradable. Purchased items are also not tradable at the moment (see About the Store).

Q: Can I customize my items?
A: Yes. In addition to our existing item customization, we have created new kinds of items that will enable a greater amount of customization than we've had in the past, like the ability to name items and even change their color scheme. The Mann Co. Catalog will let you find out which items are customizable and how you can customize them. We've also doubled the amount of backpack space available to you, so that you'll have room to store all this new stuff.

Q: Can I just give items to someone? Or do they have to give me something back?
A: Yes, you can "gift" items to others. They do not have to give you anything back.

Q: Can I craft the Polycount weapons? Do they have recipes like the other community items?
A: Yes, they're craftable. They have the same recipe style (combine two weapons) as the other community-contributed items.

Oh also:

 

[Evilsanta]

I'm ok with this. I won't use it, seeing as I'm broke, but I can see it being useful for people who NEVER GET F*CKING HATS.

Ok maybe I will use it...

This. I would like to actully have some hats...Damn drop system only gives my sandwiches.

I only ever got Force of natures until I started playing something else other then pyro/eng

You should really learn to play with every class. I am a allround guy, average with every class except as sniper. Stop moving so much! STAND STILL AND LET ME HEAD SHOT YOU! GAHH!!!

 

[LightOfDarkness]

I was about to complain a little about players with deep wallets shelling out for every single hat, then I saw that I can earn money by selling FAWKING HUUUUUUUGE list of dupes.

Looks like I'll be getting a free Steam game legit soon.

 

[Jared]

Wow...They have hit a new low...

 

[Anarchemitis]

The items which are bought will undoubtedly flood the userbase of items and hats compared to previous, annihilating previous status-quo of rarity. However, this is balanced by the effect that all items crafted, dropped or earned previous to today are now Vintage items. Yaaaaay

As usual per all updates since the Pyro update, I will reserve my judgment until three weeks time after implementation.

The only update in overall detail I did not like was the Demo/Solider update, as it caused explosive spam on all servers for three months, or so it seemed.

 

[E-Penguin]

So lets see... I pay for a game, and then I'm asked to pay more money. So it's like a good demo. GTFO

Valve has ruined TF2!

urgh...

Have you read ANYTHING about this? You can still get all noncosmetic items for free, and most of the cosmetic ones. You don't HAVE to pay. It's just a way for people to get special items without having to play hundreds of hours beforehand.

 

[Irridium]

Wow...They have hit a new low...

Not really. They're just providing people who don't have the hundreds of hours to put into this game to get some items. It will do nothing to affect gameplay, no one will buy an advantage, its all fine. Its just for people who don't have time to play all the time to get all the items normally, but still want them.

 

[Weaver]

This is a slippery, slippery slope Valve and I really hope you don't fall down it.

 

[ionveau]

The Suckers will-Grind for it legit
The kids will-pay for it
The Average person will use a hack to unlock everything

 

[joshuaayt]

Not like other players having more items is a new advantage- every newcomer will be pwned by some guy with that one Spy watch. This just lets me, newcomer, have the same advantage without spending for however many hours a week playing TF2
Good for Valve, making some money without detracting from the enjoyment of anyone.

 

[TraderJimmy]

Wait...so the Vintage Tyrolean is now the Vintage Vintage Tyrolean?

 

[sir.rutthed]

Don't really see how this might ruin the game. There's already Achievement servers for people who don't want to grind it out until the Eyelander finally drops. Microtransactions will just be a slightly more convenient way to do this. Really, it'll only be a punishment for people too impatient to achievement hunt and too stupid to log onto an achievement server for 2 seconds, and I'm all for punishing idiots.

Also, all the people likely to quit because of this update will be no loss to the community at large, so more power to you, Valve.

 

[SomeBoredGuy]

So lets see... I pay for a game, and then I'm asked to pay more money. So it's like a good demo. GTFO

Valve has ruined TF2!

Please actually read what is going on before making assumptions. Valve has not taken anything away from the current TF2 model. You can still get all the stuff and all the future stuff they are going to be adding for free anyway via the current drop system. Literally the only change is that people who don't have hours to spend grinding can get things at their convenience.

Besides, stuff you buy cannot be traded or crafted and anything already dropped that is currently owned will now be a whole load rarer since it'll be "Vintage" so there are plenty o' benefits for playing the old fashioned way.

Not to mention the fact that no TF2 weapon (to my knowledge, although if there is there are literally only one or two if memory serves) is a 100% benefit thing, meaning there will always be a trade-off such as "Sure, you'll do more damage. But you now have a lot less health" or "Sure, you can have more accuracy. But no more random crits for you!".

People who choose not to pay aren't going to be losing out at all by this new system. And next time, please actually read stuff before you say something's been ruined.

 

[ionveau]

This is a slippery, slippery slope Valve and I really hope you don't fall down it.

How? blame the little kids for buying this junk, if anything its a slope with gold at the end no matter what

look at blizzard they tested this

 

[Arcanist]

Hah, saying that TF2 fanboys will complain about this is like saying the sun will rise tomorrow and the tides will come in. It's a given.

But I can see one legitimate complaint being that it would effectively allow one to buy hats, TF2's signature prestige item. Even if they don't allow people to buy hats directly(Which I doubt) people could just buy weapons and smelt them down.

But, hey, it means I can finally get my goddamn Sandvich. I'm not complaining

 

[AngryMongoose]

VALVE HAS RUINED TF2!


...


No seriously.

 

[ShakerSilver]

I don't see what all the flipping out is about here. You can still get ALL if the items from drops, and now if you don't want to wait, you can buy them instead.

Seems fine to me.