Team Fortress 2 Adds Microtransactions

[Swarley]

hats are supposed to be a badge denoting that you've played the game alot for a long time. Unspoken bragging rights, if you will.

We have actual badges for this.

You might have a point if hats weren't random, but since they are they don't have anything to do with how long you've been playing.

 

[FlashHero]

I think the only reason they did this was to stop ebay item trading...who wants to buy a weapon for $20 dollars when the valve sells it wayy cheaper..it think i haven't seen the prices yet tough lol.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Did Valve say a month or so ago that they did stuff in TF2 to test how it would go over with the players? This is probably another one of those. It isn't like they are making you buy it or anything...

 

[mrF00bar]

I don't want to sound like a defeatist or nothin'...But this will ruin Team Fortress 2 beyond all measure, and i don't feel like elaborating why.

The game was ruined after they did anything more than just add alternate weapons for each class. It is meant to be a fun FPS not a grinding MMO for hats.

 

[TraderJimmy]

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

This is what worries me the most. I would only be minorly bothered if it were, as all the fanboys are claiming, a way to make money off the impatient and if it had no effect on gameplay other than delaying unlocks, but consider the following:
They added "item sets" for all 5 of the packs that were released. Snipers (for example) with all of the new items equipped, INCLUDING the hat, cannot be killed with headshots. Yes, you read that right. With hats being as rare as they are, the only realistic way to benefit from the item set bonuses is to pony up the cash, and this is just plain sleazy.

A line has been crossed, and it's a pretty meaningful one. I might keep playing (hey, I already paid my 20 bucks and it's not like they can force me to buy hats), but I no longer trust them to do what's right for the game and I think a lot of people are feeling betrayed right now.

In the near future, things will be nerfed. And besides, if you can't kill them with a headshot, you switch to another class, get behind them, and kill them the old fashioned way.

Yes it is a stupid-ass buff, but it will get nerfed. Like plenty of other overpowered weapons/items in the past.

The problem isn't that it's over or underpowered. I was there when they made the pyro's backburner a +50HP, no falloff beast of a weapon and I dealt with it just fine until they (rightly) nerfed it.

The problem is that they are taking these super-rare, cosmetic-only items (which I'm fine with valve selling if it means continued TF2 support) and tying ingame effects to them. This is what worries me. If people let this fly, what will Valve try next?

That's a good point. Hopefully they're working on a fix for it, or it doesn't work the way you (or I) fear it does. If not, Ima have to craft my hats for it...sigh. And new players just won't have access to it at all for ages. Lame.

I trust them to do the right thing though. Credibility/Likability is hard-won, and easily lost. Just look at Microsoft.

 

[JerrytheBullfrog]

Which carries with it a stigma all on its own. If I fly around town on my Celestial Steed in WoW, everyone knows I paid money for it, as opposed to I don't know, earning the rarest in-game drop. Here, you can just pretend to be uber.

It's still blatant hypocrisy, and to give Valve a tongue bath over it is laughable.

But you don't need to buy anything. You can still play the game as you were and nothing would really be changed.

And we're not being fanboys here. We're pointing out how this really isn't as big a deal as everyone is making it out to be.

And you can do that in most games with microtransactions, too. You can do that in WoW for instance. Nothing is changed by someone having a sparklepony.

I don't think it's a big deal at all. I'm fine with it. But Root, who I quoted? He would have lambasted ActiBlizz, EA, Rockstar, whoever, if they'd done this exact same thing. And that is the definition of fanboyism.

 

[Cyrax987]

I really don't know why people are complaining really. They said that all the items that are available for purchase are still obtainable free just by grinding the game and playing. No item is really that overpowered anyways.

I mean some items are a lot better and I fear more then others(backburner) but nothing has ever really been gamebreaking. I think its cool they're adding this so people that want to customize there toons but don't have the time to play a lot and as a result get loot slower have a better chance and getting items at the cost of money.

TF2 is 3 years old and has provided content for free for a long time and still will, its just adding a little cash system on the side that is completely optional, whats there to really hate that much?

/end rant

 

[Irridium]

Which carries with it a stigma all on its own. If I fly around town on my Celestial Steed in WoW, everyone knows I paid money for it, as opposed to I don't know, earning the rarest in-game drop. Here, you can just pretend to be uber.

It's still blatant hypocrisy, and to give Valve a tongue bath over it is laughable.

But you don't need to buy anything. You can still play the game as you were and nothing would really be changed.

And we're not being fanboys here. We're pointing out how this really isn't as big a deal as everyone is making it out to be.

And you can do that in most games with microtransactions, too. You can do that in WoW for instance. Nothing is changed by someone having a sparklepony.

I don't think it's a big deal at all. I'm fine with it. But Root, who I quoted? He would have lambasted ActiBlizz, EA, Rockstar, whoever, if they'd done this exact same thing. And that is the definition of fanboyism.

In his defense, so would everyone else. Especially if it was Activision. Since you could post something like how Kotick helps an old lady across the street, people would still throw hate.

Although saying "but everyone else does it!" isn't that good of an excuse, but still. If they did it in a decent way that doesn't hurt anyone, like how this is being implemented, I doubt he would attack them for it. At least I wouldn't. But chances are anyone else would implement it in a not so user-friendly way.

However I can't speak for Root, I can only speak for myself. And if Activision/EA/Ubisoft/whoever did this and did it in a way that wouldn't hurt anyone, then I would be happy for it.

 

[Wrann]

I have absolutely no problem with this it gives people the opportunity to get something they have really wanted instead of waiting for it and all there doing is spending some of there money on an aesthetic item that will do nothing other than look cool.

Also this will give valve some extra income after the 120 updates that have been 100% free and its not just valve that is benefiting all the community items that are payed for with money part of the profit will go to there creator and making some of those items in there complexity not really easy.

This isn't going to cause valve to do something crazy it is completely optional and everything that is sell-able in the store can be found in game.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

I'm totally cool with it! If people want to buy a hat that can be obtained through the game itself then I don't care, it's not a big deal to me.

What I don't want to be seeing is items exclusive to that service. That would make me pissed.

 

[A Pious Cultist]

*insert evil laugh here*
It has begun.

 

[JWAN]

Well I always found TF2 dull, and I haven't played it more than 30 hours in total since I bought the orange box the day it came out, so maybe this will bring me into it?

 

[sgtshock]

My knee-jerk reaction was "curses, Valve's selling out and TF2 is becoming an MMO!" But upon further consideration, it's not like you're getting an advantage, and it's about time Valve got direct compensation for all the assload of work they've put into TF2 post-release.

 

[TerranReaper]

Hats =\= an advantage

I have no idea why people would complain about this. It has no relevance with anything, it just shows that you are lucky and personally, if I wanted to show off how long I've played the game, I would just use my skills to accomplish that.

 

[WanderingFool]

Team Fortress 2 Adds Microtransactions

Did that one item that you always wanted in Valve's Team Fortress 2 just never drop? Now you can buy it.

Valve's popular FPS has been getting steadily more MMO-like since its inception, with characters getting a persistent inventory, loot drops, and even crafted items. Now, Valve is adding another of the free-to-play MMO mainstays: microtransactions.

The "Mann-Conomy Update," as "Polycount Pack," [http://www.teamfortress.com/mannconomy/FAQ/] Valve seems to be intending on adding every almost single item to the store - eventually. It's still Valve Time over there, after all.

The TF2 team would like to assure players that they will not be selling maps - in the interests of not splintering the community - and that every single item that is purchasable will still be a drop in the game, so nobody will be able to buy an advantage, only convenience. The developer will still be rolling out free updates to the game as it always has, reads the blog page.

And yet, none of that will stop the almost-certainly-impending deafening outcry from the community that Valve has "ruined TF2!"

In other news, I am apparently a psychic [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/view-from-the-road/7655-View-from-the-Road-No-Such-Thing-as-a-Free-Lunch].

Permalink

Holy shit. You did call it, in a vague and not completely accurate manner...

 

[bob-2000]

No, Valve, that path leads to the dark side!!!

 

[blue spartan 11]

While I don't see why I would bother about the Mann-co market, I am happy to see there will finally implement a trading system.

 

[McShizzle]

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

Quoted for truth. I don't believe for a second this will lead to good places. I guess eventually I'll get to say "I told you so".

 

[SlayerN]

if you go to the following site http://www.tf2items.com/crafting/blueprints.php you can craft all the new items easy now people only need to buy the hats, or change item color, or buy everything for the hell of it

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I don't want to sound like a defeatist or nothin'...But this will ruin Team Fortress 2 beyond all measure, and i don't feel like elaborating why.

Man, by post #2, thats a record.