TF2 – Mann-conomy Update

The thing getting the most attention in this update is the store. Valve have finally done what many thought could never happen, and made items purchasable with real money. All weapons and hats you can get in game can be bought for a fee in the store, accessed in game. Not only that, but some exclusive (cosmetic only) items may be included in there¹.
While the store has received a lot of flak in the one whole day it has been out, it’s an interesting addition on many fronts. Here are some of the important facts and theories around it.

All items can be obtained otherwise. You do not HAVE to buy anything.

Many people are complaining because they believe this will give people an unfair advantage, as they have access to new items instantly. The problem with this theory is that any community created item gets a specific crafting recipe to go along with it, so it is always obtainable through those means. Additionally, any item that changes gameplay can be found in drops, or traded². A person who buys the item will have no more advantage against you as the person who immediately found it in a random drop. Both people got the item before you, but neither have an advantage.

There are more than just normal items in the store.

While the store mainly houses weapons and hats, there are a few other goodies hidden away in there. You can purchase paint which is then used to colour items (I have a purple Heavy Duty Rag) to give them a more personalized look, as well as a name tag so you can name your items³. There is also an additional “mini game mode” you can purchase called duelling, where you challenge a member on the opposite team and whoever has the most kills against the other one wins the duel. There are a couple of other oddities but I’ll leave them for you to find out, if you haven’t already.

It stops people charging too much money to trade items.

One of the biggest fears among players was that trading would introduce a whole new group of spammers who try to sell their items to gullible players for money. By introducing a store into the game, Valve have minimized this.
The prices in the store can be a bit high at times, with the newest hats cost seventeen dollars. This could be because they’re new and to keep them rare, or to ensure there is enough revenue to split between Valve and the creators (see below), but either way they’ll probably go down in price as time goes on. Despite this, many hats are only five dollars (some even less), thus people won’t be able to sell them for too much. Why would you pay someone for their hat, when you could just as easily buy it in the official store for five dollars? Valve deserve the money far more than the player trying to convince you to buy his Texas Slim’s Dome Shine. Speaking of making a profit…

The creators receive a portion of the money.

Not just referring to Valve, either. If you purchase an item that was made by a community member (Such as the Powerjack), the creator actually receives some of the money from that purchase. This is an amazing move by Valve as it rewards people for their quality content, and therefore encourages more people to contribute models. It’s not just about having your item included in the game; you can make money out of the casual endeavour too. As such, there’s a strong chance items that do get contributed will be of a higher standard too, to try and increase the chance of it getting included in the game.

The store may seem scary at first, but will more likely than not be one of the things that keeps the game alive. I’m quite partial to it.

1. Currently if you make a purchase you receive a free Mann Co. hat.
2. That is, it can be traded provided it wasn’t purchased. This may change in the future.
3. As you would expect, there are people running around with “Big Black Dildo”, and “Bottle of cum”. Mature, correct?

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There’s been time between this and the last post in the series because I felt the need to try everything out before I continued talking about it¹. I now feel like I’m at semi-qualified to complain about the next part of the update; Trading.

Trading was promised, along with crafting, shortly after the item drop system was released with the Sniper/Spy Update. Over 15 months later, it has finally seen release, and now that it’s had time to settle, lets see what it’s all about.

The Basics

Trading is of course, the exchanging of goods for other goods. To start a trade, you’d access the load out manager, then select Trading. From there, you can decide whether to trade with someone on your friends list (provided they are in game), someone on the server you’re currently playing on, or by typing in someone’s Steam Profile name (provided they’re in game). The player being offered a trade then has the option to accept or deny the request. If they accept, we enter the Trade screen.

T-T-T-Trade Screen

Image borrowed from TFWiki; check it out.

On the screen you enter, you have 4 sections; on the left you have your backpack, spread out over 10 pages. Below that is a private chat window to communicate with the person you’re trading. On the right you have the trades themselves; what you’re offering goes on top, what they’re offering appears in the bottom. You can only trade eight items at a time. Once both parties are ready, you hit the tick box next to you offer, they hit theirs, and then you both hit trade now. Presto, you have each others items.

Problems

The system itself seems fairly solid. I myself have not come across any problems with it. However, there is a social impact concerning trading.

Scamming – As with anything, there are those people who insist on stealing and ripping off other people. This has taken many forms over the past couple of weeks, most of which you can read about on the Team Fortress Wiki. It was reported that people who scammed were getting their Steam accounts disabled, but I haven’t seen any proof of this yet.

Spamming – It’s funny how both of those words are similar, and they are also both annoying. The other negative I’ve encountered is the constant spam for trades. I myself am guilty of reaching out for trades so I can’t actively condemn others for that. However it can eventually clog up the chat to the point that teams can’t communicate with each other to get an active attack or defence going. Then you get those people who bind something along the lines of “SELLING V. HATS FOR METAL”, then hitting that button as many times as possible in the course of 3 seconds, filling up chat and infuriating other players.

Of course

That’s not to say all trading has done is cause problems. Those of us who are unlucky enough not to get the hat we want are now able to actively seek it out. I for one was able to obtain a Milk Man through a trade, and with plenty of new weapons out there is always someone looking for something that you might have, and offering something you need.

If you haven’t tried it I suggest you do; even if you don’t want to trade after the initial try, you get a free bonus drop with your first trade!

1. That and well, Minecraft.

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