TF2 Mann-Conomy Update

[taolurker]

Team Fortress 2 now selling items for real money, Massive Update launched



BFU (big frickin update)

http://www.teamfortress.com/bidwells_big_plan/

http://www.teamfortress.com/mannconomy/

Team Fortress 2

* Added the Mann-conomy.
o Added 65 new items (hats, weapons, tools, minigames, gifts, crates).
o Added the Mann Co. Store & Catalog.
o Added Trading.
o Added Item customization.
* Additional TF2 features
o Added new auto-team-scramble system:
+ Set mp_scrambleteams_auto to 1 (default) to automatically scramble the teams if the criteria is met
+ Set mp_scrambleteams_auto_windifference to set the number of round wins a team must lead by in order to trigger an auto scramble (default is 2)
o Updated how Spy disguise targets are selected to more randomly distribute the selections
o Fixed the FreezePanel background not using the correct color if you were killed by a player or building on your own team
o Server browser tweaks
+ It will now encourage you to add servers to Favorites or Blacklists after you have a good/bad experience on them.
+ The Server Browser now automatically closes after successfully connecting to a server (opt-out via the Options-Multiplayer->Advanced dialog)
* Achievement tuning
o Demoman achievement "The Stickening" changed to 3 from 5.
o Heavy achievement "Krazy Ivan" changed to 50 from 100.
o Medic achievement "Consultation" changed to 3 from 5.
o Medic achievement "Peer Review" changed to 10 from 50.
o Medic achievement "Placebo Effect" changed to 2 from from 5.
o Medic achievement "FYI I am A Medic" changed to 1 from 5.
o Medic achievement "Family Practice" changed to 5 from 10.
o Soldier achievement "Geneva Contravention" changed to 3 from 5.
o Scout achievement "Strike Zone" now counts assists.
o Scout achievements "Fall Classic" and "Foul Territory" are fixed.

[eldaec]

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).

OMFG how did they possibly manage this incredibly difficult feat!

This is great, because next time I start ranting about price obfuscation through Bioware/EA/WindowsfuckingLive points and some fucking hippy turns up in the thread to wisely tell us all how difficult it would be to use normal currencies, I get to punch them in the neck.

[Segoris]

Some of the items are a bit over priced (hats mostly, such all the new ones being ~$17.50) but overall it's pretty decent. The weapons are $.50-$5 or something like that, so those are nicely priced (like the new gloves for the heavy - Gloves of Burning Urgency - +30% run speed, -50% damage, -6hp/sec ). You can get all of the new set items in a bundle for $49.99 right now, and that's ~60% off or so. Individual sets are marked as 20 or 30% off for the store opening, so I'd guess that these items will probably be on sale again for the holiday sale if everything is tied to the steam store and already have discounts on them. Some people don't really like it, but overall I think it's an item shop done right. Everything is obtainable in game, anything you buy cannot be traded or used in crafting, and besides the new hats, very well priced.

Anyone hear of any possible new bundles/sets for the classes that didn't get a set this time around?

[Comstar]

Excuse me while I don't want to read a comic or a ad written in character, but I guess this means there's no point to playing TF2 unless I pay money for extra gear?

OR I can play the game for 120+ hours and get a crappy hat or pay $20 for one?

What is the good side to this and why are you so happy about it!?

[caladein]

http://www.teamfortress.com/mannconomy/FAQ/

ABOUT 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 their 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 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: Are you going to start charging for other kinds of content, like maps?
A: No, we have no plans to do this. Segregating players into groups that can't play together, based on who bought what, is something we'd like to avoid.

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 tradeable?
A: No, not all items are tradeable. Some limited-availability items are not tradeable. Purchased items are also not tradeable 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.

[Segoris]

I'm happy about it because they did an item shop right. They made it so all items that you can purchase can still be found in game, as opposed to some item shops where spending money gets you items that can only be obtained through the shop. Items found in game, and items you've owned previously, are available for trade with any other player/friend/community member while items purchased cannot be traded/used in crafting. So no, there's need to spend money if you don't want to but it would just speed up your acquiring of the new items....nothing more. Really, if you don't want to spend money on the items, then it's just a patch that adds trading, fixes a few things, and some new items available for the finding.

From what I've seen while going against some people who are in full sets, I'm not noticing anything different and I don't see them having any major advantages.

I have yet to see the customization, that is a bit overpriced imo ($2.50 for a single color to apply to 1 item).

[Ingmar]

Yeah I don't see much to complain about. The new items are neat but it isn't like you're spending money for absolute advantage over someone, as always the items are just enabling slightly different playstyles.

[Malakili]

Meh.  All told this makes me less, rather than more, likely to feel the urge to log into TF2.  Then again, I was one of those people who thought achievements were a bad idea, let along item drops, now you add set bonuses...

I mean, realistically speaking, i'll fire up TF2 from time to time, but meh.

[Samwise]

When I saw this I thought "hey, it's like they added a tax for people like Malakili who can't ever wait to get the new shit.  "

I don't see myself spending any money in the TF2 store, but I have no problem with Valve milking a bit of revenue from people who like buying useless things.

[Nightblade]

The set bonuses need to go, other than that I have no issues with it. I mean, really; It would have been nice if the cash shop was purely for cosmetic items and the "Give the entire server a drop" gift item, but oh well.

[Malakili]

When I saw this I thought "hey, it's like they added a tax for people like Malakili who can't ever wait to get the new shit.  "

I don't see myself spending any money in the TF2 store, but I have no problem with Valve milking a bit of revenue from people who like buying useless things.

Heh, I won't be spending a dime on it.  I'd much rather sit in achievement servers for an evening than shell out cash.

[Segoris]

The set bonuses need to go, other than that I have no issues with it. I mean, really; It would have been nice if the cash shop was purely for cosmetic items and the "Give the entire server a drop" gift item, but oh well.

What's wrong with the set bonuses? They are non-game breaking trade-offs allowing a variance of play-style.

[Malakili]

The set bonuses need to go, other than that I have no issues with it. I mean, really; It would have been nice if the cash shop was purely for cosmetic items and the "Give the entire server a drop" gift item, but oh well.

What's wrong with the set bonuses? They are non-game breaking trade-offs allowing a variance of play-style.

Its the same problem as having unlockables/findables in the first place.  The problem is amplified though, because instead of just getting a bonus from any one weapon (which people will generally get eventually), now you are stacking a bonus on a person having all 3 weapons. Now, toss in the fact that you can pay real currency to get the bonus more quickly, and...well...it just feels sketchy to me.

[Segoris]

If any of the bonuses didn't require you to trade off a lot of utility/damage I'd agree. Overall though you have to give up more than you get. Let's do a comparison of gain/loss (spoilered), and look at how the biggest benefits aren't the set bonuses at all. This will also be helpful just as a quick reference for anyone thinking of getting the set, and if it would be worth it for them:

Sniper

Soldier

Pyro

Scout

Spy

Really, only snipers have a set bonus that can be seen as an advantage, until you think about how much more they have to give up to get it.

Though, really, the biggest part of why all of this is non-game breaking: everything can be crafted or found and no one will be at a disadvantage because they don't have extra cash to spend irl.

[eldaec]

Plus Valve have provided significant free support for TF2 for years. The game has far better support now than most FPS games do at launch.

If they want to tax over-serious clan players a little, I'm cool with that.

I'm also happy that unlike the original round of weapon updates, these ones aren't obviously better than the standard versions.

[Prospero]

Robin Walker talks about the Mann-conomy update

In particular he talks about why they added set bonuses.

[HaemishM]

Plus Valve have provided significant free support for TF2 for years. The game has far better support now than most FPS games do at launch.

If they want to tax over-serious clan players a little, I'm cool with that.

Yeah, this. It's not many games that are still being so actively supported by their dev 3 years after release without a subscription fee. I see no problem with Valve getting some of that sweet sweet microtrans love. I probably won't buy anything but if it keeps new maps and things coming from TF2, it's all good.

[Nightblade]

The set bonuses need to go, other than that I have no issues with it. I mean, really; It would have been nice if the cash shop was purely for cosmetic items and the "Give the entire server a drop" gift item, but oh well.

What's wrong with the set bonuses? They are non-game breaking trade-offs allowing a variance of play-style.

Its the same problem as having unlockables/findables in the first place.  The problem is amplified though, because instead of just getting a bonus from any one weapon (which people will generally get eventually), now you are stacking a bonus on a person having all 3 weapons. Now, toss in the fact that you can pay real currency to get the bonus more quickly, and...well...it just feels sketchy to me.

I may have jumped the gun a bit, it's not too bad. Its actually really easy to craft the regular polycount weapons. Furthermore, the polycount sets aren't direct upgrades.

The main issue here is the requirement for a hard to find hat/craft hat for the set bonuses. There was a post about making the hat for the sets easier to make, but why not just remove the requirement for owning the hat? That way, you don't devalue the new hats as a rare item, and everyone can have access to the new sub class abilities easier.

[Prospero]

Allowing people to buy items straight from Valve also lets Valve shut down any potential eBay market created by trading. Lord knows they have enough problems with stolen accounts; item trading definitely makes account thievery more enticing.

[Malakili]

Uninstalled.  The game balance is utterly destroyed by a lot of the new additions.  Has nothing to do with cash shop.  Valve has basically just admitted the game is pure 100% shenanigans at this point.  I guess that is what most people want out of TF2, but I'm just not going to waste my time with it.

[Strazos]

I don't know, I still shoot people in the face just fine. 

[Malakili]

I don't know, I still shoot people in the face just fine. 

Unless they have the new can't be head shot item, am i rite?  Seriously though, there is WAY too much emphasis on gear now.  What items you are using matters way too much.  I'll just be going back to Quake Live.

[Prospero]

Why not just play vanilla servers? They exist for a reason.

[Strazos]

I don't know, I still shoot people in the face just fine. 

Unless they have the new can't be head shot item, am i rite?  Seriously though, there is WAY too much emphasis on gear now.  What items you are using matters way too much.  I'll just be going back to Quake Live.

You can still one-shot without a headshot.

[Samwise]

Uninstalled.  The game balance is utterly destroyed by a lot of the new additions.  Has nothing to do with cash shop.  Valve has basically just admitted the game is pure 100% shenanigans at this point.  I guess that is what most people want out of TF2, but I'm just not going to waste my time with it.

I eagerly await next week's announcement that you've reinstalled but you're trying to pace yourself.

[Nightblade]

I don't know, I still shoot people in the face just fine. 

Unless they have the new can't be head shot item, am i rite?  Seriously though, there is WAY too much emphasis on gear now.  What items you are using matters way too much.  I'll just be going back to Quake Live.

There is no gear dependency. A Vanilla scout who knows what he's doing is going to take a crap out an equal scout who decided to grab the polycount pack.

There are upsides and downsides to each of the new sets, they are either downgrades, gimmicks, or sidegrades.

The new scout pistol is a fun little toy, but difficult to aim, and does far less damage.

The mad milk is a fun tool. I used it to help a heavy survive being focused.

The fish is just a cosmetic item.

The hat ads 25 hp, not going to make or break an encounter with a vanilla scout. If by some chance you face another scout one on one with the new item set and you don't have the hat; well - they're addressing this discrepancy apparently.


The weapons themselves are craftable and give no advantage whatsoever over people just playing without them. Infact, I dare say some classes are at a disadvantage in a lot of situations when using the polycount weapons.

The soldier gives up a rocket and his shotgun / buff banner to have some resistance to sentry gun damage. It's a utility for pushing that people got by with before the update, and will grant no big advantage over a team or player not using the cash shop.

When you look at the big pictures, you'll find that a lot of the items won't even be used as a full set. If they just remove the hat being necessary to reap the bonuses, it'll be perfect; but even before that - the changes in game now are hardly game breaking.

[Margalis]

Some of the items are a bit over priced (hats mostly, such all the new ones being ~$17.50) but overall it's pretty decent. The weapons are $.50-$5 or something like that, so those are nicely priced (like the new gloves for the heavy - Gloves of Burning Urgency - +30% run speed, -50% damage, -6hp/sec ). You can get all of the new set items in a bundle for $49.99 right now, and that's ~60% off or so.

Saying that a $17.50 virtual hat is a bit overpriced is like saying that the sun is a bit warm.

[Strazos]

I bought the new rifle, and crafted the new machete...it's fun, but sometimes I'd like headshots.

[Malakili]

I don't know, I still shoot people in the face just fine. 

Unless they have the new can't be head shot item, am i rite?  Seriously though, there is WAY too much emphasis on gear now.  What items you are using matters way too much.  I'll just be going back to Quake Live.

There is no gear dependency. A Vanilla scout who knows what he's doing is going to take a crap out an equal scout who decided to grab the polycount pack.

There are upsides and downsides to each of the new sets, they are either downgrades, gimmicks, or sidegrades.

The new scout pistol is a fun little toy, but difficult to aim, and does far less damage.

The mad milk is a fun tool. I used it to help a heavy survive being focused.

The fish is just a cosmetic item.

The hat ads 25 hp, not going to make or break an encounter with a vanilla scout. If by some chance you face another scout one on one with the new item set and you don't have the hat; well - they're addressing this discrepancy apparently.


The weapons themselves are craftable and give no advantage whatsoever over people just playing without them. Infact, I dare say some classes are at a disadvantage in a lot of situations when using the polycount weapons.

The soldier gives up a rocket and his shotgun / buff banner to have some resistance to sentry gun damage. It's a utility for pushing that people got by with before the update, and will grant no big advantage over a team or player not using the cash shop.

When you look at the big pictures, you'll find that a lot of the items won't even be used as a full set. If they just remove the hat being necessary to reap the bonuses, it'll be perfect; but even before that - the changes in game now are hardly game breaking.

It isn't that any one class is OP because of the new weapons, its that the game has too much diversity now.  It was already bordering on this before, but now you've got 9 classes + "subclasses" with the sets, and it just isn't the game it used to be any more, its just a different game.   If you like the game it is now, fine, but its just too far from TF for me at this point.

[Segoris]

I eagerly await next week's announcement that you've reinstalled but you're trying to pace yourself.

Hah, my first thought was "see you in a week when you try again Mal!"

I bought the new rifle, and crafted the new machete...it's fun, but sometimes I'd like headshots.

Try this: Keep the old rifle, new machete, and jarate. Toss down jarate and melee them down with all crits. That, imo, is the best thing that came out of the new sniper gear - the ability to be a good melee class when needed (crits with the new machete do 195dmg and all hits are crits on targets with jarate)

The fish is the best cosmetic item ever, that makes people feel embarassed that they were bitch-slapped by a fish.

FIFY

[Samwise]

It isn't that any one class is OP because of the new weapons, its that the game has too much diversity now.

 

[Malakili]

It isn't that any one class is OP because of the new weapons, its that the game has too much diversity now.

 

*shrugs* More isn't always =  better.

[Strazos]

I'm not sure why you're letting other folks' playstyles dictate yours. I snipe on pretty much every map (unless the numbers are whacked), almost regardless of what other folks are doing. I don't see this changing due to the new gear.

[Prospero]

The new hats are going to be craftable soon according to Robin.

[eldaec]

It isn't that any one class is OP because of the new weapons, its that the game has too much diversity now.

 

*shrugs* More isn't always =  better.

Personally I agree that the game was at its best immediately after launch, with no gear and only a few maps.

I problem is I'd have no interest in logging in again ever if it was still exactly the same the game I played three years ago.