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Micro-Transactions Coming To Team Fortress 2 Via Steam Wallet
whoop writes "Valve has announced that Team Fortress 2 will be getting a new Mann Co. Store to buy trinkets with real money through a service called Steam Wallet. TF2 is the first game to use this new Steam Wallet, but the money can be spent on anything in Steam, including full games. This would open them up to featuring gift cards, micro-transaction games, and more."
PC Gamer has an interview with Valve's Robin Walker about why they're doing this. Walker says everything they're selling will still be obtainable by playing the game, other than a few cosmetic items.
And its some 50€ for the full package of new items. I know what I'm -not- buying.
You may be understimating just how long the grinding will take. 200 hours to get a random hat, of which there are 5, sound good to you? That's a lot of play time to get the one you want.
Steam is proud to announce a patch for GNU and Microsoft Visual Studio compiler sets, which enables the new 'ifmo' command in most programming environments.
The 'ifmo' statement is a traditional if statement, with one extra parameter, for the amount of money you want to be paid to make a given state true.
The 'ifmo' statement coordinates with the Steam framework in most OS environments to manage a list of opportunities the user has to pay for events to happen.
'ifmo' should be compatible with most common languages, from FORTRAN, to Visual Basic, to C/C++, to common scripting languages like Python.
'you get mo with ifmo!'
Ryan Fenton
Agreed. "You can get it through grinding" is usually a cop-out for microtransaction systems, and it's no different here. The new item sets (which confer a bonus for having the complete set) make this especially silly - the odds of obtaining all of the items directly through the game's anemic drop rate are virtually nil, and crafting doesn't make this a lot better because you need to melt down dozens of items (including already extremely rare hats) when the results of crafting are a random class/slot weapon.
Just to put this in perspective, Valve is charging $20 for any one of the new item sets. Items that can more easily be obtained through achievement unlocks are $0.50. And that's not inappropriately priced - that's a really good representation of just how much grinding is necessary on average to acquire all the parts of a single set. You can't reasonably do it, especially if you're not an unemployed 14 year old (keeping in mind this is an M game).
Ultimately Valve is going to argue that all of this is balanced, but that's not the case. There are already items that are better than other items, and the item sets infer additional bonuses above and beyond that which make the item sets must-haves for most situations. Items never fully replace skill, but after today they sure as hell make it secondary; for equally skilled opponents it's now a pay-2-win game. And that's a shame, as it used to be the best non-military multiplayer FPS on the market.
Exactly! The first most frustrating thing about what Valve has done to the game over the last 3 years is adding the items. The second most frustrating thing is that server admins don't have the power to turn this stuff off. If you could run a "pure" server (to steal a term from Unreal Tournament) where it disables all purchased/unlocked items and makes it behave like the original 2007 game, then the vast majority of the complaints would stop.
As it stands Steam holds the game hostage. There's no way to revert the game - you have to play the latest version as Valve intends it. For the traditional MP FPS crowd, being unable to control the game like this is simply mind-boggling.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw the post this morning, I'm not a fan of microtransactions in games, as I've never seen it executed in a way that didn't punish players into using it.
But I read all about it, and then checked it out for myself. It actually seems like this system was built with a fair dose of common sense, something I've come to expect from Valve.
First and foremost is the fact that all the items are still attainable in game. But wait, did they make them really rare drops or difficult to craft in order to push people toward purchasing? Nope, they're still the same as they've always been. Easily crafted by anyone who plays much at all.
But hold on, these systems always have stupid virtual currency that you can only buy in chunks that don't match the item costs. You want an item that costs 3500 neato-points but you can only buy points in chunks of 2000! Oh, Valve's system uses real currency tied to your steam account, that you can use anywhere on steam. That actually makes sense.
Surely there is a catch though. These new items must be overpowered and imbalanced to make them worth buying, right? That's what most games do (cough BF Heroes cough) but it doesn't really work when people can still get the items without buying them. And it turns out the stats are all in line with the way Valve has always added new items to TF2. They all have their ups and downs and are more a matter of playstyle and taste than outright better/worse. There are still plenty of people who used the old original items simply because that's what they're best with.
BUT HOLD ON, WE'VE FOUND THE EVIL PLOT! Most item's are community made, Valve is profiting off content they don't even have to make themselves!! Oh nevermind, community designers are given a cut of any sales their item makes, which is probably the coolest thing about the whole system. As someone who's mapped and modded Source as a hobby over the years, and having friends who actually made items in this very update, I think it is absolutely awesome that they're getting money out of something they'd normally love to do just for fun.
This is is precisely the microtransaction system I would expect from Valve. I have no problems with it and I have yet to read any legitimate arguments against it.
Why have you been playing at all? You've had to grind for items since the first patch, why does including an option to skip over the grind make the grind (which I reiterate, has already existed) intolerable? Have you thought this through, or is it a hyperbolic reaction to a new feature you don't like?
for a casual player who isnt in it for the items, it is somewhat acceptable that people who play for ages have some advantages (better weapons/items). You can somewhat side-step that by not getting into servers with only the best players (they will own you anyway, regardless of any advantages, they just tend to be more skilled/faster), however this pay-per-gun system wrecks the idea of playing among your peers, since the guy you previously were on equal footing with, will have spent a few bucks on the better gun, gaining an advantage, ruining your experience.
Allowing people to buy better weapons in games quickly gives rise to a prisoners dilemma, either you also spend the money (on top of what you paid for the game), or you will have your lunch eaten by the people that do, the only winning move is not to play...
(i had this experience in BF2 years back, the special forces expansion allowed people to use (better) weapons which they unlocked in SF to be used in the regular maps, giving SF-buyers an edge on the normal maps, in the end i ended up buying the expansion, mostly for the sniper rifle... although i did enjoy the maps as well)
People, what a bunch of bastards
If I wanted to make real world spending decisions about new hats I'd go to the mall. I even get a real hat.
I don't need to buy a game for the privilege of experiencing spending money 'just like real life' on things that don't even exist or belong to me after 'buying' them.
Further, if just like real life was a good reason to implement something than team fortress 2 would have you lose a limb in the first firefight and then spend six to 12 months teaching your avatar to walk with a prosthetic and try to build a new life far away from combat.
Games are about providing enjoyment and entertainment. If you want to argue that spending real money on in game hats is somehow more fun than other methods of getting in game hats then feel free to make that case. But falling back on 'its just like real life' is completely specious.
You get wasted without new items? I think you're just projecting your dying on whatever appears to be a likely suspect.
Yeah there's a lot of new stuff compared to vanilla TF2, but variety doesn't mean imbalance. Its all about playstyle and taste. Lots of people still use the old gear.
Does everyone use the kritzkrieg instead of the ubercharge? Not even close.
Does everyone use the huntsman bow instead of the sniper rifle? Definitely not.
Does everyone use the direct hit instead of the old rocket launcher? Yeah right, most competitive soldiers don't touch it.
So you hop onto TF2 after not playing for a long time and see a whole bunch of new things, and then die to someone wielding and item you've never seen before. OH THAT MUST BE WHY THEY WERE ABLE TO KILL YOU, if only you had it too you wouldn't have died, right? It's just a convenient excuse.
But sure, TF2 is -somewhat- different now than it was originally, and liking its original form better is perfectly fair. But on the other hand, new content is what keeps most players coming back. You might be one of those guys who still plays counterstrike or quake decades from now, but you'll certainly be the minority. TF2 would be nothing but pleasant memories among me and my friends if it had never gotten new content to periodically bring us back from time to time.
Well I guess I will not be playing TF2 again. Despite the 'it's optional defence' some of the items will give advantages. You can still get them all randomly, so it's a choice of grind or pay up. I think I'll do neither.
It's amazing how angry people can get over the idea of paying for new content. In my opinion this is a much better model than releasing expansions that prevent others playing with the majority population without purchasing it. I recently reinstalled the game and to be sure, everyone has weird hats etc but I cannot say I found any noticeable disadvantage in having none of these gimmicks, my scores are middling same as they were a year or more ago when I last played it and I'm grateful to be able to still play with everyone without having to fork out 10 or 20 for the new maps and gear etc.
The second most frustrating thing is that server admins don't have the power to turn this stuff off.
You are full of shit. There are mods that restrict the weapons you can use, and one in particular (Randomizer) even forces specifically chosen weapons on you.
"His name was James Damore."
... that in TF2, setting fire to the rich obnoxious bastard and tea bagging his smoldering corpse won't earn you 3rd degree burns to your testicles and a life time in jail.
This can't be true!
<rant> ...
After all, Valve are the guys that invented an online DRM system and digital download store that screws you but at least lubes you up first (not like the competition's online-DRM which uses no lube). I mean, just look at all posts from defenders of it saying how you can be offline for a while and still play the games or re-download them when you loose them - sure it's not as good as a simple serial number, but at least it's not as bad as living in North Korea
I'm sure that they haven't added must-have-pay-with-cash items to a highly competitive, fast-paced kind of game like an online FPS after releasing the game and after loads of people had bought it: that would be sneaky and deceitful, not to mention a lub-less screwing of customers.
This kind of thing is the purvey of Machiaveli-inspired companies like Sony Entertainment, not good guys like Valve.
Right!?
Right!???
Right????
</rant>