I forgot to make mention of another nifty part of this update. Similar to the Golden Wrench update, Valve has released a mini-comic to coincide with the Mann-Conomy update. It features Saxton Hale, the burly CEO of Mann Co.
And holy crap, does he kick some serious Hippie ass. Go check it out. Now.
I think it's an excellent plan. They now serve all but one of the four type of players:
1. The "earn it through hard work" player who believes the items are most appreciated when gained through skill.
2. The "lucky punk" who gets nonstop rare drops.
3. The "will buy virtual items with real money" player who just wants the awesome stuff, no matter the cost.
The only player they have not served is the "I'm gonna whine and gripe about how Valve ruins the game with every update and cry at every random drop that goes to someone not me and even when I get a random drop I'll complain that the item sucks and I already have a billion of that one and when someone gets something through achievement it's because they're achievement farming jerks and now they want to rape my wallet and make me buy things after I paid them for this game and they gave me tons of free updates and expansions but it's not enough they still owe me FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU..."
It should be noted that this category of player can never be satisfied and should be ignored completely.
My first reaction to this was RAGE since they are making a virtual store to buy stuff in game that is considered freeish, especially since to change item colors you have to pay for a one time use item.
Then I realized they just made a pay service to pick up some extra money. This is a game that is going to have a long life cycle and Valve is pushing for a long life by making sure the game is still profitable in 5 more years when it is really old and runs on an underclocked toaster that you buy at the Outlet Sams.
I still do not agree with the pay amount for items and making some one time use but that is more of an ethical debate then a real debate.
Actually, I think they jumped the shark on complexity a while ago. TF2 is no longer a game I feel comfortable introducing to non-techy friends. Losing track of achievements was the first symptom. The second was needing to Google to find bloody "upgrade" paths for crafting and now adding so many weapons you can't even name them all is the icing on the delicious complexity cake. It's no longer the casual FPS it started as.
I think it's cool that the item creators benefit from selling their goods in the store. Finally, all the folks who spend long hours modeling, coding and skinning have a chance to get paid for what they've done.
I play TF2 sometimes, I prefer the Orange X3 DDR map, both because of the layout and the various voice things that go off when people kill or get killed. They are funny. There's a couple FPS Doug lines in the list that get played sometimes. The ones screaming about headshots.
I read National Geographic every month. It's the only magazine that I enjoy from cover-to-cover. This month's issue has a great feature about Australian megafauna (huge mammals that lived side-by-side with early humans). Sometimes it bugs me how many advertisements are in National Geographic but I understand that publishing a magazine of that quality must cost a lot so I deal with it.
The reaction to this update is kinda interesting on the grand scale of things. It looks like the playerbase and outside viewers have no problem shelling out extra cash for unique/standard items to play with mostly due to the fact that it's Valve that's doing it. People are willing to reward them for all their hard work (and free giveaways up to this point) as they continue to play.
However, I'd say that same majority are very against DLC to begin with. More specifically, the microtransaction model that certain publishers roll with ...which ultimately is what's happening here, isn't it?
I'm not poo-pooing on anything here, just kinda thinking out loud and making an observation. Compare this response to EA/Activision doing the same thing (outside of GuitarRockHeroBand).
I think people also realize they can still get the items for free (yay drops), and that valve has been giving them free content since tf2 came out. They don't mind supporting that model and you're also not being put at a disadvantage by not buying items.
(also stealth buff to the scottish resistance)
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colapart legend, part devil... all manBalls deepIcrontian
edited October 2010
So far there hasn't been much whining on the part of the "in game" people I've been playing with, so far as I can tell people are more or less pleased with the new stuff.
When I first tried to look through the shop (at the time of this article's writing), the shop wasn't ready yet. I've since had a chance to peek around.
Overall, I really like its layout. You can preview all the times being held/worn by any class that can equip it, and it's a rotatable 3D model, to boot. What-you-see-is-what-you-get, for the win. I only wish that for the items that can be painted different colors, would have been nice to preview the modded color.
Only main drawback I see is the prices. Yes, as noted above, some of the prices are simply outrageous. Any of the "new set" hats, for example, are $17.00. I mean, eff, REAL hats seldom cost that much, and at least block harmful UV rays. These are virtual hats that don't do crap.
But I suppose with the wealth of rabid fans that obsess over in-game hats... Valve has just found a big way to cash in.
In the meantime, for any Soldier players, check out the new item that lets you practice Rocket Jumps. It holds 8 rockets instead of 4, and does zero damage. And it's only 50 cents. I will be picking it up, for sure... and your first purchase comes with a free Mann Co. hat! Win!
I am not going to fall prey to the micro transaction model. I don't care if you have a cooler hat then I do, I just don't. Now that said, I don't really mind that Valve is doing it with TF2. I can't think of a title that has given me more game time for so little money, so I understand that they would want to find a way to monetize it. Still, $5 for an electronic play hat in this screwball economy? Hey, whatever, if you say it enriches your experience, or maybe you just wanted to support Valve, I understand. For me, I just have different priorities.
Comments
And holy crap, does he kick some serious Hippie ass. Go check it out. Now.
People are either going to love this, or are going to go BATSHIT INSANE with rage. There is no middle ground.
...taking all bets!
1. The "earn it through hard work" player who believes the items are most appreciated when gained through skill.
2. The "lucky punk" who gets nonstop rare drops.
3. The "will buy virtual items with real money" player who just wants the awesome stuff, no matter the cost.
The only player they have not served is the "I'm gonna whine and gripe about how Valve ruins the game with every update and cry at every random drop that goes to someone not me and even when I get a random drop I'll complain that the item sucks and I already have a billion of that one and when someone gets something through achievement it's because they're achievement farming jerks and now they want to rape my wallet and make me buy things after I paid them for this game and they gave me tons of free updates and expansions but it's not enough they still owe me FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU..."
It should be noted that this category of player can never be satisfied and should be ignored completely.
Then I realized they just made a pay service to pick up some extra money. This is a game that is going to have a long life cycle and Valve is pushing for a long life by making sure the game is still profitable in 5 more years when it is really old and runs on an underclocked toaster that you buy at the Outlet Sams.
I still do not agree with the pay amount for items and making some one time use but that is more of an ethical debate then a real debate.
Buy want you want.
You won't stop me.
Actually, I think they jumped the shark on complexity a while ago. TF2 is no longer a game I feel comfortable introducing to non-techy friends. Losing track of achievements was the first symptom. The second was needing to Google to find bloody "upgrade" paths for crafting
I also am less than pleased to see another item that slows.
The minus is how much a lot of the new stuff costs to buy... As much as a whole game! Craziness!!
Either way, I'm going to reserve judgement until I've had a chance to see the impact on the community.
I've gotten a couple crate drops...unfortunately you have to buy keys, you can't find them. Lame
However, I'd say that same majority are very against DLC to begin with. More specifically, the microtransaction model that certain publishers roll with ...which ultimately is what's happening here, isn't it?
I'm not poo-pooing on anything here, just kinda thinking out loud and making an observation. Compare this response to EA/Activision doing the same thing (outside of GuitarRockHeroBand).
(also stealth buff to the scottish resistance)
Overall, I really like its layout. You can preview all the times being held/worn by any class that can equip it, and it's a rotatable 3D model, to boot. What-you-see-is-what-you-get, for the win. I only wish that for the items that can be painted different colors, would have been nice to preview the modded color.
Only main drawback I see is the prices. Yes, as noted above, some of the prices are simply outrageous. Any of the "new set" hats, for example, are $17.00. I mean, eff, REAL hats seldom cost that much, and at least block harmful UV rays. These are virtual hats that don't do crap.
But I suppose with the wealth of rabid fans that obsess over in-game hats... Valve has just found a big way to cash in.
In the meantime, for any Soldier players, check out the new item that lets you practice Rocket Jumps. It holds 8 rockets instead of 4, and does zero damage. And it's only 50 cents. I will be picking it up, for sure... and your first purchase comes with a free Mann Co. hat! Win!
Ya don't say.