TF2 Community Contributions Pass $10m Milestone

[Omnomnick]

Valve are reporting on the Team Fortress website that the game's community contribution service has recently passed a major milestone. According to a blog post announcement, over ten million dollars have been paid out to over 400 contributors and partners, with $250,000 of that total already paid out to the contributors of the recently released "Robotic Boogaloo" update, which was entirely community created.

Over $10m has been paid out to item creators who have submitted items via the Steam Workshop.​

To celebrate this milestone, Valve have released a major update to the item submission tool, which now automatically tests submitted creations against a set of pre-defined standards in order to identify how game-ready the item is, and how the creator can improve it. A new "gold star" system has also been implemented to identify when items submitted through the new tool have been vetted. Valve concluded the blog post with a link to the updated Team Fortress 2 Workshop FAQ, which now features information about the submission system and the gold star tagging function. If you've ever wanted to create or submit your very own hat for Team Fortress 2, be sure to head on over to the Steam Workshop to find out more!

 

[trunk_slamchest]

"We are changing the world...One trade at a time."

 

[Stormy]

people still play tf2?

It got shit as soon as they started adding to much shit

 

[ríomhaire]

Stormy it's still the second most played game on Steam. 57,648 players right now.

 

[Omnomnick]

people still play tf2?

It got shit as soon as they started adding to much shit

The core gameplay has barely changed, if at all. The game mechanics function pretty much the way they always have, except for the introduction of a few more mechanics over the years, including bleeding, blowback and a few other minor introductions which have only served to increase the gameplay's depth, not ruin it.

Look past the Free to Play model and all the hats, the game is still as golden as it was when they first released it - it just has over 50 maps and a bunch more gamemodes now.

 

[trunk_slamchest]

The core gameplay has barely changed, if at all. The game mechanics function pretty much the way they always have, except for the introduction of a few more mechanics over the years, including bleeding, blowback and a few other minor introductions which have only served to increase the gameplay's depth, not ruin it.

Look past the Free to Play model and all the hats, the game is still as golden as it was when they first released it - it just has over 50 maps and a bunch more gamemodes now.

TF2 is valve's Test Tube Baby.

nick is right. the core of TF2 has never chanced. TF2 might be one of the few games out on the market that does not seem to age or grow old with time. the MVM update was huge and only opens the door for expansion and opportunity. and even the MVM gamemode never changed the core of TF2. it only expanded upon it.

even when they added the cow mangler and righteous bison (arguably the worst weapons in the game) the entire community was in an uproar. people called for a boycott until valve removed the weapons. but people didnt stop playing or trading.

the game is much more dynamic than its ever been, and if you hate all the new weapons being added to the game, you can play in a vanilla server that restricts players to stock weapons.

TF2 is a stones throw away from an RPG at this point and can be played as such.

riomhare is also right, as TF2 still averages ~60,000 concurrent players per day. the only game that out does TF2 in terms of daily player base is DOTA2 which averages ~250,000 players a day. there is a new competitive play lobby system in the works for TF2 that mirrors DOTA2 and LoL's lobby system where you can ban weapons.

albeit valve adds alot of new content that might alienate players that dont like complexity, they also give you the option to play without all the new content that might otherwise turn people away.

 

[kineaesth]

I was thinking the other day that part of the reason a lot of people don't really like TF2 any more is that they don't know what the **** is going on most of the time. The number of weapons and combinations of weapons has changed the abilities of the classes to the point where an encounter with any other class is no longer reasonable. If you haven't played TF2 for a few months and decide to jump back in - sure you might not know a map, but if you, as a soldier, encounter a demoman at the end of a corridor, you implement your standard tactic for dealing with demomen in a straight section of map, and suddenly he sprints around the corner with a huge sword and decapitates you in a single stroke, you're going to be pissed. If you see a medic at a great distance and you assume that you're reasonably safe until you take a crossbow bolt through the head, you're probably annoyed as well. A triple jumping scout defies our expectations of the ability of that class, and then he hits balls at you which make you bleed out. A pyro suddenly ubers himself and gains nonstop crits.

Valve has often discussed the emphasis on silhouette in TF2 as an indicator over colour or other appearance, which is really neat. Visual clutter reduces this, and if in the few seconds you are unsure of what enemy class is approaching the enemy uses some ability you have no idea about, that sucks. I think that people don't have as much of a problem with items and collectible things as they do with dilution of the play-ability and coherence of the game.

 

[Omnomnick]

Lengthy discussion.

While I know what you're saying, and I understand Valve's original design concept giving each class a single distinctive role, I also feel like you're overreacting in regards to how negative you're perceiving a lot of these changes to be. All of the new weapon/ability combinations have only managed to deepen the mechanics and allow for a player to shift between multiple different play styles for a certain class, even though their primary gameplay role is almost the same as it was back in 2007.

The Wrangler for the Engineer, for example, maintains the character's core mechanic of being a slow, static and low-damage output builder who is an extremely useful asset for building the foundation of a team, while also providing players with the possibility of becoming an offensive/pushing Engineer more easily than was ever available prior.

The Demoman and his many melee/charge combinations also help to maintain his original core mechanic as a high damage output nuker, while providing him with more mobility and melee damage, at the expense of much of his explosive/AOE forward firepower. This build also supports the "offensive alternative build" concept I mentioned in the previous paragraph, as it allows a Demoman to drop one common strategy for another without totally ruining what the character was designed to be.

The Kritzkrieg is probably the earliest example of this, as the increased Ubercharge rate and the guaranteed critical hit charge helps to make the Medic a more faster paced and offensive experience, providing him with a lot more effectiveness in shorter bursts, while making him generally weaker to damage sources, due to the lack of invulnerability. These changes, while they appear significant on the surface, are totally acceptable from a gameplay perspective as they maintain his role as a largely defensive support/healing class while allowing for individual playstyles and unique strategies.

Identifying which strategies and dangers you need to watch out for is actually relatively simple, especially when you consider the same applies in Dota 2, yet at a much more crucial and in-depth level.

 

[JossiRossi]

I see it as this, before you could easily tell at a glance what kind of threat you are being presented with. Now, that is impossible. It's less about skill and more about what you have. I don't really feel that the original loadouts are balanced compared to loadouts using new gear.

I liked the simple style and while there are Vanilla servers, the appeal for me just dropped.

That's not to say old TF2 is better than new TF2. I just personally preferred the old and I don't want to download literal gigs of content I would never intend to use.

 

[Omnomnick]

I see it as this, before you could easily tell at a glance what kind of threat you are being presented with. Now, that is impossible. It's less about skill and more about what you have. I don't really feel that the original loadouts are balanced compared to loadouts using new gear.

I totally disagree, while you could definitely identify a class-based threat early in the game's life cycle, I honest think the same is possible today, it just requires a more broad understanding of the game and it's new expanded mechanics.

 

[JossiRossi]

When you look at a spy, can you instantly tell what kind of cloaking abilities he'll have?

Nope.

In the past you could tell how it worked, now maybe he's got auto-cloak on damage, or maybe it's vanilla, or maybe it's who knows what else has been added or changed. You simply can not claim to know mostly what you are up against anymore.

You can react once you know through constantly learning and observation of the ever increasing changes to functionalities or appearances, but you can't adequately plan for a threat you very well may know nothing about.

 

[Omnomnick]

When you look at a spy, can you instantly tell what kind of cloaking abilities he'll have?

Nope.

Not at face value, no, but any perceptive player familiar with the game's mechanics can tell pretty quickly, considering Valve deliberately added in clear visual and audio indicators for items like the Dead Ringer.

 

[kineaesth]

I was thinking the other day that part of the reason a lot of people don't really like TF2 any more is that they don't know what the **** is going on most of the time.