Last week, with next to no prior hype Valve launched the latest update to Team Fortress 2, with 5 class updates produced by modellers from the Polycount forums and a long promised feature permitting the trading of items. The biggest surprise however, was a feature never, to my knowledge, even alluded to, the Mann co. Store, allowing players to spend real-world money so that they can put a saucepan on their Soldier’s head.
The thing I keep having to remember is that the store items with non-cosmetic gameplay value, namely weapons, are still obtainable for free via random drop and crafting, and indeed are more accessible thanks to the trading option, nothing has been taken from me. Some rices seem a little steep for virtual items, such as the rarer hats (especially new ones that are components of the Polycount set, at £12 each) but again, no obligation. And of course, you can get all the Polycount content for £30, cheaper than buying three of the hats stand-alone. So that’s a “saving”, though still more expensive than the game itself, but I did find myself feeling tempted to take the shortcut and get to try the new content right away.
But there is something I regard as, dare I say, insidious. A new, fairly common random drop comes in the form of a Supply Crate, which may contain a rare paint or hat, a real potential badge of status or something that can be trades for another desirable item. Or it may be a weapon you already have in duplicate. But to find out what’s inside, you need a key. A key that can only be obtained for £2 at the store. Hmm.
So I end up with two crates in short order, and there they are in my inventory, saying “I might have a Sombrero for your Pyro” “Don’t you want to paint something black?”. I caved to curiosity, bought the keys, and got a Wrangler and Scottish Resistance, that I recall struggling to get back when their updates first came out, but nearly worthless to me now. I felt sick, these weapons weren’t even worth £2 each from the store. I know this was the chance I took, but is this a feeling Valve should want to be giving it’s players?
Lesson learned, though, I’m not going to stop playing TF2, it is still one of my favourite, most enduringly appealing games, so it really looks like Valve wins, though I can’t help feeling I was monetarily punished. Time to move on and get hold of the new loadout sets, which seem to have interesting properties. The Scout set’s +25 heath seems worryingly good, whilst the Pyro’s full set seems to lack synergy and for some reason is the only one with a drawback of a +10% extra vulnerability to bullets. The Sniper set seems to be aimed at preventing the Snipers of both sides entering a long-range duel separate from the rest of the match (as so often seen over 2Fort) by preventing them from delivering or receiving headshots, whilst the Spy’s identity-stealing set opens up a distinctive new play-style to the class, disguising as his last victim but unable to do so before hand. This is all speculative for now, but looking forward to trying them out for myself. Someday.
Have a little post-Eurogamer, er- post on the way, once I’ve had a day to digest it all.
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