Steve, the maps in CS:GO are released in Operations, with the most recent being Operation Vanguard. Anyone can play the maps whenever they want for free, both casually and in competitive matchmaking. Those who choose to can buy "Mission Passes" which allow for the owner to complete different missions every day (ex: get x ammount of kills on this map/ gamemode). By completing a mission, the owner of the pass is rewarded with a weapon skin, and with some of the weapon skins being extremely valuable (think $300 plus) many, many people purchase Mission Passes. The funds from the Mssion Passes go to the creators of the maps chosen to be part of the Operation. You will also recieve a virtual token which you can display on your profile, ranked Bronze, Silver, and Gold depending on how many missions you have completed. It is a very good system.
Does the money go towards paying the map developers to make the maps official or are they still just community maps?
I want to make the point that we ourselves can't forget our role as a community of people that both love TF2 and have some influence over the community, especially with some members' ties to competitive. Even if new policy isn't accepted by Valve and put into the game officially, that still doesn't mean a new map-featuring system can't survive and thrive outside of Valve's domain. Let me explain with an example:
The TF2Maps community compiles a list of noteworthy, completed, custom maps monthly. Servers sign up to feature these maps, say, every Friday. Personally, I value the server as a place that many less-experienced players (as well as veterans) may know about and 'favorite' in their server search. I feel as if many players would be willing to try custom maps if a) file sizes are low and b) they can get into a nearly-full server playing the map.
I am beginning to think that the TF2 community is starting to debase the value it has in sheer numbers. Many people seem to think that "TF2 is dying" yet still continue to play (and spread) the game. I think that if, with a few big moves from a couple of big players in the game (popular YouTubers, server owners, even [and especially] Valve), we can brush the dirt off our shoulder and show dose COD fanboys wut tf2 b aboat!
Also, please shut me up if I begin to rant on this thread. I think I deserve to know that I've said enough on the issue, so just tell me when.
I like that idea but the biggest problem is that thanks to Valve's Quickplay policies there are fewer and fewer good community run servers, much less ones that run community maps. It would probably be difficult to find too many community server operators to run something like this.