The Gun Mettle Update is (Actually) Here!

[Fruity Snacks]

From what I've heard, they're still monitoring community feedback.

Maybe I'll poke 'em in a week and see if anythings changed. I hear rumors that there might be an update this week, so might as well wait for that.

 

[YM]

http://stats.tf/item/5809/Gun_Mettle_Campaign_Coin + http://stats.tf/item/5808/Gun_Mettle_Campaign_Pass

vs

http://stats.tf/item/1126/Duck_Journal

(figures are considerable under reported by stats.tf)

 

[EArkham]

I'm hoping they change their mind and do monthly payouts like standard. I'd really love to be able to take a little time off work and do some more TF2 mapping & modeling instead of work projects.

 

[Fruity Snacks]

I'm hoping they change their mind and do monthly payouts like standard. I'd really love to be able to take a little time off work and do some more TF2 mapping & modeling instead of work projects.

If they're going off the CSGO method of doing things, I doubt it :/

 

[Vel0city]

If they're going off the CSGO method of doing things, I doubt it :/

Well, tell them that that's a bad idea then. Everybody I've talked to doesn't want the maps to go and not become official which would indeed be a bad thing. I can guarantee you that if Valve were to remove the 3 custom maps that came with Gun Mettle it would cause a shitstorm larger than the one caused by the Sticky Launcher with the Love and War update, even if new maps were to replace them.

Then again, all signs point the other direction. No achievements on the custom maps (not counting Powerhouse since it was Valve-made), not on "official" official server (and the ones running the Gun Mettle maps now are mostly deserted), no map stamps, you know the deal. Not that I understand why Valve does a complete 180 when it comes to maps going official since nobody complained in the 8 years Valve has been official-izing maps. And yes I get it, map makers weren't getting nearly as much money from their work as hat makers even though they should have, but I don't see how removing the maps from the game (and the revenue stream TF2 makes) fixes that problem, because it doesn't.

Finally, it's also a big fuck you to newer mappers, as maps that were included, like, 5 years ago (Hoodoo, Gullywash, Freight, Frontier, etc) are still making their respective creators money (a small amount or not, it's still making them money with every map stamp sold). Now creators only get their money from Gun Mettle Campaign passes, and those things stop selling in about 3 weeks from now as the Gun Mettle campaign comes to a close.

 

[Fruity Snacks]

On the money thing, without actually knowing what the % share is going to be, it's potentially going to be far more than any other option, both for Valve and us.

 

[MaccyF]

You guys sold Valve your maps before agreeing on the % cut you'd get?
Seriously?

 

[Freyja]

Would you turn it down?

 

[Fruity Snacks]

You guys sold Valve your maps before agreeing on the % cut you'd get?
Seriously?

Under any other contractual situation, you'd be right in implying we're idiots.

In this case, no, this is just how Valve works with these types of things.

 

[MaccyF]

Fair enough, I won't pretend to understand the logic behind their method of doing things, but no, I wouldn't turn it down

 

[Vel0city]

Would you turn it down?

You wouldn't accept a job offer without knowing your salary would you? I would not be comfortable with my map going official without knowing what it pays, especially after the paid mods disaster.

Besides, this whole payment system solely relies on campaigns being made, and at some point we're all going to be tired of the system no matter how many new skins and unusual effects Valve brings in.

 

[Geit]

You wouldn't accept a job offer without knowing your salary would you? I would not be comfortable with my map going official without knowing what it pays, especially after the paid mods disaster.

Besides, this whole payment system solely relies on campaigns being made, and at some point we're all going to be tired of the system no matter how many new skins and unusual effects Valve brings in.

It's better than nothing - even if you didn't get paid more than a peppercorn, you can still put it on your portfolio/resume as having been included in the game. I don't think any of the maps in the game were made explicitly with the intention of Valve buying it (except maybe Mann Manor and Mountain Lab, obviously) it's just an added bonus for most people.

 

[henke37]

Fair enough, I won't pretend to understand the logic behind their method of doing things, but no, I wouldn't turn it down

They don't understand it themselves.

 

[Fruity Snacks]

It's better than nothing - even if you didn't get paid more than a peppercorn, you can still put it on your portfolio/resume as having been included in the game. I don't think any of the maps in the game were made explicitly with the intention of Valve buying it (except maybe Mann Manor and Mountain Lab, obviously) it's just an added bonus for most people.

... snowplow


But at worse, it's a shipped map with an AAA title. Valve is one of those weird, outlier situations where being iffy with the contract is usually the best way to get things done, as that is their method of doing things. On top of that, the Skyrim Mod thing is an example of something that would give me more trust with Valve, as they do NOT want that bad press, again.

 

[EArkham]

You wouldn't accept a job offer without knowing your salary would you? I would not be comfortable with my map going official without knowing what it pays, especially after the paid mods disaster.

For my part, I didn't even think twice about it. I think almost everyone involved with the new maps has had content accepted by Valve in the past and know how their payment system works, so I'd be surprised if anyone even considered saying no.

Besides, this whole payment system solely relies on campaigns being made, and at some point we're all going to be tired of the system no matter how many new skins and unusual effects Valve brings in.

This is an issue which will have to be figured out eventually, true. CSGO appears to be continually running new campaigns -- I loaded it up the other day and noticed a bunch of new maps I'd never played before. It must be at least successful enough to continue doing it for the CSGO audience.

I feel like putting more control of the campaign's peripherial content -- stuff like skins and unusual effects -- into the hands of the community creators would actually help a lot towards keeping things fresh. Outside of weapons (which the community doesn't have a whole lot of control over for obvious reasons), there's a lot of room for possibility here. The idea of themed campaigns with matching maps and cosmetics thrills me to no end.

And there's so much more than can be done with the missions, too. Rare, more difficult missions, different rewards, etc. There were a ton of ideas in the brainstorming thread about map makers earning more. Imagine if some of those ideas were implemented, only as part of a campaign -- for example, complete a mission and get a map-specific crate with thematically appropriate content inside.

You know, we also don't know if a campaign extension is a possibility. At least one of the CGSO campaigns was extended.

 

[YM]

I feel like putting more control of the campaign's peripherial content -- stuff like skins and unusual effects -- into the hands of the community creators would actually help a lot towards keeping things fresh. Outside of weapons (which the community doesn't have a whole lot of control over for obvious reasons), there's a lot of room for possibility here. The idea of themed campaigns with matching maps and cosmetics thrills me to no end.

If any of us were to actually assemble skins, a list of missions, some maps that work well together etc I bet Valve would be all over community made campaigns.

 

[Fruity Snacks]

If any of us were to actually assemble skins, a list of missions, some maps that work well together etc I bet Valve would be all over community made campaigns.

I had a list of missions I was writing up for a proposal a few months ago. Skins wouldn't be too hard to make.

 

[EArkham]

People on facepunch have been dabbling with skins. Atm it involves replacing one of the existing ones, but it doesn't look complicated at all. Basically just a texture.

Do we have any ideas on Valve's thoughts on custom gamemodes?

Obviously I'm a little biased, but the first thing that pops into my head re: making a campaign would be a "Winter Storm" package including pl_snowycoast (my map, hur hur hur) + cp_stoneyridge + koth_arctic and then either ctf_haarp or ctf_frosty depending on whether custom gamemodes are realistic.

Then of course there's whatever is happening for Mercs vs Aliens content and associated maps.

I'm definitely going to write up some ideas, and I'm more than happy to get involved and contribute content to other folks' campaign ideas as well.

 

[Fruity Snacks]

I had an idea for an australian one with Rust, Uplands and Keikoku.

Themeing is there, just got to put 'em all together.

 

[YM]

Valve are ok with custom gamemodes as long as they're understandable and fun. Haarp falls into that category definitely, do the other maps you listed have twists on their gamemodes?

Biggest problem with haarp imho is that it isn't visually up to standard. nearly, but not quite.