The Second Annual Manniversary Sale is on NOW!

[tf2.com]

Since 99.9999% of you probably read that title and went directly to the Mann Co. Store, we assume we're now speaking to the three of you who don't believe in reading titles. And now that we've restated the importance of reading the title, we assume those three are gone too. We're essentially talking to ourselves right now, but Valve has a minimum word count for all blog posts that we haven't quite reached yet. Did we mention that items will be anywhere from 25% to 75% off? Well, we have now. Also, the minimum word count is 100 words. Bam!




Source: TF2.com

 

[fubarFX]

last manniversary had a community map. where are the community maps valve?

 

[tyler]

i cry ever tim

 

[Yacan1]

last manniversary had a community map. where are the community maps valve?

Judging by the quality of this manniversary it'll probably be This

 

[Sel]

last manniversary had a community map. where are the community maps valve?

In development probably. There haven't exactly been any bombshell completed maps lately.

 

[tyler]

In development probably. There haven't exactly been any bombshell completed maps lately.

This is partially your fault

 

[Sel]

This is partially your fault

50% my fault

50% your fault

 

[grazr]

Still waiting on an update that isn't F2P focused. Like maybe a map so veteran players don't get bored.

I'm not sure any veteran TF2 player will be interested in this sale unless he hasn't gotten the only weapon in the game that counts for anything. The Black Box.

 

[Micnax]

I'm actually getting extremely annoyed at how many people are buying and using those stupid discounted wedding rings just to get a message across the game, I'm getting like 3 messages every 5 mins.

 

[Bloodhound]

Still waiting on an update that isn't F2P focused.

HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA, best joke 2012.
I wait for it since the Mann Co. Update (although the game wasn't f2p at this date).

However, veteran players don't buy something in the store,
so why should they support them?

How much have you paid for the game? $30 on release?
A good f2p idiot pays this in one month, so he's much more important, sorry grazr.

 

[Sel]

How much have you paid for the game? $30 on release?
A good f2p idiot pays this in one month, so he much more important, sorry grazr.

best post of 2012

capitalism ruins everything

 

[phi]

I just don't understand why people are so eager to buy those damned $50 rings so much.
I would ask what people see in these but then I realized that this is the TF2 community we're talking about here

 

[PHISH]

more power to them, they're supporting continued development on the game

 

[Sel]

more power to them, they're supporting continued development on the game

If the last 3 years have been any indication, I really wish people would stop supporting continued development of the game.

 

[Pocket]

best post of 2012

capitalism ruins everything

I fail to see how socialism would fix this particular problem.

Or are you saying you favor a shift to some sort of non-money-based economy like the one Cory Doctorow envisioned?

 

[Sel]

Or are you saying you favor a shift to some sort of non-money-based economy like the one Cory Doctorow envisioned?

ding ding ding

well, any economy where greed isn't the central motivator for every action but ya

 

[grazr]

HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA, best joke 2012.
I wait for it since the Mann Co. Update (although the game wasn't f2p at this date).

However, veteran players don't buy something in the store,
so why should they support them?

How much have you paid for the game? $30 on release?
A good f2p idiot pays this in one month, so he's much more important, sorry grazr.

There are a couple issues with this. Firstly, an F2P player probably doesn't even realise he's supporting the game. His weak mind is just programmed into buying shit.

Secondly. It would appear then that Valve have finally moved to the other side of the business industry (If you want to think of it in political terms, far left to far right) in regards to believing more money = success. One of the reasons i loved Valve was for their constant methodical quality control.

But i guess if you have a dying 4 year old game that's gone F2P you can do what ever the fuck you want with it and if it makes money, great. I guess it's my mistake to believe that Valve wants to support the mapping community more when is all they want are promotional weapon models and hats. Plus i havn't even mentioned how they treat the level designers during the class updates.

I guess i'm just sour over it because Valve made certain promises and as far as i can tell those promises havn't been kept.

 

[Bloodhound]

I'm pretty sure, that you already know this:
http://www.valvesoftware.com/publications/2012/TF2_Orange_Box_To_Free_To_Play_GDC2012.pdf
And as I understood it, it was the target to go F2P since 2008 or such.

F2P was the worst thing Valve has done to me (personally) and I think to the whole old community.
My theory still is, that if you buy a game for ~$30.
You really want this game, and want to build a passion for it.
But if a game is free, you're just playing it.
Like the F2Players, that play the game, but aren't really involved in it, if you know what I mean.

___

I don't really see a problem in releasing new maps for a game.
If I don't like a map, I can simply go on another server, where another map is played.

But you can't avoid the new weapons and stuff.

And this is exactly, why I don't understand Valve.
Why are they supporting the model community so much, but not the map community?
It's much more difficult, to make a good playing map, then to make a good looking model.

 

[EArkham]

It's much more difficult, to make a good playing map, then to make a good looking model.

It's also more time consuming to QC, review, and balance a map. And if the map has custom content, it's also going to be a much larger addition to the game as far as file size goes.

Adding a hat is a simple as approving the look. Adding a map requires months of testing, probably more than any single weapon.

 

[Fruity Snacks]

...It's much more difficult, to make a good playing map, then to make a good looking model.

I think you answered your own question right there.

Models can be conceptualized, built and finished in less than a day. Maps, cannot. The general "skill" level needed to make maps is much higher than that needed for models.

For models, you need to learn the interface of the program(s), optimization techniques, and artstyle.

For maps, you need all that + an understanding of level design theory + an understanding of the classes standard roles + game theory + time + more time + testing/feedback.

Maps are just generally harder to make (Note: I'm not saying it's harder to get into mapping). There are just not many good mapping communities anymore as there was years ago. Communities who would take community maps, test them and provide feedback. Nor, is there any clear-cut "This is how you do it" tutorials for TF2 design or the Source SDK, or at least it's not all in a single places that people can reference.Also, a lot of the resources out there are outdated or provide information that is either promoting sloppy building or is just straight out incorrect.