Gaming Valve: Team Fortress 2 is free forever

The Helper

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Valve has once again turned to Team Fortress 2 as the studio’s outlet for experimentation, this time with a daring move to make the triple-A game entirely free to play.

The Orange Box game has undergone a radical transformation since its 2007 release; with more than 200 updates made to the PC edition. But today’s patch is billed as the most daring yet, with PC and Mac customers given the 'full experience' without ever needing to pay anything at all.

And in an exclusive interview with Develop – now live – Valve’s Robin Walker assured that Team Fortress 2 would only be monetised by microtransaction payments.

No advertising model will be pursued, Walker said. No premium subscription model will be used. No cynical “pay-to-win” options will be implemented, he assured.

Read more about it here.
 

Vellu

Real eyes realize real lies.
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Valve made a bad move, me thinks. I paid for it and now THEY come and play the game free.
Of course they can't access every feature, but that's not enough. I don't like this.
FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDDDDDDDDDDDGGGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
 

Mahucharn

I wear a fez now, fezzes are cool.
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I agree with Vellu, I do think that the people that purchased the game should be given some more benefits than those who did not (maybe like 3-5 free items at the store?). Also, unless you want hats/open supply crates, you do not need to buy anything at the store.
 

Slapshot136

Divide et impera
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well the value of games does diminish over time.. even if you bought it new for $60 4 years ago, by now it's value would be around $10-$15, so the game already lost 80% of it's value.. there's not that much of a difference between $10-15 and free considering the original price was $60, this is just a way to help prolong the life of the game by getting more people to play it
 

Monsterous

In the Shadows, Lurking.
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Im against it.
The problem is hackers and cheaters can run rampant. Even if they do get banned, they can just make a new account, and start it all over again.
But its very nice for Valve to try it.
 

Slapshot136

Divide et impera
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@ Monsterous - I see your point, and this does make it easier on the hackers/etc. but if they got banned, that means that they got detected, and hopefully valve will just automate the process - if you have to create a new account after every game, even if you cheat, it's kinda pointless
 

Bloodcount

Starcraft II Moderator
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Im against it.
The problem is hackers and cheaters can run rampant. Even if they do get banned, they can just make a new account, and start it all over again.
But its very nice for Valve to try it.

Wise words, indeed. Even in starcraft II, which is a rather expensive game, people HACK all the time. There have been 2 waves of bans so far. In wow there are thousands hackers...

Still, who in the right blizzard would hack valve after doing something like that ?
Cheaters on the other hand... perhaps an IP block ?
 

FireCat

Oh Shi.. Don't wake the tiger!
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536
They already explained why they feel it is...
Not really.

Seriously, all of a sudden the game goes free and people think it's gonna be overrun with hackers etc. etc
It's Just a freaking game and everyone gets a chance to play. What's wrong with that?

Btw: There are premium accounts, for anyone who bought the game. lol
http://www.teamfortress.com/freetoplay/faq.php

[Del]Well, Just Imagine a "F2P" World of Warcraft. hehehe [/Del]
 

UndeadDragon

Super Moderator
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You missed the point, FireCat.

People were pissed because they paid for the game and then Valve suddenly decide no one else has to pay and they get it for free. Even with the benefits, it still comes down to that fact.
 

Monsterous

In the Shadows, Lurking.
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99
People were pissed because they paid for the game and then Valve suddenly decide no one else has to pay and they get it for free. Even with the benefits, it still comes down to that fact.

Im perfectly fine with people getting it for free - but the hackers can create a new account if they do get hacked which takes 2-3 minutes, and start all over again.

If Valve deals with the hackers - then awesome!
 

UndeadDragon

Super Moderator
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447
Im perfectly fine with people getting it for free - but the hackers can create a new account if they do get hacked which takes 2-3 minutes, and start all over again.

If Valve deals with the hackers - then awesome!

Yeah, that's a fair point.
 

Sevion

The DIY Ninja
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413
Q. Won’t going Free to Play mean more griefers and cheaters?
We’re increasing our focus on making sure that hostile players can’t ruin your fun. Specifically, we’ll be keeping a close eye on players exploiting the ability to make infinite free accounts to bypass bans. We’ve built systems that’ll allow us to measure and track what these players are doing, and respond quickly.

From that FAQ.
 

Bloodcount

Starcraft II Moderator
Reaction score
297
I got to try it. Man have I been missing out ! It is a pretty fun game, with lots of lol moments, I recommend it to anyone, to try atleast :p
 
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