Hats/Idling

[Plinko]

[quote="MasterChef";p="192660"]
I don't see how people can be so upset about this. Every other time people have used an outside program to get items Valve has smacked their hand and took things away. It was bound to happen with this too.
[/quote]

The other people in those cases hacked their achievements to make it look as if they achieved them and as, a result, get the items. That is worlds different than connecting to a Steam TF2 server via a Mod and receiving exactly the same drop odds you would by connecting to a server and also not doing anything.
It's not as if people using the idle program could get more chances or connect to multiple servers or get different odds. Functionally, they were identical actions. Further - Valve apparently found the idle program writer so vile that they're helping him with his website on item statistics.

People who connect to achievement_idle servers were doing exactly the same thing in my mind and have no high ground to stand on.
Either idling was evil or it wasn't - saying one method was good and another evil is hypocritical.

I think it was foolish of Valve to handle things this way, they had better choices but it's ultimately harmless. The individuals choosing to get their dander up because they feel righteous are bugging me far more.

[TheCarpe]

[quote="John Doe";p="192659"]The final word is simple really, its only a game, lets play and have fun ![/quote]

[bullet4o1]

I lost my Grenadier hat. Oh well. I don't play Demo anyways.

[Masakari]

Today was a good day to have a casual conversation at work about Dr. Seuss. Why?

[flash width=425 height=344]http://www.youtube.com/v/Ln3V0HgW4eM&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]
A little too on the nose, isn't it? Dr. Seuss is a genius.

[Bronze Fox]

I still have the classic old book. It's a little worn-out.

[BigBiker05]

4.5% of the player base were affected. I don't like about 35% of the player base. Now is that 4.5% part of the 35%? I don't know.

[Guardian]

[quote="Masakari";p="192704"]Today was a good day to have a casual conversation at work about Dr. Seuss. Why?

[flash width=425 height=344]http://www.youtube.com/v/Ln3V0HgW4eM&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]
A little too on the nose, isn't it? Dr. Seuss is a genius.[/quote]

Nice one Masakari.

This whole thing is a nice social experiment.

[chaffe[seagreens]]

i was playing yesterday.. before i went into a server i checked to see if I had the halo...which I did... Then while i was playing it told me that I had found a new hat.. the halo. so do I have 2 now? it is now in my breifcase and before it wasn't... So I could possibly have a halo for someone who "cheated" once the trade system happens. has anyone else found a halo?

[NoodgeVader]

[quote="Masakari";p="192704"]Today was a good day to have a casual conversation at work about Dr. Seuss. Why?

[flash width=425 height=344]http://www.youtube.com/v/Ln3V0HgW4eM&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]
A little too on the nose, isn't it? Dr. Seuss is a genius.[/quote]
Classic Masa.

[Torven]

[quote="chaffe[seagreens]";p="192788"]i was playing yesterday.. before i went into a server i checked to see if I had the halo...which I did... Then while i was playing it told me that I had found a new hat.. the halo. so do I have 2 now? it is now in my breifcase and before it wasn't... So I could possibly have a halo for someone who "cheated" once the trade system happens. has anyone else found a halo?[/quote]

You only get one. The halo was in your inventory the moment Valve added it. It was not, however, in your backpack until you logged into game. So you were able to equip the halo from the character setup screen, even though it was not yet showing in your backpack.

[mr_s]

[quote="TheCarpe";p="192683"]
[quote="John Doe";p="192659"]The final word is simple really, its only a game, lets play and have fun ![/quote]
[/quote]

[black_and_blue]

I never used either idle servers or the idle program, and therefore I never got a hat until the halo came out. I say this not to say that I am superior to anyone who did, but more to remove the argument of “Oh, he's just annoyed at Valve because he lost his hats”.

I cannot honesty say that I would not have used one of these two idle methods if the hats did anything other than make your head look ugly. I was very, VERY much guilty of using achievement farming servers before they switched to item drops. I would even claim that what I did was no worse than many people who got the achievements in-game. Why? Because getting achievements in game by any means other than shear coincidence hurts your own team.

If you try to get 10,000 healing as a medic in a single life, you will not take the risks necessary to save the Heavy's life who is down to 20 Hps. Ubering a scout is nearly always a waste of an uber that your team needed. And as for giving freezecams of you taunting...

I admit that later achievement packs did make it possible to get most of the achievements playing the game as normal, but still today you find people hurting their own team by trying to get achievements in a normal game.

Guaranteed that 4.5% would have been much, much higher if the hats did anything.

Valve could have solved this problem without making anybody annoyed by doing one of these two things:
1. Completely remove the hats from the game. They're useless anyway.
2. Give all the hats to everyone. This completely removes the incentive to idle.

Since the original medic update was released a year and a half ago (or was it just half a year ago), I have always been very annoyed that valve would give items to some players but not others. If valve wants to release new content, fine. But give it to everyone all the time.

If you only give a new item to some players, those without will become annoyed even if the item does nothing (I am pissed off at valve that I don't have the soldier's medal). If the item does something useful, it will annoy the players without even worse.

If people are annoyed at not having the item, of course they will do what it takes to get it in the easiest way possible.

OK, my rant about bad Valve is over...for now...

[Cpt._Keyes]

[quote="Plinko";p="192678"]
People who connect to achievement_idle servers were doing exactly the same thing in my mind and have no high ground to stand on.
Either idling was evil or it wasn't - saying one method was good and another evil is hypocritical.
[/quote]

they can police one easier than the other...its not that they say one is right and the other isnt...its just practicality in policing and the hope of deterrent in the harder one.

Its done in enforcement all the time...get the easiest conviction to get some people off the street, then that will scare SOME of the others to stop doing what they are doing, and it gives them a little more time to find a counter for the harder ones. Its not a case of you can do this but not the other...just logistics

[The Spanish Inquisition]

How long are these halos going to be forced upon us? I didn't see a way to turn it off.

[Bronze Fox]

Kala, I was about to post that!
Well, I guess only 5% really idled.
I feel rare now!