Why do people give TF2 a free pass in all these microtransaction scandals when they popularized the whole "loot crate...

Why do people give TF2 a free pass in all these microtransaction scandals when they popularized the whole "loot crate for legendary" model with unusual hats in crates?

I have 700 hours in this game and never opened any loot box. I still got all weapons I wanted

Name a hat that gives you a gameplay advantage.

Unusuals:
The good:
+75% chance of medics sucking your dick
+25% fear from f2p players
The bad:
+40% chance of getting targeted by enemy players
+35% more visibility for enemy snipers

People shit on cosmetic microtransactions too, though. I'm not talking about Battlefront 2 tier shit, I'm talking about Overwatch-tier shit.

it was a good game at one point

though what's really distressing is people who think it's a f2p game despite the free player inventory being like 50 spaces and there being 100+ weapons

I thin overwatch would be a bad game with or without loot boxes.

Because you can skip them entirely and just buy everything you want from the marketplace for like 1/10 of it's real price.

TF2 is a free to play game right now. Not a $60 game that they slashed most of the content out of to try to sell you everything twice.
How long has TF2 been ftp, and what was it's original price?

>How long has TF2 been ftp, and what was it's original price?
TF2 was originally $20 standalone in 2007 and only became free in 2011. It had microtransactions added in September 2010

TF2's system is just so overly convoluted/impenetrable that even plebs like Chungus Humungous can't figure it out in order to criticise it.

From the point of view of a huge TF2 unboxer, and even as someone who has created several cosmetic that are actually in team fortress 2 and dota2, TF2's crate system is without a doubt just as insidious as any of the other lootbox factories. if not worse.

I have no idea why Overwatch is considered the game that 'popularised' the loot box, because it wasn't. It was Team fortress 2. A game that even traded in a beautiful artistic aesthetic for ungodly particle effect abominations. Valve popularised loot box's, and built a real money market around cosmetics.

Maybe it's forgiven because they share the money with 'the community', but let me tell you, that has it's insidious tale too.

The argument against lootcrates seems to be that it lures in gamblers though, and this is something that TF2 does just the same if not worse.

You can win considerable amounts of real money via unusuals/certain rares in Team Fortress, something you basically have to put some kind of investment in to get for yourself.

It's "wow, i got a hat i can show off that nobody will give a single wavering shit about!" vs "wow, i got a hat that I can trade in for HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS!"

which is more gambling?

I bought my copy of orange box.
No regrets.

>+25% fear from f2p players

I don't fear unusual owners but I do factor it into my mental calculation of how I'm going to deal with them. If the guy cares enough to wear a special hat he usually means business.

I don't know. I quit playing when they introduced Mann co.

You can trade in tf2 or straight up the item you want from the community market . In overwatch/bf2 you can't trade and is forced to suck the corporation's dick for the cosmetic you want.

Overall, Valve, via Steam Marketplace, balanced out the loot system with counterweights. The Drop system can give you items just as much as a crates. If you do not want crates or items you can trade them with other players for items you DO want. Or go to The Marketplace and sell your items/crates for money and in turn straight up purchase what you do want.
As far as I know, no one else (not Overwatch, not SW:BF2) has similar Trade/Sell system. You got a crate, your struck with the crate. Do buy the keys to unlock the crate and get items; your stuck with those items.

>makes it so you can't own your games, even if its a "physical" copy since it is just a Steam code
>popularizes DLC, micro transactions, early access (paying to test a game for devs when devs used to have to pay people to their games), and games being released unfinished/buggy to the point of being unplayable
>even says how bad it was that devs used to have to release their games playable at the very least pre-digital distribution since they couldn't just send a patch through some "service"
>even advocated to release games unfinished in that same interview
>still gets a pass from Valve cock sucking fanboys

valve fanboys are dead user

An adult can decide wether or not they want to gamble, people are allowed to make choices you dislike.

And if children convince their parents that it's a "video game thing" or blow the steam wallet card they got as a gift?

The issue is that it isn't treated as gambling.