Team Fortress 2 was always and still is on my top 10 list and my opinion of the game shifted dramatically after seeing so many updates and memes showing up to demonstrate how much has changed after I took a long break from it
I remember purchasing the Orange Box back in 2008. It was the year when many games and promotions were released. I got the game in a bundle with Portal 2 and Half-Life 2 which was an exclusive deal. Steam most likely calmly hit me with more than 400 hours of gameplay on my old account I remember those golden days, and I’m looking forward to the next updates, which will bring some new items for each class. Hats were scarce, maps were few (but epic), and player skill was more important. The classes themselves appeared to be balanced, and mastering their mechanics made you a battlefield god. Unfortunately, that all changed with the addition of the Mann Co. store to the game. Everything you earned by chance can now be purchased for cash. And I could understand if the cost was minimal. However, some packages went up to 50 euros, and they sold like hotcakes. Valve quickly followed suit, transforming Team Fortress 2 into what it is today.
The shop itself wasn’t bad. I interpreted the introduction as “Get-Your-Favourite-Hat/Weapon/Cosmetic Immediately”. It was a foreshadowing of what was to come, which, in my opinion, is Valve’s worst move for those who have already played a lot of TF. I’m talking about making the game free to play. At that moment, the community I had previously known died. I’ve always associated it with a lot of interesting pictures and, above all, funny videos. Later, such acquaintances were impossible to make because the community was overrun with children, resulting in asexuality and boredom. New items began to appear, completely altering the look of the game and trade within the game. Although I thought that changing my payment method would help rather than break the game, I quickly uninstalled the game.
The present however frightened me. It was difficult not to grab my head when my friend started some random server and showed me what was going on on it. There’s a lot of trinkets, costumes, and strange weapons everywhere. There are even some spells available to you. Character models do not resemble their originals at all, owing to the plethora of fancy things that can be applied to them. The gameplay is nothing like what I used to enjoy so much. A complete lack of tactical space, a brief respite. The essence has vanished. I was also taken with the shop, which had a set of items for classes worth nearly 200 euros. And people can buy it without hesitation! I sincerely condemn Valve’s handling of Team Fortress 2. A beautiful game designed for multiplayer games devolved into some strange moneyfest, i.e. showing others who squandered how much money. I’m not even sure if skills still matter here, or if there’s anything else here besides money. If the F2P market looks like TF2 recently, I’ll be grateful for such a “future of the industry”. All that remains for me to do is sell the items in my inventory and flee the sinking ship.