Idling
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| “ | Thanks fer standin' still, wanka.
Click to listen
— The Sniper on Idling
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” |
Idling in Team Fortress 2 refers to joining or creating a server, without the intention of playing, for the purposes of earning items through the game's item drop system. The item drop system is structured to award items (such as weapons or hats) to players based on their weekly playtime; thus the direct intention of idling is to increase this figure and the chances of earning further items by remaining idle in a server.
Valve's changes to the item drop system in April 2010 has largely reduced the effectiveness of idling through the introduction of a 'weekly item cap'.
Contents
History
Rise of idling and third-party programs
Many players were of the belief that the item drop system was unfair, arguing that the amount of regular playtime needed to receive items was not favourable to all. Many players sought ways to boost their hours through several means (see below). The earliest method involved simply launching the game, joining a server, and minimising the game to the background; the player remained 'idle' in the server, however, still increased players' playtime and increased their amount of dropped items.
The inconvenience of running the game in the background persistently in order to earn items lead to the creation of third-party programs. The first program, 'SteamStats', was created by Drunken F00l, who also created the first backpack examiner at tf2items.com. The program mimicked the game's engine and connected users to servers hosted by F00l. Intended originally as a method of research into the drop system by F00l, the program quickly gained popularity, providing statistics and notifications to users upon receiving an item. As idling previously required the user to load the game and run in the background, SteamStats appealed to many players as an ideal way to earn items efficiently and without the need to play for large amounts of hours nor the drain on system resources or power.
Valve ban
On September 2, 2009 blog post, Valve took a 'zero tolerance' stance against the use of external applications to "manipulate" the item system, removing all items earned through these applications to date.[1] The announcement stated that around 4.5% of active players would have been affected. All players who had not used external applications were awarded with the Cheater's Lament, an all-class hat that appeared as a golden halo. The drop rate for all existing hats was also increased.
The announcement sparked outcry within the community. In light of the ban, Drunken F00l, also took down download links to his program and stopped hosting idling servers.
Changes to the system
On April 20, 2010, Valve altered the drop system significantly to address its issues. The system now 'rolls' to determine when a player's next drop would occur, as opposed to the previous method of rolling to determine if a drop would occur at all. The changes also included an increased the frequency of item drops and introduced a weekly item cap.
The cap prevents items from dropping to players who have more than a certain amount of playtime per week, overall reducing greatly the effectiveness of idling. Although Valve has not released any specifics, the amount of items a player can earn in a week is estimated to be around 8-12 items.
Recent times
The release of the Mann-Conomy Update saw the dropping of the Cheater's Lament to a large amount of players, including those who had previously used external applications. There is much speculation surrounding its release, however, there has been no confirmation or announcement relating to the item from Valve at all.
Methods
In-game
Opening the game, entering a server, then minimising the game to the background was an early method of idling. Servers solely set up to hold idling players are common, however, players can also idle in their own listen server (accessed through "Create a server" in the main menu), provided that they can maintain a connection to Steam.
An alternate method of in-game idling makes use of the developer launch parameter -textmode, which loads the game in a Template:W-like window.
External applications
'SteamStats', written by Drunken F00l, was one of the earliest third-party idling applications. The program mimicked the game's engine and connected players to idling servers (see above). As of September 2, 2009, players who use it or any other third-party external program will result in the loss of all their items.
See also
External links
- TF2 Official Blog- Incoming! – September 2, 2010 blog post by Erik Johnson, announcing the ban on external applications.
- TF2 Official Blog- Thanks for standin still, wanker. – April 20, 2010 blog post by Erik Johnson detailing the changes to the item drop system.
