The game might be free but the servers the game runs on are not.

Sure valve has a couple of official dedicated servers but the huge majority of TF2 servers are run by private people or big communities renting servers. And because they pay for these servers they can decide who they want to let play and who don't.

It's similiar to householder's rights and i'm confused that so many people are suprised about this. This has been a pretty normal thing to do in multiplayer FPS gaming. Heck there are servermods out there that will auto-kick you when you are connecting from the wrong country... You rent a server you can play god on that server, easy as that and more often then not one of the biggest reasons to actually rent a server.

People can do whatever they want with their servers, run low gravity mods or all kinds of other bullshit. But imho they should allways properly tag their server as one with custom rules/maps/mods to prevent people from wasting their time.

Honestly I think their should be some kinda filtering for the free2play players, if only to keep them from getting killed repeatedly and quitting.  I bought the game originally as part of the orange box and played a bit, then took some time off it for a while.  When I tired to play it again later, with all the new stuff including many one hit kill weapons, I died instantly and figured I should just give up on it since I didn't feel like grinding away to try and catch up.  Spare those free2play kids for a while until they can compete.

Isn't discrimination cute?

Didn't Valve immediately say they had a system in place to make sure cheating wouldn't be a problem?

thumbs up for this

@BlazeHedgehog said:

Didn't Valve immediately say they had a system in place to make sure cheating wouldn't be a problem?

Well surely they couldn't possible be promising something they can't deliver.

I don't like playing with free to play people really to be honest.

@BlazeHedgehog said:

Didn't Valve immediately say they had a system in place to make sure cheating wouldn't be a problem?

Well surely they couldn't possible be promising something they can't deliver.

I'd like a 'no-pay' filter that kicks anyone who bought a trinket from the store. I'm fairly tired of the hordes of doof-hat wearing imbeciles who want to trade and flaunt their crap instead of play the damned game. It ain't supposed to be like second life. 
 
Also, I actually paid money for the game as part of the Orange box, so calling me 'free to play' because I avoid the store smacks of arrogant STUPIDITY. 
 
Still there's nothing a gaming community likes better than an opportunity to tear itself apart in a vain attempt to create  nice pigeon holes for everybody. They need an exclusive elite branch to reward, a common riff raff branch to ignore, and a disliked pariah branch to punish or they just can't be happy. 
 
It's stupid and sad.

Isn't discrimination cute?

@Dookysharpgun said:

@Crushed: I like how you actually didn't read anything I wrote, because I never said every TF2 player hates games, but then again, I'm not surprised, you didn't even try to get my attention via the 'reply' or 'quote' functions. And you went straight to joining in with individuals who never attempt to make relevant points of their own. My point is this, just in case you missed it: It doesn't matter if every other server for TF2 loves the F2P community. That isn't the fucking issue here. What is the issue, is that this kind of action, taken by so few, can have repercussions, especially if it is over something as stupid as a server that trades in-game items for money...now if anyone may agree with this, just take a look at that article one more time, and see how silly that is. People are actually putting time and effort into making mods for servers, so that new people can't play...if these people are so conservative, they could at least use the facilities that are in the game already. It is unethical, and these guys are shining a bad light on TF2 players, and gamers in general. Also, lets put forward a little scenario. Johnny Douchebag just got TF2 on F2P and bought something else that gave him a premium account, while Kyle Mcsoundguy just got a F2P copy of TF2. By the logic of these backwards ass servers, Johnny Douchebag, who knows nothing about the game, is welcome, while Kyle Mcsoundguy isn't allowed in on them, because he didn't spend, at minimum, a fiver. So for all the huffing and puffing, for all the controversy this brewed, this mod didn't save the server any more trouble than it would have otherwise. So really, was all this hassle necessary, over a few in-game hats, and the fact that a bunch of pricks don't like new people in their community? Isn't that the reason they put passwords on the servers? Really, if you're not going to contribute to the topic at hand, and maybe give a halfway valid opinion, then please, don't step up to the plate and ridicule someone for making points, then defending them. And I don't see these peace and love TF2 players commenting on this, just the people who say "well, there are thousands of other servers for TF2, its not an issue". That isn't contributing at all. This thread isn't about that issue. If these embracing individuals want to make themselves heard, they could just condemn these guys openly, instead of saying its a "non-issue". I'd also like to point out, people really need to learn the difference between overreacting, and having a strong opinion. They are two separate entities. There is never an excuse for trying to avoid an issue, like there is no excuse for these players to put in such a bigoted ideal behind a fucking videogame. That, is the issue I am talking about.

Holy shit dude, nobody is using this mod and the TF2 community is embracing F2P. The entirety of this issue is games sites bringing it up like it's a huge thing. It's not even a huge controversy in the TF2 community. This is nothing. There will be no repercussions for this. Also it really wouldn't take much time or effort to make a plugin like this, it's pretty easy stuff that probably took the guy a couple minutes.

Also trading servers aren't "trading items for money," it's a way for people to get items they want by getting rid of ones they don't, while not wasting time during a game by stopping to trade. They have a function, and you're acting like the community has now ruined itself forever because now a free-to-play user won't be able to join them or passworded clan servers.

This isn't the goddamned Civil Rights Movement, you are overreacting. Seriously, I think you might have mental issues with how upset you're getting over something that will affect maybe a handful of people ever in a free video game.

As for the mod, it doesn't really matter - new players definitely don't want to be playing with the kind of people who would use this stuff for their server.

The people sending death threats to this poor guy need to take a look at their life, and their choices.

The kid? Really that's...not a very professional way to describe somebody.

@Ygg: Oh please, don't stop now, I love the way you think you're correct and blindly follow a dogma of saying everyone is wrong, then not debating with them because they can out-argue your sorry ass. People like you never look at the big picture, and without that type of insight, nothing ever gets done. And actually, my first post was had nothing to do with 'what ifs' so your statement is totally invalid. 
 
Just a great job outlining online gaming for me there. Obviously, your wit knows no limits. Such a clever response. I am now more enlightened than I have ever been. Seeing as you're not very good at this, I'll just tell you that all that was sarcasm. See, other people can patronize too. Great how you deal with the topic at hand...just saying: "you're wrong...because I said so!" in more words.
 
Also, the 'sweeping statements'? Welcome to academia, where everything and anything is, at best, a broad stroke. Try as you might, you haven't added anything to this debate. You've simply stated useless information that you think is purely correct, and you just can't argue with it. People can have opinions, they're allowed, but when you don't bother backing your own with anything bar 'I'm done here', you've got nothing. So I will continue, but thank you for the waste of time that was this debate, I needed an easy writing exercise today :D
 
Next please :D

The people who started playing Team Fortress when it went free to play are just a bunch of little kids and teenagers who have no access to a credit card and can't buy stuff on line.

Feh. F2P players usually aren't in it for the long haul anyway. They're there to check things out, play a few games...and then they'll leave. They'll probably only be back in "spurts", to see what's changed every couple of months. You TF2 players are making too big a sh** out of this. Just ask most Quake Live or Battlefield Heroes players.

This guy is a complete idiot. TF2 going F2P is the best thing that could happen to TF2 in a long time.

There are perfectly good servers, frequented by perfectly nice people that don't run the Free2BeKicked Mod.... This includes the Giantbomb/Tested TF2 server. 
 
Yeah sure it can be frustrating losing because you have a few newbies on your team, but that's just going to happen when you play in public servers with random people. It's just going to happen more frequently because it's now F2P.

these articles are awesome!

I bought some hats since I got the game for free. Need to support the community

Interesting to hear his side, but I doubt it'll be widely used in the first place.

I don't care that it is free, that is just cool. I hate that there is a store in it that u can buy weapons from. Been saying it since they put the store on the main page when u start the game.

The people who started playing Team Fortress when it went free to play are just a bunch of little kids and teenagers who have no access to a credit card and can't buy stuff on line.

There are servers solely dedicated to trading items? That's some shit right there. The hats are becoming more important than playing the game itself.

@Bummey said:

There are servers solely dedicated to trading items? That's some shit right there. The hats are becoming more important than playing the game itself.

Items are more than hats. And no, the hats are really not more important than playing the game, despite what people say.

Fuck those guys in their rectums. Such people are why I don't play TF2.

@MrKlorox said:

Fuck those guys in their rectums. Such people are why I don't play TF2.

They literally make up less than half of one percent of TF2.

Good lord, its Heroes of Newerth all over again

As stupid as it is to discriminate against the "freeloaders" I agree with allowing and ignoring the mod. It's a big sign that people can hang on their server saying "Douchebag alert" so you won't have to deal with as much discrimination and asshattery if you are F2P.  
 
The F2P thing is a positive thing as most smart players realize. It breathes new life into TF2. One of my all time favorite FPS' was F2P. I put so many goddamn hours in Wolfenstien Enemy Territiory.

I'm all for new players, playing for free.  I also think its fine for private servers to run whatever mods they want.

@Styl3s:   Hats, store, farming and new weapons are completely optional. Do you UNDERSTAND that? How can TF2 suddenly turn into garbage if its essentially the same game if you ignore the things you just listed. Seems to me like you are living in some sort of weird denial. You don't hate new content, but you do.  

I'm not upset at TF2 going F2P but I was worried about the burden on server operators. This plugin is a necessary evil.

I'm all for new players, playing for free.  I also think its fine for private servers to run whatever mods they want.

@monte said:

The people who started playing Team Fortress when it went free to play are just a bunch of little kids and teenagers who have no access to a credit card and can't buy stuff on line.

Wow, stereotyping much? That's honestly a pathetic and downright stupid generalization. You're probably a big fan of the game, why not support your opinion with a comment that has a hint of intelligence?  I'm with supporting this mod, I just hate stupid and bigoted comments like these, makes the whole cause seem stupid.

Baker really does have a point. If not for just the basic conception of banning free players, I can only imagine others who would want to take it a lot further than that.

But it's sad to see a community to be so exclusive. I would be disappointed for any game to have a community like League of Legends.

Guess I'm a premium player since I got the game with the Orange Box years ago, not that I plan to play it anyway. I just wanted Episode 2 and Portal out of that box.

In my honest opinion, TF2 going free to play is something pretty good. I've been playing since January 2008, and I had a lot of fun with the game itself. I do not wish though, to have beggars, cheaters or farmers. This wasn't meant to be a MMO and it should never be. I don't think the idea of putting a plug-in that bans free players should be bad, as long as is not widely expanded. Before they came out with the Mann Co. store, a friend of mine did a Hat plug-in that allowed everyone to wear whatever they pleased from the selection of official hats, or even custom ones by the community. However, Valve was quick to tell him to stop putting "official" hats in there. Because they wanted to sell them afterwards. So if this guy puts out this plug-in and it has success, more power to him.

People have the choice to join many, many servers today. You have from the most vanilla experience you could ever have through server plug-ins, to trading servers and even silly game modes like Saxton Hale mod. Valve should, however, release a pack of items for F2Pers, and sort of call it "upgrade to premium" instead of expecting everyone to acknowledge the fact that people know they can just use 5 bucks on the steam wallet and upgrade their accounts to non-Free to play. Because there's still a lot of people that think you cannot buy TF2 anymore and therefore, you're forced to be a F2Per.

More players, more fun, but the thing gets more saturated, has more scammers, more cheaters and overall creates a different ambient. At the point that people have to make plug-ins like this one just to avoid having their servers full 24/7 and the veterans going in like "hey, do I have to donate now to get a reserved slot because I can never join in anymore since 80 people were added to this community in a matter of days?". Not to mention most of us veterans didn't even have a training mode before, but now that F2Pers have it, they don't use it and instead ask how to do things all the time, or just think this is Counter-Strike: Source or some sort of deathmatch game where the only thing that matters is to have a high K/D ratio.

And they wonder why there will never be world peace.

As someone who has been playing Team Fortress 2 for years, I am very happy with Valve's decision to make the game free to play.
 
New, fresh meat coming in is the best thing that has happened to the game in a long, long time. Especially as dedicated servers have been running dry here in my home country. It's an absolute pleasure to help new people get into the game, and on the flip side, to be able to frag someone other than the same bunch of oaks I've been playing with for ages.

I still think us former TF2 buyers should of got more besides a hat to prove our support for Valve and the Orange Box. I've been on Steam for six years now and I've got not much of a loyalty discount or anything despite that.

I love the pretentious assholes who just act like the F2P has caused a noticeable decline in the skill and quality of the game. There have always been bad players of TF2 and there have always been many of them.
 
Some people just want to be special.

Asher Baker sounds like someone who will die a virgin lol