I've been looking at the reaction to Valve making TF2 free and I'm getting pretty sick of the argument of "but I payed $20 for it and now anyone can play it!!"
 
Let me get this out of the way first. If you purchased the game a week or two ago then talk to steam support. Steam support is known to be pretty helpful and they will most likely refund your purchase.
 
Now allow me to put this whole thing into perspective. Many people purchased TF2 as part of the Orange Box set which was already an amazing deal in the first place. Even if you did not purchase it as part of the Orange Box, if you purchased it regularly (excluding all the sales!) you still received a very good deal as there have been many updates for the game. The game came out in October 2007. A new update just came out yesterday. Updates are still going after over 3 years!
 
We the PC gamers should stop acting like self entitled assholes all the time. Do I need to remind you of the Call of Duty that gets released every year for $60 and the multiple $15 map packs that get released, even having the nerve to release them sooner on the 360 even though we still have to pay full price? We should be grateful for what Valve has done because if we act like this why do we deserve any of what Valve has given to us?

I've been looking at the reaction to Valve making TF2 free and I'm getting pretty sick of the argument of "but I payed $20 for it and now anyone can play it!!"
 
Let me get this out of the way first. If you purchased the game a week or two ago then talk to steam support. Steam support is known to be pretty helpful and they will most likely refund your purchase.
 
Now allow me to put this whole thing into perspective. Many people purchased TF2 as part of the Orange Box set which was already an amazing deal in the first place. Even if you did not purchase it as part of the Orange Box, if you purchased it regularly (excluding all the sales!) you still received a very good deal as there have been many updates for the game. The game came out in October 2007. A new update just came out yesterday. Updates are still going after over 3 years!
 
We the PC gamers should stop acting like self entitled assholes all the time. Do I need to remind you of the Call of Duty that gets released every year for $60 and the multiple $15 map packs that get released, even having the nerve to release them sooner on the 360 even though we still have to pay full price? We should be grateful for what Valve has done because if we act like this why do we deserve any of what Valve has given to us?

Really, the only folks who have legitamate grounds to complain is, like you said, the folks who bought it recently. I paid 10 bucks for it a looooooong time ago and have no regrets not 'waiting' for it to become free2play, as if the thought of that happening ever crossed my mind.
 
I think it's less a PC gamer thing and more of an irrational consumer fairness thing where some lack perspective and only see some people getting for free what they paid for. If the CoD map packs suddenly became free I don't doubt there'd be dudebros in the streets complaining about it.

This also is a great hook for whatever is next from Valve, all those fans who joined TF2 at that free point are now hopefully psyched & will be more likely to get whatever the next game is from Valve (and if it's not too overpriced they might buy it where before they didn't). I'm just damn glad that they are still supporting this game instead of it being patched a few times the first year then pretty much given over to the fans to create any new patches, mods, new content.

If people are going to complain about this they might as well complain that they lower game prices months after its release. Think about it this people probably hate valve/steam. There are people paying $5 for games that someone bought for $50 oh the outrage!!!!

A lot of people aren't complaining because they paid for it, it's because it's open the doors to unsavory types to take advantage of the system, and I'm not talking about new players.
 
It's not too big of a problem yet, but it still is one. It's a problem and they have the right to complain about it.

Iam complaining about it because Steam content servers are slow as shit now.

People are dumb. I found that out years ago and it really helps to understand some things.

People that bought it one week ago have as much of a reason to "complain" and get a refund as those that bought it one year ago.
I, for one, had already bought Team Fortress 2 some years ago and I don't really care about it going free to play. More players, more community stuff, etc.

Wait, TF2 is free now? Hmm, maybe I'll look into that.

To reiterate what mnzy said though, people are kinda dumb. And impatient. And self-entitled. Especially on the internet where people feel the need to whine and complain about everything, from the color of the sky to their childhood.

"I want a refund for a game I got with three other awesome games/got for pretty cheap anyway and have invested 200+ hours in!" 
 
Short answer: STFU.

I agree it's a smart move from Valve, it gets Steam to even more people and keeps TF2 alive. But I'm concerned. Player count doubled yesterday, which isn't a real problem but could turn out to be. F2P games are really popular. Battlefield: Heroes has millions of users a month, TF2 currently has 60k daily. Is Valve prepared for such a huge boost in numbers? How will they regulate grievers and maintain a stable economy? I'm really curious how this'll turn out. 
 
There are already server plugins that kick F2P players, and thats pretty terrible. One half of the community is losing their shit and the other half doesn't really care, it s been fun to watch.

Complaining about paid stuff going free is stupid. Do I demand my money back from a movie company because I paid to see it at the movies and it's on TV for free? No, and I don't think anyone would.

This is no different than when a game's price gets cut from $40 to $20. You still end up having spent $20 more than the person who buys it later. And considering the number of sales on TF2 over the years and the introduction of micro-transactions awhile back, nobody is allowed to be shocked by this. If you claim to be taken by surprise that it went Free-To-Play, then you are clearly not paying attention and losing $20 because of it is mild as these things go.

People complaining about people complaining. What a fucking circle jerk

Elsewhere I read a massive wall of text complaint from a guy who pretty much cried and wanted his money back, because he bought TF2 when it was released in 2007 together with the Orange box and now boohoo they made it free. It's been nearly four years you stupid mong, sell a hat and get over with it.

Those are the same people who cried about Rift and the TF2 items a pre-order of that promised to deliver. The very same people who shelled out for the indie packages because of the hats. The people who will buy anything for any money, because of hats. "Waa I shouldn't have to pay for this to get a hat but I need all the hats or my life has been in vain *buys it anyway*".

While I approve of people stimulating the economy and making a great, respectable software company even greater, seek medical help.

I played the TF2 beta and started playing the retail product on release day.

I could not be happier it's free for everyone.

Are people really complaining that now literally everyone can enjoy a great game? I hate humans.

@jams said:

People complaining about people complaining. What a fucking circle jerk

You have completed the circle, congratulations.

@august said:

@jams said:

People complaining about people complaining. What a fucking circle jerk

You have completed the circle, congratulations.

Thanks, I'm happy to be here. I'd like to thank the motion picture association for being there for me every step of the way. I'd like to thank the Giantbomb crew for allowing me to venture deep within their psyche. And I'd like to thank The Circle Jerks most of all.

I've had the game since  September 07 or something, whenever it went into beta so I don't really care. I got my moneys worth and continue to do so.
 
F2P only brings some more people in and gets people trying the game out without having to jump a price barrier like before.

The people who are complaining about paying for this game nearly 4 years ago are idiots. There are legitimate arguments against TF2 being F2P though, one of the major ones being that now the general trash of the internet can come play and there's no incentive against them turning the online community into a pile of shit via hacking etc. The only way this wouldn't happen is if everyone one of them actually became invested in their Steam accounts and purchase other software on it (besides TF2).

F2P is actually a great thing but really people... have you played the game this couple of days?... Every effin server has high ping users... This is the first time I've seen this problem. I'm sorry but this just sucks and new players are ruining matches for a lot of people... I don't blame it on them but if you are going to play at least get a decent conection.

@Nelander said:

If people are going to complain about this they might as well complain that they lower game prices months after its release. Think about it this people probably hate valve/steam. There are people paying $5 for games that someone bought for $50 oh the outrage!!!!

Also seen this about people whining about GOTY editions.

"But i bought all the dlc as soon as they hit, and now they get the game AND! all dlc for 40 bucks? How the hell is that fair??"

People are strange :)

I bought TF2 for a measly 2 dollars and change almost 2 years ago so I got quite a deal. And the biggest upside I've seen is that people are actually in the Giant Bomb server most of the time. Not sure how many of those are actually from Giant Bomb, but at least it's got a crowd.