Steam group hacked

The Steam group that directs people to the spreadsheet was hacked, giving permissions to everyone and of course once that happened much spam and nonsense occurred.   We assure you that while the group has our name, we are not responsible for this group nor are we admins though would surely have scolded any of those souls who hacked it.  In any event, you can leave the old group and join the new one (thanks Beverage) by using our link below or keywords TF2CPG.  Carry on.

The magic number was 2479.

Congratulations to Regen V.W. who found a little surprise in their email box!  They are the winner of Bills hat painted Value of Teamwork.  Congratulations to them and thanks again for making this site a success with your visits and feedback. 

More contests to come!

Contest closed.

Numbers are in.  No more emails please.  Wow there are a lot of emails.  We will now let the random number generator choose the winner and notify them.  We will tell you all the prize and who won it soon thereafter. 

New way to win the half-millionth hit prize!

As a good samaritan wrote to inform us, that an unscrupulous person may (although we don't want to believe it) use a program like FireBug to live edit the site code and thus win the prize through cheating.  Our editors are shocked and horrified at the accusation.  Nonetheless, we defer to people who actually know how to cheat to tell us how its done.

So, a change of plans.  We will do choose a winner for the prize the old-fashioned way: an online random number generator (such as this one).  Once the hit # 500,000 is registered, we will have a new post.  You will follow the instructions there and we will choose the closest one to our random number.  Then we will "crown" the winner.

Sorry for the about-face but we want someone to win the prize fairly!

Thank you TF2 Community! Over 440,000 hits in 1 month!

We would just like to thank everyone for visiting our little spreadsheet and putting your faith in us to bring you up-to-date and accurate information on the TF2 trading world.  You have been hitting on us like Ron Jeremy at a Swedish Bikini Team meeting!

Update: the prize has been chosen and acquired.  You will want to win this prize.  That is all.  Be well.

Steam trading verdict is in

What do you think of Steam trading?   It's a great idea	306 (90%)
It's a passing fad	25 (7%)
WTH is Steam trading?	6 (1%)

Votes so far: 337
Poll closed

Pilotka and Stahlhelm now craftable

New update just released.

From TF2 wikipedia:

Patch notes

Team Fortress 2

• Updated the Pilotka so it can be crafted, traded, and gift-wrapped
• Updated the Stahlhelm so it can be crafted, traded, and gift-wrapped
• Updated the physics for the Sticky Jumper projectiles so they behave like regular sticky bombs

Undocumented changes

• Added Mann Co. Supply Crate Series #29.
• Strange Razorbacks now have a "Spies Shocked" attribute.
• Strange Eyelanders now have a "Heads Taken" attribute.
• Added Sun-on-a-Stick, Sharpened Volcano Fragment, Three-Rune Blade, and Maul to the drop system.

Exclusive and killer!

PC Gamer is offering a free hat code with the purchase of their new issue come Sept. 29th.  UK issues will have the code, while it is unclear if US/North America will have it.

Steam Forum discussion here.

New item percentages

In updating the TF2items hat and item percentages, you may notice that most of the items percentages have dropped by approximately half.  For example, Bills hat which was in around 20% of the backpacks is now at around 11%.  What gives, you say?  Well, as we've said before TF2items (and thus, we all are) is dependent on Valve for whatever data they give out.  The percentage drop is likely due to the influx of new players, and it would seem that the number of current players has nearly doubled since all percentages of items has been effectively cut in half.  This is reinforced by the Ghastlier Gibus percentages - cut in half also signifying that more than half of the active player base was not playing Halloween of 2010.

Of note, you will recall we ran a poll asking which stats you would prefer: percentage of items or estimated # of items.  We have gone through our channels and Valve will not give us the actual # of active TF2 players.  Sooooo...we are "stuck" with the better statistic which is percentage of items.  I know many of you really liked estimated #, however it is a severely flawed number and even moreso now that TF2items data from Valve keeps getting more limited.  If the number of players is ever released we will re-calculate an estimated # of items.

That said, if you think there are any other metrics that effect value and price that we should show in our little spreadsheet: let us know.  That is all.  Be well.

Portal is free (for today at least)

Steam has Portal for free, get it if you haven't played it yet.

Link

Trading patience is a virtue

Sometimes we get feedback regarding prices and how long it takes to unload an item.  Sometimes players claim that since it takes a long time to sell something then our prices must be wrong.  Wrong!  We are very capable of making mistakes.  However, in TF2 trading land there are a lot of choices and beyond the always hot Team Captains and Bills some items we don't want tend to sit a long time in our backpacks waiting for a home.

Take for example Genuine Volcano Fragment.  This was a hot property when Rift first came out and all the controversy about it being tradeable before the game's release.  Now, it takes a loooong time to sell one.  Does that mean it's value has gone down?  To some extent yes, but that's not the only answer.  It can take several days to a week to sell one at "full" price (currently between 2 and 3 refined).  The reason is simple: because there are more (genuine) items available spreading demand out.  So if you have one you need to spread the word out that it's for sale.  That means trading servers during peak times (Thurs-Sun), reddit tf2 forums, Steam TF2 trading forums, Source Op item trading forums, and tf2tp.com.  Start a new thread, keep it simple and post a link to your profile so people can easily add you.

When you've exhausted all avenues to sell an item then lower your price.

New update....

277 Mb, so its big.  El Jefe and Mask of the Shaman now craftable.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2122243

Unusually crafty

While we don't focus on unusuals here at TF2S since their values are all over the map, we do appreciate their glory and splendor.  Here is a site that allows you to search individually for different effects and shows you who has them.  Also searchable are crafted # hats.  Who has Team Captain #1?  Just look it up!  Another cool feature is that they have a hat rating system, that many TF2ers have voted for their favorites.  Think the Madame Dixie is the best hat ever?  See if your fellow players agree with you.

Link here.  You will have to login through Steam to search the database, but don't worry its safe.

Trading with Steam: the birth of a movement?

As many of you are aware, the new Steam trading feature is out of beta and now officially live.  It allows you to trade TF2 items with other Steam games or other items within Steam games (for now Portal 2 and Spiral Knights).  Valve plans to add more games and inventories to this list and make this an ongoing feature for new games.  Steam trading FAQ here.

Seeing the success of TF2 customization and item trading, this is one of those moments where everything is new and the possibilities are limitless.  It could end with a fizzle as many seemingly great ideas do.  Or it could be one of those must-have pieces that developers incorporate into their upcoming games.  Some games will allow themselves to item trading such as role-playing games, while others like sports games may spawn their own new content as their trading currency.  Perhaps an NFL game will have throwback jerseys, or a Premier League (that's soccer to all you scratching your heads) team will have fan chants...the possibilities are limitless.

Steam Gameplay Statistics

In follow-up to the Steam Hardware and Software survey, this is a page we like to look at that shows gameplay and player statistics for Steam games (link here).  There are currently around 66,000 players in-game playing Team Fortress 2 right now.  Pretty remarkable for a "vintage" game like TF2.  It speaks to the game's longevity and Valve's continuous-improvement ideals.  You rock TF2.

Key pricing stabilizing

Over the past month to two months the price of keys has been moving towards equilibrium.  There are a few reasons but perhaps the best answer as to why is the underground resale price being around $2 per key.  If you can buy a key legitimately and risk-free for $2.49 and use it right away (although trading requires the 2 day waiting period) then buying one on the black market (more risk) should cost less, just as it does.

Although that does not explain the seemingly "settled" price of around $2 per key.  Our best estimate is that keys are tied to refined metal in a 2:1 ratio in people's heads now (as are buds/bills).  The price has to be near the official price but why not $2.25 or closer?  The market has decided that for now the risk of buying a black market key is about $0.50 per key, that's it.  If there was no waiting period, the value of an illicit key would be less as it was when there was no waiting period (remember those $1.65 key days on source op?).

More recently, the variance in the refined:key ratio has been getting narrower as well.  The buy for 2 refined or sale for 2.33 refined are not unheard of but most often keys trade for 2.11 or 2.22 refined now.  That is an efficient market and the sign the influx of the F2P players have made their mark.  Some people complained about the new players, I say bring them on.  They have reinvigorated the TF2 item market.  With so many buyers and sellers keys trade at a more pinpointed price.

Additional thoughts welcome.

Steam Survey Results

See what the Joneses have...
 
Steam Hardware & Software Survey Results

Bills and Buds are keys to the game...

Here at TF2S we listen to the people.  Trading a bills or buds for refined is possible and does happen, but by far the transaction that most often occurs is for keys.  The people want keys.  We give them keys.

There are 41 of you snarky people out there who want them listed as weapons too!  Unbelievable!

Yes, that's how they trade anyways.	393 (47%)
No, keep it in refined.	288 (34%)
Change it to # of weapons instead.	41 (4%)
I really don't care.	102 (12%)

Votes so far: 824
Poll closed