The NSFCD Tater Instigator- No Descriptions Required

[Macawmoses]

Follow instructions laid out on your board.

[Silverhawk79]

My head hurts.

[L10]

I might be able to get online when I'm in my programming class, only class I get onto a computer this year...

[…]

[Doodle]

OH NO MY PANTS

[Kilroy]

Prepare for a TF2 rant, gentlemen.



At the release of the Spy vs. Sniper Update, Valve included what we call the "Random Drop System". From what we know, this system is quite simple. Every 25 minutes, you "roll" for a chance to win an unlock. There's about a 25% chance that this unlock will be a weapon, and about a .3% chance it'll be a hat.

Now, this irritated everyone at first, because the only way to find the new Spy and Sniper weapons was through this system. Within the week, the old milestones were implemented for the Spy and Sniper. But, a problem still remained.



Hats.

Ah, yes, hats. Hats, as they are in reality, are simply cosmetic changes for the 9 classes. At the release, there was one hat for each class that one cannot unlock, but must find through the Random Drop System. Valve wanted these to be rare, and so it shall be. Robin Walker's own estimation was that it should take a few weeks to find all the weapons, and possibly one hat. People were annoyed at the rarity of hats, and were jealous of those who found one as their first random drop, compared to their own small collection of Sandviches.

Thus, where do people go to complain? None other than the Team Fortress 2 board on the Steam Community Forums!

Of course, most people that go here will have horrid ideas to "fix" the Random Drop System, ranging from "give everybody 1 random hat" to "raise the drop rate of hats", or even "remove the random drop system"!.

However, there are times when we stumble across good ideas. Hell, they might be great ideas. Really, some people on the Steam Forums have awesome ideas. But, the fact remains, that although we hate the system, that although it seems flawed, that although it seems stupid and irrational, it is, in fact, perfection.

"Is this man daft!?". That's what probably ran through your head when you read that last line, no? Here's why you are thinking otherwise:

• You're looking through the eyes of the consumer/player, not the developer
• You are PRESUMPTUOUS as you are POOR and IRISH (aka you don't have a hat).
• You have a hat, but you got a crappy one.
• You have a hat, you like it, but you want another one.

Or, you could be thinking straight, and calling me crazy wasn't your thought. Perhaps it was "How so, Byte?"

Well, here's why. You need to look at it from a programmer's/developer's point of view, not your own. In doing so, you will realize why the system is perfection.

You see, the system theoretically cannot be exploited. Again, a thought probably just ran through your head. "The Idle Program! The Idle Program is an EXPLOIT!" I'll address that in a moment.

Currently, nothing affects what drops from the Random Drop System. You can play as Scout all you want, but you still have as much of a chance of getting a Scout item as you do a Heavy item. Thus, this is where the Idle Program excels. All the Idle Program does is tell Steam "hey I'm playing TF2", so Steam responds "lol okay whatever".

Now, the person running the idle program can go about their daily life, have fun, get married, get drunk, whatever. Then they come home, close the idle program, and play TF2.

Theoretically, the person could have done the same thing by running the actual Team Fortress 2, creating his own server, and then leaving his computer be. They both are doing the same exact thing.

Thus, all the idle program does, in reality, is save system resources. Unless you're running on a system with less than 2 gigs of RAM, you don't even need the Idle Program. Just minimize TF2 and you've got the same thing.

Now, back to why it can't be exploited. Ever heard of the Steam Achievement Manager? As the name suggests, it's a program that manages Steam achievements and stats. You literally check off what achievements you want, and bingo, you've got them. People would check off all the class achievements, go in-game, and have all the milestones and weapons unlock at once.

This is why the Random Drop System works so well. You can't have a program to check off when the Random Drop System drops something for you, because you can't influence the Random Drop System. Thus, it's "unexploitable". A non-idler has just as much of a chance to get a hat as an idler. The Idler's "play time" doesn't influence his chances of getting a hat, he just gets more chances. In theory, an idler can idle for weeks on end and never get a hat, while a non-idler can login to a server one day and get a hat as soon as he selects a class.

That's why the Random Drop System is perfect, and any idea that involves influencing a system is imperfect, no matter how brilliant it may be.

[Kayo]

OH NO MY PANTS

*covers eyes*

[Silverhawk79]

whee pokemon snap

[Mutilator7]

Yup

[Silverhawk79]

This Chinese food is good.

[SkyMyl]

Page 1100 get.

[Water ☮]

Page 1100 get.

No Me!

[SkyMyl]

No, me again.

[Water ☮]

No, me again.

[Kayo]

ANGREY JIGGELYPUFFF :O