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[GameGamer]

I think I've answered it at least three times on the last two pages, in varying degrees of detail. One of those times was inside a spoiler highlight. I will now answer it yet again, and refer you to teamfortress.com for (probably useless) other details you might want to know. Also, for anyone who doesn't know, you can right click on your Team Fortress game and check the update news. That often lists useful new features.

ACHTUNG ACHTUNG ACHTUNG ACHTUNG ACHTUNG ANSWER FOLLOWS

Weapons and hats are currently random. If you want weapons, play the game, or sit in spectator on a server. I suspect based on my experience that you get items a little more often if you are on a team instead of in spectator, but spectator still works. There are many achievement_idle servers, though some will kick you if you try to join a team, so you can just stay in spectator overnight or something.

I tried creating my own server to idle in, but I never got any unlocks. I'm not sure if I did something wrong, but I suspect unlocks happen more often when there are more players in a server. Your mileage may vary.

If anyone feels I have not answered the question at this point, please tell me. Otherwise, I shall merrily ignore any future questions about this topic. =P

ACHTUNG ACHTUNG ACHTUNG ACHTUNG ACHTUNG ANSWER WAS ABOVE

ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!!!!!!



Since this post is at the top, I'll relay this info from a few posts back:


http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=877982



"To earn weapon drops you currently have to be signed into the Friends Network on Steam.

If you are not receiving weapon drops please ensure that you're signed in.

Steam > Friends > Sign In!"

 

[Blizzard]

ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!!!!!!

I swear, I'm gonna make a "Stand here for weapon unlocks" spray like someone suggested...

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

Anyone else have performance issues since the new patch? Seems like I'm getting some random studders unrelated to my ping that I never really got before on this computer.

I do. I wouldn't call them stutters, but my framerate does drastically drop from time to time ever since the Spy vs Sniper update. Even on the older maps where the framerate's usually fine on my rig, or when there's nothing going on at my current location (or a few feet ahead).

Note: I use wired Internet, so it's not that in my case.

Someone claimed that they updated to use the Left 4 Dead engine updates, but I'm not sure if that's true. It definitely doesn't seem to run as well, though that could just be unoptimized areas in maps. I'm running an e8400 with ATI 4850 at 1280x720 windowed, and all settings turned up besides 2xAA and 2x filtering or something like that. It drops to maybe 30fps on the top of the last pipeline map...

(oh, I think I'm using single core rendering for smoothness, though)

I'm fairly certain it's the update that's causing these technical issues. You're right about some area's of the new maps not being optimized all that well, but the aforementioned "stutters" have occured ever since Valve released the big update. New bugs appeared as well after said update hit (like a batch of Spy-related bugs to be more specific), so it's not your PC or anything like that.

Dunno if this has been posted, but I saw on the Steam forums that You have to be signed into your friends list to get weapon drops. So if you aren't getting them, make sure you're signed in.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=877982

Anecdotal evidence, but I'm willing to wager that this isn't 100% true. I've earned two items yesterday while not being logged onto my Friends List.

How much time someone has spent playing Team Fortress 2 (whether or not they meant prior to the update) doesn't seem to influence the random loot system either, despite Valve's earlier claims. I play regularly the game for a couple of hours a day depending on how much free time I have, and yet unlocked goodies are few and far between. Even duplicates don't pop up on a regular basis for some reason, let alone NEW items.

Today was one of those bad days for me, to continue with this anecdote. I've seen multiple people on the same server get at least two - three items on a one hour basis (some were hats and Spy / Sniper weapons they hadn't acquired before to boot), and what did I get? An Axetinguisher. After three hours, if not more. My luck with this new and "improved" system is so frikkin' terrible.

Trading can't come soon enough at this rate.

 

[1-D_FTW]

I've mutated. My soldier has a right arm with rocket launcher, and I have a dainty spy hand for my left (along with watch.) Although when I reload I can see my left soldier arm and have 3 arms!

Unfortunately, since I've unlocked the ambassador on Sunday, I've only gotten one unlock. Another pair of boxing gloves. So my spy can't wear any watches, but me soldier's got one now.

 

[1-D_FTW]

I guess his left hand is on the rocket launcher. But wait till the pyro ladies see I'm the only soldier with a fancy watch. They're gonna be lining up.

 

[firex]

Dunno if this has been posted, but I saw on the Steam forums that You have to be signed into your friends list to get weapon drops. So if you aren't getting them, make sure you're signed in.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=877982

It's not true for drops, because I got Huntsman while Steam was down (so I had no clue I had it until it was finally back up after the update and I could check my overall loadout). Definitely true for achievements.

Unrelated but man, I like bad teams sometimes: http://i43.tinypic.com/2jeqoo4.jpg

 

[1-D_FTW]

Have you tried running to the top of the ramps on the pipeline finale and looking down? If that doesn't do it nothing will.

And yes, for the second time on this page (though the first time was in a spoiler message), you can get weapons from sitting in spectator on an idle server.

Finally looked down on Pipeline and my framerate was rock solid. And I'm actually using 16X AA.

 

[Wes]

Played 20 hours now. 1 drop. D:

 

[Blizzard]

Finally looked down on Pipeline and my framerate was rock solid. And I'm actually using 16X AA.

Just curious (I think you have an nVidia card rather than ATI, also): Are you using multicore rendering, and are you using vsync lock?

 

[1-D_FTW]

Just curious (I think you have an nVidia card rather than ATI, also): Are you using multicore rendering, and are you using vsync lock?

Nvidia 8800GT. I don't have vsync enabled or multicore rendering enabled. After my issues with L4D and multicore rendering, I'm not even gonna try enabling it.

 

[Blizzard]

Nvidia 8800GT. I don't have vsync enabled or multicore rendering enabled. After my issues with L4D and multicore rendering, I'm not even gonna try enabling it.

How odd. I normally get framerates up towards 120 fps. I might try fullscreen mode just to see what happens...thanks for checking.

 

[firex]

Oh yeah, I finally got the cloak and dagger. Now I have the 2 spy unlocks I really wanted. C&D is awesome for me, especially after I realized you barely drain the thing by running crouched.

How odd. I normally get framerates up towards 120 fps. I might try fullscreen mode just to see what happens...thanks for checking.

If you are getting 120fps, just turn on vsync. Your fps doesn't need to be triple digits. I learned that the hard way playing L4D.

 

[Ikuu]

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=865222

Pretty cool wallpapers from the icons.

 

[Sibylus]

Yesterday I accidentally did the body-switching glitch. I was a Pyro with a Sniper Rifle, and I had the voice commands and everything. Those people I headshotted must have been confused.

I think it might have something to do with a server-related class limit, because me switching to Sniper at the beginning of the round didn't take the first time.

 

[Blizzard]

If you are getting 120fps, just turn on vsync. Your fps doesn't need to be triple digits. I learned that the hard way playing L4D.

:lol I've been in circles on this subject before. I was always annoyed there wasn't an option to limit fps in L4D (and I've been annoyed that you can't change the max fps in TF2 without disconnecting from servers...and I think even then sometimes you get an error). And then I'm told to use vsync, and then I find out that vsync doesn't work in windowed mode and it'd have to be a CCC control panel option, so I just leave it as it is.

 

[firex]

oh, well if you're playing it windowed that's your own fault!

 

[Papercuts]

;_;

This is me after 33 hours, fourth flaregun + second axetinguisher = only drops in the last ~8 hours.

 

[Scipius]

I've given it a fair shake, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to put myself in the "this new drop system sux" camp. The drop rate is not my issue; I've received 28 items over 25 hours, but I still only have the Dead Ringer (1x), the Jarate (2x) and the Ambassador (4x) of the new sniper/spy items. The rest are duplicates as I already had all the items of the previous updates.

With the old system, I would have had the Huntsman by now, which is the one item I'd really like to try out. This system now officially sucks.

 

[okno]

Engineer + Depositor + achievement_idle = whee!

I'm having too much fun with this game.

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

so does anyone here use the shield?

 

[Bliddo]

I tried creating my own server to idle in, but I never got any unlocks. I'm not sure if I did something wrong, but I suspect unlocks happen more often when there are more players in a server. Your mileage may vary.

create a server, open console, and type this:
ip xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:27015 (your internet ip, not the lan or wlan ip)
sv_lan 0
sv_pure 2
mp_respawntime 1
mp_timelimit -1
map achievement_idle

You now have a VAC secure server, after a while a bunch of people will join.
To password protect it, use sv_password your_pass

 

[Bliddo]

so does anyone here use the shield?

If a spy has the Ambassador is kinda useless, instead of backstabbing a shielded sniper I sneak behind him, aim at his head, and in a couple of shots his dead

 

[Diablohead]

I have windows 7 set to 75hz refresh and it carries over into TF2 fullscreen, I use vsync too and the game is as smooth as butter.

 

[Lumine]

so does anyone here use the shield?

I actually switched back to SMG. The one time the shield actually blocked a spy backstab, it still put me down to about 10hp so another swing from the Spy's knife killed me anyway. Felt kinda useless with the speed decrease as well.

The Huntsman bow is awesome though.

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

If a spy has the Ambassador is kinda useless, instead of backstabbing a shielded sniper I sneak behind him, aim at his head, and in a couple of shots his dead

ya, it just doesnt make sense to me. If spies can see it, what's the point? Also, the fact that it slows you down is ridiculous.

The one time the shield actually blocked a spy backstab, it still put me down to about 10hp

what put you down to 10hp? You dont still take damage from a back stab while wearing the shield do you?

 

[Acidote]

Yesterday I played for a while with my newly acquired Huntsman, and it's endless fun piercing people to the wall through their heads hahaha

 

[Lumine]

ya, it just doesnt make sense to me. If spies can see it, what's the point? Also, the fact that it slows you down is ridiculous.


what put you down to 10hp? You dont still take damage from a back stab while wearing the shield do you?

Yeah it does. Unless I got hit by something else at the same time, but I'm sure I would've noticed. The 10hp is probably an exageration, but my hp was still low enough after one "failed" backstab that a single normal stab after it killed me.

 

[drkOne]

Valve needs to hurry up and bring the trade system, getting a duplicate finally after 4h of play time is really frustrating.

Also, I shouldn't be the only one who is bothered by the crosshair+red dot that now appears when you are scoped with Sniper, I really hope they fix it.

 

[Kritz]

Also, I shouldn't be the only one who is bothered by the crosshair+red dot that now appears when you are scoped with Sniper, I really hope they fix it.

That is such a fucking weird issue where Valve, for some reason, decided to fix something that wasn't broken and then in the process, broke it. Before I knew about the new unlock system, I commented to the server complaining about it at the time, "but if they didn't add it, what would we be able to complain about?"

It's such a shame they couldn't keep in the milestone unlocks AND have a random system. That way there'd be a guaranteed way to get a new toy, while still letting the anti-achievement crowd still get a chance to unlock something shiny.

I want the ambassador

 

[ice cream]

Pipeline is sooo goood when the teams are fair.

 

[Ramenman]

I love the Huntsmaaaannnnnn :O

It's so satisfying when you one-shot a Scout or a Sniper who's using the rifle.

Sometimes they're pinned on the wall so hard that they spin around the arrow. Awesome.

Also yesterday I unlocked two dead ringers.

I tried it out, it's kind of hard, but I still managed to do a couple of backstabs sometimes. I had a lot of trouble with the layout because playing Spy with a keyboard is so different from playing it with a pad.

I think it would have been easier to learn how to use it pre-nerf. Also I'm kind of sad I can't refill it with ammo crates/drops.

 

[Volcynika]

Played normally yesterday and found the Backburner (already had) and the Natascha (didn't have). I just kept onnnnnnnnnnnn playin. Though my team had 7 snipers at one point, and we still defended.

 

[Cronen]

Unrelated but man, I like bad teams sometimes: http://i43.tinypic.com/2jeqoo4.jpg

Best Steam name ever.

 

[Kritz]

There seems to be a glitch with pipeline.

Edit: subdomain appears to be down.

 

[1-D_FTW]

Seems like you can shoot stuff through the opening. There's some demomen who are especially skilled at placing things where ever they want. I've even seen soldiers rocket jump and shoot rockets through (although rockets don't drop back down, so they're harmless.)

 

[Cheeto]

There seems to be a glitch with pipeline.

[IMG.]http://bungiefans.org/kritz/demo.PNG[/IMG]

I don't think that's a glitch...there's a small hole above the gate where you shoot projectiles through. At the start of every round I hit a sandman through there just for kicks. I hit people a lot :lol

 

[NotWii]

I refuse to play TF2 until the trading system is put in!

 

[John Locke]

Have fun not playing a really fun game!!

 

[roMonster]

I guess his left hand is on the rocket launcher. But wait till the pyro ladies see I'm the only soldier with a fancy watch. They're gonna be lining up.

That happens to me all the time. It's either CAD or Dead Ringer. Happens mostly when I'm spectating but sometimes in game.

Sorta annoying.

 

[NotWii]

Have fun not playing a really fun game!!

I've played 300 hrs as spy since release, and about 100hrs for the other classes all combined

But this unlock stuff really annoys the hell out of me :lol

 

[Ramenman]

I refuse to play TF2 until the trading system is put in!

We really care !

 

[Cheeto]

I refuse to play TF2 until the trading system is put in!

 

[Davidion]

:lol :lol

I've played for a couple of hours last week and got the jarate and dead ringer outright; wasn't even looking for them. Though they need to tweak and adjust this new system, it's way better than stupid achievement unlocks; I'm actually motivated to play the damn game now instead of whore and grind for achievements.

Some of y'all just straight up suck at getting shit.

 

[NotWii]

Ok, I folded, I'm playing TF2 again

 

[Scrow]

still no dead ringer, but...

Spoiler

fuck yeah

 

[The Question Mark]

I swear not reading THE FIRST GODDAMN HEADLINE ON THE GAME'S OFFICIAL SITE before asking about unlocks should be bannable, or at the very least wafflable.

It's becoming incredibly tedious to see people ask about it every ten posts, especially considering that 50% of the posts here are about "it sucks because it's so random and we don't know anything".

Not only directed to you of course, but you get the point.

my sincerest apologies to the missus, didn't mean to get sand in her cooter.

My question is still standing; It's based on some kind of dice roll right? And it's also time based, right? but is it every 10 minutes, 20 minutes or 1 hour? Or is it broken
and completely random.

 

[Firestorm]

Anecdotal evidence, but I'm willing to wager that this isn't 100% true. I've earned two items yesterday while not being logged onto my Friends List.

How much time someone has spent playing Team Fortress 2 (whether or not they meant prior to the update) doesn't seem to influence the random loot system either, despite Valve's earlier claims. I play regularly the game for a couple of hours a day depending on how much free time I have, and yet unlocked goodies are few and far between. Even duplicates don't pop up on a regular basis for some reason, let alone NEW items.

Today was one of those bad days for me, to continue with this anecdote. I've seen multiple people on the same server get at least two - three items on a one hour basis (some were hats and Spy / Sniper weapons they hadn't acquired before to boot), and what did I get? An Axetinguisher. After three hours, if not more. My luck with this new and "improved" system is so frikkin' terrible.

Trading can't come soon enough at this rate.

Well, it was sticked on Steam Forums so that's why I figured it might be true.

Once trading comes in, I'll give up all my non Spy/Medic weapons for Cloak & Dagger Then again, all I got is Sandman, Sandvich, extra Dead Ringer, Axetinguisher, and Razorback.

my sincerest apologies to the missus, didn't mean to get sand in her cooter.

My question is still standing; It's based on some kind of dice roll right? And it's also time based, right? but is it every 10 minutes, 20 minutes or 1 hour? Or is it broken
and completely random.

How about clicking the BLUE BOLD link you just quoted?

 

[The Question Mark]

Huh, so that was a link, my bad.

 

[BravoSuperStar]

Idle'ed for 7 hours last night and got a Cloak and Dagger, Sandman and Force-a-Nature. I wonder if they are giving out items based on your LEAST played classes, because spy and scout are definitely the lowest played classes for me.

Good times. Yeah.

 

[Gully State]

Idle'ed for 7 hours last night and got a Cloak and Dagger, Sandman and Force-a-Nature. I wonder if they are giving out items based on your LEAST played classes, because spy and scout are definitely the lowest played classes for me.

Good times. Yeah.

Totally random- I got 4 Nataschas, 6 KGB's and Heavy is my most played class.