Back at the start of June, the Team Fortress 2 community made it known they were tired of the hellscape that was TF2. Malicious bot hosters were effectively holding the game hostage, and had done so for a very long time.
A website was erected at save.tf to go over the plan – simply make enough noise that Valve could no longer ignore the problem. Big name creators and community members made their point, covering everything from the problematic nature of the bot farms to giving examples as to how dangerous some of the behaviours were – and how Valve was essentially complicit in letting people get attacked.
A united effort saw the Steam reviews for TF2 get pushed to ‘Overwhelmingly Negative’ to signpost the problem to others – and to ward off whatever remaining souls had not tried the game. A petition even received over 330k signatures begging for some kind of action to be taken.
And in the last 48 hours, it seems that the action has begun – because bots are being purged in colossal waves, with a message even being directed to the accounts responsible:
Of course, some are making the valid point that banwaves are nothing new – they are just too infuriatingly sporadic and seem to barely dent the rising tide of automated cheaters that enter TF2’s casual mode.
However, some signs seem to point to clues that this particular effort to stem the flow of robotic bullshit is being handled differently – with action happening almost immediately after a bot hoster creates a new account to get back into their shenanigans:
For people who have been championing for something – ANYTHING – to happen, this is particularly exceptional news. The #fixtf2 effort has been a long and arduous one, with more than a healthy dose of concern that ultimately it would result in nothing of note. Team Fortress 2 is a game with 17 years under the belt, positively geriatric by any real measure, so the idea of the game being sunset and pushed out to pasture is all too real. But those damn mercs and their crazy schemes seem intent on living forever – thanks in part to the secret sauce of Valve characterisation and simplistic class-based gunplay. It is a game that amounts to so much more than the sum of its parts, so it comes as no surprise that people would rather it didn’t get botted to death.
The actions being taken by Valve currently are incredible, and all eyes are on how this effort continues.
Are you keen to jump back in to Team Fortress 2 and enjoy the game for what it WAS, rather than what it BECAME? Let us know in the comments, or on social media.