[a_tasty_serving_of]

Yeah, thats right, I'm raging against well drawn pixels. Let the off-topic replies with obscure anime characters and demotivational pictures begin...

Seriously though, I just can't believe myself. I can not believe that I've given a fuck (and good hard earned money) on stupid pixels on virtual characters. Maybe I'm just getting older or IDK actually getting a life for once but all these hats, weapons and other assorted crap that valve has spent so much time trying to convince us mean something just make me hate myself.

I've spent SOOO much time acquiring, negotiating and trading my life away and for what? So I can have the illusion that what I have some sort of status? Lately I've tried to justify it saying to myself well you know I've made some decent money off of it. But really, relative to the time put in, it really is just chump change compared to what I make in the real world.

Really as I sit here thinking about it I'm like FUCK you valve and steam and the rest of them for just creating this unreality. I mean really, they work their ass off to make us believe that clicking your mouse, moving your keyboard and spending money somehow makes us proficient, cool and a part of something of importance.

But at the end, none of the achievements or crap you have matters to anyone but you. Yeah, there's the occasional fawning over your stuff by some foreign kid or whatever but its not real. I mean you really aren't better than anyone else. You may be worth more, but that too could be an illusion.

I mean, I've thought about just outright buying the burning flames tc, with a houwar and a headcase just to complete my collection of stuff. 3-4k really isn't all that much to me, really it aint. Isn't like you can't get the value right back out if need be. I mean I guess when I start to try to explain it to others I realize how petty it is this whole trying to extract self esteem, admiration, meaning and purpose out an artificial environment is when trying to see this from an objective perspective

TL;DR version: Pixels are colorful, fun to look at and engage with but are ultimately a waste of time; especially if you try to use it as a substitute for self esteem, income or status.

PS: NO, you can't have all my stuff for free , I know they still have perceived value and thus like any rationale being,i will try to extract the most I can out of them when I get around to actually selling them.

[kurter]

Someone's beginning to discover life's meaning. Isn't it a beautiful thing to behold :lol:

Dude EVERYTHING is pointless if you really think about it. It's all subjective in the end.

[Sushimitzu]

The reason I have all this stuff in my inventory is because I can trade in Steam games - or rather catharsis - for it.

[Sam]

I get what you mean, about the status thing, it's nice to receive compliments for unusuals and such, but I find myself enjoying cheaper hats a lot more than expensive ones, just because they usually are a lot more fun, fetti and hearts are fun effects as opposed to the god-tier jaw-dropping burnings of the game, and they don't provide a status.

I totally empathize with your resentment of hats, but in an ideal world, I'd still love unusuals if they were worthless, more-so in fact, it feels silly having such a large amount of money invested in something so fleeting as the tf2 economy.

But I digress, I just thought I'd share some opinions because I want all your attention for a few minutes. Dohoho

[kramurx]

It's even funnier because it's a first person shooter. So you only see your hats 1. When you taunt 2. During humiliation 3. Use bonk

I myself couldn't understand the obsession for a long time. I started a few weeks before the engineer update and never cared about hats until the beginning of this year.

It's silly but it's kinda like in real life. You can't see your face without using a mirror but you still care about your hairstyle. Many people buy expensive hats for status or they just have no taste. That's why most traders look like this

[img]mod snip, way to big[/img]

I myself wear what I think myself looks good. I would never wear a shitty expensive hat like a houwar or a flies anger. I just like the feeling of knowing that I look good, even if I can't see myself or get any compliments. It rarely happens on normal servers and I don't miss it. Another reason is standing out. You can't really stand out without an unusual. 92359435 Players wear a killers kabuto. Only 13(random number) a burning one. It's natural for people to want to stand out and be individual. (even if its showing your individuality with a an unusual that exists more than once).

I am not rich but could get a relativly nice sum if I would sell my hat. But I just can't do it. I love it too much even if I fear the day tf2 economy will crash and unusuals will be worth nothing. I would even add a big sum money to my unusual to get a nicer one. I think if you spend so much time in tf2 that it becomes you second life you dont have to be ashamed if you spend money on hats.

But the prices for unusuals are really crazy. (mine are probably off) but $3500 for a burning team captain? And it's not a 1 of 1 hat. It exists several times. And it's by far not the only item that breaks the $1000 wall. It's crazy that so many people are ready to pay that large sums for hats. Some of those people dont even wear them but just have them sitting in their backpack. Locking them away from people who would actually wear the hat.

I noticed that many high tier traders are shit at the game. I stalk some of them sometimes and see them in 24/7 2fort, strange farm or trading servers. I myself am pretty bad too. I think it should be more important to improve your skill. Just look at a comp match. Most good comp players look poor. Only a small number have an unusual hat and its often a low or mid tier one. But still they could destory your burning team captain ass. And without your fancy hats you would be not better than some average player.

tl;dr you should care about your skill more than hats. But wearing unusuals is nothing to be ashamed off.

Oh what I kinda like is that if you have a noticable unusual like a purple energy or scorching you can easily spot spies disguised as you.

[Ligerwing]

It's even funnier because it's a first person shooter. So you only see your hats 1. When you taunt 2. During humiliation 3. Use bonk

I myself couldn't understand the obsession for a long time. I started a few weeks before the engineer update and never cared about hats until the beginning of this year.

It's silly but it's kinda like in real life. You can't see your face without using a mirror but you still care about your hairstyle. Many people buy expensive hats for status or they just have no taste. That's why most traders look like this

[img]snip[/img]

I myself wear what I think myself looks good. I would never wear a shitty expensive hat like a houwar or a flies anger. I just like the feeling of knowing that I look good, even if I can't see myself or get any compliments. It rarely happens on normal servers and I don't miss it. Another reason is standing out. You can't really stand out without an unusual. 92359435 Players wear a killers kabuto. Only 13(random number) a burning one. It's natural for people to want to stand out and be individual. (even if its showing your individuality with a an unusual that exists more than once).

I am not rich but could get a relativly nice sum if I would sell my hat. But I just can't do it. I love it too much even if I fear the day tf2 economy will crash and unusuals will be worth nothing. I would even add a big sum money to my unusual to get a nicer one. I think if you spend so much time in tf2 that it becomes you second life you dont have to be ashamed if you spend money on hats.

But the prices for unusuals are really crazy. (mine are probably off) but $3500 for a burning team captain? And it's not a 1 of 1 hat. It exists several times. And it's by far not the only item that breaks the $1000 wall. It's crazy that so many people are ready to pay that large sums for hats. Some of those people dont even wear them but just have them sitting in their backpack. Locking them away from people who would actually wear the hat.

I noticed that many high tier traders are shit at the game. I stalk some of them sometimes and see them in 24/7 2fort, strange farm or trading servers. I myself am pretty bad too. I think it should be more important to improve your skill. Just look at a comp match. Most good comp players look poor. Only a small number have an unusual hat and its often a low or mid tier one. But still they could destory your burning team captain ass. And without your fancy hats you would be not better than some average player.

tl;dr you should care about your skill more than hats. But wearing unusuals is nothing to be ashamed off.

Oh what I kinda like is that if you have a noticable unusual like a purple energy or scorching you can easily spot spies disguised as you.

Why should people care more about their skill at the game than their skill at making profit? The game has pretty much been overtaken by trading, so much so that some argue that the first-person shooter aspect is just a nice diversion from the trading. I'm awful at the game, and I could care less. And at the same time I'm in awe of those who are extremely good at the game.

tl;dr you should care about what you want to care about. Being rich or skilled is not something to be ashamed of.

[Cass277]

You can't see your face without using a mirror but you still care about your hairstyle.

You pretty much nailed it with this one sentence :thumbsup4:

[kramurx]

Why should people care more about their skill at the game than their skill at making profit? The game has pretty much been overtaken by trading, so much so that some argue that the first-person shooter aspect is just a nice diversion from the trading. I'm awful at the game, and I could care less. And at the same time I'm in awe of those who are extremely good at the game.

They should care because it's a fucking first person shooter. It's like playing a sport just to show off your expensive gear with no intention to get better. It's embarassing. And it's not true that it has been overtaken by trading. Yes there exists a small but active trading community but it's like 5% of the players. The majority still plays the game and doesn't care a lot for trading.

[Ligerwing]

Why should people care more about their skill at the game than their skill at making profit? The game has pretty much been overtaken by trading, so much so that some argue that the first-person shooter aspect is just a nice diversion from the trading. I'm awful at the game, and I could care less. And at the same time I'm in awe of those who are extremely good at the game.

They should care because it's a fucking first person shooter. It's like playing a sport just to show off your expensive gear with no intention to get better. It's embarassing. And it's not true that it has been overtaken by trading. Yes there exists a small but active trading community but it's like 5% of the players. The majority still plays the game and doesn't care a lot for trading.

Take it down a notch there. Comparing Team Fortress 2 to a sport is a bit much. It's a game, not a sport. And you know why people play games? To have fun. What business is it of yours to go around criticizing how other people wish to spend their time?

[kurter]

He didn't criticize anyone he just made a remark. And to be realistic TF2 = a multiplayer FPS in which two teams are playing against each other.

Thus automatically competing with another which means it's not just for fun. If you want to play for fun that's totally cool but the main thought behind any multiplayer game especially if it's online is the competition.