Eternals & TF2

Est Temi·Aug 23, 2019·7 votes·5,488 views

Isn't Eternals the same thing as strange weapons from TF2? Like, this is pretty much exactly the same thing except it doesn't break down into killstreak, painted, and unusual weapons/cosmetics.

When I first heard the release of Eternals, it sounded like it was going to be an awful cash grab gimmick. One that would actually make me lose faith in Riot as a company and one that justifies the extremely hostile backlash that they've been getting. Looking more into it, Eternals are honestly just strange weapons. They literally do the exact same thing, except you get more for less in this case. For Example:

A Common Eternal (As of the last post): •Tracks Damage •Tracks Kills & Takedowns •Tracks Objectives •Always Costs 225RP •You can buy it with in-game currency twice a year

A TF2 Strange: •Tracks Kills •Requires you to buy parts for it to track anything else •Comes with no other benefits or cosmetics •Requires an upgrade to track killstreaks or even have an unique effect •Varies wildly in price for every weapon/cosmetic

TF2 is praised for their system on this though. People love the strange weapon system and everything that goes along with it. It's a staple part of the game and that little bit, sometimes lots, of money spent on these little trackers has helped kept the game going for quite some time. Meanwhile Riot offers a similar, cheaper system and they're being demonized. It doesn't really seem right.

As someone that has personally played a lot of tf2, I'm actually really happy to hear this system is going to be let into the game. Trackers are a great way to keep a player invested in a free to play game. It gives them something to strive for and lets them feel accomplished in their own ways. It's shown itself plenty in tf2 and I think it'd work just as well in League.

9 Comments

TwitchInMyPantsAug 23, 20195 votes

It probably helps that TF2 makes weapons rain like crazy even if strange ones are locked in boxes and that the price point for a key is pretty cheap. And you can trade for these things at any time, you can just randomly find a hat which people will often prize higher than a strange and if you don't want it you have a free method of getting it. That and TF2 already has real achievements that are unique based on maps and classes, you don't need strange weapons to see most stats/progress as is. Its just a way to flaunt it, wheras in League other than kills/damage there really isn't anything being tracked so its being put behind a paywall when its something Riot previously spoke about releasing for free as an extension of missions.

It's pretty apples and oranges across the board other than you can flaunt stats. And honestly, the TF2 community isn't universally in love with the system either. Chests got memed on pretty hard when they came out but given all the free content and its pretty much the only monetization other than hats and tickets people learned to accept it.

Est TemiAug 23, 20191 votes

Only ten weapons drop for ten hours of play a week in TF2 and they aren't very worthwhile if you already have the weapon you want. Strange weapons are also the only way to see most stats being tracked. TF2 really only shows the high points like most kills in a single life and etc. I don't remember Riot saying there were ever going to release this for free, but if they did then that definitely has good reason for backlash. Company going back on their word and all that.

I would disagree on how the community feels about the system though. It's not called Hat Fortress 2 for nothing after all.

Nea104Aug 23, 20191 votes

No, in TF2 (ie, on Steam) you can freely trade + sell your items. You can give away some, buy some for a reduced price from the community market, selling enough to get the money to buy more, and so on. It's a pretty big and dynamic economy.

In League you are compelled to buy more and more RP. The moment you don't want or like something anymore, that's your own problem (oh right, refunds, yes :D).

Est TemiAug 23, 20191 votes

The trading community of TF2 is very expansive, for certain. That was actually the first thing I was thinking when I was writing this up, but I didn't bring it up because it doesn't make it any less expensive.

I traded in TF2 for around two or three years consistently and the system is well done. It feels rewarding and everything, but the problem with it is that you need to buy into it in the first place. In the old days, you could play tf2 for a week or two and maybe have enough weapons to scrap and get a really cheap hat. Build from there and you might get enough for strange weapon in about a month. That's buying low and selling high just to even get a chance at that. If you're patient and lucky, you'll get it. Otherwise, your best bet is to just buy the weapon.

Nowadays, that's not even an option. Refined is worthless and if you don't like something and you want to get rid of it, you're seeing a net loss overall. While there is only one option in League, its for your favorite champion. It's guaranteed and it comes with extra bonuses. And it was so cheap anyway that it wouldn't even weigh on the mind.

ExpertSockThrowAug 23, 20191 votes

I think the fact that Eternals track mere statistics and the free option is lackluster is what is what folks are up in arms about. The proposed launch price was pretty optimistic on Riot's part but even after backing down they are making it clear that this feature is intended to bring in money. A lot of the player responses are pretty telling about why folks are frustrated by this system: most can't see the value in this new feature, and even those that do don't understand why it's being ferociously monetized.

Stat tracking isn't a "sexy" feature like skins, emotes, or announcer packs. It's a niche interest to people who love numbers and/or love incremental progression on champs. Also, a lot of people are used to getting this type of feature for free as a perk from playing the game itself. So Riot's decision to monetize a normally free feature that only a few will appreciate seems bizarre and "cash-grabby". From what little I've played in TF2 anything you want can theoretically be traded for, if you have something other players want. So you don't have to pay if you're patient and lucky enough. Riot only has RP gifting; you can't trade skins or other cosmetics. If purchasing the base eternal with BE and adding fun personalized stat tracking via nominal RP purchases or Mastery System progress/loot box rewards was the proposed solution, there would not have been a huge outcry.

I don't know how much effort went into spiffing up Death Recap but I'm guessing they had to overhaul it from the ground up to accommodate Eternals. That's not insignificant and they need to recoup the costs to justify the investment. Still, it's a bad sign to me that they introduced gacha mechanics shortly followed by this. Hope Riot isn't going the way of most smart phone games.

Est TemiAug 23, 20191 votes

That does seem to be the case, people just being upset about it being lack luster. I feel people also just see it completely as a cash grab system that'll ruin the state of the game. I'm sure there is a healthy amount of people complaining that its just an overall waste of time.

As far as TF2 goes though, theoretically everything can be traded for. The problem is that there is a price to that. I noted in my bullets that price of strange/cosmetics vary wildly in price for a good reason there. Being in the trading community for two/three years, I can tell you it isn't as simple as just trading for some of the things you want. If you truly want it to stay free, you need play for hours to get garbage weapons. Then you need to scrap them, get a tiny amount of metal, then hope that you can get a cheap trade. From there its just playing the market and that takes a lot of time and effort. The other option is just buying it off the market, which comes back to price ranges. I'll give you a direct example

A Strange Scattergun (Only tracks kills) = .80 cents A Strange Killstreak Scattergun (Tracks Killstreaks and kills) = $1.96 Damage Dealt Part (Equip to a weapon to let you track damage) = $13.62 Assists Part (Tracks Assists, can only be put on a cosmetic) = $1.41 Buildings Destroyed (Call it the Objective Equivalent) = $3.73

That's $20.72 just to get what the common Eternal at 225 RP gets you on one weapon for this one class. If we take the argument that you can trade for it. I believe the maximum amount of drops you can get as a premium tf2 member a week is around ten. It takes nine scrapped weapons to make one refined. It takes 43 refined for one key. A key is $2.50.

It'd take months to even start trading in TF2 if you went the free route.

theveldmanAug 23, 20191 votes

this gets an updoot from a fellow tf2 player

xelakerAug 24, 20191 votes

well let's just let anything happen because there are other things at a comparable level eh? sounds like a great idea.

ThatsAToadSep 4, 20191 votes

I feel a big part of the outrage is that they could be doing things other than eternals (which no one asked for btw). 1: Bugs 2: The Client 3: Deciding to actually make an attempt to fix twisted treeline instead of just removing it like the lazy bums they are 4: Bring back RGM 5: The client skins or champs are essential to the games survival but eternals were an unnecessary

Also a lot of the outrage would be cooled if they made it available for blue essence all the time. Rito lost a bit of money from making runes free, but I feel they would get their lost revenue back from making eternals rp and blue essence just like the old runes were.

tl;dr if the state of the game was stable eternals releasing would be fine (or if always available for BE)