Friday, December 31, 2010

On TF2 and the Ghastlier Gibus

So, I play a bit of Team Fortress 2 from time to time, and it's got some significant differences from Team Fortress Classic. I won't go into the details here, but suffice it to say that there are some MMORPG elements, including an item drop system and customizable equipment loadouts. Among these are hats, most of which have no in-game effect other than their looks. One of these is the Ghastlier Gibus.
Acquiring the Ghastlier Gibus is a bit different, in that it's easier to get than most hats. (Most have to be purchased, uncrated, received as a gift or in trade, or crafted by combining 27+ other items.) There's an achievement called "Ghastly Gibus Grab", which is obtained by dominating (killing a bunch of times w/o being killed back) someone who is wearing the Ghastlier Gibus, and the reward is the Ghastlier Gibus.
The item isn't class-specific (TF2 has the same 9 classes as TFC), so it can be equipped to any class loadout, and it's not limited to just 1, either. Thus, I've equipped all 9 of my classes with it. Why? Well, for one, I don't have any better hat items (just the defaults), but moreover, it generates more Ghastlier Gibuses (Ghastlier Gibi?), since folks who kill me a lot can get the achievement, if they don't already have it, and thus get the hat. It's not a zero-sum game: The hats are unlimited, as they exist entirely virtually. Thus, I'm maximizing the production of value. After all, not only do my assassins get hats, but if they then wear them, and get dominated in TF2 by people who don't already have the achievement, then they spread the hats, and so on.
Note: I just uncrated 2 class-specific hats, so only 7 of my 9 classes are wearing the Ghastlier Gibus at the moment, but still....

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