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When do you get this? I didn't play at all. So what?

wtf does the halo even do? lol

Its glow makes spies who wear it visible... So it is, in fact, a disadvantage to spies.

Myself, I use it only with the Medic and the Heavy (And sometimes the Soldier, because it removes the hats of some characters, like the Soldier, the Sniper and the Scout).

And yeah, that whole thing with people being assholes towards each other because they have / don't have halo is a bit too much.

Personally, I don't care. Some people idled because they thought it'd get them items, and it was true... But it was also a program designed to do something outside of the game's intended parameters. The hats are designed to be rare, and I think that's OK. There are many examples of games in which you have really hard to get, random rare things that do nothing.

So, why are people complaining about idling? Because this this system is something Valve had never done before. People got used to receiving stuff through achievement-related unlocks. They were given another choice, with more variety... But in the end, they got a random system of item drops, as well as the old system. All of the classes' weapon items, you can get by playing enough with each class and becoming more proficient. Why idle for these? What most people idled for was HATS.

Dude. HATS. Seriously. Hats.

Hats are, apparently, serious business.

Even *I* want hats! But... If I get one, chances are it will be one I don't want. There are only a few I want, to tell the truth. Still, I ain't losing sleep over it. I knew about idling programs, but I chose not to run them because, hell, having a hat means you're lucky. It's a big surprise, it's something cool that makes you go "Wow! I got a hat!" and glee.

Idling takes away that. I figure the idling program was something Valve didn't expect. They wanted people to earn hats with glee and surprise, and the program took that away.

Anyways, idling was technically bad, Valve punished 'em peoples, and in a twist of irony, created an item that actually affects some classes negatively (Sniper, Spy, and sometimes the Pyro), and that divided the community into three distinct camps: Butthurt Idlers who claim Valve is the Devil and Halo-wearing n00bs are n00bs; Halo-wearing prepotent asshats who believe themselves superior to those non-halo-wearing idler cheaters; and the rest of us, who play the game because we actually like playing and really don't give two shits about halos and what not.

Want to know which group is more numerous? (Hint: It's a group that is not vocal, and enjoys the game regardless)

People will get butt-hurt over anything.

I didn't get the ******** medal for the soldier. Whoopty doo.

I know, I find it funny that this is a lesson I teach 5 year olds at the day care center I work at. You can't have everything you want, if you don't get something, get over it.


But still, this is like, Valves version of Recon armor right there.

Well, sometimes finding solutions takes time. I don't think they just went one day and said, "Let's do something against those idlers". I don't think the TF2 dev team was unanimously against idlers, either. If anything, I think the decision to do this came after much deliberation and discussion.

The main reason they cracked against idlers is, I think, that they were using an external application to achieve things they should achieve WITHIN the TF2 app. It's no different from using a memory-altering device in console games. Wait, what do we call the codes inputted into these devices? Oh yeah, CHEATS. Hence, if you use cheats to achieve something, you're cheating.

Valve is just calling it like it is. The TF2 team, having such a twisted sense of humor (No surprise there!), ultimately decided, after acting against Idlers, to keep the ball rolling. If you're going to discourage negative behavior, you best do it with style. And guns. And fire.

So, they gave those who did not idle halos, Idlers lost their idled items, and they were called Cheaters. It was like stabbing them up front, and then rubbing salt on the wound. Which, in turn, created discussion, dissent, and general asshattery. Guns and fire. Salt on wounds. Like a family reunion! Fun fun fun.

If I were part of the TF2 devs who came up with this terrible and evil idea, I'd be cackling with malicious delight.

Heck, I am cackling with malicious delight anyways. It's just that perfectly evil.