The History of the TF2 Economy, Part 1: Humble Beginnings

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Where do I even start with this video? To put it simply, this series has been in the works for a long time. Like, a really long time. Ever since I discovered Summoning Salt in 2018, I knew that his special style of video -- the music, the writing, the intrigue -- was the perfect style for a long-form documentary on the history of the TF2 economy. And then in 2020, when I saw Liam Triforce’s epic “TF2 Retrospective” video, I couldn’t help but notice an offhand comment he made, writing that he excluded any sections on the TF2 economy because he figured it would be “really dry,” and that it “bored” him to talk about. As someone who has always tried my best to share the exciting nature of the TF2 economy with you guys, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to step in and prove him wrong. And so, in December 2020, I started writing the script for this series. At the time, I pitched it as a single 1 hour and 40 minute video, similar to that of Liam Triforce’s. However, when I finally got the time to start recording this spring, I quickly realized the video would be more manageable as a three part series. So I split it up. Part 1 would cover the first years of the economy (2008 - 2011), with parts 2 and 3 covering the height of the economy (2011- 2015) and the more recent economy (2015 - present) respectively. Thus, if you’re wondering why this video only has two chapters, it’s simply because of the way I split up the series. For those curious, part 2 will contain three chapters (3, 4 and 5), and part 3 will contain two chapters (6 and 7) along with a conclusion. Each chapter represents a different time period for the TF2 economy, each with its own unique characteristics. As for when the next two parts will come out, it’s hard to say. Part two in particular is expected to be especially meaty, with a runtime of over 40 minutes. While it already took me way longer than I expected to produce this video (what more is new with video editing), it’s my hope that the second and third parts will go faster as I can apply what I’ve learned from this video to edit more efficiently. For now, I’m simply happy to finally share the first part of this long awaited series with you guys. I’ve poured my heart and soul into this series, so like I say in the video, I hope that you guys find this deep dive into one of TF2’s most fascinating rabbit holes as interesting as I do. Thanks for watching!

[@less3594]

Man, with this simple words I can say that every second of the production of this video was totally worth it, it's a love letter to the tf2 trading scene!!!

[@notme4451]

This video slapped and I think this was worth the wait

[@LakiGamingSRB]

Seems like part 2 is meatier than expected

[@PhonEyStuff]

Babe, wake up. A new TheVirtualEconomist video just dropped.

[@rebeccadavis3185]

I left you 17 years ago

[@less3594]

YO I DIDN'T EXPECT THAT A VIDEO LIKE THIS WERE GOIN TO SHOW UP, you don't know how much I'm gonna enjoy it, tf2 economy it's such a great part of tf2 that needs more recognition and knowing his history, it's a really good way to give it that attention, keep uploading this history I'm begging 🙏

[@ShorK]

My god! I love this series, i was personally a trader from 2013-2017 and this is so nice to hear about! Really feels like a trip down memory lane even tho i hadn't started yet, but that just makes this so much more interesting!!! Thank you so much for this amazing series and omg seeing that old footage is just amazing 😍

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Wow, thanks for the glowing praise! It really means a lot to me. If I'm being honest, the retro gameplay was primarily added out of necessity (there was no way I was going to find graphics to fill the air for 30 minutes) and part of me was concerned it might come across as distracting. But he fact it actually stood out to you as a positive makes me feel really good about my choice to include it! :)

[@ShorK]

@@TheVirtualEconomist really loved it, excited for the next episode!!

[@BUNOBUNO-so5nu]

Hola

[@Roebloz]

I was PLANNING, to go to BED! Now I'm gonna learn about the early history of trading.

[@Confy__]

I still remember the day I bought the orange box and created my steam account in 2010. The first game I ever launched on steam was TF2. This video really hit me hard with the nostalgia. Back when keys were just a couple ref… when 2 bills hat = 1 bud and buds were one of main currency’s for trading. Before all the gun skins, australiums, kill streak kits, taunts, etc. When the economy was so much simpler and wearing just normal hats, not even unusuals, was somewhat of a flex. Hell, back then we only had 7 of the 9 Meet the Team videos.

[@ayegaming14]

0:24 everything kinda changed when nobody's home attacked. It had been like that for years but the video just showed us that

[@Noah_Levy]

As someone who joined at the beginning of 2016, It's interesting to finally see a definitive history of early TF2.

[@PretendeerStreams]

Wow, what a blast from the past. This really unlocked some old memories, especially at 24:32 😱

[@APELAPETSY]

Watching this makes me so proud to be a part of TF2. I may be a casual player, but no other game that I play could ever compare to TF2; gameplay nor history wise.

[@masterdragon35]

Damn, this video is so good, it's not only the history of TF2 economy, but the untold history of items and qualitys that usually other creators don't comment on it. And your narration was perfect, I felt so imerse that when the video ended I just wanted to see more of it. This may be the best video from TF2 that I ever watched, good work man keep it up.

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Thanks for the kind words man! Comments like this make my day. It totally agree, that's the really cool part about doing a comprehensive history, it connects all of the dots that are easily skipped over by other creators.

[@mr.awesomesauce8412]

I can already tell this will be my favorite tf2 video of all time

[@soal5367]

Kinda wild, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia recently as my cousin brought up my old sales pitch while on trade servers. "Selling everything on page 1-3 of my backpack, also selling any regular weapon for 1 scrap each and buying steam trading cards 1 scrap each." I had said it so much he remembered it by heart too. What a time. Looking forward to seeing the rest of this series.

[@IInferno]

Brilliant to see you back Ben, and with a banger of a video noless, can't wait for the next parts!

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Thanks Inferno!

[@IInferno]

@@TheVirtualEconomist anytime man

[@ss̈̇̃]

I just got into trading a few days ago again and was sad that I didn't see any new videos from you the BOOM 30 minute video about the economy of tf2, just what I needed, thank you.

[@catbasedied5972]

Great work here. Best video on your channel, and it's not just nostalgia for that first year or two of trading talking. I sincerely hope you finish this series. Both for historical documentation and future nostalgia trip reasons. It's been an interesting journey watching the evolution of TF2's economy from the very beginning. Never would have imagined $10,000 (USD) hats or trade bots or third party platforms to facilitate trades would ever exist for the game back then. I'd wager no one could have back when we were hanging out on the Alley map used for trading at the start, offering most of a backpack for a kabuto without any attribute. Look forward to the coverage of the dawn and acceptance of external sites and the later rise of automation and concentration of wealth. Thanks for the effort with this and hope it has lasting value for the community and possibly beyond in the years to come.

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Wow, thanks for the kind words! Comments like this always make my day :)

[@listertf2]

awesome stuff :) i've never been into trading personally, but i've always wondered how deep it goes beyond buying funny hats for metal. looking forward to seeing what made earbud and bill's hat prices drop so much since i never learned why that happened

[@cerb_]

i unboxed a scorching sergeants drill hat this past month! i love tf2! interesting to see how sought after hats were before i started in 2013...

[@Wackaz]

This is one of those videos which will (hopefully) blow up. It's gonna be one of those rare KZbin gaming series which will be utterly fascinating - such a fascinating history of a game I and many other people love not only to play, but learn about.

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Thanks for the kind words man! I hope it blows up, I feel like the effect I put into it is worth more than 13K views at the moment haha. Be ready to screencap this comment in a couple months :)

[@Luciditation]

this was an amazing fucking video bro so glad you're back!

[@manncostore6089]

Thanks for creating this in-depth high-quality video VirtualEconomist. Can only slightly imagine the work & effort that you've put into creating this video about the thriving economy we so love today. Every TF2 trader should definitely watch this. Keep up the great work and we're looking forward to the next part!

[@AVB40000]

I found this from an e-mail of the creator of TF2 Spreadsheet, and I'm glad to have received that e-mail. I used to be an avid trader and I remember the good ol 2.33 days. Subbed and looking forward to new content regarding virtual economies, would love to see videos detailing CSGO and WoW economies as well.

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

That's awesome! I didn't know he was emailing this around. I actually started this channel thinking I'd make content on other virtual economies, but I ultimately found my grove in TF2. That's not to say videos on other economies couldn't happen, but they would probably be tied to TF2 in some capacity (e.g. as a point of comparison).

[@AVB40000]

@@TheVirtualEconomist Regardless re-living these memories has been great, I stopped playing around the time where the market crashed and buds were going for the price of bills. But seeing how trading evolved after has been great to see.

[@riaJrotciV]

I don't comment alot on any videos but I have to say... This series is going to be your magnum opus Great work!

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@97MiloProductions]

amazing video! even as someone who's been playing for over 10 years i didn't know all of the details of some of the older updates, i learned new stuff on here

[@baging1]

holy shit this was incredibly well done ive actually been sorta fascinated with this topic so its great that you made this

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@Beatroot985]

Great to see you back dude!

[@GNew0]

just finshed the vid, FRICKING AWESOME

[@papadane6807]

WOAH I thought you quit! Extremely well put together video. Algorithm also pushed this hard it was the very first thing I seen when I opened up KZbin. This series will do well. Keep it up bro I love it!

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@dillwax_rk]

everday i wakeup hoping that VirtualEconomist will upload and boy this might be the best content hes put out period. cant wait for part 2&3

[@SubZeroDestruction]

Congrats on finally starting the series. Hope to see how much you've been able to include once everything is out.

[@Sirtyl]

Very nice video! Interesting and high quality, thanks fore making that stuff!

[@gnarrlly]

this is huge and ground breaking recorded history, goodjob!

[@SirMord]

I'm so happy lock picking lawyer could take a break from picking locks to tell us about the TF2 economy history

[@SirMord]

Joking aside this video was phenomenal, can't wait to see part 2

[@Qwerty-zj3rk]

My god, absolutely worth the wait!

[@VirtualTurtleGames]

Fantastic video, there's so much nostalgia in this as a long-time TF2 player and trader. Can't wait for the next parts!

[@G773NOriginal]

Epic video man, I love seeing the history of a game I've loved for so long =D

[@averageinactiveperson]

nice video again, i have now learned new things keep it up!

[@jamiehughes5573]

I'm a TF2 boomer I remember the days of keys costing 2.33 ref each

[@locomoco212]

amazing video. randomly was wondering what the guy who did the "keys to riches thing" was doing and was so glad I decided to check the channel out again. absolutely loved the video and am looking forward to the next part. can't believe its been over 6yrs since that series

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

I know right? Time really does fly.

[@QueeQuey]

Just did a quick re-binge and have been keeping up with this on Twitter. Glad to see a new upload! Always a gift. This was a great recap of the evolution of the economy, I am a bit interested to see if you cover the "trader side" of the story in the upcoming parts as there's a swath of content of opinions / videos at the time and your own first person experience. Looking forward to the next one!

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Chapter 3 is all about the "trader" side of the newfound economy! The goal of this series is to be as objective as possible about the economy when possible though, especially since I didn't trade back then (I only started in 2015).

[@charleschamp9826]

I wish they added a Pin/Badge/Medal slot. I like a lot of the Badges in the game, but they share the same slot with a ton of other cosmetics. If you were going to choose between a new shirt, new pants, or a little medal that's hard to see most people won't take that last option. Though I am curious on how such a slot would effect the prices of said type of cosmetic.

[@RandomJD]

Thank you for immortalizing a period of time that I only heard stories about. Loved it

[@ohChillum]

Please need more this is amazing

[@timewalktf2]

Great work on the video, I'm excited for part 2. Your attention to detail is stellar.

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Thank you! Comments like these mean a lot to me. Sometimes when you're putting long hours into a video it's easy to think "nobody is going to notice this" and question why you've spent the last two hours working on a graphic shown on the screen for 5 seconds. But when you add up everything that's what really sets a high quality video apart from a low quality one!

[@axoon11]

such a great video, learned a lot, thank you

[@Ang3lUki]

I love this video, and I eagerly await the next entry in this series :D I know this didn't get an explosive reception, but it captures the TF2 trading scene really well.

[@flashter6101]

My new favorite documentary

[@Bcordepic]

dude, i was literally rewatching your keys to riches earlier and wondering when you'd upload lol

[@ppom]

I'm very excited to see where this series goes! This video is so so well made and I already want to watch the next one.

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@TruckStored]

The virtualeconomist has awoken from its slumber.

[@lord_duxzen]

Thanks for this. The economic history of this game is actually deep and rich in lore. I know as a player since 2011 that’s witnessed it as well lol

[@shaharbruck]

The most under rated tftuber out here

[@notme4451]

I missed you 👑 thank you as always

[@Indskret]

Seriously appreciating this video, just as much as those appreciating old school items.

[@InsertHandleHere.]

This is the definition of a masterpiece

[@typhon_yt]

I'm so glad I found your channel again after not playing tf2 for a few years and coming back

[@FloroSapiens]

Very good content Ben, glad to see you're still doing good work out there.

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Floro! Thanks for the kind words. Good to see you're still out there doing well.

[@flash422720]

I started tf2 back in 2008. This brings back so much memories ❤ thank you !

[@brunom7489]

Last thing I expected on my youtube page. Keep up the videos

[@wubble4045]

Woah?!! A new video!!

[@Karma_Miguel]

Tf2 has been a huge part of my life for over 11 years, especially the trading scene. I owned so many amazing items over the years, sadly I don’t think I’ll be able to own said items anymore due to the price explosion of them all. (Golden pan, community sparkle lugermorph/ triple bat scout set)

[@mattemot]

Wow I didn't even know about this!

[@dangerdave96]

Watching this brings me back to my early TF2 trading days back in 2010-2013. Good times.

[@DustD.Reaper]

I personally was never invested in trading in TF2 and a trade server was mainly a place where I just dicked around and had fun. But one time while I was on one, I met one of my now closest friends who was an active trader who was looking for Steam Trading Cards, and since I always had a ton of them we frequently traded cards for metal. Our friendship was actually an almost sitcom level of friendship with him saying its a waste of money to buy all class crates and then me instantly getting a strange Dead of Night from one of the crates, but the thing that bugged him the most was when I was crafting hats, which was basically burning money in his eyes, so one day he offered me to get specific cosmetics I wanted, which in turn made me jokingly call him my dealer which is a nickname I still call him by for fun. After a while we both ended up playing TF2 less and less and he stopped actively trading, but even after our agreement we are still close friends and that would have never happened if I wasnt a dunce when it came to trading.

[@MeesterTweester]

Thanks for making this, I like TF2 history but didn't discover the game until 2013. I didn't know scrap used to be 3 weapons for about 6 months.

[@MisterJae_wastaken]

The legend is back

[@Dablos267]

Thank you for your hard work and research, most of the time in tf2 i spent on trading and sitting on servers websites to buy items,

[@weebs2]

This is incredibly well done, really brings me back to starting trading

[@Kfiekwlwlflflckkg]

spot on mate! cant wait for part 2!!

[@shortbow735]

It’s finally here! I love your content ben!

[@ha2kon539]

Nice video, good to see u upload again :)

[@LeMiraius]

dude, I just love you.

[@lipson05]

Great video. Looking forward to he next part!

[@Ravi_34]

I can’t wait for part 2, this was a fun watch

[@virtuallunarsolar1407]

I look forward to this series. I'm fairly nostalgic about the early days of tf2 trading, specifically when I first started. It got really horrible, at least for me, towards the end, but I'd like to see how the actual economy started out in the very beginning and where it is now

[@tangyorange6509]

HOLY CRAP! YES. I don’t think you realize how many times I say “the virtual economist” after someone tells me their name is Ben. Don’t even get me started on the video topic, can’t wait to get home.

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

haha this is too funny! I haven't used the "Ben from The Virtual Economist" intro for a while now so it's cool to see it's still engrained in the minds of longtime viewers.

[@tangyorange6509]

@@TheVirtualEconomist haha yep. Well your early videos got me back into trading after a long break and it ended up being my first profit and actually getting to cash out. All the best

[@HEWHOTAWNS]

Absolutely incredible video and cant wait to see where it goes, i wonder do you have any experience with Economy irl or think about doing a course or degree in it or something?

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

I took some econ classes in high school, but ended up as a computer science major in college!

[@Jessie_Helms]

Return of the king!

[@dealwithit5460]

It feels so funny to me every time someone mentions tf2 history in 2008 or somewhere like that and me knowing that I was literally a year old at that time lol.

[@KimFareseed]

What Valve springboarded with the Mann Co store was crazy. Though it is sad that Steam seems to be the only platform with per-to-per trading.

[@emirturkmen4524]

Great video

[@anthonymack6642]

Nice video. A lot of useful historical info.

[@talktailshep]

i really like the backround gameplay, i am so dissapointed i wasnt there in the begining on tf2

[@fatefulstars8669]

excellent video

[@sifterbox]

Yeah I was the one that figured out the first day how rare the Fan-o-War and conches were. I scrambled and got like 8 the first day then traded them each for 2 buds 2-3 days later.

[@sdm8143]

Holy shit virtual economist video fresh

[@Cosmic_Bacon]

Bro I swear TF2’s community could become its own country

[@crjonch8044]

This would’ve been so useful 4 months ago when I was writing a research research paper on TF2’s economy

[@unr34L-]

KZbin algorithm treated this video DIRTY

[@colec1800]

Awesome video, can’t wait for part 2!

[@GNew0]

hey i'm Rapunzel oin twetter, loved the thumbnail :D

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Glad you liked it! I'm really happy MrLight and I were able to come up with what we did :)

[@YellowDice]

Back in the day I used to trade 2 weapons for a hat it was amazing, by the end of it I had aquired 100+ hats.

[@RealLagu]

the market is the biggest reason I keep on coming back to tf2 after all these years

[@mexicanman9749]

HE IS HERE

[@citbblitwo7092]

One of the best videos I’ve ever seen.

[@Thelamestgamer01]

He’s back I love your content man

[@scattergun]

I really like your videos. I feel like they are all made to last so they can be watched at any time and still make sense. Cant wait for the rest of the series ;)

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Glad you enjoy them! That's the goal of all my videos. Especially when I upload so infrequently, you want to make sure that the videos are going to hold up over the years.

[@zenflame_]

HE'S BACK!

[@szmidutm8556]

Great video, it gave me a sense of pride, that I am playing a game with so much heritage, but also reminded me about exciting times when tf2 was constantly updated.Oh, what would I do to go to any community server back in 2010-2011 and see and expirienced what was it like, back in the days, just for one day :D.It also came like a thunderbolt out of the blue, there are a lot of repetitive videos on YT where people are crying about refined metal inflation... Why won't Valve increase weapon amount needed to create scrap metal? At least for some time, make it 10/15/20?

[@triledink]

I have been playing the game since 2008, I have almost seen and experienced all that has been put out in the game. Im glad that its still going strong even though valve is neglecting the real issues about the game and instead focusing their attention into newer projects such as VR and steam deck.