[TF2] The Day Valve Broke the TF2 Economy

At this point, you've probably heard about the Crate Depression: The bug that allowed certain crates to have a 100% unusual unbox rate, threatening to destroy the economy forever.
In this video, I am going to delve into the incredibly story and long term consequences of what happened on July 25th, 2019, the day Valve broke the TF2 economy.
Join my discord server for all things trading! / discord
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● Hud: Bud Hud
● Twitter: Twitter.com/VirtualTF
Transition Music:
● Three Chain Links - Gray is the Sky
● Paternoster Poetry / Stevia Sphere - Inspiration
● Paternoster Poetry / Stevia Sphere - Polygons
● Paternoster Poetry / Stevia Sphere - I came back downstairs and you were gone
● Outro Music: Vexento - Staring At The Lights
● Outro SFM made by Apple / theapple. .
● SFM Thumbnail made by ZEG
steamcommunity.com/id/ZEG_/
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Thanks for watching!

[@mrheroprimes]

the crate depression shows how vulnerable the economy actually is, because it could always happen again if tf2 team is not careful.

[@ArivanAshstar]

Robomerc at least we’d get an update though

[@SubZeroDestruction]

True, but if they really did add more safety measures (based on their response), then I highly doubt we'll see something this bad... unless they heavily change core code again.

[@fangrowls6336]

wont happen again. the mistake and risk was so big that it wont even get close to happen.

[@2017tropmarrant]

not at all. the economy is not made of cheap effects unusuals. there're countless other item groups that count in the economy, like australiums, halloween effects unusuals, unusual taunts and weapons, regular hats, killstreak kits and weapons, skins too, strange weapons and promo items.... this situation was extremely exagerated by everyone. the entire economy of tf2 can't die over a specific group of items.

[@queenivy5589]

Robomerc stonks

[@ReshyShira]

#83 was affected too, instead dropping 100% professional killstreak kits.

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

true

[@logical1239]

Wait what? That was a thing?

[@ReshyShira]

@@logical1239 Yep, 83 either gave professional killstreak kits or unusual hats.

[@logical1239]

@@ReshyShira No way, I would've totally gotten a few... If I even had cash at the time, that is.

[@BlackMambo5]

Did they treat the unboxes from Crate 83 the same way for Professional Kits or not? Wondering if using "non-tradable" kits on Weapons would've made said weapons "non-tradable" or weapons maintained whatever their state was when the kit was applied. Curious to know!

[@mulchmurphy469]

There is not enough salt in the oceans to match how salty i am that after learning about the glitch, didn't unbox anything because i thought Valve would delete all the hats unboxed from that time. I could have had an unusual for only the price of a key. Beyond salty.

[@mauriciohablutzel]

Same

[@hnetplay9595]

SaAame

[@gatomeong]

sameeee, my pc was broken at that time and i was so salty too

[@jankkhvej434]

same

[@pun5925]

the salt of me going "meh i dont like tf2 anymore" and coming back 6 months later and regretting my choices

[@kp5602]

"Its not like Valve would ban the hundreds of players who abused this bug" CSGO Players: "oh you poor innocent soul"

[@jrazz7605]

Explained this to me

[@kp5602]

@@jrazz7605 I forgot but I think it was about the R8 revolver launch

[@whimsical6]

@@kp5602 poo

[@faderxotic6331]

@@whimsical6 whats the context of saying this

[@asdawasda]

@@faderxotic6331 poo

[@shakeybones3977]

To be honest, I would have done the bug, but I was out of state at the time so I couldn't xd

[@ryanmassie448]

Yeah, I get the argument that people should not expect and a reward for being moral but it just going to A. make any future bugs worse as everyone will know they will probably get away with it. B. Just made a lot of people feel even more sour as they are already dealing with the fact it's almost been 2 years since the last major update.

[@woolco]

spin the wheel

[@kindbarcid8195]

Same

[@portablerefrigerator4902]

same

[@buddyboy6448]

I was broke unfortunately....

[@aviewer6897]

Can't wait to look back on this boomer style and remember every specific detail to tell the newer players about The "Crate" Depression.

[@anchorbubba]

*cracks open crit a cola SIIIIIIIIIPPPPPP

[@purifyings8314]

You kids think this pandemic is bad? well let me tell ya, back in my day there was the crate depression

[@C.A._Old]

İts Pass 3 Years Holy Cows. ! +1

[@CountlessPWNZ]

Based boomer

[@son-dream1766]

Thanks Valve, really apperciated the birthday present! Now I can enjoy thinking about how you basically gave away a present to everyone else as I was out with my family that night. Yippee.

[@peanutgallery5427]

bruh I can't imagine your pain

[@GameyRaccoon]

Nice katamari picture though

[@flamey9180]

same I'm Dutch so I can't unbox at all and I feel really pissed about this situation

[@Straeger]

I was on holiday dude I would have flown back home if i could LMAO

[@semyonr4212]

@@peanutgallery5427 my guy, I've left tf2 since 2018, and I'm so sad about the unusual thing, never got a unusual, I used to have a unusual but I got scammed, my life is pain

[@rodent_infestation]

I went on several trade servers and said "buying unusuals for 1 scrap each" didn't work at all. but hey, atleast i tried.

[@AlPootis]

You would've probably lost the unusuals anyways.

[@TwoAgainstNature]

IMO if there ever is a next time it will definitely be a lot worse. People who didn't unbox or buy cheap unusual not only got nothing, but got called a clown by the rest of the community for like two weeks. People will rush to use whatever glitch happens next since not only do they feel like they deserve that free or cheap unusual but they've learned they won't be punished for it.

[@SuperNate234]

I agree. The fact that almost everyone I saw made fun of me and said some nasty things to me because I didn't try to ruin the economy shows how toxic the community can be at times, ESPECIALLY those who would willingly try to destroy the economy for shiny hats or a quick buck. Next time, I'm definitely not holding back.

[@birchpc]

both of y'all just butthurt u didn't get a chance to get an unusual

[@TwoAgainstNature]

@@birchpc No shit Sherlock that's the point of my comment. Next time I won't refrain from using a bug to gain profit because clearly I had my chance and I missed it.

[@SuperNate234]

@@birchpc I was there the entire day... from a few hours after it was found and still there through the entire day. I had the money, in fact I had (and was willing) to spend the money to abuse the hell out of the glitch. But I didn't, because I didn't want the economy to completely collapse. You're proving his comment by saying that everyone clowned on those who didn't attempt to ruin the economy for their own personal gain. I literally had people the day after (and similar shiz the day of) say the same thing. It's not that I'm butthurt, it's that I didn't want the economy, which, mind you, is the only reason Valve even gives somewhat of a shit about this game anymore, to completely collapse. Stop being toxic. I hope you enjoy your Terror-Watt Bot Dogger and I hope you sleep well at night knowing that you knowingly attempted to bring down the entire economy for a few shiny hats.

[@PinheaDipshit]

I didn’t get made fun of but never unboxed anything (I was broke with no crates or keys) so I guess it’s up to if you speak up about it or not

[@TokyoDrift456]

imagine adding a crate and some medlas, thinking, "yeah, people are going to like these" then going to bed, going to work the next morning and finding out all hell broke loose because something fucked up without your knowledge

[@marcelzed1154]

I hate myself for trying to enjoy my free day and sleeping until noon. I was late to the unusual's party for less than half an hour godammit

[@joanaguayoplanell4912]

And I missed buying an Aces High Hat of Cards by minutes.

[@greasonist]

Same, i hate myself for not playing tf2 at the time

[@flashter6101]

Sorry guys

[@Xinthium]

"What if all this was planned by valve... what if there was never a bug!?" In all seriousness, I'm one of the players who just unboxed, and simply enjoyed the fact I finally had an unusual to show I had over 2.5k hours. Pretty sure a majority of players just wanted their own shiny hat to keep as their own, as most casual players usually would never try to invest into one.

[@proxy4620]

Yea, there's nothing wrong with that!

[@semyonr4212]

haha, my life is pain I never got a unusual

[@semyonr4212]

And I had 3.7k hours

[@absollnk]

I've noticed that if something is bad for expert traders, it's great for normal players

[@C.A._Old]

İts Pass 3 Years Holy Cows. ! +1

[@hootels1770]

I was on market hold during the entire event

[@memutzafortebracci8160]

oof ouchy that hurts i was in a camp when The crate depression started

[@timyoung3695]

I had like exams during the entire event... but oh well

[@simunnone5684]

same

[@fracklo1997]

I was on a 3 year break, came back in March 2020 🙃

[@cbarre9937]

This is Great : (100s of dollars of profit and unusuals) But I like this (doing nothing in the Hope's of getting a reward and getting nothing)

[@Collisto2435]

It hurts A lot

[@peanutgallery5427]

@@Collisto2435 it really does

[@Collisto2435]

@@peanutgallery5427 The one time I think I can behave and maybe get a reward for it. Now everyone has 10 unusuals for each class and I got.. nothing...

[@pixellampent4228]

Well some of us weren't able to take advantage of it. Dammit I wish I was able to take advantage of it.

[@ichigo6100]

Dammit i feel like shit

[@JS-iu3ce]

Valve: brakes tf2 economy with introducing all class crates Valve: I'll fucking do it again

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

Hello everyone! For all those asking me, I've been meaning to make this since the glitch was first discovered, but I didn't want to get it out before Valve finished announcing and implementing their decision. Now that Valve's done and we've seen the economy after it has (somewhat) settled, I feel like I can offer a great perspective on the whole story. I also wanted this video to be a history/story video, one that somebody can look back on years later to learn about the crazy events of the Crate Depression. With that in mind, enjoy the video!

[@billjulia1390]

No, fucking DIAGRAM.

[@thewarlock9023]

TheVirtualEconomist I guess your right about taking advantage about the bug but I'm still sad that people who didn't unbox don't get anything

[@thewarlock9023]

I really could have gotten some good cash

[@thewarlock9023]

I dont know much about trading but it seems like it will make it harder to get to unusuals

[@Veratig]

Did any videos in production get interrupted when the "crate depression" happened? If so what were they? ... or is it a secret :000000000

[@JadedJaden]

I think the bots deserve it. They kinda ruined the economy. They always seem to be able to undercut someone, no matter the price, and if a bot has your hat, you might as well not try selling that hat, because you can't compete with the bot.

[@amiablereaper]

Well, how low can you make them go? If a bot can be convinced to undercut enough, you can just snag a nearly free hat, right?

[@idk-cc1ep]

​@@amiablereaperYou can make them go until the highest buy order and I don't think they update to undercut quickly as well

[@Aarmastah]

It's crazy to think that Valve was able to turn what was once considered a catastrophe into something positive. Their solution really was top-notch

[@chillmanmax]

no cheaters lament tho :(

[@cjriketf2]

Hey, at least we can pick up unusual quicksells for like 6 keys now tho

[@sunbuYT]

Sup Aar. I agree and your videos are spectacular, cheers. I just hope Valve does something more for the game.

[@VegVariety]

I just wish they did something for the people who didn’t unbox anything

[@The-Blue-Knight]

Bad take. - people got fucked - new precident was set, exploitation is ok according to valve. - unusuals are marred. - low teir trading took a hit. Bad move by valve in my opinion.

[@goldenhelmet3251]

Was on a trade server when it happened, truly was something

[@neeevirus]

"Dad, how did you become rich?" "Sit down, son... It was on July 25th, 2019..."

[@CongaYT]

"This was meant to be a significant day because of summer cases" I mean, if, that's really what you consider to be significant then sure

[@JZPD355]

In my opinion, I would have loved the cheaters lament... but only because I didn’t get to unbox :(

[@VegVariety]

Same

[@o1lec1]

same

[@peanutgallery5427]

maby sum thing other than the cheaters lament

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

It was the best day in tf2 history, Merchants cried, the common folk were happy! I also amusingly unboxed a legit unusual the day after it was fixed.

[@manicstatic370]

The economy is pretty dead, only the elite losers gave a shit when cosmetics shouldn’t cost so much

[@alytiongson3113]

A bit late but i still watch Side story: i tried to get a unusual from the glitched crates but i was stupid and bought the wrong crate key and i didn’t know what crate was glitches and thought every crate was glitch damn i’m dumb

[@pixellampent4228]

At least you got a chance

[@dasefora123]

:D the best story ever :D but how did you manage to buy wrong key??? There is only one key for those crates

[@alytiongson3113]

KetrusGaming i bought a key for the Christmas case

[@bucketofchicken8325]

He dun got goofed

[@dragonkingofthestars]

Would love to have a real economist look at this incident.

[@mysterioso2006]

Totally agree with Uncle Dane on this one. Despite everything, it was a great week for the tf2 community.

[@kcool3483]

@Bird Brain you deserve it for being a filthy bot owner 2ez

[@kcool3483]

@Bird Brain well that's not my fault it's yours. You KNOW there will be risks getting bots and you AGREED to the terms and conditions. That's your fault for getting a bot.

[@deepdog8729]

Bird Brain Lmao Lol

[@Malacha1]

@Bird Brain Imagine running your store with robots and blaming someone else when they get exploited.

[@cats3822]

Jesus man I feel so sorry for you

[@hayesmarvin2501]

I was on vacation and got back literally 15 mins after it got patched lol

[@1964catt]

Let's not forget that on August 24 people did not get the party hat, there was a glitch that made it not drop at all I didn't even get it and I played on that day.

[@setugrimaldo8084]

The Cheater's lamnet would become the new Gibus if valve would have gave it to everyone who didn't unbox

[@ivanyy]

Give me a new gibus valveeeee

[@Joey099]

They could make a new hat that is smillar to the lamment

[@burritocat5076]

You sir, are a fucking genius. I realized it now. If Valve gave everyone that didn't unbox a cheater's lament, they would also include the ones who were unaware of this.

[@Name-sk3jk]

Just give them another hat to replace the cheaters lament like that cap will the the ant on it, I forgot the name

[@burritocat5076]

@@Name-sk3jk well it's finder's fee, and I don't think so. Coz u only get it when u report smth

[@epicface7031]

Valve: Breaks the economy The Virtual *Economist* : *dies*

[@joe_youtube]

When the TF team hasn’t put in an update for about a year but when they do they break the game and destroy the economy and then proceeds to only fix it and not punish anyone

[@laychel2675]

fix more like placing a band aid on a really wide open wound

[@user-kt3jk1vq9o]

Why should you be punished for opening a crate as devs intended and encouraged you to do

[@KIgaming.]

@@user-kt3jk1vq9o exactly, you can't easily tell the difference between someone who opened a crate to exploit the bug and someone who just wanted to unbox and didn't know

[@cook_it]

I was one of the people who didn't want to participate in something that could have ended TF2, and what did we get? Nothing. And people who are willing to risk the whole economy of TF2 for profit get a fricking unusual for free?!? This feels so bad that knowing that I could have gotten a good unusual for a few bucks if I abused a potentially game-ending bug... I guess honesty really isn't the way to go anymore.

[@supaplayer]

This lets us know that next time a bug happens, Valve won’t care about exploitation and let people keep glitched items.

[@jakobknecht7654]

"Something that could have ended TF2" drama alert.

[@fbiagentmiyakohoshino8223]

Cook IT same

[@jakobknecht7654]

@Detlaff von Drac No.

[@supaplayer]

Detlaff von Drac Perhaps

[@CollegeBallYouknow]

I stopped playing the game about 2-3 years prior, if only I stayed on just bit longer to experience this.

[@stighma]

Ridley *a bit longer*

[@axynion]

Bought hat for 4$, sold it for 25$, best deal ever

[@doktawhawee9870]

Very good, valve. You basically said that it was okay to exploit. I remember when exploiting was seen as bad... I don't even give a shit that I didn't get an unusual. I care that nobody gives a shit about what happened.

[@Sakiifyable]

Very good summary. Didn't expect it to be useful after this amount of time, but it was

[@friedwater6519]

I don't really think it'll completely break, but it'll definitely decrease the value of unusuals, but theres more unusuals overall so I think it'll even out. Great video.

[@TheAmateurHobbyist29]

I would of done the bug 100%, not scam anyone because I am not someone to do that, but according to valve I was “purchasing funds too quickly”

[@Redbolt_]

Excellent video! Really well done and put together. Also, when do you think we'll be able to see Parts 9 and 10 of the unusual trading guide about High/God Tier trading and Cashing out? It's been a bit of time since the last one and I'm really looking forward to seeing them!

[@bobbybobbington3915]

Amazing explanation! Unfortunately, I was asleep during the glitch, but I'll find an unusual somehow!

[@ArivanAshstar]

I subbed a week ago, cuz I knew you’d make this vid :D

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

:D

[@khai6009]

Well, it got me back into TF2 :D Didn't unbox, but the hype was real.

[@conethegamer]

im pissed that they get to keep their unusuals for exploiting a glitch like bruh

[@billgaming8623]

I know. But this was the Best way

[@majungasaurus6814]

@@billgaming8623 they could have at least gave something to the ones who didnt do it

[@a_cowwithlegs]

cone It’s valves fault

[@nickmendez5693]

@@majungasaurus6814 dude, the ones that didn't do the glitch are either F2P, kids, broke or weren't playing the game.

[@nickmendez5693]

I don't see why they would delete the unusuals.. you know, they actually paid for them, so valve has no rights to delete those cosmetics since it valve's fault.

[@moz9359]

I wish I played during that time :(

[@kornkob9114]

NEW GAMe BREAKING GLITCH : PARTY HATS NOT DROPPING ON Team fortress birthday. rip tf2

[@lunarservant6781]

this is kinda weird to me because in any other game, higher drop rates of rare cosmetics would usually be like “Oh yay!” but for TF2 everyone was like *”oh dear god, no”*

[@realsamu]

Excelente vídeo explicando la situación. Y pensar que esto pasó el día de mi cumpleaños, el 25 de julio ! Increíble !!

[@Ebilbacon88]

This video physically pains me from me missing out on this madness

[@notgavin7039]

This almost got me back into trading days after I quit. Almost.

[@tf2funnyclips74]

As a tf2 player of 8 years, as well as a trader. This is by far the most interesting event to ever happen in tf2. Sad I was gone for summer and missed this. Hats off to whoever was able to enjoy this!

[@IrrationalCharisma]

Traders: This was the crate depression Literally anyone else but traders: This was early Christmas

[@therealthirst8099]

Even though for that 24 hour period was filled with anxiety and fear with the community at large i'll say that the Crate Depression really god my blood pumping over TF2 for the first time in a long time.

[@cliffspringer8084]

Im so happy he finally talked about this!

[@IsaacClarke39]

I dont feel bad for bot traders at all, their laziness became their doom

[@dictionaryofwords1108]

Excellent summary, thanks for the video

[@j0kez708]

Finally. Its been quite a while.

[@Mrsmacieks]

I still have one BIG question. You see, when the crate depression was happening I was having a 9 month break and when I came back (March 2020) I was suprised no one actually was wearing these untradable unusuals. This is very strange to me. Can someone explain?

[@Fullmetalseagul]

Bro the way you raise your voice at the end of every single sentence is driving me nuts

[@carbonice8283]

thanks for ruining the video

[@sirfrancis8732]

The cadence of his voice does become very apparent as the video goes on, and not in a good way

[@rigaming768]

ive been wating for this video for a long time

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

and now you finally have it :)

[@rigaming768]

@@TheVirtualEconomist just finished watching, i always like to hear opinions about the state of the economic market of tf2 from experienced traders and watching this video reminded me why i like this channel so much. keep up the good work👍

[@kabbada1219]

Third Gens are dropping hard though... Dbd Hong Kong cone dropped 50 keys and the brotherhood of arms 20-30. And those are not the only one

[@DaxMarko]

I didn't unbox nor buy anything because I didn't have enough cash at the time. It was too sudden.

[@gatomeong]

yeah, the crate price is so high too

[@asianjesus9813]

i was still a noob at that time, now i feel like doodoo while learning all this

[@KompXK9]

i was on vacation when this shit happened... I NEVER GO OUTSIDE BUT AS SOON AS I DO, THIS SHIT HAPPENS

[@bindedisaac7922]

this video is one year old, happy birthday this video

[@bucketofchicken8325]

Yes

[@anentiresleeveoforeos2087]

15:46 the panic about market saturation is a very telling sign that most people have no idea how basic economics works.

[@z_monty]

very insightful of you

[@juanmi2565]

Players who got worried about ruining the economy didn't unbox. Yet, alot of people made fun of those players, why!¿!?

[@ivanyy]

Exactly! I didn´t avoid exploiting the bug because I wanted to have a moral ground or whatever, it is because I didn´t want to help the problem. Now I lament that I didn´t cheat (pun intended).

[@The-Blue-Knight]

Selfish pigs only care about themselves, that's why they laugh and don't take in consideration of other people's situations. Also - people got fucked - new precident was set, exploitation is ok according to valve. - unusuals are marred. - low teir trading took a hit. Bad move by valve in my opinion.

[@DoodleZoo]

TheBlueKnight agreed

[@The-Blue-Knight]

@@DoodleZoo thx 4 the back up :)

[@DoodleZoo]

@@The-Blue-Knight No problem mate :D

[@skibuster0]

Ended up unboxing a Disco Beat Down Killers Exclusive. Was a nice unexpected lump of cash

[@noahwright441]

I was on the Vatican server when it first happened I saw butternut squash unbox 10 unusual back-to-back.

[@DracoTheBlack]

As someone with no skin in the game, as I wasn"t actively playing at the time of the bug, I do somewhat agree with the people who got nothing being salty over it. They essentially did what should be considered the morally right thing and got fucked for it. Personally, if possible, I'd give everyone who didn't uncrate and was playing at the time of the bug a key-less crate that would drop a random unusual. I doubt it would have any more of an effect on the economy than what has already happened and would send the message that if something like this ever happens again people should just calm down and do nothing. Instead, since they handled this the way they did, it will be an even bigger shitshow if something like this ever happens again. Also, this is why you don't push changes to production right before you go home for the day. How many times does something like this need to happen for people to figure that out.

[@dustinfirestone5319]

I chose not to unbox personally, but I don't deserve anything. It was only a short amount of the glitch and I didn't expect anything. I just didn't want to participate in this destructive behavior and I want my first unusual to be fairly unboxed.

[@dynamine203]

Good job

[@supaplayer]

Same, I had the opportunity to get low cost unusuals but didn’t

[@johnmcclane4430]

"I wanted my unusual to come from a fair gamble" Sounds healthy

[@crabmankiosk000]

Great video! Was wondering if you have ever made one on the phenomenon on the steam market where people seemed to be making ludicrous payments on things like crates (example, seeing a random looking item like a crate or a specialized killstreak kit selling for something like several hundred dollars, and then going back to normal price). If anyone can explain to me what any of this means, or if you already have a video on it i haven’t seen, i would love to know! Thanks!

[@AnthoSora]

When that thing happened , I got people adding me for my unusual that wanted to give me 7-5 or even 2 keys for it , but the funniest thing is that this unusual was not even affected by this because its a unusual from cosmetics case , people really wanted to get the most hat possible during this to make the maximum profit out of it

[@gersLo]

Virtual Economist more like, I click

[@SuperNate234]

As one of those people who knew from early on and took the moral high ground, honestly, I actually would appreciate more that the 1st unusual is tradable and all others were rolled back. My problem is that I can't see an unusual on someone and go like, "Oh hey, neat!" but instead go "Huh, another person who abused the exploit." I do see what you mean about it boosting the economy, but my main problem is that people forever have an exclusive item, stuck in their inventory, once showing worth, now showing destruction. It's just sad, really, especially because those who did abuse get an exclusive item. No, I'm not advocating for cheater's laments, but I'm sure as hell not advocating for almost every gen 3 you see to be exploited.

[@NorbitZone]

That's understandable, however... What solution would actually fix the situation entirely? Complete rollback seem like it, but Valve would have so much real monetary refunds, they would be dealing with it for months and there surely would be many cases where people did not get a refund (or scammers trying to get some). Cheater's Lament seems like something that should be awarded, but then again, that surely wouldn't satisfy most of the people. Deleting all unusuals would make most of the community pissed, which might lead to even less intrest in the game (which ain't that high anyway) Making all tradeable... I don't have to say anything, do I? Making all untradeable, meh? Is this that big of a difference that what we have now? Cannot say that Valve's answer is perfect, but it kinda feels like they have chosen an answer that satisfies as much people as possible, trying to piss off the least they can (apart from not awarding Cheater's Lament for those who were active during the unboxing period and did not open crates, that sucks a bit)

[@SuperNate234]

@@NorbitZone I mean, making the first tradable and refunding the rest would make a lot of people happy, especially since they don't get to have a bunch of exclusive and flashy items anymore, and instead get one to keep.

[@Palayedeuhm]

Time to strap in for this one

[@Coryn02]

I was reading Beowulf for my university English class this evening, and only learned about the crate depression at all from this video.

[@fabricatortheddius7107]

To kinda fix the economy You must break the economy -Valve and the people realiseing that this event used over 2300 keys

[@pixe3250]

Second :) and I thought you wasn’t going to make a video about this

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

I just wanted it to be as complete as possible, and that meant waiting until after Valve made their finial decisions. :P

[@pixe3250]

TheVirtualEconomist well you did a good job :)

[@aiden-sy3ex]

wait this was 7 months ago? jesus time flies, i thought this just happened

[@quantum_leap786]

As soon as the bug dropped, I instantly thougth to myself "O boi, i cant wait for TVE's video"

[@TheAnnoyingF2P]

Great video essay. I was wondering what the end result would be on the economy. Here's a long-ass essay from my perspective. Read it or don't, but the TL;DR is I'm butthurt: Really all it did was make me dislike Valve more. Did their solution end up working out for the economy as a whole? Absolutely. But once again we just see the rich get richer and exploiters get massively rewarded. It certainly wasn't unethical to exploit Valve's crappy programming, but it seems a bit unfair that the people who benefited the most were those who sold crates at ridiculous prices and abused trade bots. For days after the decision was handed down I saw new players running around in bugged unusuals. As much as I like to see newbies be able to get good stuff without breaking the bank, it seems a little unfair to say the least. I was absolutely there that night with the exact crates and keys in my inventory and like a lot of people chose not to do it. Why? Well there are several reasons. For one, TF2 has been a constant for me and I respect it and the economy. I respect Valve to at least some extent and would never want to hurt the people who play the game just to get a hat. To some people, that sounds like wanting to be a martyr, and I get that. But keep in mind that the decision not to do it goes beyond that. For one, you have to keep in mind that the economy was so absolutely tanked after just a few hours. I watched thousands of market transactions in real time and saw real dollars flowing out of that system. I can't imagine the amount of scamming that went on during that time. So the only solution in my mind was a complete market rollback. Valve demonstrated its capability to do this on a small scale with the DoTA 2 currency bug and could have absolutely done it again. As for the outside transactions, the best they could offer would be a refund for the price of the key, since Valve has already said that outside monetary transactions are to be done at one's own risk. I think most big companies would have done this and would have had it done within a day or two. Valve being Valve, however, it took them a week and after that amount of time had passed we all knew that solution was impossible. Heck, they fixed the flying Scout bug faster than this. You also need to remember that while the unboxings were going on, seemingly random people were getting trade banned. We now know that this was because they were being marked by an automated system for making huge amounts of profit, but the cause was unknown at the time. To discourage scamming and possibly bannable offenses, the community leaders such as the /r/tf2 moderators did their job and told people not to unbox anything at a risk of a ban. I respected that opinion, once again to my detriment. In the end I certainly would have liked a garbage lament hat, but the fact that I got nothing wasn't what really stung. The worst part was that Valve indicated that they did not care about players like me. The fact that they didn't even take the time to type "thank you for not making us look stupid" in their blog post simply taught us to make them look as stupid as possible the next time something in the game inevitably breaks. It of course didn't help that for days afterward lots of people, including myself, were mocked online and thrown into the same basket as the "I fell asleep so I need muh cheater's lament" stereotype. People aren't monolithic and there are different stories on each side of the community divide over Valve's solution. Heck, if I had gotten money out of the glitch I probably would have a different perspective.

[@nikcastle6943]

A long long time ago I can still remember how That TF2 used to make me smile And I knew if I had my way That I could make those gamers play And maybe they'd be happy for a while But July made me shiver With every unbox I'd uncover Bad news on the market I couldn't take one more step I can't remember if I cried When I read about Gaben's hurting pride Something touched me deep inside The day the TF2 market died So Bye, bye Mr. Sniper and Spy Drove my Heavy to the medic but the medic was "die" And them good ole noobs were pressing WM1 Singin' this'll be the day that I won This'll be the day that I won Did you write the book of Mann And do you have faith in Gabann If the VNN tells you so? Do you believe in using stock? Can a vaccinenator save you from an aimbot? And can you teach me how to rocket jump real slow? Well, I know that you're a hacker XxJimxX 'Cause I saw you wall hacking in the gym You were kicked from your game Man, I hate those hackers cuz they're lame I was a lonely tomislav Heavy Tank With a pocket medic with his ubersaw shank But I knew I was out of bank The day the TF2 market died I started singin' Bye, bye Mr. Sniper and Spy Drove my Heavy to the Medic but the medic was "die" And them good ole noobs were pressing WM1 Singin' this'll be the day that I won This'll be the day that I won Now, for 3 days we've been selling crates With a 100% chance of unusuals, M8s!!! But, that's not how it used to be When the crates Only gave unusuals with a 1% chance While mercanary grade was at 99% chance A voice that came from Lord Gaben Oh and while Valve was looking down. The gamers stole his unusual crown The market was flushed with unusual sells It was like Smismass came Early, like hell And while Gaben read a book on updates The gamers unboxed their unusual, M8s! And we conga'd until it was late The day the TF2 market died We were singin' Bye, bye Mr. Sniper and Spy Drove my Heavy to the Medic but the Medic was "die" Them good ole noobs were pressing WM1 And singin' this'll be the day that I won This'll be the day that I won I met a gamer girl who played only the team of blues And I asked her for some VNN news But she just HEADSHOT me and turned away I went down to the sacred marketplace.tf store Where I'd seen cheap unusuals days before But the price there said the unusuals were like $1,000,000 And in the lobbies the children screamed The tryhards cried, and the traders dreamed But not a word was spoken The unusuals all were broken (untradable) And the three men I admire most Arrayseven, Mr. Paladin, and the Holy Gaben They caught the last train for 2Fort, again The day the TF2 market died And they were singing Bye, bye Mr. Sniper and Spy Drove my Heavy to the Medic but the Medic was "die" And them good ole noobs were pressing WM1 Singin' this'll be the day that I won This'll be the day that I won They were singing Bye, bye Mr. Sniper and Spy Drove my Heavy to the medic but the medic was "die" Them good ole noobs were pressing WM1 Singin' this'll be the day that I WON!!! - Origanal lyrics- Bye, bye Miss American Pie Parody by myself Nik Castle. 🙂

[@GameyRaccoon]

Holy shit this good

[@Mr.Shwartz]

this was ass shit

[@spacevillainy]

what if it wasnt a bug and someone on the tfteam was like "wouldnt it be funny if we crashed the tf2 economy for a day"

[@typhoic]

goddamnit jerry you did it again!

[@Jancias]

I made some profit and bought my dream pyro set. No unus though... Pyromancer's Mask with a nice effect is too expensive rip

[@podde3647]

I had 37 keys in my inventory and i didnt exploit the bug, shouldnt people like us get rewarded?

[@yoyochinb3742]

Well thats all on you bud

[@nickmendez5693]

No.

[@kcool3483]

Well you're stupid to not exploit the glitch if you regret not doing so

[@luccaburaglia9094]

words cannot express how pissed off I am that I missed this

[@acookrez6150]

I wasn't even aware of this, I was told on a zombies server the Mann co store was dead but no one said anything about 100% unusuals

[@danielcurtis1288]

This is why I shouldn’t date. The one damn night I don’t have access to my computer :(

[@NoelJasik]

I was there on vatican when it all started, and also i don't know why but everyone skips the 2 dudes that found one crate that droped only professional ks

[@SkywayFishers]

Can't believe this glitch dropped the day after I began a three week trip with no tech but a phone

[@jakebeansboy3755]

I think getting a cheaters lament style hat would have been cool. Its not dozens of unusuals, but its something.

[@GTWDude]

Where was I when the crate depression happened? Well it was one of those few nights that I stayed up til three in the morning but not buying and opening crates but playing mvm my friend went back to the skial server and found out about it while I went to sleep

[@orbit3596]

I was playing just on some server

[@xx_r2-drip2_xx52]

*The Day Valve Broke The TF2 Economy* And Basically told players to: Exploit if you can, Exploit Often. Thank you Valve, Very cool!

[@manperson6626]

Rapid Bullet very well said

[@justderp5713]

Damn... someone bought a whole valve index... Holy shit...

[@stolenshortsword]

oh my god, the concept of buying crates for cheap and selling them high might be the closest analogue to the 'don't mine for gold, sell the shovels' adage

[@leonardotheuseless4188]

Its incredible how many people think this is positive I as a low tier unusual trader saw hats similar to the ones I have get sold for barely 7 dollars and I even saw my "dream" unusual listed on the market for 15 bucks. I had the money to buy it but decided against it, and what do I get? Half the community calling me names when I complained about valve's decision. Now I know to exploit future bugs for my own gain and not to think about the effects it might have on the game.

[@Aldestructo]

I feel that

[@ReshyShira]

Honestly, I think they should have made all the hats tradable, but release them weekly. As you mention trade bots got scammed hard, and those who didn't participate basically get no benefit of everyone else having unusuals due to the prices remaining mostly the same post-bug. Additionally, the trade market from what I have heard by my friends more into trading: The trading scene's pretty stagnant, and stagnant markets aren't very good. Releasing these unusuals might devalue unusuals but as I've been told most transactions are in the australium/killstreak/unusual weapon areas, so even were all these released all at once it'd only devalue a small portion of the market. Even for unusual hats, as mentioned, it was mostly generation 3 that was affected, and I'll be honest, having cheap unusual hats might be a good thing for the trading scene. We had similar happen with unusual taunts when their drop rates were doubled, which while it disrupted the market temporarily it did create a middle-ground kind of unusual that was more affordable to the average player.

[@TheVirtualEconomist]

I actually really loved the releasing hats weekly idea, since it would prevent an instant market crash. However, eventually it would devalue third gens in the same way taunts have been devalued, like you were talking about. I suppose weather or not this would have been a good thing is up for debate.

[@krissi]

i remember this glitch like it was yesterday, i was on vacation in germany and had no access to a PC when it hit and i remember seeing it really early, probably less than 10 hours in. Being a younger player my whole tf2 career i always only dreamed of owning an unusual or any fancy loadouts or hats so this was my opportunity to get some cool stuff, only for myself the unusuals being untradable afterwards wasnt really an issue for me, but instead i could just watch and do nothing myself. looking back now i could have easily sent my inventory to one of my friends and had him sell it and open the crates but i didnt think of that at the time.

[@menyatarigeny6833]

I knew it was chaotic but not this chaotic.