This update worries me a little bit especially with the implementation of that skin system. I'm not sure if anyone has played CS:GO, but they have pretty much the same set-up on that game. I usually only played casually, and traded skins pretty frequently. It's obviously an FPS, but with the steam market it becomes this whole other beast. I've noticed as my time has progressed in the game that the culture of gambling, buying/selling, and trading weapon skins has grown at a rapid rate. People bet on pro games, there are lotteries, and even the weapon case system in-game is a lottery in itself. I never really thought much of it at first, but as time has progressed I noticed it was a growing problem at least in my eyes. It wasn't until a few days ago I was playing a casual game in CS:GO and this kid (maybe 14/15) was talking about how he had lost a sizable amount of money on a pro match. Some people in the game including myself became concerned how nonchalantly the kid was taking the loss. We ended up talking about it for a little bit and you could tell this kid was developing a problem. After that game I felt kind of dirty for having participated in the system so willingly. I decided that I would be taking a break from the game.

I know this isn't about TF2 outright, but I think we could see a growing problem with TF2 going in this direction. If there is competitive scene, and skins to be bought/sold I feel like it is only widen issues like these. I fear that TF2, especially being more stylized towards children in comparison to CS, will see this problem even more (I honestly think it already does, but still.) I'm not sure exactly how to combat the issue, maybe removing the steam market?

Was honestly just thinking about this while reading the article is all.