TF2 Mann vs. Machine includes paid mode with unique loot

Team Fortress 2's new PvE co-op mode Mann vs. Machine is free to play, but if you fancy extra special loot, you can pay 99¢ for a ticket which offers the chance to earn unique robot-loot.

18

Team Fortress 2's business model has been fairly simple since it went free-to-play--sell lots of virtual hats and guns--but Valve's trying something slightly different with the new 'Mann vs. Machine' co-op PvE mode, which launched last night. While it's free to play, if you fancy extra special loot, you can pay 99 cents for a ticket which offers the chance to earn unique prizes the likes of which ye have never seen.

The 99-cent single-use Tour of Duty Tickets let you into Mann Up Mode, which is a fancy way of saying it's played on Valve's official Mann Co. servers and you can score snazzy robot parts to wear. You're given a wearable Tour of Duty Badge to track your progress through the three MvM missions, which levels up once you've finished them all. The first time you finish a mission on each badge level, you get a piece of robot-loot, then another piece once you've finished the entire tour.

It's not cheap, though. Tour of Duty Tickets are used up when you complete any mission not already finished on your badge level (but not if you fail or have finished it before on this level). Tickets are still ultimately a hat delivery mechanism, but a bit different to straight selling them. Look, it's complicated, so check Valve's FAQ for the nitty-gritty.

You can also cough up $1.99 for a Squad Surplus Voucher, which will ensure everyone on your Mann Up Mode team will get an item if you beat the mission.

Of course, you don't need to pay a penny to play Mann vs. Machine if you don't want to; player-run servers simply don't drop the special robot-loot. The items are tradeable too, so you can swap your spares for shiny newness if you don't mind being thoroughly fleeced by unscrupulous traders.

Team Fortress 2 is a little overwhelmed by the flood of people trying to smash robots and wear their metallic skulls as trophies, mind, so it may be a while before you can play.

Filed Under
From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 16, 2012 6:00 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, TF2 Mann vs. Machine includes paid mode with unique loot.

    Team Fortress 2's new PvE co-op mode Mann vs. Machine is free to play, but if you fancy extra special loot, you can pay 99¢ for a ticket which offers the chance to earn unique robot-loot.

    • reply
      August 16, 2012 6:27 AM

      Damn. First time that I might pay a dollar for that. On the other hand.... THEY HAVE ADDED SO MUCH FREE STUFF! Have my dollar I love you Valve.

      Also it's fucking fun!

      • reply
        August 16, 2012 6:29 AM

        Exactly but lets hope the queue will be less than 1h30 today

        • reply
          August 16, 2012 9:52 AM

          All you have to do is open the server list, wait for a server that has less than 6 players to pop up, join, enjoy! ;)

          Or you could set up your own server. Not that hard really.

          • reply
            August 16, 2012 10:19 AM

            when steam came out there was "out game" server list (directly in steam didnt have to be in game) is this thing gone ? couldn't find it yesterday

      • reply
        August 16, 2012 7:44 AM

        It's a dollar a mission, if I read it correctly.

        • reply
          August 16, 2012 10:11 AM

          Technically its a dollar per Tour of Duty, which includes multiple missions (i think its 4).

    • reply
      August 16, 2012 7:15 AM

      Does Mann Up not have the massive wait times? May get me to pay a buck if so. Well, once the servers start working again.

    • reply
      August 16, 2012 7:20 AM

      The TF2 forums are so full of butthurt over the optional $1 ticket it's almost more comical than Valve's comics. "I paid for this games years ago I deserve free Mann up tickets for life!" "This is splitting the community! My friends won't play Mann up because they don't have a $1 but I refuse to play on open servers for free! This is a travesty!"

      Stimulating!

      • reply
        August 16, 2012 7:26 AM

        Especially for cosmetic items. I havent played tf2 since 3 month after launch, how do you unlock guns? I logged in this morning and got a heavy gun.

        • reply
          August 16, 2012 8:02 AM

          [deleted]

        • reply
          August 16, 2012 9:04 AM

          hahaha yea mea too. I was like 'Wtf this isnt TF2, wtf is this?' and had literally no idea what was going on.

        • reply
          August 16, 2012 9:54 AM

          Me too. I was watching a livestream last night and I didn't know wtf he was talking about half the time. There are item builds now? I gotta get up to speed. :(

      • reply
        August 16, 2012 9:57 AM

        That's just sad.

      • reply
        August 16, 2012 10:22 AM

        Wait, the TF2 forums are crying over something? It must be a day that ends in "y."

    • reply
      August 16, 2012 7:23 AM

      what is the purpose of the loot?

    • reply
      August 16, 2012 7:59 AM

      Hmm. PvE co-op you say? Maybe it's worth to download this game then. Considering it's free and all.

    • reply
      August 16, 2012 8:04 AM

      That's a bit steep for a chance at getting loot.

      • reply
        August 16, 2012 8:24 AM

        You don't lose your ticket until you complete a mission (get loot)

        • reply
          August 16, 2012 8:43 AM

          Ok so you will get loot of some kind with the ticket. That's not so bad then.

    • reply
      August 16, 2012 10:01 AM

      Can you play this without creating a party?

      • reply
        August 16, 2012 10:15 AM

        you can get on the server browser and find games that are 5/6 or 5/32 or lower. that will still take luck though. to play instantly at all anymore seems like you have to host a game off your computer, and lacking any UI it's kind of annoying to do

    • reply
      August 16, 2012 10:37 AM

      "Tour of Duty Tickets are used up when you complete any mission not already finished on your badge level (but not if you fail or have finished it before on this level)"

      So does this mean that once you've bought tickets and beaten all of the tours in Mann Up, you can play Mann Up mode all of the time without buying any more tickets? Theres like an upper cap on how much you would need to spend on tickets?

      • reply
        August 16, 2012 1:26 PM

        you don't need tickets to play mann up. you need tickets to get loot at the end of a tour on mann up mode, though.

        • reply
          August 16, 2012 3:12 PM

          No, when I try to play Mann Up it says I need a ticket. You can play MVM on the community servers for free, but Mann Up requires tickets.

    • reply
      August 16, 2012 1:31 PM

      Really fun mod. Need to start your own server with friends though for the full fun benefits. Joining and starting servers seems a little buggy though. gotto open ports and put in some code to start it up

    • reply
      August 17, 2012 2:36 AM

      and lots of bugs

Hello, Meet Lola