New Update Has Brought Changes To Idling.

[Ultimate 702]

Personally I don't idle, and I'm not aware if anybody 'round here does, but I considered it worth putting down this information here.

From the /r/games Reddit post:

With the last Team Fortress 2 update Valve changed the way you get item drops.

-You can't have misplaced items, if you do you won't get item drops.

-If you are using -textmode you will not get item drops.

With those two changes Valve deals a great blow to automated idling.

So it is now longer possible to acquire items if you have an unread item notification.

Just for anybody who this may or may not affect

Edited July 12, 2013 by Ultimate117

[No longer a Sexy King:^) 5,592]

Do people still idle?!

That's so 2009 lol

[Se7en 10,762]

They're on to you DEATH STRIKE.

[Ultimate 702]

Do people still idle?!

That's so 2009 lol

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/worldfarmersunited/discussions/0/864969953579613412/

Apparently! Pretty crazy stuff.

[- Mike - 2,728]

Do people still idle?!

That's so 2009 lol

It's worth it, I've gotten a few salvaged crates, and about a dozen hats. Not to mention a ref a week basically from the 2 accounts.

[DEATH STRIKE 573]

They're on to you DEATH STRIKE.

FUCKERS!!

[Asjo 90]

Sounds good. So, people abusing the system to get more items than other players now have to adapt to keep doing so. Idling really is a waste of CPU and sever space. Sometimes you even see people idle on regular servers just to make sure they get their weekly quote of items. When people create extra accounts to get 15 more items a week it just doesn't seem fair to those who spend time or money to get items through the game. It's a monster that this excessive focus on items have create. If Valve can effectively deal with these idlers, it can hopefully diminish the focus on this "item-getting".

If I understand it correctly, what the "misplaced items" means is that you haven't clicked on the item notification (from checking on other forums). If so, I think the adoption of scripts should be quite easy. I'm not sure if that's what it means.

[Ultimate 702]

There are still confirmed ways to do it, but they're definitely trying to stop it. People set up things like autohotkey to confirm each item.

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edit: I'd like to leave a warning for anybody who does idle... This blog post from Valve says this:

• Will I be VAC banned for not actively playing the game, also known as ‘idling’?
  • No, you will not be banned for just idling. You may be banned if you use external programs to circumvent idle detection. See VAC FAQ.

Edited July 18, 2013 by Ultimate117