Team Fortress 2 used to be all about sticky jumps, air frags, back stabs and team work. It was a game played between friends or strangers who soon come to be friends. All that changed with item drops, back packs and trading. Perhaps changed isn’t the right word, diverged may be a better way of putting it. This meta trading game is as hard fought as the exchanges on the battlefield of badlands so it comes as a surprise when people stop trading and just start giving things away.

About a year ago, from time of writing, I was invited to join [Ark] «FOX ?» as he raffled off hats to his community. Since then the Raffle House has gained in popularity virtually wiping out the need for independent groups.

You need to do something special to stand out. Droogie is among a new generation of givers. He trades (and accepts donations) relentlessly all month until his backpack is full. Full of exactly 100 crates and 100 keys. Then in one fevered session he’ll unbox them all and challenge the attendees from his steam group to earn their prizes by answering pop quiz questions, or be the first to dominate Agro, go! Wait, what?

“Long story short: I open 100 crates a month, hope for an unusual, and give out the stranges. Invite your friends!” – Droogie

Droogie’s a legend. His events are fun even before the unboxing begins. When the odds work in his favour and he gets an unusual the server shares in his personal joy and when he doesn’t they are happy to get their strange distributions but share in his disappointment.

New to the scene are guys like Shibby2142. His fun YouTube commentary of everyday play has earned him a tremendous following (even making it on to KritzKast #148)but he’s also known for dropping items back to his fans.

“most of the time, it’s a random drop I get while playing, or a friend who has an extra hat or two, or a viewer who randomly trades me while we are playing” – Shibby2142

For his latest adventure he’s giving away a Strange Grenade Launcher for Demoman, pairing said weapon with the maximum three Strange Parts.

He’s gone beyond the limitations of Steam, employing social networks to minimise the chance of being scammed.

“fans are not likely to make a handful of Facebook accounts just to enter, so that cuts down on spam… having said person post their Steam profile (which counts as their entry) allows me to randomly select said person initially (via random.org) but I can then double-check that they are an actual player / fan of Team Fortress 2. Hopefully whoever receives the item really enjoys it!” – Shibby2142

We hope so too Shibbs, just as we hope that giving away items becomes as popular as trading itself. All we need now is a Spirit Of Giving just for traders.