As part of the #SaveTF2 Campaign, Valve has received a book containing names from 340,000 players who signed a petition for TF2.

Team Fortress 2, second only to Half-Life, is probably what you picture when you think of a Valve title. It has a large, passionate fan base of loyal players who, from the outside, have been stuck in a circular nightmare of bots, banwaves, and other issues for some time.

As an example, in 2022 fans launched a campaign to #SaveTF2, which led to Valve promising to do something to fix the problem. This was followed by a buoyant player base and a record-breaking player record.

In June 2024, #SaveTF2 was a campaign that saw the player count double. Valve took action, mercilessly banning users and telling them to "No" on appeals. In September 2024 it is now September, and, okay, fair enough, this plea is an extension of my last one, but I have the uneasy feeling we're stuck on a time loop.

Compiled by the author of that same petition website, TheWhat, this tome carries with it the hopes and dreams of the petition's 340,000 plus signatories and has, according to the YouTuber-slash-organiser, been hand-delivered to Valve HQ. I've contacted Valve to confirm this and will update this article when I receive a reply.

TheWhat writes, "340,000+ names compiled into one book." This is a symbol for the incredible amount of people who love TF2 - and want to see it thrive. This has been in the works since July.

It's a really nice gesture, but the TF2 community is reacting with a mixture of wide-eyed positivity and cynical grumbling. This isn't unwarranted considering the game's turbulent past, if a bit over the top.

"Valve will use it for toilet paper," a cynic predicts, gaining about twice as many Likes as the original tweet. There's also a lot of meme nonsense in a thread about the game on subreddit, where a player hopes that "their name touches Gabe's a*sshole".

One commenter writes: "They might use this as firewood, tho," to which another responds: "I want Gabe throw my name in his fireplace while he lies naked on a rug made of bear skin in front of it." Okay.

There's some good news, too. The campaign was successful in bringing a TF2 summer update, and it seems that the bot menace is no longer a threat. A quick check of the subreddit, as well as TheWhat's own, suggests this will continue for the time being. The TF2 comic will also be returning.

On the other hand I wouldn't hold out much hope for a return of the good old times. The UK is now a country where TF2 has been around for a while. While Valve appears to be improving their maintenance, the summer update was essentially a collaboration of community-made content, which Gabe and his friends compiled, as they were forced to clarify last year. Ah, well, if things go wrong, we can always turn to Madcap.