YOUTUBERS Are The SOURCE of TF2's PROBLEMS
Youtubers are the source of almost all of TF2's problems. Uncle Dane, Shounic, Megascatterbomb, Zesty Jesus, etc. I've done a bit of research into this and there's a lot to get through so strap yourself in.
TF2's Problems and Their Relation to Youtubers
TF2 has a lot of problems, including rampant cheating and bot hosting, scamming, lack of updates, workshop overflow, inflation - just to name a few. But the thing is, when you look at it, the source of almost all of these problems are youtubers.
Bot Crisis and Cheating
Before the bot crisis of around 2019/2020, cheating was not uncommon, but wasn't seen in every match (or almost every match) like it is today. When the bot crisis started and they all invaded the servers, again, it was bearable; you could leave and find another match. It was only when the youtubers started whinging and complaining and (this is the important bit) got everyone else to start whinging and complaining that the bot hosters went "by golly, this is pretty amusing and entertaining, I'm going to host more bots!" and that's exactly what they did.
I honestly cannot understand why its so difficult for you people to see that the reason people host bots is because of the thousands of videos, comments, threads, etc all complaining about it. As soon as their attention dries up, the bots will stop.
But that isn't enough, for I genuinely believe some of the youtubers out there are themselves hosting bots. Either because they too find it amusing, or because they want to get people to use their server and "donate" to keep the server running so they can collect profit.
Scamming
Scamming is a pretty big problem in TF2, especially for newer players finding their way around the TF2 economy. In another thread I spoke about evidence for the owners of scrap.tf and marketplace.tf doing illegal things which I won't repeat, and proposed my theory on how they are potentially the ones behind the fake trade bot scams.
My question then: how come almost all these youtubers are sponsored by these websites? I do not believe for the second they don't know what is going on.
Lack of Updates
Because the youtubers are fueled and benefited by the community's whinging and complaining, and actively encourage it, Valve has understandably grown tired of catering to the ungrateful needs of the TF2 community. Honestly, I can't blame them, almost every update people have hated on Valve when they should be grateful they are even keeping the servers running at all.
Workshop Overflow and Inflation
I've put these two together as they are somewhat linked. Youtubers often have stupid trends related to cosmetics, inflating their prices. But what is more important is the HUGE increase in the price of the crate key. Like when I started it was, idk, 20 refined? Now its like 80 or something.
If you go on backpack.tf you will see every item is being undercut by bots and real traders are practically non-existent. These bots are owned by a small group of people and it would not surprise me if some of the bot's profits went to youtubers as payment for the website's sponsorship. Too bad if you want a hat, prepare to pay ungodly amounts of money because of the million bots flooding the market with inflated prices.
Too Long, Didn't Read
That's a lot of information to inhale, so I've put together a handy dandy infographic poster that summarizes everything for you.
