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Here is a few suggestions I think will make the game more fun & orderly for both humans & Zombies Name: ORBIT Stock: 2 Cost: 500 Points from the "utilities" tab from the Supply Crate Orbit is a stationary medic health rejuvantor that heals 4 humans at once automatically once placed. (redeployable) Name: Funky Bomb Stock: 2 Cost: 200 points from the "other" tab from the arsenal when thrown does constant damage for 10 seconds at a rate of 50 damage per second with a range of 200! after the 10 seconds are up the funky bomb explodes just as a regular grenade would with a damage of 150. (funky bombs also plays a little 10 second song) damage can be upgraded by using the card system. Name: Scraper Stock: 2 Cost: 50 points from the "other" tab fron the arsenal Can be used to scrap guns, tools & melee weapons in exchange for any ammunition, the more rare/expensive the object the more ammo you can get the owner of the scraper also gets a profit from when others use their scraper. Name: Zeus Stock: 2 Cost: Cost 400 from the tier 5 weapons tab A single firing tactical rifle that shoots electrically charged shock rounds(fusion cells), Zeus uses & needs 50 of fusion cells for a shot, after that one shot is fired that electrocutes & slows down zombies for 5 seconds while dealing 200 damage a blast, any 3 zombies within the proximity of the electrocuted zombie will also be stunned then you will have to reload. Name: Reptile Howler A Reptile varient of the Howler Boss unlocked at wave 5 The Howler is immune to the Zeus & when the Reptile Howler howls, all nearby zombies within the proximity of the howl will become immune to the zeus for a matter of 10 seconds If the Howler howls in front of the humans face & they are affected by the howl they will become blind for 4 seconds & be un able to hear aswell Reptile Howler howls at the same speed of the original Howler Name: Menace Unlocked by using 7500 Barricade points as a zombie using blood crate Every hit on a barricade darkens any enemies screen who is in the proximity of the barricade, similarly to Doom Crab's Burrow Name: Shield Rock Stock: 3 Cost: 150 points from the "utilities" tab in Supply Crate Shield Rock is a transparent deployable shield that once deployed acts as an extra layer of protection field bubble of energized particles that inflate into a stationary bubble that only humans (Holds 6 People) can walk inside & out & can fire outside while still inside to kill zombies, zombies can't walk inside the Shield Rock bubble but they can attack it & destroy it, shield rock is redeployable so you can move it around after obtaining it again, another con is that Electro puss can short the Shield Rock as if it was a force field emmiter (think of the Shield Rock as like the Shield Rock from the halo series & the force field that the Droideka drones used from star wars) Electro Puss Update *now shortens shield rocks Name: Stun Grenade Stock: 20 Cost: 25 points from the "other" tab from the arsenal crate When thrown stuns any nearby zombies in the radius slowing them down & nearly blinding them for 5 seconds while inflicting 50 damage on impact

I'd like to say thanks to @EddieCam for adding some dope prizes in events recently! I've really needed a good set of headphones and he really came through. Here is your free publicity... In reality its just another addition to the RGB collection This is the broken, failed super glue fix, pieces of shit headphones I've been dealing with so this is a huge break. (Dont mind my mess of a desk lol) Thanks again

- Asthmatic - Being near Zombie Gases will deal damage. - Entomophobia - You will take 2x more damage from Flesh Beasts. - Teutophobia - You will take 2x more damage from Bullsquids. - Aquaphobia - You will move 60% slower in water and have 50% less oxygen, with or without the Oxygen Tank In my opinion these are not needed, cause people who know the game well, will know how rare these are. They are just a cheap way to get more from the worth menu points. A way for human main players to start with more items.

Currently, there is little to no point in getting the Armor Vest for 70 worth when you can get 50 regenerating armor for 35 worth. What I propose is reducing the cost of the vest to 35 worth to make it more attractive, and raise the cost of regen armor to 50 worth, and nerf the regen rate to one every one and a half second instead of half second. This way, if you plan on staying in the back of the pack, so you won't be hit as much, the low cost vest is a more attractive option, while Nano Fiber is still good without being overpoweringly better. Also, the new variants of Fastie and Headcrab are pretty strong, too strong imo. Maybe look into reducing their damage stats.

Yay prizes!

@Genuline This is an interesting list of suggestions, but there are a couple of things: Sniper Turret I like how you find missing sub-types of certain objects, beings, or things that ultimately encourage you to suggest them for ZS, and that's no lie with the Sniper Turret. When I think of this turret, hence the name, I think of snipers, but thinking of snipers, I perceive a powerful weapon capable of destroying something in one shot. 150 damage/ bullet is a lot of damage, but I feel like this value can be substantially-increased such that it won't insta-kill a full-health zombie, but it's close to insta-killing. To work well with this, the fire rate you provided could be slower so that this deployable isn't overpowered. This is just how I think of it when it comes to snipers, being high-caliber, powerful guns with slow fire rate, and this turret sub-type is no exception. If you wanted to give this turret a unique name akin to "Blaster" and "Assault," I would suggest naming it the "Precision" Turret because sniper weapons require keen accuracy for maximized damage. "Mini" Turret Probably one of the more interesting turrets, there's nothing wrong with this being the fastest-firing turret in the game, but for how fast it can fire with relation to ammo capacity is bad. If this deployable can fire 25 bullets/ second, which is abnormally fast for a turret, on a maximum ammo capacity of 350 pistol rounds, then this turret sub-type will exhaust its ammunition way too fast for little impact on the zombie team due to the low-damage per bullet, resulting in lower DPS. I'm aware that these stats aren't final, but if you wanted the final design for the "Mini" Turret to fire at its currently-designed speed and damage per bullet, the ammo capacity needs to be much higher, at least 1200 rounds at best if firing ~30 rounds/ second. That, or make the damage per bullet shot by this turret slightly higher so the DPS is higher and allows the extra damage to act as a substitute for low ammo capacity. If we wanted to consider how this turret would look in-game, I would make it smaller than all turrets. Forcefields in General Okay, so I like the specific designs you came up with for the different forcefield sub-types, but I feel like it's redundant to make each one their own item type with their own point cost. This is because something like this takes up Arsenal Crate menu space, and a better way to approach this would be to make use of possible drop-down menus in the Arsenal Menu, something akin to how zombie variants work in the Zombie Selection screen. More importantly, this needs to be worked on more in-terms of design and explanation because fulfilling "niches" in a barricade carries many definitions and applications, so more detail is needed. "Return" Traits Asthmatic This is redundant because being near zombie gas does damage any. If you were referring to the gas at zombie spawns, this is the case. If you were referring to Ghoul zombie gases deployed as zombie spawns, this might be a waste and easy-picking for Worth points because almost no one runs next to Ghoul zombie gases, and just looking at them causes them to disappear, so I don't think this will work. Paranoia So, this is like the debuff induced by the Doom Crab's ground-pound AoE attack, and I suppose this one would work. However, sight would only matter if you're running outside of a barricade, swiping at zombies with melee weapons or just running away. If you're inside a barricade, especially the final barricade, sight wouldn't really matter, and the impairment would really be more of a minor annoyance than a disadvantage. I would say that if players chose this trait for extra Worth, the Worth gained would need to be as low as 5 because this really doesn't impair a real ability to fight or move around. Hallucinogenic I like this one, but the effect is weird. If this trait impairs a player's sight when they have it and they're low on health, saying muffled is weird for seeing something, so I'll assume this was a definition mistake. As for distorting sight, it's fine. Although, I wouldn't call this trait's effects hallucinogenic, more like the result of being feeble or very weak, so I would suggest coming up with a different name for this one. Entomophobia Like Asthmatic, this trait seems to be easy-picking for extra Worth because Flesh Beasts don't show-up until Wave 4 (or is it Wave 3?). Because of this long delay, coupled with not many players finding proper use for the Flesh Beasts, especially when humans are in the final barricade, this one won't work as well. I don't understand what the name is. Ostraconophobia Okay, so this trait might be unfair for humans for three reasons: headcrabs are small, so they can fit through small openings in barricades and map obstructions, making them the go-to to bypass faulty map design and overpowered barricades. they have small hitboxes, making them harder to hit and kill. humans have low health, so headcrab damage is something that must be managed with as much care as if someone was hit by a normal zombie. If this trait gets added in, the Worth received in exchange for this better be plentiful because headcrabs can deal about 6-8 damage, and doubling that, coupled with their almost non-existent cooldown for attacks, would give them substantially-higher DPS than the normal zombie against humans with this trait. Homicide To start off, I don't think the name fits well with what this trait is supposed to do; it could be different and better. As for the effects, as with the Ostraconophobia case, I need to make known again that humans have low health. Having 100 health maximum is small compared to how much damage normal zombies can inflict per attack, which is ~35 damage per basic attack. Multiplying this value by 0.5x and adding the result to the base would result in around ~50 damage for a basic attack against humans with this trait, which turns this into a death trap. The Worth gained from this trait better be high because this is a risky one, but no risk, no reward, so I'd say this is for the most daunting of players. Teutophobia I'm indifferent about this because I've yet to see the bullsquid in-game and see how it is as a zombie type. Schizophrenia This works. Insomniac I feel like this is just the same as Hallucinogenic, but under a different definition. This is better to fall under the Hallucinogenic trait. Dizzy This could be the new Hallucinogenic trait when that trait gets re-named. That's about it, otherwise, this trait works. Aquaphobia Again, another trait that's easy-picking for Worth. Not many of maps on our server have water, so this would just be chosen to accumulate more Worth. On the maps that do have water, the stats need to be slightly lower because moving 60% slower is more harmful than one thinks for those who have this trait and are trying to swim. The 50% less oxygen seems odd as a debuff given that not many players build underwater barricades, but as an effect that matches the name of this trait, I suppose it's fine. That's my take on everything listed above. Very nice list, but a lot of things need re-works.

Those new headphones look even sicker than I originally thought, Congrats man! You really did amazing on that event, over 300 kills I think!

How To Acquire Evidence This page will talk about how to get evidence of rule breakers and how to locate the evidence. This page will also talk about some useful commands and scripts you might want to use while moderating the servers. Now, if you’re an admin or moderator, it is recommended that you read over the enforcement procedures page before proceeding with any administrator actions. You can find the page here. If you have any further questions feel free to ask a TF2 Division Staff or Division Leader. How to get evidence: When there are issues on voice chat, screenshots won’t do much so, make sure to record, however, if the issue is in text chat it is recommended that you take screenshots, so our staff don't have to watch demos. When using screenshots of chat please go here. This will allow you to link their real history which can't be edited or touched. Please also make sure to take a screenshot of that chat history as it disappears after some time. It is recommended that you also highlight the field of their chat history that you want us to focus on (you can use CTRL + F and type in what they are saying). To start recording a DEMO, do “record <name>” in the console. However, you can also do “ds_record” in the console to start a demo with the name of the date To stop the DEMO recording, do “stop” in the console if you're using just the “record <name>” command. or “ds_stop” if you're using the “ds_record” command. To take a screenshot hit F12 on your keyboard. That will save a screenshot into your steam directory Evidence Locations: When you have caught someone breaking rules or you have banned someone you can go to these locations to get the proof/evidence. To get the demo files for the “record <name>” command go to “Steam/Steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/” However if you're using the “ds_record” command go to “Steam/Steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/demos/” To get screenshots go to “Steam/Userdata/<USERID>/760/remote/440/screenshots/” These locations could be changed to “Steamlibrary” instead of “Steam” if your games are located on another drive in your computer. Watching Demos: To watch a demo that was recorded with the "record <name>" command, you type "playdemo <DEMONAME>" in console and it will open the demo. To watch a demo that was recorded with the "ds_record" command, you type "demoui" or "demoui2" into console and search for the demo file in your demos folder. The 2 main commands for watching demos are "demoui" and "demoui2", they allow the user to do a multitude of things while watching the demo. Uploading evidence: Currently, the uploader is broken for HG so you have to use something like Mediafire for demos and Imgur for screenshots. How to upload screenshots. So since the uploader is broken on HG you will need to use something like imgur. To upload screenshots you can either make an album with all of the screenshots or just upload each screenshot one at a time (it's easier to use an album). Please never remove the proof as it could cause issues if the person appeals the ban. How to upload demos. You can use google drive, Mega, Dropbox, or Mediafire. Use one of these sites. DO not upload the proof via the post on the ban, as the uploader is currently broken. After you have posted the proof please never remove the proof of the site. If you do, and the person appeals then there could be issues, so it's best if you don't remove any of the proof. If you run out of space on one of the sites make an account for one of the other sites. Useful Commands: This contains useful information when recording demos for both normal users and admins If your using the “ds_record” command, you can do “ds_mark” which will place a marker at that tick mark. This could be useful as you could mark when you warn, slay, kick, etc. This command also supports an optional single-word description. You could utilize this feature by doing something like “ds_mark warning” or “ds_mark kick” so we know what each marker is for. However, for us utilize this feature you will need to include the .json file in the demos folder as that is what contains the markers. This is what it should look like if you have markers with the single-word description example. That json file will be named the same as the demo just instead of .dem it will be .json. Another useful command is “cl_showdemooverlay <0-1>” This command will display a pulsating red box saying “REC” at the top right of your screen when a demo is recording. This command can be used so you always know when your recording. Please note this command default is 0 so quitting the game will reset it. A useful command for demos is "voice_loopback <0-1>" this command will playback your voice so your voice can be recorded in demos. The default is 0 for the command so, restarting the game will turn off the command. Useful Scripts/key binds: Please note making auto demo key binds or scripts will only work for ds_record as it doesn’t need a name input. The first press of the bound key after game startup requires you to hit the bound key twice however, after that you only need to hit it once. the script attached to this page will make a toggle key for your desired key that will start and stop demos just by pressing the key. Please note this script utilizes the ds_record command so all demos will be in the demos folder in your tf2 directory. This script also includes the “cl_showdemooverlay 1” command in the script, this will stop the command from resetting to 0 after a game restart. How to install: To install the script go to this directory “Steam/Steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/cfg/” then paste the “autoexec.cfg” file into the directory. The default key is “Q” to change it you need to change the 3 letters to a different letter (all three must be the same). If you don’t want to use a script, there is another alternative. You can bind 2 keys into a key bind for stopping and starting demos. Like said at the top this will only work with ds_record since it doesn’t require a name field. However, you can also bind with the normal record function but, it would always be the same name and it would overwrite the previous demo. To make an automatic demo key bind for ds_record do “bind <key> ds_record” and “bind <key> ds_stop” This will bind both the record function and the stop function. You can also do "bind <key> ds_mark" so you can hit a key when you warn, kick, etc to someone, as this would be much easier than doing ds_mark in console every time you want to place a marker. To do a key bind for record <name> do “bind <key> “record FILENAME"” and “bind <key> stop” This will start the demo and set the file name and allow the demo to be stopped. However, it will always be the same name and always overwrite the previous demo unless the name is changed. It is recommended that you just stick with ds_record as it is much better for users to use. For those who already have an autoexec.cfg file, here is the command so you can just paste it in. Remember that the Q key is default so you might need to change it. Going undercover: You can disable admin/VIP tags and colored name with this command. ("bind <KEY> "sm_items; wait 50; slot3; wait 50; slot10; sm_disguise"). To apply this command you must first find out the slot number for "stealth mode." To do so you must first type "/items" in chat. Next, a menu should appear and you should see a list of functions, you must make note of the number beside stealth mode (for example: Mine says "3. Stealth Mode"). Now in the command replace slot3 with slot and then the number beside Stealth Mode (EX: if you see "2. Stealth Mode" then your number is "2" which means do "slot2"). This means when the command opens the menu it will select the slot position for stealth mode. This command was created by @reploidzerox so all credit goes to him. alias stop "ds_record;bind Q record" alias record "ds_stop;bind Q stop" bind Q record

SM_TAUNT USAGE Player Guide. ________________________________________ Tutorial Enable the developer console in the game options under the keyboard tab, press 'Advanced' at the bottom, then press the checkbox named 'Enable Developer Console', close the dialogue then scroll down on the same tab until you find the bind for Developer Console, set it to something that won't interfere with your gameplay such as the key under escape. Open your in-game console and type in 'bind [key] sm_taunt [taunt_code]'. Replace [key] in the above command to a key on your keyboard you'd like to use for it. Examples: t, f, MOUSE3 Replace [taunt_code] in the above command with one of the codes below which correspond to a taunt and hit enter. Close the developer console and press the key you chose to use the taunt! All-Class Taunts 167 - High Five 438 - Replay 463 - Laugh 1015 - The Shred Alert 1106 - Square Dance 1107 - Flippin' Awesome 1110 - RPS 1111 - Skullcracker 1118 - Conga 1157 - Kazotsky Kick 1162 - Mannrobics 1172 - The Victory Lap 1182 - Yeti Punch 1183 - Yeti Smash 30621 - Burstchester 30672 - Zoomin' Broom 30816 - Second Rate Sorcery Engineer Taunts 1115 - Rancho Relaxo 30618 - Bucking Bronco 30842 - The Dueling Banjo 30845 - The Jumping Jack Spy Taunts 1108 - Buy A Life 30615 - The Boxtrot 30762 - Disco Fever 30922 - Luxury Lounge Pyro Taunts 1112 - Party Trick 30570 - Pool Party 30763 - The Balloonibouncer 30876 - The Headcase 30919 - The Skating Scorcher Heavy Taunts 1174 - The Table Tantrum 1175 - The Boiling Point 30616 - The Proletariat Showoff 30843 - The Russian Arms Race 30844 - The Soviet Strongarm Medic Taunts 477 - Meet the Medic Heroic 1109 - Results Are In 30918 - Surgeon's Squeezebox Demoman Taunts 1114 - Spent Well Spirits Taunt 1120 - Oblooterated Taunt 30671 - True Scotsman's Call 30840 - Scotsmann's Stagger Soldier Taunts 1113 - Fresh Brewed Victory 1196 - Panzer Pants 30673 - Soldier's Requiem 30761 - The Fubar Fanfare Sniper Taunts 1116 - I See You 30609 - The Killer Solo 30614 - Most Wanted 30839 - Didgeridrongo Scout Taunts 1117 - Battin' a Thousand 1119 - Deep Fried Desire 1168 - The Carlton 1197 - The Scooty Scoot 30572 - The Boston Breakdance 30917 - The Trackman's Touchdow 30920 - The Bunnyhopper 30921 - Runner's Rhythm Other Notes You can also use !taunt [taunt_code] if you don't wish to bind any, but you'll have to remember the codes or have this thread up. Class-specific taunts can't be used by other classes, obviously. Guide Contributors Fred. Misc2008. ________________________________________ If you have any further questions or struggle with this guide, feel free to contact any TF2 moderators and staff for assistance.

Guide: Preventing Trade & Item Scams A general guide to avoiding and preventing yourself from being scammed. In light of the recent influx of HG recruits and members being scammed on TF2, here's a guide to help prevent scamming. Due to a recent influx of these types of scams, please read below: A current popular scam is one where someone will approach you claiming to have "accidentally" reported you to Steam for duplicated items. They will attempt to get you in contact with a "Valve employee" (in reality this is another account of theirs). On the "Valve employee" impersonating account, they will request either items or account credentials to "verify" your duplicated items. This is a complete scam. Do not give them ANY items. Do not give them any account credentials. Common Methods of Scammers The most common detailed methods scammers use to scam you. Quickly switching items on their side of the trade. The scammer will initially place the item(s) you are attempting to trade for in the trade box. After you are either placing your item(s) in the trade box or have hovered over and viewed the item they have, they will quickly switch out the item for one worth much less. This can be very hard to see as sometimes they will have two unusuals, one with the expensive effect you are trading for and one with a cheap effect. They will switch out the expensive one for the cheap one and the item will even appear the same at glance in the trade box. Before clicking "Confirm trade", always hover over the other person's items to be sure that in the finalized trade they are the items you have agreed to trade for. Be sure to check details like the effect of unusuals, skins, killstreak effects, etc. The scammer may also try to trick you by removing keys, metal, or any other item that is used multiple times in a trade. Always count up the amount and make sure it matches the correct value agreed upon. Trading outside of Steam. The trade will most likely involve things that cannot be traded through Steam's trading system, such as real world currency or a game code (not to be confused with a giftable or tradable game). Whenever trading outside of Steam, use a verified middleman to do so. You cannot trust another person to hold their end of the trade if it involves you sending items to them in return for say currency or a promised game code. Friends of yours do not count as a middleman because that is also unfair to the other person; a middleman should be unbiased. You can find a list of official SteamRep middlemen here. Read the section on impersonation as you should always verify the middleman is who they say they are. Impersonation of a friend or a middleman. Some scammers will have either a friend using another account or have another account themselves that is a replica as close as possible to that of an official SteamRep middleman. You should always verify that the middleman is who they say they are. This can be done by viewing their profile on Steam, right clicking, and hitting "copy profile URL". Paste that URL into SteamRep to see if they are an official middleman. "Middleman injection" can also occur. The scammer may suggest a middleman and their profile will check out on SteamRep. The scammer will then have a friend or another account of theirs that is as close as possible of a replica of the middleman's account add you. Always add the middleman yourself (from SteamRep's add friend link or by going to their Steam profile from SteamRep). For detailed steps on verifying who the person is, feel free to read SteamRep's official Pre-Trade Checklist. Some scammers may impersonate your friends by replicating their profile as close as possible to that of your friend's. Validate that this person is actually your friend before trading with them and always follow trade procedure despite someone being your friend. They may also use this during a trade by suggesting that you send items to your friend as a middleman, never do this as they may be impersonating your friend and you should only use an official middleman. Impersonation of a trade or gamble bot. The scammer may create a fake account that replicates that of a trade or gamble bot's Steam profile. Validate with the site that this is an official bot. Note that some sites are actual scamming sites and will have "official bots" that are meant to scam you. Always be sure the site you are trading with is credible; view the section on trusted trading sites. Phishing links/fake websites. The scammer may use a website or have a website that is a "phishing website". This means that the website mimics a familiar or official website in order to scam you. First, assess the website and make sure that it is the official website you meant to go to. Some phishing sites are very tricky and change simple letters that at first glance trick you. The link may have misspellings, characters that look similar, or may have a title that sounds official. Additionally, before signing in with your Steam account, be sure that the Steam login portal is valid. The only secure method of signing in through Steam is a redirect to Steam's secure website and then back to the original website. Just because a website allows you to log in through Steam does not mean it is not a phishing or scam website. While on the Steam login page, verify that it is the actual login page by checking for an SSL EV (Extended Validation) cert, which is the Valve Corp. and country tag (such as [US]) that appear next to the URL in the address box. Also, verify that the website is exactly steamcommunity.com. Here is what the address bar should appear as in Google Chrome: The scammer may also mimic trade websites. Be sure that the URL is correct whenever going to a link from a scammer. To verify, you can always Google search for the website you are looking for, such as TF2 Outpost. The scammer may send websites that have downloads. Do not download anything from websites sent by the other trader. If you have auto-downloads on with say Chrome or Firefox, delete the file immediately. PayPal or other money service chargebacks. When using PayPal, it is very risky for the person receiving the money. The buyer (person paying through PayPal) can "chargeback" the money, which revokes the transaction and gives the money back to them, even a month after the trade. If using PayPal is a must, it is recommended that you go to their SteamRep page and find the SourceOP link (SOP). The buyer's money/cash rep should be at least 90 days+ from a trusted source. Money transfer within Steam. While many are aware that it is impossible to directly give or trade money through Steam, some are not aware. Scammers use this to their advantage by sometimes telling the person that if they will trade you Steam money. It is absolutely impossible for them to directly send you Steam money or any money through Steam. While trading on Steam, what is in the box when you hit "Confirm trade" is what you will be able to receive in Steam directly. False or fake trade links. The scammer may sometimes send you fake trade links either through chat or place it on their Steam profile. These trade links are commonly to another account they have that will have a lower grade (cheaper) tier of the item you are wanting to trade for. For example, when you check the main account's inventory it may have an unusual with an expensive effect. You will then click the trade link to the replica account that has an inventory with the exact same unusual but with a cheap effect. Always be sure the trade link is valid, you can check if the account is the same through SteamRep (matching SteamIDs) or any other SteamID finder. Trade accept/decline links and email confirmations. The scammer may ask for your trade confirmation or trade decline link, do not send these links to the scammer. They may also request a screenshot of the confirmation email (which contains confirmation or decline details), do not send a screenshot of the confirmation email. Community market listing scam. The scammer may refer you to an item on the community market that is listed for a lot of money. They will then convince you to trade for that item from them as they own it and it will "make you a lot of profit". The reality is that they listed the item either from that account or commonly another account they have and since you can list items for however much you'd like (within the maximum boundaries). They make it look like the item is worth a lot while it is the only listing and is worth next to nothing. The scammer may also tell you to purchase items on the community market from them for an item or similar while the item is not worth the amount paid and the scammer will not hold their end of the deal. Request to verify items. The scammer may request that a friend of yours verify items as a "middleman" (hold the items so that after say a PayPal transaction goes through the friend gives your items). The scammer may then use another account to replicate yours as close as possible. He will then add your friend and tell him that you got whatever it was you were trading for, your friend will give him the items, and now you have lost your items for no return. Always use an officially verified middleman. Trading websites that take items for credits. Many trading websites will have you trade items to a bot for credits. This can be very risky as you cannot confirm that you will get those credits or that the credits will actually get you anything on the website. The best way to deal with this is to trade the bot a smaller item that you wouldn't care too much about if you lost. If you get the credits and they work with purchasing and receiving items on the website, you will have less risk moving forward with larger value items. If the site does not give you credits with the small trade, do not trade any more items with the site. Lending or "inspecting" items. The scammer may request to inspect the item they want to trade for or ask for you to "lend" them the item for a short period of time. Do not lend or allow the trader to have the item without something absolutely equal in return at the time of the trade. The scammer can always view the item on the game's wiki page or by using in-game inspect functions, such as those in CS:GO. An illegally obtained Steam wallet balance. The scammer may tell you that they have Steam wallet money but need tradable keys (or other items) and will offer to buy something of yours for much more than its worth (such as a skin) off of the market so that you can get these items for him. Steam will find out that the scammer has been using an illegally obtained wallet balance and you will lose the items purchased and receive a trade ban for completing the transaction with the scammer. Scammers may obtain their wallet balance illegally by several different methods, such as stolen credit cards, "chargebacking" Steam on PayPal, etc. Bitcoin scamming. The scammer may send you bitcoins that are not valid as Bitcoin will verify/confirm every ten minutes. If you are trading bitcoin for an item, wait at least ten minutes before sending the item over to the other person, after verifying that the page says confirmed (after the ten minutes). "Bait and Switch" The scammer will usually have two accounts or a friend running another account. They will have one advertising a trade for selling an item for a bit overpay but less than another person who is advertising buying the same item for a lot of overpay. The scammer hopes someone will notice this and attempt to purchase the item for overpay and then sell it for a profit to the other person, but the scammer owns both accounts. After you trade with the scammer and overpay, you will not find any luck being able to trade with the other account. Gambling Whether in-game, online, or anywhere else, gambling requires trust that the losing party will pay in the end. Use a trusted, verified, and official middleman to hold the items being gambled in order to prevent a scam. If it is not a large enough gamble (an amount like 1 ref), such as an in-game Spy-crab or another gamble, record a demo of it and post proof on HG Bans if you are scammed. Impersonation of a Valve employee or Steam moderator. Valve employees and Steam community moderators both will have visible badges on their profile (either on the front page or under badges), you can view what those look like below. Valve employees and Steam community moderators will never ask for credit card information, account credentials, CD keys, or items. Valve/Steam does not provide support through Steam, only on their Steam support website. Steam Moderators & employees will Always! be listed here. Badges: Quickly switching items on their side of the trade. The scammer will initially place the item(s) you are attempting to trade for in the trade box. After you are either placing your item(s) in the trade box or have hovered over and viewed the item they have, they will quickly switch out the item for one worth much less. This can be very hard to see as sometimes they will have two unusuals, one with the expensive effect you are trading for and one with a cheap effect. They will switch out the expensive one for the cheap one and the item will even appear the same at glance in the trade box. Before clicking "Confirm trade", always hover over the other person's items to be sure that in the finalized trade they are the items you have agreed to trade for. Be sure to check details like the effect of unusuals, skins, killstreak effects, etc. The scammer may also try to trick you by removing keys, metal, or any other item that is used multiple times in a trade. Always count up the amount and make sure it matches the correct value agreed upon. Dealing with Scammers After identifying and preventing yourself from being scammed, this is what you should do. Do not remove the scammer and close the windows right away. First, gather evidence. Take screenshots of necessary items. View this official SteamRep thread so that you can gather proper evidence for a SteamRep report. This evidence will also be used to make a ban report on HG Bans. Now that all evidence necessary has been gathered, remove and block the scammer. Make sure to cancel/decline all trades with the person. Report the person on SteamRep with all of their guidelines and evidence here. Create a new ban report on HG Bans outlining the situation and attach all evidence as proof. Other Things to be Careful With When Trading Other warnings and precautions to take when doing any trading. Tradable Steam gifts. If the scammer trades you a game or items that were fraudulently purchased, either through methods such as PayPal chargeback, stolen credit cards, etc. you will lose that game/item after the trade. If this happens to you, view the Steam Item Restoration Policy for item gifting to attempt to get your items back. The scammer may trade you a game that is geographically (location) locked. Always hover over these items and verify that they are fit for your use before trading. Steam will not help you if you do get tricked into trading for a location/language locked game. If you do end up trading for a location/language locked game, don't try to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) as it is a violation of the Steam user agreement and may end up getting your account locked. Instead, maybe try to trade it with a person who can use the game. Non-tradable but giftable Steam gifts. Be sure you are buying or trading for the right copy of a game. If it is giftable but not tradable, you may be stuck with the game. Additionally, the game may have long wait times until it can be traded. Always hover over the game and verify that it says "Tradable". You will never be able to sell Steam games on the Steam Community Market. CD keys on Steam. It is very risky to trade for or receive CD keys (or license keys) from another user or non-trusted website. CD keys are considered to be proof of purchase by Steam and the person could use it to hijack your account. If the CD/license key was purchased fraudulently purchased, your account will have the game removed and you may be trade banned. Note that trusted sites like HumbleBundle will not do this to your account and are safe to use as long as they are entirely trusted. Normally, they will gift it through email rather than giving a direct CD/license key. Hijacking What do I do if my account has been hijacked? If you have lost access from your account you go here. Steam will request you provide evidence that the account is in fact yours. Possible proof of ownership can be wallet codes, cd retail game keys, banking history. In addition, you will also need to provide possible steam account login names (username) & any emails that are/were linked to your steam account. How do I prevent my account from being hijacked? Scan your computer for viruses & other malicious content regularly. Change the password on both your email & steam account. It's always good to keep the passwords different. Passwords should be at least 8 characters long & should contain 1 special character, 1 number & 1 capital. Never give out your password to anyone. This includes trusted friends. Always have 2 Auth enabled at ALL times, & NEVER give out the auth codes or auth backup codes to anyone. Only use steam official sites or steamrep approved sites. Always keep steam banking information/history, cd retail keycodes & steam wall codes. If your account gets hijacked you can use this as proof of ownership. always check steamrep.com, backpack.tf & and their steam profile history/status before trading as they might be labeled as a scammer. Steam admins, moderators or employees don't need access to your account, if there is an issue on your account it will be resolved by steam without them needing access to your account. There is no such thing as a pending ban or pending account deletion. Either your community banned, vac banned or not banned at all. Steam will never send you emails using Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. If you receive an email from steam verify that it was sent from "[email protected]" or "[email protected]" if it was sent from a different email address then it's a scam & should be ignored. How do I get lost items back? As stated in the steam item restoration policy, steam will not restore items that were lost during the hijack. Often times the items will have transferred multiple times through multiple people before a restoration request gets processed.