Um, yes they are. You can unlock the items by playing and randomly having them appear OR you can unlock them via achievements.
Personally, I think that the fact that some idlers were punished and others weren’t is a ineloquent way of handling the situation. Maybe they weren’t able to detect all the people who idled, but bottom line, anyone who complains is being silly in my book.
I play Demoman almost exclusively and they haven’t had any unlocks except hats. All the other classes I’ve played I’ve randomly unlocked their items via getting achievements through regular play or through the more recent system implemented back in May. Those unlocks, apart from perhaps the Uber Saw, all have drawbacks to using them that make them balanced. It’s not as if they are necessarily better. Does it afford you more options? Sure, is it annoying to me that I don’t have those options? No, because the game plays great regardless. It just facilitates people playing in a style that works for them. I didn’t care that I didn’t have Natascha until way later, or Jarate, or any other number of unlocks. I’m not jealous that other classes I don’t play have item unlocks and the one I use does not. I just play the game and enjoy it.
I understand that some people are able to rationalize that the items just change play and don’t necessarily confer an advantage, but still want them just because they are given to some players. Considering all the freebies Valve has given the TF2 community though and the fact that I view the game as fairly balanced to this day, I think wanting them regardless is a moot point.
Honestly, it’s like watching kids who want the toy that a kid next to them has, even though they already have one in their hands. I’m saying this as someone who doesn’t care that I now have a Halo Hat or that other people don’t. I’ll work as a team regardless and switch to a class as needed on public servers. This whole reaction by a quarter of the community is patently ridiculous to me.
additional:
People used an idling tool that they knew full well, despite Valve not telling them explicitly, gamed the system. Valve is well within their rights to withdraw items gleaned this way. Seriously, the system was meant to award people for generally playing the game and while it is random, it was not meant for people to idle away without even actively playing TF2. I fail to see the validity of any of the arguments made in the previous posts. Other games have similar unlock systems that again aren’t necessarily better. One of the first weapons you unlock in Call of Duty 4, after barely playing a few rounds online, is the M16. I used that the entire time, with and without Perks, and did just fine against even more advanced players. Add in the fact that it balances teams with skill level/unlock level and again there is no reason to complain about the system. I think peoples’ complaints about these systems would have merit if the developers hadn’t thought it through and simply made the weapons better or placed everyone together without regarding skill/unlock level in CoD 4’s case. But both Infinity Ward and Valve have taken those issues into consideration and continue to patch balance changes as new exploits come into play.
