Hey everybody,

We're so hyped by the Gun Mettle update that we've implemented all of the new weapon features into Outpost so that you guys can start trading them today!

- All new textured items should work in backpacks and trades (some icons may not initially appear but we're working on that).
- You can filter for 'Decorated' item quality on the homepage.
- You can search by exteriors, so you don't get littered with Battle-Scarred weapons!

Enjoy!

~ Sneeza

Hey everybody,

There are quite a few bugfixes in here so hold onto your faces.

• Bugfix: Only one halloween effect was showing up on items that had multiple.
  
  
• Bugfix: There were some duplicate TF2 paints showing up in the filter list - this has been fixed.
  
  
• Bugfix: Items that have a paint as well as a name tag will no longer have the icons overlapping.
  
  
• Bugfix: Some CS:GO items didn't have any textures applied to icons. This should be fixed soon as the cache clears.
  
  
• Bugfix/feature: You can now post on your own trade with no cooldown. This was supposed to be fixed before but time drift on our servers was breaking it.
  
  
• Bugfix: Some tickets didn't show notifications properly.
  
  
• Feature: Item summaries now have two options for quick-searching - looking for buyers and looking for sellers.

If you've found a problem then you should report it on our dedicated bug report board in this group's discussion tab. If the problem is related to your account then please take a look at the FAQ[tf2outpost.com] and if necessary submit a support ticket on-site from that page.

Thanks,

~ Sneezey

Hey everybody,

To start off, I'm going to start posting changelogs again here so that people know what's happening with the site. I've been continually fixing bugs, adding minor features and cleaning up the site over the past few months but some people never realise that bugs that they noticed have been fixed. Expect lots more changes over the coming weeks, but for now here are some of the things that we've changed over the past couple days.

• Bugfix: Some halloween effects had incorrect names on tooltips due to some mismatching in the schema. This shouldn't be a problem anymore.
  
  
• Bugfix: Unusual taunt effects could not be searched, it would simply return zero results. This has been fixed but will only take effect on newly created trades or modified trades. If yours isn't showing up in the search results, simply toggle the trade closed and then open again.
  
  
• Bugfix: CS:GO exteriors were being ignored when specified as filters in searches.
  
  
• Bugfix: When you save new trade notes the box will update automatically.
  
  
• Feature: Renamed items now have a small tag icon in the upper-right corner.

If you've found a problem then you should report it on our dedicated bug report board in this group's discussion tab. If the problem is related to your account then please take a look at the FAQ[tf2outpost.com] and if necessary submit a support ticket on-site from that page.

Hopefully you find these types of announcement useful, but if not then let me know in the comments below or in the discussions tab.

Thanks,

~ Sneeza

Hey all,

We've added two additional rules to our general rules which are as follows:

• No cash trading or game selling with new accounts. Your account must be at least 2 years old and have at least 20 non-free games before you can start selling games or buying items for cash on the website.
  
  
• You are accountable for any trades you make with users that have a private profile. You should be taking as many measures as possible to prevent hijackers and scammers from profiting from their bad deeds, and private profiles are usually a red flag.

We've had a lot of incidents with users buying games or selling their high value items for real world currency to accounts with low hours and hardly any items. In this case it's most likely a scam, so we're imposing this restriction to help protect you guys.

EDIT: To clarify, the first rule only applies to users selling games or items for real world currency. Trading games for games does not fall under that rule.

There have also been some trends emerging involving users running lots of bots (some of which don't even have any stock), so we wanted to clarify some ground rules for advertising your bots' trades on the website.

• No more than one. You may only advertise one bot on the website at any one time. If you are found to have more than one account running a bot then all of your accounts will be suspended.
  
  
• No fees. You cannot charge users to trade with your bot — if you wish to run a service like this then you should advertise your bot elsewhere.
  
  
• No trading with scammers. This is an extension of the rule disallowing users to trade with known scammers — your bot should use the SteamRep API to blacklist tagged users from trading.
  
  
• You are accountable for any trades that your bot makes with known scammers, users with a private profile or items that have been recently scammed. You should be taking as many measures as possible to prevent hijackers and scammers from profiting from their bad deeds. If your bots are found to be accepting scammed goods then you will be punished.

If you currently operate a bot and are confused about how to implement #3, then take a look at this example[gist.github.com]. If you're running multiple bots then you have 14 days to close their trades and revert to a single bot. If you're currently paying for premium on multiple bots then create a support ticket asking for the credit that you have to be moved to one account and we can do so.

~ Sneeza

Hey everybody,

It's been a long time since I've posted an actual announcement regarding updates that I've been implementing, but I felt like some of the features I've added require some actual discussion.

Phishing Countermeasures

Phishing has become more and more of a problem. A couple months ago users would be added by maybe 1 bot when they bumped their trades which was inconvenient but not the end of the world. Valve implemented some countermeasures of their own that throttled the amount of friend requests each user could send. This completely removed the problem but many users complained that they were being affected too adversely by the limits so Valve removed the restrictions altogether.

Over the past two months the phishing bot problem became worse and worse up until the point that users were being added by 3 or more bots every time they bumped their trades. We considered hundreds of potential solutions but kept running into problems that they would cause legitimate users, but finally found an adequate solution that will help slow down phishers (although not stop them completely). Please let us know if you see a significant reduction in phishing bots.

Other Changes

• Improved pagination - pages are no longer limited to 20. You can browse up pages and the numbers will shift dynamically up to 50! More trades! Yeah!
  
  
• New "Find Users" panel - the outdated /find page no longer exists and is replaced with a shiny popup at the top right.
  
  
• Slightly modified trade pages - we now separate the actual trade from the replies to make it easier to distinguish.
  
  
• An updated "About" page - this page is now a lot cleaner and conveys staff roles more clearly.

There is currently a backlog of reports and ban appeals that haven't been responded to yet - we're aware of the problem and are trying everything we can to solve the issue. In case you didn't see the previous announcement; we're hiring! Take a look at the application subforum on the right hand side.

We're always working to improve your user experience in every way we can, so make sure to send us any bugs that you find or any suggestions that you have using the forums (look on the right hand side for the relevant subforums).

~ Sneeza