PRICING ALGORITHM

" Mizotawng ngeia tih ka duh vei nen, ka translate peih ta thlawt lo a ni e"

Overview: Most of the weapons and equipment in Counter-Strike have had the same prices since the day the game was first released. These prices greatly affect the overall balance of the game. We at Valve know we re not alone in thinking that some of the prices in the game have never been exactly what they should be. (Uh, night-vision?) But rather than tweaking the values ourselves, we thought we d rather let you decide. Coming soon in Counter-Strike: Source is a new system that sets the prices of what you can buy based on, well, what people are buying.
Starting on October 11th, the prices of weapons and equipment in Counter-Strike: Source will be updated each week based on the global market demand for each item. As more people purchase a certain weapon, the price for that weapon will rise and other weapons will become less expensive.
Gather player purchase data. Each week, the total number of weapons purchased world-wide since the previous week s change is counted. The purchase data is gathered directly from game servers. Every 24 hours, game servers upload a file to Steam listing the quantities of all items purchased over the course of the previous day.
Slice up the Money Pie. The new price for each weapon is based on the total amount of money spent on that weapon. The percentage of money spent on each weapon during the week is used to determine the percentage by which its price moves the next week. So if 10% of all dollars world-wide are spent on the Maverick M4A1 Carbine, then its price will increase by 10%.
A note about pistols. The purchasable items are split into two seperate groups: pistols, and everything else. This is an artificial segmentation of the economy designed to preserve Counter-Strike s "pistol round" -- the early period during which players can not yet afford the game s more powerful weapons. (If the pistols were included in the larger pool of prices, they would often become too expensive to afford during the beginning of a match.) Pistols are also given to players for "free" at the start of each round, which would artificially affect the economy.
Ups and Downs. In order to decide which items increase in value and which ones decrease, we order the list of all items based on the number of purchases for that weapon or piece of equipment for the previous week. We then split that list in half, with approximately 50% of global money spent above the line and 50% below. Items above the line increase in value, items below decrease.
A (somewhat) closed system. In Counter-Strike, each gameserver is its own instance of the game world. Unlike persistent "massively multiplayer" games, there is no open-ended economy. Until now, each gameserver presented its weapons and equipment for sale according to pre-set values which never changed. Now, the prices are dynamic. However, the total default amount of money available for players to spend on each server will be unchanged. At the start of a round, the default amount of money available for each player will remain $800.
It s all up to you. There is a massive community of people playing Counter-Strike, and for the first time the actions of the community are going to affect all Counter-Strike players. We re anxious to see the ways in which the game changes as a result of the global community of gamers exerting their influence. As always, let us know what you think.

Overview of Buying Equipment
In order to buy equipment, ammo, or weapons the player must be in a "shopping cart" area. A little green shopping cart will appear on the left hand side of the player s screen while he or she is able to buy goods. The default keyboard bind to pull up the "buy menu" is B . Pressing B will give the player a list of categories to purchase items from.

Overview of Weapons & Equipment
There are a lot of weapons featured in Counter-Strike. Below we have outlined each weapon that is available in Counter-Strike with information on its cost, power, ammo type, and other attributes. Also available in Counter-Strike are two types of grenades and two versions of armor. Check it all out below.

Bundeswehr Advanced Combat Knife
Type: Knife
Cost: Free
Power: Very High
Range: Very Low
Ammo Type: N/A
Reload Speed: N/A

USP .45ACP Tactical
Type: Pistol
Cost: $500
Power: Medium
Range: Medium
Ammo Type: .45 ACP
Reload Speed: Fast

18C Select Fire
Type: Pistol
Cost: $400
Power: Medium/High
Range: Medium
Ammo Type: 9mm
Reload Speed: Medium/Fast

Eagle .50 AE
Type: Pistol
Cost: $650
Power: High
Range: Medium
Ammo Type: .50AE slugs
Reload Speed: Medium

P228
Type: Pistol
Cost: $600
Power: High
Range: Medium
Ammo Type: .357SIG
Reload Speed: Slow/Medium

Five-Seven
Type: Pistol
Cost: $750
Power: Low
Range: Medium
Ammo Type: 5.7mm
Reload Speed: Medium

XM1014
Type: Shotgun
Cost: $3000
Power: Very High
Range: Low/Medium
Ammo Type: 12-Guage Shells
Reload Speed: Medium

MP5 Navy
Type: Sub-Machine Gun
Cost: $1500
Power: Medium
Range: Medium
Ammo Type: 9mm slugs
Reload Speed: Very High

Streyr TMP
Type: Sub-Machine Gun
Cost: $1250
Power: Low
Range: Medium
Ammo Type: 9mm slugs
Reload Speed: High

FN P90
Type: Sub-Machine Gun
Cost: $2350
Power: High
Range: High
Ammo Type: 5.7mm slugs
Reload Speed: Low

MAC-10
Type: Sub-Machine Gun
Cost: $1400
Power: Medium
Range: Low
Ammo Type: .45ACP slugs
Reload Speed: High

H&K UMP
Type: Sub-machine Gun
Cost: $1700
Power: High
Range: Medium
Ammo Type: .45ACP slugs
Reload Speed: Slow