Dynamic Weapon Pricing was a significant economic system update for Counter-Strike: Source, implemented on November 1, 2006. The system automatically adjusted weapon prices weekly based on global usage statistics.

The system worked by tracking the total number of weapons purchased worldwide through Steam servers. Every 24 hours, servers would upload purchase data, and prices would adjust proportionally to usage. For example, if 10% of all in-game money was spent on M4A1 Carbines, its price would increase by 10%.

Development History:

• December 2003: Valve developers begin considering economic changes
• January 2004: Initial economy update released
• March 2004: First attempt at price rework abandoned for being "too radical"
• September 2006: Dynamic Weapon Pricing announced
• October 2006: Beta testing begins
• November 2006: Full system implementation

Major Issues:

• Popular weapons like M4A1 and AK-47 became prohibitively expensive (double their original prices)
• SMGs became too cheap (under $500)
• Desert Eagle cost more than an AWP ($5000+)
• Scout rifle became more expensive than AWP despite being weaker
• Glock-18 became so cheap it could crash servers from mass purchases
• System favored "spray-and-pray" weapons over skill-based ones

The feature was removed after a few months due to widespread community criticism. Counter-Strike creator Minh Le later explained that players were reluctant to relearn the game's meta and were unwilling to pay premium prices for popular weapons like the AK-47.

The experiment demonstrated that while market economics can work in theory, they may not translate well to competitive gaming environments where balance and consistency are crucial.

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