Team Fortress 2 developer Robin Walker stopped by ShackNews to give a heads up on Valve’s new closed beta system for the popular shooter. The beta is meant to give Valve playtest feedback from some of the most competitive TF2 players in the world.

It’s not at all uncommon for global changes to affect a mass player base positively while doing what the hardcore players consider serious harm to a game. The most recent TF2 update, which changed item upgrades from “unlockables” to “random drops” was no exception to the rule. The casual players loved it, because they might actually be able to get The Sandman. Competitive players, though, were understandably pissed. All the work they put in just sort of went to waste (though honestly, with all the achievement servers I find it hard to be sympathetic – these guys would have been playing either way).

Valve wants to get an early look at some of that anger with their beta testing. By releasing casual features to the most hardcore players, they can determine what will work across the board and what still needs some tweaking. Overall, I’d call it a smart move. Feedback from the most competitive players is usually feedback from the base of folks that will be playing your game long after everyone else has moved on to Halo: Reach or Bioshock 2.