TF2 Crafting basics?

[anakin876]

Can anyone point me to a decent guide on crafting basics?
I need very basic help - I'm late to the party.
Do the basic pieces that you need just randomly appear in your inventory as you play or do you have to pick them up or something?
Is it purely a time based thing, or do better scores or something translate into more pieces?

[Ten19]

Long story short:

Items (and very rarely hats) will randomly drop into your backpack as you play the game. Performance does not impact the drop rate. Items can also be broken up into basic crafting ingredients that you can use to make other items.

For more info, check these TF2 wiki articles:

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Item_drop_system
http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Crafting

[anakin876]

Thanks for the speedy response. I was just on the CoG server and a crossbow for my medic and a ghastly gibus dropped - apparently patience was required.

[Scaryfaced]

At times, the drop rates feel like feast or famine. I've had items drop close to every half hour of play, then all of a sudden I'll go hours without a single item. It all just seems to boil down to luck.

[Ten19]

Originally Posted by Scaryfaced

At times, the drop rates feel like feast or famine. I've had items drop close to every half hour of play, then all of a sudden I'll go hours without a single item. It all just seems to boil down to luck.

If you've gone hours without a single item, odds are you've hit your cap for drops for the week. Check out the wiki article about drops if you haven't yet!