Are Valve even AWARE of how badly they're screwing up?

[Arcane Azmadi]

This is something that's been bothering me for a while now. It's now been 10 years since Valve released Half-Life 2 and 7 since Episode 2 left us on the bitter cliffhanger from hell. Since then, Valve have gone completely and utterly silent on the franchise, refusing to say ANYTHING concrete about what is probably the most anticipated sequel of all time. It's turned into a meme- anything to do with Valve that can be, even in the most tangential manner, associated with 3 becomes "HALF-LIFE 3 CONFIRMED!"

The thing is, memes aside, this is really, REALLY dumb of Valve. At first, people were excited. Then they were eager. Then they were impatient. Now it's at the stage of a joke. But I think it's starting to get to the stage that people are going to get angry. And then, worst of all, it'll reach the stage where no-one cares any more. And then, no matter how good the game ends up, it'll be dooming itself to become the next Duke Nukem Forever, completely crushed under the weight of its own expectations.

And I just don't get why Valve are doing it. How can it possibly benefit them to constantly stonewall the gaming community regarding the next installment of one of the most highly-regarded series of all time? They're not even letting tiny details slip to build anticipation, as far as we know from what they've told us (i.e NOTHING) they might not even be MAKING Half-Life 3 at all! And that would be so phenomenally stupid as to be outright insane. Half-Life isn't some Call of Duty-esque cash-cow which gets samey installments squirted out yearly just because it can, it's the crown jewel of the FPS genre and its massively in-depth story has just been left hanging for literal YEARS. As far as I can see, Valve's constant refusal to say ANYTHING about Half-Life 3, anything at all, is a blunder as stupid as Square Enix's ridiculous insistence that remaking FFVII on modern consoles would be "too hard" to be worth their effort.

I just don't get it. Half-Life is what made Valve the company they are today. Are they trying to fail as much as they can? Do they even realise how badly they're screwing up with this?

 

[briankoontz]

It's full Steam ahead - it may not matter that Half-Life has No Life.

 

[Rozalia1]

Crown Jewel? Failing before they ain't giving you what you want? What is this?

Valve have moved on from that gimmick and are very much successful. This is like wanting Undertaker to go back to his cult leader or Biker gimmick, yeah it was fun for a bit but its done now.
Additionally due to this massive expectation of people (crown jewel really?) it means they'd rather not release something and than get attacked for it when its not as rose coloured as people thought.

 

[Guerilla]

Because Valve is all about Steam now and HL3 would only damage their reputation. There's no way is HELL they'd match the insane expectations gamers have created for the game over the years. So they hold it over our heads like a carrot and don't give a crap. They might even be in the process of developing it but they're definitely not in a hurry and they'd definitely not release it until it's perfect which could take aeons.

 

[communist gamer]

there will be no half-life 3. They have steam, the are making steambox. Why the hek would they risk making people angry at them for half-life 3 not beaing as good. No one cears about half life anymore, give it a rest, you are not getting it, get over it and move on to something else

 

[Zombie_Fish]

There's a Dorkly article this thread reminds me of a lot: http://www.dorkly.com/post/54448/a-message-from-gabe-newell

I also agree with the people saying that HL3 would only damage the company. If it were to be released, people would have the same conclusion they had for Duke Nukem Forever; overhyped and not worth the many years of waiting.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

This thread gave me flashbacks to when every other week would be some guy making a thread saying something like "Episode 2 was released three years ago and still there's no word about an Episode 3!" And it would get a generous amount of replies each time.

It's four years after that and we're on the same subject.

No, they probably don't have that much interest left for Half-Life, and the community has gotten over it. Now that they have DoTA 2, Counterstrike, TF2, and the rising power of Steam, we've well crossed the point where we're much more anticipating another major update to DoTA or TF2 than a teaser about the next Half-Life installment.

 

[J Tyran]

No, they probably don't have that much interest left for Half-Life, and the community has gotten over it. Now that they have DoTA 2, Counterstrike, TF2, and the rising power of Steam, we've well crossed the point where we're much more anticipating another major update to DoTA or TF2 than a teaser about the next Half-Life installment.

Well I'm expecting there to be an Orange Box³ or something like that with the full roll out of the new Source Engine that has three games,

Team Fortress 3
Left For Dead 3
Half Life 3

Maybe one of those would be switched with Portal 3, I should add that I don't think it will happen until the full release of the Steam Box and Steam controller and will be a Steam OS exclusive as it will all be part of the marketing push for the boxes and the OS. They will have to pull something special out of the bag if they are going to get people on board with it, that combination of games is one of the few things that could get PC gamers switching to the OS in large numbers in a short amount of time.

Thats the only reason I can see them holding back those profitable franchises for so long (not just the next Half Life), a new engine and using it as a carrot for the steam box/OS rollout.

 

[communist gamer]

No, they probably don't have that much interest left for Half-Life, and the community has gotten over it. Now that they have DoTA 2, Counterstrike, TF2, and the rising power of Steam, we've well crossed the point where we're much more anticipating another major update to DoTA or TF2 than a teaser about the next Half-Life installment.

Well I'm expecting there to be an Orange Box³ or something like that with the full roll out of the new Source Engine that has three games,

Team Fortress 3
Left For Dead 3
Half Life 3

Maybe one of those would be switched with Portal 3, I should add that I don't think it will happen until the full release of the Steam Box and Steam controller and will be a Steam OS exclusive as it will all be part of the marketing push for the boxes and the OS. They will have to pull something special out of the bag if they are going to get people on board with it, that combination of games is one of the few things that could get PC gamers switching to the OS in large numbers in a short amount of time.

Thats the only reason I can see them holding back those profitable franchises for so long (not just the next Half Life), a new engine and using it as a carrot for the steam box/OS rollout.

I doubt that steam will make anything exclusive, they have too much of a market in PC gaming, and as much as i love L4D and TF i dont think anyone will buy a whole console just for that

 

[J Tyran]

No, they probably don't have that much interest left for Half-Life, and the community has gotten over it. Now that they have DoTA 2, Counterstrike, TF2, and the rising power of Steam, we've well crossed the point where we're much more anticipating another major update to DoTA or TF2 than a teaser about the next Half-Life installment.

Well I'm expecting there to be an Orange Box³ or something like that with the full roll out of the new Source Engine that has three games,

Team Fortress 3
Left For Dead 3
Half Life 3

Maybe one of those would be switched with Portal 3, I should add that I don't think it will happen until the full release of the Steam Box and Steam controller and will be a Steam OS exclusive as it will all be part of the marketing push for the boxes and the OS. They will have to pull something special out of the bag if they are going to get people on board with it, that combination of games is one of the few things that could get PC gamers switching to the OS in large numbers in a short amount of time.

Thats the only reason I can see them holding back those profitable franchises for so long (not just the next Half Life), a new engine and using it as a carrot for the steam box/OS rollout.

I doubt that steam will make anything exclusive, they have too much of a market in PC gaming, and as much as i love L4D and TF i dont think anyone will buy a whole console just for that

I never said it would be a console exclusive at all... Steam OS will run on almost every PC that runs Windows and is free so nobody would have to buy a new anything.

 

[communist gamer]

No, they probably don't have that much interest left for Half-Life, and the community has gotten over it. Now that they have DoTA 2, Counterstrike, TF2, and the rising power of Steam, we've well crossed the point where we're much more anticipating another major update to DoTA or TF2 than a teaser about the next Half-Life installment.

Well I'm expecting there to be an Orange Box³ or something like that with the full roll out of the new Source Engine that has three games,

Team Fortress 3
Left For Dead 3
Half Life 3

Maybe one of those would be switched with Portal 3, I should add that I don't think it will happen until the full release of the Steam Box and Steam controller and will be a Steam OS exclusive as it will all be part of the marketing push for the boxes and the OS. They will have to pull something special out of the bag if they are going to get people on board with it, that combination of games is one of the few things that could get PC gamers switching to the OS in large numbers in a short amount of time.

Thats the only reason I can see them holding back those profitable franchises for so long (not just the next Half Life), a new engine and using it as a carrot for the steam box/OS rollout.

I doubt that steam will make anything exclusive, they have too much of a market in PC gaming, and as much as i love L4D and TF i dont think anyone will buy a whole console just for that

I never said it would be a console exclusive at all... Steam OS will run on almost every PC that runs Windows and is free so nobody would have to buy a new anything.

my bad

 

[G00N3R7883]

Its a shame. Half Life is one of my favourite franchises and I'd love to see HL3 at some point. I want to know how that story ends. My dream is that one day Valve simply announces "HL3 is finished, available to download on Steam now".

I thought for a while that Valve saw how the FPS genre had changed mechanically, and they realised that HL3 couldn't possibly work anymore. Make a modern FPS and you'll anger Half Life fans, but a true Half Life game might not be popular anymore.

However the last couple of years have seen some FPSes that give me hope again. I'm thinking in particular about Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3, Metro Last Light, Shadow Warrior and Wolfenstein. These games have some or all of the old school mechanics that can define Half Life's gameplay - health packs, carry all the weapons, linear level design, unrealistic setting, colourful graphics, singleplayer story driven. Basically the exact opposite of the modern military multiplayer shooter.

The only thing I see that goes against what Valve stands for now, is you can't sell hats in a singleplayer game.

 

[Someone Depressing]

They have unintentionally doomed the franchise here by making it only potentially damaging to the sales of Steam and the development of the upcoming Steambox, but that's business. You might as well say goodbye to your beloved franchise, because you're probably never going to see it again.

Besides, Half Life has always been acclaimed but never a massive seller, unlike other FPS franchises, particularly Battlefield and COD. Aside from using a first person perspective, you could not find a two games with more differences than COD and Half Life. Truth is, Valve really isn't interested in pouring more money into HL3 on the grounds that it's "art". Valve may create art and take great pleasure in it, but you have to remember that they are primarily a company full of people trying to make a living, and HL3 would not do that.

 

[J Tyran]

No, they probably don't have that much interest left for Half-Life, and the community has gotten over it. Now that they have DoTA 2, Counterstrike, TF2, and the rising power of Steam, we've well crossed the point where we're much more anticipating another major update to DoTA or TF2 than a teaser about the next Half-Life installment.

Well I'm expecting there to be an Orange Box³ or something like that with the full roll out of the new Source Engine that has three games,

Team Fortress 3
Left For Dead 3
Half Life 3

Maybe one of those would be switched with Portal 3, I should add that I don't think it will happen until the full release of the Steam Box and Steam controller and will be a Steam OS exclusive as it will all be part of the marketing push for the boxes and the OS. They will have to pull something special out of the bag if they are going to get people on board with it, that combination of games is one of the few things that could get PC gamers switching to the OS in large numbers in a short amount of time.

Thats the only reason I can see them holding back those profitable franchises for so long (not just the next Half Life), a new engine and using it as a carrot for the steam box/OS rollout.

I doubt that steam will make anything exclusive, they have too much of a market in PC gaming, and as much as i love L4D and TF i dont think anyone will buy a whole console just for that

I never said it would be a console exclusive at all... Steam OS will run on almost every PC that runs Windows and is free so nobody would have to buy a new anything.

my bad

I suppose I should make it clear that rather than "nobody" having to buy anything almost no-one with a gaming PC would have to buy anything, there may be the odd hardware issue where something isn't supported and last gen console owners may or may not be left out.

 

[giles]

Sorry, they're busy drowning in Dota2 money to care how much they "screwed up".

 

[dEeP-fRiEd]

No, they probably don't have that much interest left for Half-Life, and the community has gotten over it. Now that they have DoTA 2, Counterstrike, TF2, and the rising power of Steam, we've well crossed the point where we're much more anticipating another major update to DoTA or TF2 than a teaser about the next Half-Life installment.

Well I'm expecting there to be an Orange Box³ or something like that with the full roll out of the new Source Engine that has three games,

Team Fortress 3
Left For Dead 3
Half Life 3

Maybe one of those would be switched with Portal 3, I should add that I don't think it will happen until the full release of the Steam Box and Steam controller and will be a Steam OS exclusive as it will all be part of the marketing push for the boxes and the OS. They will have to pull something special out of the bag if they are going to get people on board with it, that combination of games is one of the few things that could get PC gamers switching to the OS in large numbers in a short amount of time.

Thats the only reason I can see them holding back those profitable franchises for so long (not just the next Half Life), a new engine and using it as a carrot for the steam box/OS rollout.

This is not at all how Valve thinks. They want an open plattform not a closed system, so Half-life 3 will not be Steam OS exclusive, it will run on any pc (windows, mac, linux, steam os). That said, I could picture a (orange) box like that and lets face it everyone would buy it and I doudbt we would be disappointed even though we waited all these years.

I think its very different to the wait for Duke Nukem Forever. With DNF they would regulary post new better looking Screens making us want the game more, building up expectations. Valve on the other hand goes completley dark on HL (ep.) 3, so we don't know what to expect and will be blown away

Furthermore we have to remember how Valve works: Any employe can wok on any project they like. So of course some of them are working on HL as we speak, but right now I guess overall they have a lot of experimentation going on (e.g. oculus rift, steambox).

So I am afraid it might take some more years, but sooner or later we will see Gordon Freeman again as Valve will definately want to finish story.

Hopes up ;-)

 

[Gizmo1990]

As much as I would like HL3 I would say that there customer service and greenlight is doing them damage, not the lack of HL3.

 

[Clowndoe]

One thing I think people are missing that I want to point out about comparisons to DNF is that DNF wasn't just a disappointment, it was a terrible game in its own right. Being not amazing won't be that bad.

As much as I would like HL3 I would say that there customer service and greenlight is doing them damage, not the lack of HL3.

Thanks for saving me some typing on my phone.