Fly Gabe Newell Fund Raises $3000

Keane Ng

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Sep 11, 2008
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Fly Gabe Newell Fund Raises $3000



Looks like Gabe Newell's heading down under. The Australian modder whose Left 4 Dead campaign Newell is boycotting has raised a whopping $3000 to fly Newell and Valve staff to Brisbane to try out the mod for themselves.

The internet is an undeniably powerful thing. It has the power to change the way we communicate and connect. It has the power to incite revolutions, reshape the face of the world. And it has the power to move Gabe Newell across hemispheres.

Among the many things that came out of Newell and Valve's grassroots campaign [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94640-L4D-Modder-Raising-Funds-to-Fly-Gabe-Newell-to-Australia] by modder Joe W-A to fly Gabe himself all the way to Brisbane, Australia. Joe, something of an acquaintance of Newell's, wrote to Newell expressing how upset he was that he wasn't flown out to see L4D2 and show Valve his custom campaign, to which Newell jokingly responded that he's boycotting the mod.

Well Joe W-A wasn't going to accept that [http://flygabenewell.blogspot.com/]. He started a Paypal fund to fly Newell and Erik Johnson to Brisbane, Australia so that they could see Joe's campaign and end their own boycott. In "not-even-three-days," he had raised $3000. The rate at which the money piled up is fairly astounding. When I talked to Joe last Friday he had raised some $1,653 and by two days later that amount had pretty much doubled.

"The English language lacks the words to express the level of excitement that Erik and I feel that you and your friends have pulled this off," Newell wrote to Joe. "Give us some time to organize our affairs, as we are trying to ship a product, and then we'll let you know the time and date of our arrival."

So yes. It's actually happening. Gabe Newell is flying to Australia to check out a Left 4 Dead mod. And it's all thanks to the power of the internet.

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ben---neb

No duckies...only drowning
Apr 22, 2009
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I don't whether to laugh, cry or be jealous that Gabe isn't going to come and visit me.
 

Katherine Kerensky

Why, or Why Not?
Mar 27, 2009
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I bow down before you, mighty interwebz.
*Bows down. low. like a carpet, low*
ok, now that thats done, I hope that mod is good.
 

messy

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Dec 3, 2008
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Toty54 said:
3000$ in 3 days? That's impressive.
Fairly considering its not exactly saving the world or anything particularly important. Just some guy with mod.

That being said this is pretty damn awesome. Gotta love Valve, now maybe if there was a similar fund for episode 3...
 

Toty54

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Jul 11, 2009
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messy said:
Toty54 said:
3000$ in 3 days? That's impressive.
Gotta love Valve, now maybe if there was a similar fund for episode 3...
One of the donators suggested locking Gabe Newell in a basement the moment he got there and forcing him to make episode 3.

You never know it might even work.
 

Lord_Panzer

Impractically practical
Feb 6, 2009
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I just hope he packs a clean shirt.

All joking aside, that really is awesome. I know I'm jealous.
 

Spucktier

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Jul 13, 2009
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Valve is a rare entity in this business. One has to respect them for the stony path they went down with Steam to keep their independence.

It would be quite hard to pull such an internet stunt off with other big players like Activision/Blizzard or Ubi.
 

sooperman

Partially Awesome at Things
Feb 11, 2009
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Psychosocial said:
Why couldn't the mod and all just be sent to Gabe so he could check it out that way? That would've been alot cheaper..

Unless it's a joke about the L4D2 boycotters, lol.
Or why not put the mod online and Gabe can download it? I don't PC game and I don't make/use mods so I wouldn't know, but can someone explain why Newell had to go to the mod?
 

fix-the-spade

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Feb 25, 2008
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I like Gabe Newell.

It's rare to see a boss of any company who isn't above both poking fun at his fans/detractors and actually getting involved with them. It's really impressive that he's actually going to make good on his word, then again he did start out as a modder himself.
 

sneak_copter

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Nov 3, 2008
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You see? YOU SEE?

THIS kind of stuff is just the reason why I like companies like Valve and Crytek.
Companies that will give anything for full creative control and value the modding community.