I'm beginning to hate Valve.

[Kathinka]

really? that's what you get mad about? when there is so many legitimate reasons to hate valve for, their million billion mindless fansheep, the fact that they use convenience and congeniality to mask the fact that access to YOUR property is provided at their discretion and under the circumstances that they deem right, the fact that the games that you legally buy in some places they won't let you play a few kilometers west of there, that they just replace the dollar symbol in prices with a ? and thus almost double the price..out of all those, you pick the complaint that you went with? really?

 

[Spearmaster]

What he said.

You'd think they'd have enough money now to support a few other projects. Episode 3 amongst those potential projects. I find it hard to imagine why on God's green Earth they thought to do a remake of Counter Strike rather than finish off a game that's spent many many years in the making. Halo came out a few years after Half Life 1, and they're up to their fourth game, and three spin offs! The Half Life series has about.... two and a half games.

Shame on you Valve. You have the money, how about supporting your fans with it? It's not like steam's going anywhere anytime soon.

And look at the industry changing effect all those Halo sequels had on gaming... Oh wait they didn't, they were stagnate. People have forgotten most of them and they brought nothing new to the industry.

Quality over quantity for valve, nobody cares about the Halo sequels other than the newest and its fading from peoples minds even faster than the last one but people are still talking about Half-life and Half-life 2, even Half-life 3 though it doesn't exist. Its because Half-life games had impact on the industry and I'm sure Valve wants whatever Half-life 3 there will be to be just as impacting if not more, that is what they are giving their fans.

IMO I would want Half-life 3 to be a better sequel than Halo 3 was...

 

[Frozengale]

I don't like Valve because they're corporate scum;
- Systematic sales so you check their store daily

Those sons of bitches! Providing me with a steady stream of sales so that I have a better chance of getting games that I want at a discount! Making some games so cheap that many games that I would never give a second thought I actually buy and ENJOY! ENJOYMENT! Can you believe that they actually made me enjoy something? VALVE IS HORRIBLE!

- Allowing price gouging (GMG stood up to 2K Games; Valve handed them the key)

See I might agree here if it weren't for the fact that you just got mad at Valve for all their sales and low prices. But then I would also like to point out that Valve doesn't set the prices. They get a say sure, but ultimately it comes down to the publishers. Valve can't even put their games on sale UNLESS THE PUBLISHER SAYS THEY CAN! Valve sure can pressure them into putting it on sale but they can't force them to. I mean the reason AUS has such high game prices even on Steam is because publishers won't sell the game for 40 bucks cheaper online then in a Brick and Mortar because then Brick and Mortar would just not stock the game and refuse to do business with the publisher. If you really have a problem with price gouging take it up with the publishers. As for Valve's self published games... I have never seen a ridiculously high price on those things, they are almost always really cheap really fast. Skyrim for instance is still 30 bucks and Portal 2 is only 20. They came out around the same time.

- Putting the big picture button next to the close button so there's a strong chance you will experience it regardless of whether or not you want to

Really... this is your complaint? That one button is near another? It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that Big Picture is a type of maximize and so putting it near the other Maximize Minimize buttons would make sense. Nah logic is a horrible thing, lets not use it here. I like your explanation better of them trying to force us to experience it.

- Community all over the bloody place; this isn't WoW you're not selling me a subscription based on how attached I am to the people there

.... WHAT! You are mad because they have social integration? I don't know maybe you have no friends on Steam, but I do and I personally love the social integration. It helps me keep in touch with some of my long distance friends and I prefer it over texting, e-mail, skype, or most forms of communication because Steam is always silently running in my background. Also I like being able to see what my friends are playing, it means I can find a game we can play together. I seriously don't see how social integration is a horrible horrible thing.

- Steam DRM getting shoved down more games; ArmA 3, metro: LL, Far Cry 3, and more. The crap doesn't work; it lets pirates play with legitimate customers

Okay. Fair enough. DRM is annoying and even Steam DRM can be bad.

- Steam sell keys for games they don't actually have keys for. Star Wars: Empire at War, multiple times.

Okay. Fair enough again. My only counter is that Steam Customer Support will usually settle this issue within a week or so. It's a inconvenience at best. It's not like they take your money and run. They could write some scripts to keep better track of how many keys they have, though they would still have to requisition more from the Publisher. But yeah legitimate complaint.

- Hiring psychologists to get as much money as they can from us

Oh no... market research.... no one does that... how horrible of them
I really hope you never ever ever look into what other companies do.

Quite frankly Origin is better in terms of speed, not shoving community down my throat, automatically going to my games page, not making the games menu a list so I feel like I need to fill up a page, and it doesn't have achievements.

You do realize you can set which window Steam opens on right? Also Origin usually takes me to the store when I open it. I really don't understand how Steam "Shoves community down people's throats". I am so confused by that statement, give examples. Also once again you just need to mess with settings for community. You can completely disable it in game. This takes 2 seconds. Not even joking just look in Settings, I don't know why people never check Settings when something annoys them.

It doesn't have achievements? OH TRULY IT IS A VALHALLA FOR GAMERS! What kinds of reason is that for being better? I happen to like achievements. If you don't like achievements then don't bother with them. If you don't want the achievement boxes popping up then once again, say it with me this time, "Check the Settings".

Your post baffles and confuses me, good sir.

 

[Dastardly]

I know that's akin to sacrilege among gamers, but I was just playing Half-Life and it occurred to me that it has been 5 years since Episode 2 came out. 5 years. The entire thing they said about releasing them in episodic format was so that we wouldn't have to wait so long. Well that was fucking bullshit.

Maybe, but I'm not seeing how I can be upset about a game that has not been made, for which I have not paid money, nor have I been asked to pay money. It's not the least bit comparable to, say, people upset about a game that was released and was sub-par in quality in some way -- see, they've paid $60 for a product that turns out wasn't worth $60. Or folks that fund a Kickstarter that never happens. They got swindled.

With Valve, we know from their history not to trust release timelines. But we also know they aren't going to release crappy, bug-filled games. That's a trade-off I will gladly make, because it doesn't cost me a dime.

 

[Guy from the 80's]

I know that's akin to sacrilege among gamers, but I was just playing Half-Life and it occurred to me that it has been 5 years since Episode 2 came out. 5 years. The entire thing they said about releasing them in episodic format was so that we wouldn't have to wait so long. Well that was fucking bullshit.

I've completely lost interest in Half Life. Sorry Valve but you got to keep the fire alive, I used to care about the story but not anymore. When I completed HL2 I was like an addict that had run out of drugs....now its all a giant meh.

 

[Tom_green_day]

I'm not a fan of their games... And that's the point. I don't think half life or portal are interesting games, and the way people idolise Valve really annoys me. My favourite devs, Bethesda and Bioware and Treyarch, create a fanbase by consistently delivering solid games. Valve seem like some mystical entity that occasionally drop games that their worshippers lap up, and somehow they're considered more prestigious than those other companies.

Your post baffles and confuses me, good sir.

To sum it up I think he's saying he doesn't like Steam and prefers Origin.

 

[Gameguy20100]

I'm not a fan of their games... And that's the point. I don't think half life or portal are interesting games, and the way people idolise Valve really annoys me. My favourite devs, Bethesda and Bioware and Treyarch, create a fanbase by consistently delivering solid games. Valve seem like some mystical entity that occasionally drop games that their worshippers lap up, and somehow they're considered more prestigious than those other companies.

Your post baffles and confuses me, good sir.

To sum it up I think he's saying he doesn't like Steam and prefers Origin.

You have just said Valve was not perfect.

Would you like to borrow my flame shield you WILL need it.

 

[Reven]

I'm not a fan of their games... And that's the point. I don't think half life or portal are interesting games, and the way people idolise Valve really annoys me. My favourite devs, Bethesda and Bioware and Treyarch, create a fanbase by consistently delivering solid games. Valve seem like some mystical entity that occasionally drop games that their worshippers lap up, and somehow they're considered more prestigious than those other companies.

Your post baffles and confuses me, good sir.

To sum it up I think he's saying he doesn't like Steam and prefers Origin.

You have just said Valve was not perfect.

Would you like to borrow my flame shield you WILL need it.

Honestly I'm not a Valve fanboy, nor much of a fan, i enjoy some of their games and services etc. But what I've noticed throughout this thread is people complaining about how fans are "rabid" and "fanboys" and etc. And honestly, the majority of the comments i see countering the OP seem reasonable, yes some SOME attacked his character, but the majority noted the lapses in logic and made their own arguments.

I then noticed that those that hate the fans instantly do what you just said "OH NOES GET DEH FLAMES SHIELD FOR SAYING VALVE NO PERFEKT!!!" Considering the majority of the posts going against the OP ACKNOWLEDGE that VALVe isnt perfect, it really does seem to me a case of haters dismissing and reasonable arguments as fanboys, and cherry picking quotes as proof. Honestly it's pretty annoying, especially because i find that most arguments between people on this site (though often boiling down to sense of taste) at least acknowledge each others arguments instead of instantly claiming anyone not on your side is a fanboy.

OT: I feel your argument isn't really fair, I see no indication of Valve having blatantly lied (at least to the degree of ACM), and past history has demonstrated that when developing Half Life sequals they take their time, there's nothing wrong with that, I see no reason you should be entitled to them rushing their product. Personally i have no interest in Half Life 3, but i think even those that do know that as they havent paid any money for it or were promised a release date, it seems like a rather silly reason to be mad IMO.

 

[fulano]

So, basically, Valve said they'd do something and then...they didn't do it. Ok, that's not good. But the world keeps spinning.

Why is it that Episode 3 is such a big deal? Valve has done great in other areas and, let's be real, it's just a fucking video game.

The whole thing boils down to some Rorschach-like extreme absolutism when it comes to right and wrong and gaming companies. Somebody wnated their Episode 3 -- didn't get it, wanted to know why -- wasn't told, got mad -- waited for news and kept getting madder as time went by without a peep, stopped caring about Episode 3 -- stayed mad.

So, wrong? Sure. And? Not even rant worthy.

 

[The Wooster]

To steal a comment about George R. R. Martin from Neil Gaiman:

Gabe Newell is not your *****.

This is a useful thing to know, perhaps a useful thing to point out when you find yourself thinking that possibly Gabe is, indeed, your *****, and should be out there coding what you want to play right now.

Valve deciding to delay a product until it's ready is the complete opposite of what Gearbox did with ACM. Valve promised that the updates would come "pretty frequently." Guess what? By Valve standards they have. Even if they weren't, comments from one developer, out of the dozens working at Valve, does not constitute advertising or a "promise."

 

[LOLITRON]

To steal a comment about George R. R. Martin from Neil Gaiman:

Gabe Newell is not your *****.

This is a useful thing to know, perhaps a useful thing to point out when you find yourself thinking that possibly Gabe is, indeed, your *****, and should be out there coding what you want to play right now.

Valve deciding to delay a product until it's ready is the complete opposite of what Gearbox did with ACM. Valve promised that the updates would come "pretty frequently." Guess what? By Valve standards they have. Even if they weren't, comments from one developer, out of the dozens working at Valve, does not constitute advertising or a "promise."

The product isn't delayed; it doesn't exist. They haven't made any mention to the public that I'm aware of that they're working on it or even plan to work on it. That said, terrible comparison. An author can hardly be compared to an entire corporation that's sole purpose is to develop and publish videogames. That's like comparing a school bully to the Nazis or Gandhi to PETA. Valve does in fact have a responsibility to please its consumers and while they're not obligated to work on whatever gamers want them to, it doesn't give them a free pass to lie to their market base -- just like EA, Activision, and every other corporation out there don't deserve a free pass.

The majority of people in this thread seem to argue that Valve is above this responsibility merely because they're Valve and they're known for releasing solid and bug free products. While I agree that's true, they've clearly made several promises in the past (not just with the release of Episode 3) that they haven't kept or even lied about (see my previous post for examples). That's something that anybody has the right to be upset about even if they do have a big track record of taking forever with their games (exceptions being L4D 2 and Portal 2).

Again, there is no confirmation of a future Episode 3 or Half Life 3 nor is there any indication that they're working on it. To be upset because they're not doing or planning to do what they said they were going to makes perfect sense to me. However, saying a corporation has no responsibility to keep their promises because they aren't anyone's ***** doesn't make sense to me. At all.

Edit:
On another note, love your webcomic. Thanks for all the laughs.

 

[bafrali]

snip

What is this lie you speak of?

capctha : face the music

 

[8bitmaster]

I do like valve, I actually do, but I can understand the hate as of late. If we don't include Dota 2 (which I don't consider a valve game), the last game to come out of Valve was CS: Global Offensive, which was a year ago now. They've talked about a "source 2" engine with nothing to show, nothing no announce, nothing to say and it bugs quite a few people. I don't care if they announce a new half-life just as long as they announce SOMETHING! Valve is a game developer first as foremost (I hope). It was what steam was originally designed for, and now they do nothing. I can see why OP hates valve. They aren't doing anything (promises or not). All they do is run steam, and in my opinion, that's not valve the developers, that's valve the corporation. We still hate those, right guys?

edit: rereading a few posts, I just wanted to say one thing.... we don't know if they're not saying anything because they want half life 3 to be perfect. NOTHING has been rumored, NOTHING has been announced, and valve has been pretty much at ZERO conventions or conferences for a few years now. As far as we know, the firings we've been hearing about coming from valve are because Gabe wants people to actually work on games again and not twiddle thumbs and get paid for it.

 

[LOLITRON]

snip

What is this lie you speak of?

capctha : face the music

I gave examples in a previous post but I'll summarize it. They basically exaggerated Half Life 2's engine and showed things in their tech demos that just weren't true. People tend to look past that (or forget it) just because Half Life 2 was a solid game anyway. They made the bold claim "Half-Life 2 opens the door to a world where the player's presence affects everything around him or her, from the physical environment to the behaviors and even the emotions of both friends and enemies." Last I checked Gordon Freeman was a mute and it had a fairly linear story line. Then there's the one that everybody is most pissed about and that's their claim to release three episodic Half Life 2 games that would be 6-8 months apart from each other. I went more in detail in my previous posts on page eight.

 

[Zauxst]

Although I have no hate to Valve because of your mentions, I do hate them because of their casual like 'matchmaking systems' (cs:go, dota2).

Also while their company system works as a whole, I hate the fact there is no PR, forums feel like they are useless and the whole idea with them working on a game as they please feels like they are delivering unfinished games in the release and waiting for patches sometimes feels like ages.

 

[bafrali]

snip

First of all, They weren't lies. In what other game did you pick up a container with a magnet to crush transhuman alien forces or throw saws around with a zero-point-energy-manipulator? NPC's not reacting? Guess the crane operator lady who was trying to convince me to get back on the car when I jumped on the sand was just pretending to be frustrated. Or the rebels who were in awe of my glorious presence were just pretending to give a shit. At nowhere at that sentence did I see open world gaming nor having choice in your interaction with the NPC's. Not much room for interpretation there.

Also they strictly said that they were PLANNING on releasing episodic content without giving any release date so it is not an act of deception on their part. What would they gain by lying about release dates anyway? I don't see them accepting pre-orders or building up hype for the game with trailers. If anything it is the community (and ironically outsiders) who won't shut the fuck up about the game.

See it was so easy. And all I had to do was giving facts.

 

[The Wooster]

To steal a comment about George R. R. Martin from Neil Gaiman:

Gabe Newell is not your *****.

This is a useful thing to know, perhaps a useful thing to point out when you find yourself thinking that possibly Gabe is, indeed, your *****, and should be out there coding what you want to play right now.

Valve deciding to delay a product until it's ready is the complete opposite of what Gearbox did with ACM. Valve promised that the updates would come "pretty frequently." Guess what? By Valve standards they have. Even if they weren't, comments from one developer, out of the dozens working at Valve, does not constitute advertising or a "promise."

The product isn't delayed; it doesn't exist. They haven't made any mention to the public that I'm aware of that they're working on it or even plan to work on it. That said, terrible comparison. An author can hardly be compared to an entire corporation that's sole purpose is to develop and publish videogames. That's like comparing a school bully to the Nazis or Gandhi to PETA. Valve does in fact have a responsibility to please its consumers and while they're not obligated to work on whatever gamers want them to, it doesn't give them a free pass to lie to their market base -- just like EA, Activision, and every other corporation out there don't deserve a free pass.

The majority of people in this thread seem to argue that Valve is above this responsibility merely because they're Valve and they're known for releasing solid and bug free products. While I agree that's true, they've clearly made several promises in the past (not just with the release of Episode 3) that they haven't kept or even lied about (see my previous post for examples). That's something that anybody has the right to be upset about even if they do have a big track record of taking forever with their games (exceptions being L4D 2 and Portal 2).

Again, there is no confirmation of a future Episode 3 or Half Life 3 nor is there any indication that they're working on it. To be upset because they're not doing or planning to do what they said they were going to makes perfect sense to me. However, saying a corporation has no responsibility to keep their promises because they aren't anyone's ***** doesn't make sense to me. At all.

Edit:
On another note, love your webcomic. Thanks for all the laughs.

Thank you for the compliment.

Your points about the tech demo of Half Life 2 is, frankly, ridiculous. Demos, betas, etc are always versions of a work in progress. The fact some elements displayed in the demo didn't make it into the final product doesn't mean Valve "lied" about their product. Game assets get cut all the time, it's part of the development process.

As for Ep 3 or Half Life 3, unless you've given Valve money for those products, which you have not, you have no right to complain about how long they're taking. You paid for previous Half Life games and that's what you got. Just because you bought the first game in a potential series does not, in any way shape or form, entitle you to a continuous supply of sequels. As a customer, you are entitled to exactly what you pay for, no more, no less.

Note: I'm not saying Valve are beyond reproach. I've taken issue with a few things they've done in the past year. But ever since Mass Effect 3, gamers have been vastly overestimating what they're entitled to when they buy a game. They've also been quick to label developer comments or tech demos "promises," which they aren't.

 

[LOLITRON]

Your points about the tech demo of Half Life 2 is, frankly, ridiculous. Demos, betas, etc are always versions of a work in progress. The fact some elements displayed in the demo didn't make it into the final product doesn't mean Valve "lied" about their product. Game assets get cut all the time, it's part of the development process.

Agree to disagree then; I find it dishonest. While I think you make an excellent point, showing superior AI and an exaggerated physic engine seems like more than just stuff that got cut from the final product. It seems to me, though myself nor anyone else can never prove it, like false marketing.

As for Ep 3 or Half Life 3, unless you've given Valve money for those products, which you have not, you have no right to complain about how long they're taking. You paid for previous Half Life games and that's what you got. Just because you bought the first game in a potential series does not, in any way shape or form, entitle you to a continuous supply of sequels. As a customer, you are entitled to exactly what you pay for, no more, no less.

I agree with almost everything you said, but I think they do you have a right to complain about the public lie that was told as to how long it would take. Consider this (terrible) metaphor: you go on a date, things go extraordinarily well, and the girl says she'll give you a call in the next few days to plan the second one. Instead, she gets back to you after two weeks. While she's not your girlfriend and you have no right to complain, you'd still be pissed right? You had a great time, kept your schedule open, heard nothing and probably just assumed she hated you. Valve is that woman, except she still hasn't (and might never) call you back. I don't blame anyone for being pissed at them for that, though they should definitely move the fuck on.

First of all, They weren't lies. In what other game did you pick up a container with a magnet to crush transhuman alien forces or throw saws around with a zero-point-energy-manipulator? NPC's not reacting? Guess the crane operator lady who was trying to convince me to get back on the car when I jumped on the sand was just pretending to be frustrated. Or the rebels who were in awe of my glorious presence were just pretending to give a shit. At nowhere at that sentence did I see open world gaming nor having choice in your interaction with the NPC's. Not much room for interpretation there.

Also they strictly said that they were PLANNING on releasing episodic content without giving any release date so it is not an act of deception on their part. What would they gain by lying about release dates anyway? I don't see them accepting pre-orders or building up hype for the game with trailers. If anything it is the community (and ironically outsiders) who won't shut the fuck up about the game.

See it was so easy. And all I had to do was giving facts.

I can't argue against your personal experience of the game; I can only tell you mine and when I played it I didn't find the AI to be intelligent at all -- they were certainly nowhere close to the intelligence that the tech demo demonstrated. I also found the physics to be very gimmicky until the very end when the gravity gun gets an upgrade. That was just my experience; I apologize if it contradicts your own.

We can play semantics with what was said forever. I'm only giving my interpretation of Gave Newell's own words in a 2006 interview with PCGamer. You can find it here: http://images.wikia.com/half-life/en/images/2/2d/HL2_Episodes_-_PC_Gamer%2C_May_2006.jpg

 

[TomWiley]

The wait for Half Life 3 isn't on my list of things I dislike about Valve, but there are several things I dislike about Valve, the way they handle Steam and user policies, their customer support, their entire business plan and the fact that it hardly includes making games anymore.

And that none of their few games released in the last 5 years has been any decent in my opinion.

And of course, the fact that the company is blindly glorified - it is, there is no denying it.

 

[bafrali]

snip

You shouln't mix being disapointed with being lied to then. It is not their fault that somebody out there have a different vision from theirs and it can't/shouldn't be interpreted as a malice on their part. There is no direct misdirection or blatantly backwards design choices. In short, no lies.

PS: My name isn't spelled like that.