Left 4 Dead 2 Ban Surprised, Saddened Valve

[Treblaine]

I have a solution for Valve:

Allow users of Steam to buy Left 4 Dead overseas and enter the code to activate it on Steam even if they live in Australia and play it online from Australia.

The law only says the game cannot be SOLD without a rating, not a ban on mere ownership. A serious Aussie gamer could take a trip to NZ or some other country in the free world, there shouldn't really be anything stopping Valve hosing aussie gamers playing Left 4 Dead online down under, they can reasonably assume they legally bought it outside Australia and brought it in.

 

[Treblaine]

If this gets any worse, or if Conroy's retarded "clean feed" filter goes ahead, I think I shall be leaving the country.

Say, have you ever considered teaching English?

http://www.letsjapan.org/introduction.html

Your ticket to freedom... and ONE GIGABIT PER SECOND BROADBAND!

My cousin did a similar thing but moving to China for a few years where apparently it was all right.

Good news for you and Japan is you'd still fairly close to Australia and your family, half the distance compared to moving to North America or Europe.

I've done a bit of research into this as part of my "get the hell out of Britain if the BNP take power" plan.

It is actually very similar to my Zombie Apocalypse plan (Nazis are fundamentally very similar to zombies), me and some buddies agreed in case of a global outbreak the best place to meet up would be Japan, downtown Tokyo. You know when the shit goes down, it'll go down in down town Tokyo.

If Japan isn't your bag, try the Abu Dhabi of the UAE. No idea how to get a visa but speaking as someone who used to live there... it is a paradise. I wish I could go back. Just as sunny as Australia and has a big Australian expat community. My tip, get into the oil industry, even as a low level engineer or office worker and you may find a way to live there.

 

[Lordpils]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Fuck Michael Atkinson and all those like him.

 

[Gaderael]

How about, instead of zombies and guns, we use unicorns and pillows. Won't that be fun?

Or use Australian politicians.

 

[MrSnugglesworth]

Australia should ban Public High School if that don't want "18 and under" to see bad stuff. Because I'm currently in highschool, and L4D2 is hilarious compared to the shit I've seen.

 

[oppp7]

Why the hell do people care about blood more than violence? Hitting someone on the head and killing them can get a team rating. But add blood and it's mature. BLOOD AND ORGANS IS PART OF ANTATOMY! Yes, hitting someone with a chainsaw and cutting them in half is violent, but it's as violent as shooting someone with a tank (Battlefield Bad Company, rated tean). Maybe it's the shock value that could tramatize kids?

 

[JWAN]

I fail to understand why all games must be suitable for under 18, I thought that was the reason for the rating system.

Pacifist Zombie invasion? I'll keep mine the old fashoned way.

Its because no one in Australia is older than 18. They kill everyone at age 17 and a half to preserve food and water supplies.

 

[JWAN]

How about, instead of zombies and guns, we use unicorns and pillows. Won't that be fun?

Im making a mod
someone teach me how to program

 

[JWAN]

I have a solution for Valve:

Allow users of Steam to buy Left 4 Dead overseas and enter the code to activate it on Steam even if they live in Australia and play it online from Australia.

The law only says the game cannot be SOLD without a rating, not a ban on mere ownership. A serious Aussie gamer could take a trip to NZ or some other country in the free world, there shouldn't really be anything stopping Valve hosing aussie gamers playing Left 4 Dead online down under, they can reasonably assume they legally bought it outside Australia and brought it in.

Or use STEAM or just go to another website and have it shipped.

 

[JWAN]

Damn I'm glad not to be living in Australia, Germany, or the USA. It seems they keep fucking with the entertainment industry.

Where the heck do you think the worlds largest entertainment industry is located?

 

[Treblaine]

I have a solution for Valve:

Allow users of Steam to buy Left 4 Dead overseas and enter the code to activate it on Steam even if they live in Australia and play it online from Australia.

The law only says the game cannot be SOLD without a rating, not a ban on mere ownership. A serious Aussie gamer could take a trip to NZ or some other country in the free world, there shouldn't really be anything stopping Valve hosing aussie gamers playing Left 4 Dead online down under, they can reasonably assume they legally bought it outside Australia and brought it in.

Or use STEAM or just go to another website and have it shipped.

That probably won't work. The game may be imported FROM another country, but shipping it to Australia or even buying the game from within Australia and downloading it via steam would be considered "selling the game" and the Aussie censors have specifically refused this game classification making sale of the game in Australia ILLEGAL. Who knows if some public prosecutor with an axe to grind and a political career to make could go after these websites.

No online retailer of the hard copy is going to risk the wrath of custom officials and Gabe will likely be having a meeting with their lawyers saying if they want Steam to work at all in Australia then they must block the sale of L4D2 games via Steam. Who knows, downloadable games might be beyond the remit of the law but I highly doubt it as it is fundamentally the same as an ordinary sale.

The bottom line is getting Left 4 Dead 2 in Australia is not going to be easy. No retailer, online, offline or downloadable would want to risk breaking the law with hefty fines, legal fees and jeopardise their various licences just for a 1% more game sales.

 

[Lyri]

Turn the blood into Rainbows and fairy dust and melee weapons into Hugs!

It'll still only be 15+ in Australia.

 

[samsonguy920]

What sucks is Yahtzee is in Oz, will have to wait for the Escapist to send him an American copy which hopefully will work for him before we get a review on ZP. Damn stupid Australia rating system!

 

[Hexenwolf]

I fail to understand why all games must be suitable for under 18, I thought that was the reason for the rating system.

Pacifist Zombie invasion? I'll keep mine the old fashoned way.

Yea, they don't have an 18+ rating, the highest rating they give videogames is 15+, that's pretty much the root of this problem.

Why they don't just institute an 18+ rating is completely beyond me, especially considering how easy it would be to do.

 

[Char-Nobyl]

I'm a big fan of L4D and I would be really bummed if that happened here in America.

Not likely. Thompson's been disbarred, and we *invented* the genre of violent video games.

 

[Chipperz]

What sucks is Yahtzee is in Oz, will have to wait for the Escapist to send him an American copy which hopefully will work for him before we get a review on ZP. Damn stupid Australia rating system!

He really won't. Watch ANY game with a multiplayer section to find out why.

I fail to understand why all games must be suitable for under 18, I thought that was the reason for the rating system.

Pacifist Zombie invasion? I'll keep mine the old fashoned way.

Its because no one in Australia is older than 18. They kill everyone at age 17 and a half to preserve food and water supplies.

I wondered why every Australian ever looked young and vibrant... It all makes sense now...

OT - The thing that makes me laugh about Michael Atkinson is that he tries to keep violence and death away from "The Kids(tm)", while simultaneously living in a country where everything that isn't man-made seems to be designed to kill humans.

 

[JWAN]

I have a solution for Valve:

Allow users of Steam to buy Left 4 Dead overseas and enter the code to activate it on Steam even if they live in Australia and play it online from Australia.

The law only says the game cannot be SOLD without a rating, not a ban on mere ownership. A serious Aussie gamer could take a trip to NZ or some other country in the free world, there shouldn't really be anything stopping Valve hosing aussie gamers playing Left 4 Dead online down under, they can reasonably assume they legally bought it outside Australia and brought it in.

Or use STEAM or just go to another website and have it shipped.

That probably won't work. The game may be imported FROM another country, but shipping it to Australia or even buying the game from within Australia and downloading it via steam would be considered "selling the game" and the Aussie censors have specifically refused this game classification making sale of the game in Australia ILLEGAL. Who knows if some public prosecutor with an axe to grind and a political career to make could go after these websites.

No online retailer of the hard copy is going to risk the wrath of custom officials and Gabe will likely be having a meeting with their lawyers saying if they want Steam to work at all in Australia then they must block the sale of L4D2 games via Steam. Who knows, downloadable games might be beyond the remit of the law but I highly doubt it as it is fundamentally the same as an ordinary sale.

The bottom line is getting Left 4 Dead 2 in Australia is not going to be easy. No retailer, online, offline or downloadable would want to risk breaking the law with hefty fines, legal fees and jeopardise their various licences just for a 1% more game sales.

Look you order it and tell them to gift wrap it in store or you tell them to put the game box into a different box because its going to be a gift. Unless they can open your mail (In my country that would be unlawful search and seizure). It will prolly cost an extra $15 but if you really want it Im sure you will be able to get it. If some politician or prosecutor starts an international pissy fit over a game it wont go anywhere. I guaren-fucking-tee it. Unless hes radical Islam and its being sold by an infidel he wont pursue it.

 

[Thesreyn]

Australia has no classification for video games beyond MA15+. This is what prevents us from being allowed to purchase certain games (i.e. Manhunt).

It's something that disappoints me a lot, because I was actually planning on paying for L4D2 as I loved L4D so much. Hopefully, Valve will just "forget" to disallow Australian Credit Cards from L4D2 purchases. Unfortunately, it's still going to have a devastating effect upon the community and will drastically reduce the number of players, even if there is a legal means to purchase the game.

 

[DoW Lowen]

Look F.E.A.R 2 was supposed to be banned. But it wasn't, and F.E.A.R I can imagine is much worse. The classification board always wants to be a bunch of dicks, but it never falls through.