What I think is odd is how all the hate is directed at Valve. I imagine Microsoft has a lot to do with it.
"But Jim, Microsoft has nothing to do with developing L4D2!"
No, but they are responsible for the Xbox 360, a platform Valve tries to support. Microsoft has total control over how DLC is handled on the 360... and if they think DLC will be problematic for 360 owners, they are not inclined to allow it. Given the SIZE of L4D2, it would probably be hard for 360 owners with 20GB hard drives to enjoy it without deleting a bunch of other stuff from their hard drives (something PC gamers are used to, but which I think most console gamers think of as something they should not have to be bothered with EVER, since a console is supposed to let you play the game you want, when you want, without worrying about HDD space), and this would piss off these people, who would then, quite possibly, be angry at Microsoft in addition to Valve. This idea, of course, probably sounds like a bad one to Microsoft, and so they would probably not be inclined to allow this proposed DLC to be sold for their console... and THAT would be a much larger loss of sales for Valve than a 30,000 person boycott. While they could release it on Steam as DLC, they would get ZERO sales on 360.
Really, releasing it as DLC would be a bad deal for Steam and Microsoft (who ANY company putting stuff on the 360 must work with), and as such it is not realistic to expect that to happen. It's just not practical or realistic.
As for an expansion... it's too damn big to be called an expansion in any way. It's a new game, and all the similarities to the old game don't change that. It's got more campaigns then the first game, and people want Valve to charge LESS for it? Do you think I should get angry next time I find myself at McDonald's because I can't get a Big Mac value meal for the same price as the two cheesburger value meal? It's the same number of beef patties! That would be stupid. A big mac is not the same as two cheeseburgers, it's a new burger (though it still tastes like cardboard). The fact it uses many of the same ingredients and is handled pretty much the same way does not change this. This is the same deal. L4D2 is a new game that uses a lot of stuff from the first game, but it is A NEW GAME, and as such, it's ridiculous to expect you should pay less for it than you would for any other new game.
As for support, Valve has said they will continue supporting L4D, and given that the only dishonest thing they usually say is "The game will be out on this date", I see no reason to disbelieve them. Even if that support is just updates and fixes, L4D has ALREADY received more support than most games EVER get. New campaigns, new game modes, new maps. A lot of developers basically just release a game, and then occsasionally fix bugs, if they even bother to do anything at all with it.
If you can't appreciate what Valve has done with L4D already, I don't see how you could possibly appreciate anything else they could do with it, since you'd have to be pretty much chronically ungrateful.
How about the release so soon after L4D? First off, Valve ought to be praised for releasing a sequel in a timely manner. Hopefully that will encourage them to continue that behavior, which would be awesome. For another thing, there's nothing stopping you from continuing to play L4D as well. It's not like an MMO where there's a certain level of persistence to it that requires you to continue putting time in it to get something in return, it's a co-op shooter with short little campaigns that you can finish in an afternoon and do again after dinner. There is NO problem with dividing time between the two games, unless your friends only have one, which is a fairly minor problem unless you are so socially inept that you can't make other friends, so lonely that you can't risk abandoning your online playmates for a couple hours (in which case you need therapy because this is a serious psychological problem, no joke), or such an ass that everybody on Steam or Xbox Live prefers bots over you. Valve has no control over your social issues to begin with, so don't be angry at THEM for it.
The entire position of the boycotting types seems to me to be based on ignorance, naivete, selfishness, a sense of entitlement for something they are in no way entitled to (Valve could just as easily say "Fuck you guys, you paid for it and we're going to go spend the money you gave us on beer and hookers"), or some combination thereof. It's childish.
