Valve, why are they loved?
- Thread starter Orks da best
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Half Life 1 and CS are kinda dated, but Half Life 2 and it's episodes, Portal and Left 4 Dead are all awesome. And what they're doing with Steam is amazing, with the cheap sales and the Steamworks and just how useful it all is. That said, I fear they are starting to lose their way. Portal 2 was great, but not as good as Portal. Left 4 Dead 2 was fun, but it kinda ruined the whole horror atmosphere. And TF2... my god. I have never seen a more unbalanced, lopsided, just plain screwed up mess of a multiplayer game save maybe UMVC3. Valve, stop with the hats and the tie-ins, just make the game good again, please! And CS:GO? Oh good, another realistic gunwank shooter where you die in two shots.
Did they either:Owyn_Merrilin said:
A: fire him after
B: make him stay on his first project (so in this case pong, with valve, l4d2) while another (newly hired) team makes the next game?
Because you know, that's probably what people don't like about valve.
Edit: Because some people don't seem to get this.
I don't hate valve, if you're going to accuse me of that over not agreeing with one thing they do, you need to think more
Well to me, they seem to be gamers who make games for gamers.
Rather than most companies who are strictly business men, Valve seem to actually know what gamers want rather than make the most money (looking at the Steam sales, at least, although I can imagine that brings them in a lot of revenue!)
Of course there's issues with them, there always is with game companies.
They're good, I wouldn't say they're the best company in the world but they're better than some.
Rather than most companies who are strictly business men, Valve seem to actually know what gamers want rather than make the most money (looking at the Steam sales, at least, although I can imagine that brings them in a lot of revenue!)
Of course there's issues with them, there always is with game companies.
They're good, I wouldn't say they're the best company in the world but they're better than some.
They make top quality games with a lot of love poured into it.
They care about their customer base and the games they make.
They want to innovate.
They are under the philosophy "entertainment as a service".
Free DLC (exceptions occur on consoles, but always free on PC)
Free games (Alien Swarm, TF2, Dota2)
Anyone can start making mods/maps for any of their games.
Biggest electronic platform for gaming and buying games with frequent sales and deals.
Uses this platform to help indie developers.
Makes awesome cinematics and gives you Source Filmmaker so you can too, free of charge.
Even if you don't like any of their games they still have a lot to offer you, for example, maybe learning to mod, awesome game store and source filmmaker
They care about their customer base and the games they make.
They want to innovate.
They are under the philosophy "entertainment as a service".
Free DLC (exceptions occur on consoles, but always free on PC)
Free games (Alien Swarm, TF2, Dota2)
Anyone can start making mods/maps for any of their games.
Biggest electronic platform for gaming and buying games with frequent sales and deals.
Uses this platform to help indie developers.
Makes awesome cinematics and gives you Source Filmmaker so you can too, free of charge.
Even if you don't like any of their games they still have a lot to offer you, for example, maybe learning to mod, awesome game store and source filmmaker
Valve may not be perfect, but I'd rather have them than most other companies, I'm not even a PC gamer, I can't afford a decent gaming rig, but I'd still call myself a Valve fan, just because of Portal and TF2 and not to mention the fact that they actually seem to understand the consumers
I love the Portal games although they aren't my favourite game dev studio atm - I love some of Nintendo's teams (Retro Studios and EAD Tokyo) more.
Are you thriled for more, Escapees?! Stay tuned for next week's episode of "Why do people like something I don't like?"!
Thank you thank you thank you. I agree wholeheartedly. Voting EA the worst company in America is the epitome of a First World problem.
Captcha: read me, write me
Such a helpful captcha.
Thank you.Eddie the head said:
Thank you thank you thank you. I agree wholeheartedly. Voting EA the worst company in America is the epitome of a First World problem.
Captcha: read me, write me
Such a helpful captcha.
To all those who say they never have a problem running Steam offline, try this:
Exit Steam, unplug your network cable or disable WiFi. The restart the Steam client. 4 times out of 5 it will hang indefinitely trying to log in (and for some reason display a screen saying it's trying to update). If you are very lucky it will just spend 5 minutes trying to log in before asking if you want to play offline.
Why don't they just immediately pop up that screen instead of trying to connect for 5 minutes, and hanging most of the time. Its no wonder most people think offline doesn't work at all.
Other than that, I don't really have a problem with Valve, they are better than other most big publishers, but that's still a bit like saying you'd rather attacked by a Nile Crocodile than a Salt-water Crocodile.
Exit Steam, unplug your network cable or disable WiFi. The restart the Steam client. 4 times out of 5 it will hang indefinitely trying to log in (and for some reason display a screen saying it's trying to update). If you are very lucky it will just spend 5 minutes trying to log in before asking if you want to play offline.
Why don't they just immediately pop up that screen instead of trying to connect for 5 minutes, and hanging most of the time. Its no wonder most people think offline doesn't work at all.
Other than that, I don't really have a problem with Valve, they are better than other most big publishers, but that's still a bit like saying you'd rather attacked by a Nile Crocodile than a Salt-water Crocodile.
Why is it so hard to accept that other people like things that you don't? Seriously, we get so many "why is this or that so popular" threads. I'm pretty sure we already had this question asked a couple times.
There's really no point in these threads, you've already made up your mind and you probably know why most people like Valve already. So everything I'll say won't matter.
That's why I've started to stay out of these kind of threads.
But today I'm in a writing mood, so I'll answer for what it's worth.
I can't exactly tell you why there are many Valve fans here, although they're liked in many other general gaming forums and I don't think that there is a specially high number here, at least from what I can tell. So, it makes sense that there are also many here.
Anyway, you say that the only real game by Valve was Half-Life and that they take over other companies but I disagree. Valve is very good at spotting great talent. They know when people can make good games and then they hire them.
They ask those people whether they want to work at Valve and once they're hired, they're part of Valve. That means, Counter-Strike, TeamFortress, Portal etc. are all games made by Valve because the people who made them, work at Valve.
Valve didn't take over the mods. They hired the people behind the mods. Once hire those people could work on whatever they want but most want to continue work on the mods that they've created. Minh Le put so much work in Counter-Strike, of course he wanted to continue work on that. Naturally, Robin Walker liked to continue work on his mod, he was now even getting paid. Normally, the Digipen students wanted to do something with Portals and puzzles because that was a great mechanic in their game, Narbacular Drop. But none of them were ever forced to continue work on those mods once hired.
The guys at Valve know when they see talent and that is in my opinion a great talent in itself.
The reason why EA keeps the logos of the companies who develop the games is because EA is a publisher while Valve is a developer. The people hired by Valve, work for Valve now. They're part of the company and they're perfectly fine with that. Tell me, when a person is hired by a company, isn't he now part of it and everything he works on is part of the company? The people they've hired wanted that and can leave whenever they want, like Kim Swift did for example.
I really don't get this part of your post. What logo should they keep on the games? The people are Valve employees know, not part of some other companies. Like I said, Valve is a developer and not a publisher.
So tell me, which people lost their titles to Valve? The only one that kind of comes into my mind is Left4Dead but that's it. One game.
As for DOTA 2, the development was put in hand of Icefrog, who again, himself wanted to work at Valve. The original DotA still exists and doesn't belong to Valve and Icefrog can work on it whenever he wants but apparently he prefers to work at Valve on DOTA 2.
Really? You compare the mess that was Duke Nukem Forever with Half-Life 3? First and foremost, it's only been five years since episode 2, Duke Nukem took 12 years. Correct me if I'm wrong but 5 =/= 12.
Half-life 2 took six years and it became a great game. What's more important, the development of Duke Nukem and Half-Life are completely different. The only thing that people see is that it takes longer than one year and everybody screams that it's the same as Duke Nukem, even though there were many other factors involved that led to Duke Nukem that aren't present in Half-Life 3. By know, Valve has stated a couple times why they aren't talking about the next Half-life.
This is already way longer than I initially intended, so just quickly. They like their customers and want to make them happy, they don't have to make shareholders happy. They actually managed to make DRM look attractive to many people. Steam has helped many indie devs. People have bought many games at prices which would have normally taken years to drop that low. And of course thanks to them, there are many great games. Yes like I said, I consider Portal, TF2 etc. as games made by Valve because the people working on them are Valve employees who work on those games on their own accord. These and many other reasons have made Valve popular and companies like EA have helped as well by doing bad things and making Valve look even better.
There's really no point in these threads, you've already made up your mind and you probably know why most people like Valve already. So everything I'll say won't matter.
That's why I've started to stay out of these kind of threads.
But today I'm in a writing mood, so I'll answer for what it's worth.
I can't exactly tell you why there are many Valve fans here, although they're liked in many other general gaming forums and I don't think that there is a specially high number here, at least from what I can tell. So, it makes sense that there are also many here.
Anyway, you say that the only real game by Valve was Half-Life and that they take over other companies but I disagree. Valve is very good at spotting great talent. They know when people can make good games and then they hire them.
They ask those people whether they want to work at Valve and once they're hired, they're part of Valve. That means, Counter-Strike, TeamFortress, Portal etc. are all games made by Valve because the people who made them, work at Valve.
Valve didn't take over the mods. They hired the people behind the mods. Once hire those people could work on whatever they want but most want to continue work on the mods that they've created. Minh Le put so much work in Counter-Strike, of course he wanted to continue work on that. Naturally, Robin Walker liked to continue work on his mod, he was now even getting paid. Normally, the Digipen students wanted to do something with Portals and puzzles because that was a great mechanic in their game, Narbacular Drop. But none of them were ever forced to continue work on those mods once hired.
The guys at Valve know when they see talent and that is in my opinion a great talent in itself.
The reason why EA keeps the logos of the companies who develop the games is because EA is a publisher while Valve is a developer. The people hired by Valve, work for Valve now. They're part of the company and they're perfectly fine with that. Tell me, when a person is hired by a company, isn't he now part of it and everything he works on is part of the company? The people they've hired wanted that and can leave whenever they want, like Kim Swift did for example.
I really don't get this part of your post. What logo should they keep on the games? The people are Valve employees know, not part of some other companies. Like I said, Valve is a developer and not a publisher.
So tell me, which people lost their titles to Valve? The only one that kind of comes into my mind is Left4Dead but that's it. One game.
As for DOTA 2, the development was put in hand of Icefrog, who again, himself wanted to work at Valve. The original DotA still exists and doesn't belong to Valve and Icefrog can work on it whenever he wants but apparently he prefers to work at Valve on DOTA 2.
Really? You compare the mess that was Duke Nukem Forever with Half-Life 3? First and foremost, it's only been five years since episode 2, Duke Nukem took 12 years. Correct me if I'm wrong but 5 =/= 12.
Half-life 2 took six years and it became a great game. What's more important, the development of Duke Nukem and Half-Life are completely different. The only thing that people see is that it takes longer than one year and everybody screams that it's the same as Duke Nukem, even though there were many other factors involved that led to Duke Nukem that aren't present in Half-Life 3. By know, Valve has stated a couple times why they aren't talking about the next Half-life.
This is already way longer than I initially intended, so just quickly. They like their customers and want to make them happy, they don't have to make shareholders happy. They actually managed to make DRM look attractive to many people. Steam has helped many indie devs. People have bought many games at prices which would have normally taken years to drop that low. And of course thanks to them, there are many great games. Yes like I said, I consider Portal, TF2 etc. as games made by Valve because the people working on them are Valve employees who work on those games on their own accord. These and many other reasons have made Valve popular and companies like EA have helped as well by doing bad things and making Valve look even better.
You're forgetting TF2, which is a sequel to a fan-made mod. As with Dota 2. Note, they also hire their fans, those who mod their games.Orks da best said:
Also, that April Fool's joke. That wasn't them. Someone registered a site with a name similar to steampowered.com, and used it.
... This is because EA is a publisher. They publish other people's games. Valve doesn't put their logo on a game when it's published on Steam, they put their logo on the game when they bought the development team, the game IP and hired them to work at Valve; making the game owned by Valve. Yes, they're going to put their logo on it.Orks da best said:
The only reason Bioware still has it's logo under EA is brand recognition. EA is even expanding the Bioware line to studios that AREN'T Bioware. For example, that new "Bioware" command and Conquer isn't actually being made by the Bioware team in Edmonton, it's being made by a team in Texas under the Bioware flag. At least with Valve, I know it's Valve.
In fact, there are SIX "Bioware" studios, yet only the Edmonton office is really the true Bioware.
BioWare Edmonton, BioWare Austin, BioWare Mythic, BioWare Montreal, BioWare Ireland, and BioWare San Francisco (formerly EA2D).
I like valve a lot. Their games tend to be high quality and well designed, and Steam is a fantastic service.
you're welcome to not like them yourself; my enjoyment of them is not contingent on yours.
S'all that really needs to be said, I think.
you're welcome to not like them yourself; my enjoyment of them is not contingent on yours.
S'all that really needs to be said, I think.
Because EA are merely applying the Bioware brand to other EA studios because it is a hot property. This is not an expansion of Bioware, and the people in those studios are not Bioware employees. As soon as EA have squeezed Bioware dry those studios will be renamed or closed, and Bioware itself will be closed or renamed after the next hot EA property.Devoneaux said:
Technically Portal was made from a different game called "Narbacular Drop" much of the production team for that game was brought over to Valve to make Portal.Xan Krieger said:
Look I'm kind of with him on this... sort of. Counter Strike, Portal, Team Fortress, Day of Defeat, and DOTA 2 are/were all originally not part of Valve. So yes I agree, Valve does take a lot of peoples projects... however.
1) They almost always bring the production team to Valve. From Day of Defeat to DotA 2 (they brought over IceFrog) Valve doesn't simply take the game and make it their own. They give the original team some control in the matter.
2) The games they do make are all top of the line (with exception of possibly Ricochet... and only because I never really heard anyone scream for glory over it) Half Life brought a FPS like no one has ever seen and Left 4 Dead was at the head of the pack for Zombie COOP games for all of us who wanted to see if ourselves and our friends could survive the zombie apocalypse. Yes technically L4D was made by a different production company, but Valve bought the entire company while it was still in production. That game was never released. So I would say its Valve's game.
So... I guess they made 3 games, including game series, since 1998? (Thats where Valve time comes from by the way) Yes your right, they find other Productions games and uses them... but I really don't see anything wrong with it because they games they make from them are excellent.
Oh is that what you call it around here? On the steam forums we just call that a sense of humor.Orks da best said:
Fixed that for yahOrks da best said:
2 questions.
First, what companies are you talking about exactly? As far as i know those mods were made by individuals that got hired by valve.
Second, what is it that makes Left for Dead 1&2 not "true" Valve games?[/quotes]
People still fall for April fools' jokes?
...oh, this is a troll thread isn't it?
Source on them firing new developers or forcing them to make anything? I dislike some of the things they do too (Steamworks is quite possibly the /most/ intrusive DRM I've ever used, people just don't realize it because it usually works), but I've never seen any evidence of that. And if their employee handbook can be believed, those sequels were done because the employees honestly wanted to work on them.dogstile said: