A small handful of people really don't want L4D2 so early
Last week at E3 we heard the announcement of Valve's new game, Left 4 Dead 2, and we were even able to get some hands-on action and a demo video. But not everyone is happy. As you may have already heard, some of the more hardcore Left 4 Dead fans can't stand the idea of a new game being released so soon.
The disgruntled gamers have started a boycott against the game, Steam, and Valve, with over 21,000 people signing a anti-L4D2 petition so far. One gamer was quoted stating "I will no longer purchase any games from steam ever again, i will go to gamestop for all gaming needs i don't care if i have to walk or drive, if it is released, nor will i play any of valves future games even if they make a half life 3."
Another gamer believes that current L4D owners have been ripped off of downloadable content from Valve. He stated, "I hope to GOD that people are smart enough to realize NOT to buy this BS. WHERE IS THE CONTENT YOU PROMISED US VALVE. Putting maps in the game that were SUPPOSE to be there at release is NOT new content."
The boycotting community believes that the release of Left 4 Dead 2 will "split the L4D community", thus "decreasing the quality of multiplayer gaming." In response, Valve said "L4D, we still aren't done with it...we still have updates coming...we're going to announce some stuff."
Hopefully they'll keep their word. If you want to learn more about the boycott, check out the Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott Steam group.
forums
But if they really feel that strong about it then just don't buy it. Oh wait....
Did they get short changed on a game they paid for almost a year ago? Doubtful. I've put so many hours into L4D I don't have room to complain. I've had other games I've paid as much for or more and I've only gotten a fraction of the replay value that L4D gave me.
People need to realize that sequels are going to come and that it doesn't mean the title they were playing is going to be abandoned just like that. Stomping their feet expecting an entirely new cast and set of levels to come for free is just absurd though. Maybe a new map but even then the Dev tools are now free for people to use and exact their own maps.
Think I'd have to side with Gabe here -- if they abandoned the first game and/or the sequel wasn't a true sequel, I'd side with the other camp, but as it is, perhaps the announcement should be taken in good stride -- that is, L4D was a great success that afforded Valve the opportunity to follow it up properly, quickly. Not that I don't respect the ire.
Though it does seem like this is pretty similar to the first game -- maybe it should be paid DLC?
Sure, it may be a little early, but the game looks amazing. I don't see why there should be such a big problem over it. :-P
Actually they're hoping for consumers to return and buy a product. They expect nothing from them, it's a false statement acting as if they're forcing you to do something when they really aren't and when they've always supported their older games even today. It's like saying DoD: Source was incomplete because TF2 came out with achievements later and then woosh Valve upgraded the engine on the game and introduced Steamworks achievements into the game. I guess it does pay to be selective about Valve's history of commitment to their games though.
Indeed, because when L4D2 comes out it'll be a sub 1MB unlock for assets that can't be found in the existing SDK files.
The petition / boycott itself seems to be fueled by gamers that want to feel entitled about their purchase. Not really my cup of tea, you pay for the product that you get, you don't pay for the product based on potential avenues down the road.
I'm still buying L4D2 though, the game does look good. I just hope it'll last longer than the first game did
That man is a saint.
Petition to remove a game that's probably gonna cost only 10 dollars? Lol, I laugh at that.
"They Don't want it so early" then don't buy it straight away
http://www.neoseeker.com/news/10978-valve-not-leaving-left-4-dead-for-dead-just-yet/
As a server owner, I support L4D by paying for 4 West Coast servers out of my own pocket that have had in total roughly 17000 players since they were started 4 months ago. As well, I work for a server company that provides numerous servers for TF2, L4D, CS:S and other Valve games.
One disturbing trend I have seen is the daily cancellation of L4D servers. Since the 'Survival Pack' the company I work for has seen a 70% increase in server cancellations of servers that service Central North America and the West Coast. That number increases daily.
The biggest drop was right after the 'Survival Pack' when people began to realize how minor the changes actually were. Most people played Survival mode until they got the achievements and then moved back to Co-op or Versus. We lost 45% of the servers within days of that release.
The second spike was right after the news about L4D2. That was about 20% of the servers. The other 5% has been just due to attrition since the DLC was released.
Now, obviously there have been new servers started, but the total loss of server coverage totals about 70% in the company I work for, and I work for a shitty little hole in the wall no one even knows about. In actual numbers that means about 110 servers are now shut down in the past couple months with my employer alone. I wonder how this has affected Gameservers or Darkstar.
I should mention that most of the people canceling servers have been very vocal about why they're canceling them, and I agree with the majority of their reasons, especially about the release of L4D2.
So, I pose this question to you, do you think splitting the games community base will increase or decrease the number of servers for both games?
Secondly, do you think server owners that are canceling their servers will be rushing out to start a L4D2 server after they feel that they've been burned by Valve?
The answers are pretty obvious.
All you flame-baiters screaming about the boycott group being a bunch of whining *bleep* might want to think about that, because without the server owners, you'd have no where to play either game.
As for myself, I don't have any choice but to 'get' the game since it's purchased for me by my employer for troubleshooting and testing. However, I'll be shutting down my servers the day L4D2 is released unless both games can be serviced by a single server and other significant issues about the release of L4D2 are satisfactorily dealt with by Valve.
Modders are apparently planning on porting the maps from L4D2 to L4D when it comes out for those who don't want to buy the new game.
They can write config files to emulate the Director 2.0 and use the included props and textures from the SDK (which contains most of the necessary files even as a beta).
The only things missing will be the crappy music, slack jawed yokel survivors and the new gimmicky SI.
Sounds good to me. I only want new maps, the rest of the 'repainting' of the game to make it seem 'new' is just window dressing.