GCP – Episode 96 - 07/20
Interview with Frictional Games - 07/14
GCP – Episode 95 - 07/13
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Remember When Games Were Just… Fun?Posted June 11, 2009, Comments (12) |
When was the last time games were just… fun?
All the hate and angst surrounding the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 at this year’s E3 has really gotten me thinking. What happened to the days when games were simply… Fun? When did gamers change from excitingly anticipating a new release, to hating on an innocent developer because they haven’t given enough away for free?
But easy there champ, before you fire up to write me some angry hate mail, hear me out. Left 4 Dead was a great game, and I don’t care what all the haters say. Yes, it had its flaws – what game doesn’t? But on the whole, the original L4D was a fun, exciting and enjoyable experience for the better part of this gamers’ past six months. And while that might not be that great of a lifespan when compared to, say, Counter-Strike or Team Fortress 2, it’s still a lot more than I can say about a couple other multiplayer-oriented titles I’ve purchased over the past few years.
Sure, some of the grievances of the L4D2H (Left 4 Dead 2 Haters) are fairly valid. Under their list of requests, which you can find at the official L4D2 boycott Steam group, they state Valve should continue to release periodic content. Did they ever say they wouldn’t? Just because Valve is in the process of developing Left 4 Dead 2, doesn’t mean they aren’t simultaneously working on Left 4 Dead content. Right now, the L4D2H’s are shooting blindly into the dark, and I’d put my money on it that they are missing their mark.
Let’s take the Half-Life 2 episodes, for example. Valve was developing Left 4 Dead whilst developing the Half-Life 2 episodes at the same time. By God, a developer working on two simultaneous titles at the same time? Preposterous! It’s unheard of for a developer to work on multiple games at the same time! Especially considering, you know, L4D & its sequel are developed by Turtle Rock Studios, who are owned by Valve.
Valve isn’t a five-man operation in Gabe Newell’s garage. As much as haters like to claim otherwise, a company with as solid of a business strategy and goal plan as that of Valve is fully capable of developing two titles simultaneously. Before you get your underwear all in a bunch, give Valve some time to make content worthwhile for release. How long after its release did Team Fortress 2 see its first content updates? Six months? Left 4 Dead has been out for a little over that too! Maybe we might be seeing more content released soon?
Keep in mind it’s much more complex to develop content for L4D, as it’s a linear game with a set beginning, middle, climax and falling action. How often do you see developers spit out extra content for single-player linear titles?
On L4D2H’s list of requests, their second demand states, “That Left 4 Dead 2 not be released as a stand-alone, full-priced sequel but as either a free update to Left 4 Dead or an expansion with full compatibility with basic Left 4 Dead owners. “
Alright, let’s see here… New weapons? Check. New Campaigns? Check. New setting? Check. New characters, items, bug fixes, graphical enhancements and general improvements? Check to the fifth power. I don’t know about you all, but that sounds like more than enough to qualify as a sequel. “But Tom! It’s the same game at its core, it’s just a different setting! It should only count as an expansion, not a fully game!” Oh, really? This is a new game.
Left 4 Dead 2 promises everything a sequel to a title should promise. It’s the same game at its core, albeit with additional content, story, functionality and more. The “it’s just an expansion pack” mentality is flawed. What about the Pokemon games, or any RPG title to ever exist? It’s the same game at its core, they just add some extra things and slap a “2” on it. Yet no one complains about how those should be free DLC! To hell with it, with this mentality, every shooter game ever made should just be priced as an expansion pack for Doom. You know, since they all involve the same “core mechanics” and what not.
And, last but not least, “Left 4 Dead owners be given discounts for Left 4 Dead 2, should it be released as premium content. “
No. Valve is a business. Like it or not, they aren’t here to play the role of superhero in the gaming industry, nor is Gabe Newell here to rock you to sleep. Want to know how businesses make money? By selling products or services. As far as I know, Valve doesn’t have many services they can sell, so they’re left selling products. And as a business, they want to maximize the amount earned. As previously mentioned, there is more than enough new content in L4D2 to qualify as more than expansion pack-level pricing. Why on Earth should Valve release it that way, then? Why should they give you half off on a game that looks to be more than worth the price of admission of other full-priced titles from shoddier developers?
As much as I disagree with the haters, I can at least sympathize with them to an extent. I’ve been in the same frustrated position with other game titles. But, I simply ask gamers to give Valve a chance. I don’t agree with some decisions they’ve made, but I have loved and cherish every title they have released. Valve has never disappointed me before, and I feel that if you give them adequate and ample leg room to stretch their creativity, they won’t disappoint you either. My only suggestion to the Left 4 Dead haters is that if you really, truly are against Left 4 Dead 2, then simply don’t buy it. Take the time-tested stance of voting with your wallet.
$50 for six months of fun or $20 for 3 years, which is better value?
yeah, shut up.
Valve didn’t develop Left 4 Dead 1 initially. They paid the developers and gave support while working on their own episodes. Then they bought Turtle Rock Studios a month or two before Left 4 dead was released. It wasn’t until that point that Valve started putting the TF2 dev team into helping out with Left 4 dead.
I have no problems with Valve making a sequel with new weapons monsters and casts. I do however have a problem with how Valve continued to develop sequel content instead of focusing on the original.
I wonder how much faster the “new content” we’ve received on April 20th could have come if the developers were not working on a sequel.
Your article makes complete sense to me. Personally, I’m not really looking forward to the game, but I will give Valve a chance since we know next to nothing about the actual game. It’s unfair to judge the game already. I do think that Valve will keep their word and still release some content/fixes to L4D, I don’t really see why the wouldn’t.
Oh and weclock, that comment was completely unnecessary. Try not to be so immature.
The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind: Bloodmoon – same engine, few updates, new areas – Expansion
Starcraft Broodwar: new units, new levels, new enemies, new settings – expansion
doom 3 ressurection of evil: new weapons, new monsters, new bosses, new levels
tell me why l4d2 should be so different. the achievements seen in the game are the exact same as those in l4d1. the custom maps/mods will work in both l4d and l4d2, meaning the engine isn’t that different (example: half-life 2 and Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines, both use the same engine but are different enough to be incompatible).
And apparently Tetharis, it’s unnecessary to argue with the author? I disagree with his article and I have a right to voice it.
Like I said, we can’t judge the game before we know exactly what’s going to be in it and how it’ll actually play. I can’t stress that enough. If it’s a large amount of quality content, then the price would be justified. If there’s little new and quality content, then the game shouldn’t cost 50$.
I think people should try a demo(if there is one), read reviews, and talk to people that have actually purchased it when the time comes. Then you can make a more educated decision about it, rather than getting all up in arms about it.
Telling the author to “shut up” is overdoing it. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with arguing about the subject of the article. You could have just said, like you said to me, that you disagree with it. There’s a kind way to go about things, and then there’s the jerk way of doing it, you chose the latter and I was merely pointing out that it wasn’t cool.
And this is why we can’t have nice things.
I spent over 100 hours on Left 4 Dead before any new content even released for it. I not only am satisfied spending $50 on it, but I also would be satisfied if I payed $75.
Also, Valve said they made very significant changes to the AI Director in L4D2, which consequently allows them to make levels that would’ve been impossibe in L4D. Personally, I’m looking forward to it.
Tetharis I’m a PC gamer, I have the right to get up in arms about ANYTHING.
I’m still clinging on to the hope that Valve is lying.
Also, Samy M. they never said it’d be impossible in L4D1.
Actually, every interview I’ve heard from Valve says that their new AI director is impossible in L4D1. Granted, they have also stated that maps will be compatible with both games, but they will undoubtedly play differently in each.
From a business standpoint it makes sense but Valve has become a seal of video game quality. I think a lot of people are wary that this is simply a quick turnover where valve simply adds a lot of new features instead of working from the ground up to build a new, exciting experience.
Perhaps this is what a sequel should be, but it’s not what a Valve game should be.
But perhaps this is their new Counter-Strike. I’ve played several versions of the game and the only differences I could tell you are the UI and graphics. People still love and play the whole array of different versions of that game. But then again, that series was made by an outside company. But then again, L4D started as a game from an outside company.
In any case I won’t be buying this game until it drops down to $20 because I’m a cheapskate.
I’d just like to point out that I have zero issue with people disagreeing with my articles. I’m simply expressing my opinion, and I’m interested in hearing opposing arguments as well! That being said, Weclock: I think 50$ for “6 months of fun” as you put it, is more than justifiable. That is far more fun than I’ve drawn out of many 50$ AAA titles in the past, and when you compare to – oh, say – a 2 hour film in theater- the dollar-per-hour of fun is exceptionally high.