Are Valve Considered The 'Good Guys' ?

[NeutralMunchHotel]

Just a quick question - are Valve considered the 'good guys' of game development, since they're a smallish studio (well, maybe now's a different story) and make many games with a consistantly high quality. It's kind of hard to describe in words, but are they?

And, on the other hand, are companies like EA or Activision considered the 'bad guys', ie the complete opposite of Valve - money grabbing businessmen with no interest in gaming whatsoever?

I think that what I wrote above was a mess, but I suppose my question is this: What is the general perception of game companies.

Upon reflection, that's nothing like my original title.

[small]Ah, shucks[/small]

 

[veloper]

Developers are usually much better liked than publishers, so comparing valve to EA or activision isn't really fair.

 

[BolognaBaloney]

Developers are often seen as the bitches of the "mean, greedy" publishers. In reality, it's just the way business works kiddos.

 

[JRCB]

Developers are usually much better liked than publishers, so comparing valve to EA or activision isn't really fair.

True. But, isn't Valve it's own publisher, too?

 

[Proteus214]

Developers are often seen as the bitches of the "mean, greedy" publishers. In reality, it's just the way business works kiddos.

So true you have no idea.

 

[Proteus214]

Developers are usually much better liked than publishers, so comparing valve to EA or activision isn't really fair.

True. But, isn't Valve it's own publisher, too?

Yes, but when the publishing party is so closely linked with development they will have an interest in maintaining the quality of the games based on the merit of how they are made, not the highest profit.

 

[oppp7]

Compared to some other developers Valve is considered the good guys.

 

[NeutralMunchHotel]

Developers are often seen as the bitches of the "mean, greedy" publishers. In reality, it's just the way business works kiddos.

So true you have no idea.

And this means? I think I have a basic idea of how things work - this just seems like a bizarrely hyperbolic statement.

 

[NeutralMunchHotel]

money grabbing businessmen

Most companies that class themselves as businesses are out to grab money, so I don't see what your point is. Just because Valve has a nice face and is kind to it's customers doesn't mean it doesn't want your money, just like EA and ActiFail.

I know - but what I was asking about is public perception, ie how it seems to anybody on the outside looking in. You said in your post that Valve appears to be the 'nice face', as you put it, and lots of people would agree that that is how EA and 'Actifail' (as you so oddly put it) come across.

 

[Proteus214]

Developers are often seen as the bitches of the "mean, greedy" publishers. In reality, it's just the way business works kiddos.

So true you have no idea.

And this means? I think I have a basic idea of how things work - this just seems like a bizarrely hyperbolic statement.

The publishers essentially dictate what they want from the developers and when they want it. This will always lead to the injection of unnecessary elements in the game to "widen the appeal" and will almost always lead to essential features being cut for the sake of time and maximum profit. What was put on the drawing board as an amazing play experience with a great plan to develop it gets shot to shit when the publisher steps in and starts adjusting things.

 

[rainman2203]

Valve is much less evil in my eyes than other publishers, but its kind of a special case. Publishers make me sad- damn corporations...with... their...money...and...evil...

 

[death525]

yes valve is good play there games and you should know
EA is evil because of the madden franchise or the same game every year franchise
activision I really have no problemm with

 

[Bigeyez]

Developers are usually much better liked than publishers, so comparing valve to EA or activision isn't really fair.

This, but also all gaming companies are businesses. As such their number one priority is always their own bottom line. Using terms like "Good guy" or "Bad guy" when talking about businesses is really oversimplfying it.

Valve definitely aren't a small rinky dink studio either...they're bigger then a lot of other game developers.

 

[Walking_Target]

The perception of Valve as the good guys is because of their excellent support and communitcaiton with thier communities.

People complained about the TF2-esque look of the new L4D game and the cheesey fiddle horde music. Apparently, they're planning changes because of that to bring it more 'in line' with what the fans want.

Heck. They've been talking to myself and the other staff at the boycott. That should say everything right there. EA or Activision would not have given folks like us the time of day.

 

[BigT65]

They're a lot better than publishers like Activision or EA, but I wouldn't consider them the "good guys." They still whored half life 2 with episode 1, 2, and 3, and probably more episodes to come when they should just make half life 3. Not to mention they're making Left 4 dead 2, with only 1 new multiplayer map pack being released a couple months before L4D2 is released.

 

[LeadTaco]

They make great IP for PC's, but I personally think they let their guys talk to the media too much. Commenting on things they have A) No experience with, and B) No willingness to learn about such things, prior to commenting on them.

I'm glad you're not a Sony fanboy, otherwise this would seem like an attack on the way they assigned dozens of employees to anaylize and configure Sony Dev Kits, until they realized they don't have the resources to create games on it, balanced against how many programmers and capital they have, and will get returned.

Fucking consumer idiots acting like they know how to run an independant developer.

 

[Captain of the Failboat]

high quality games, no shovelware(to the best of my knowledge), and staff that cares about the communities, you can hardly call them "evil" for that