Poll: Is Valve becoming worse over time?

[spinFX]

Without Half Life 2 episode 3 anywhere in sight, and the future release of L4D3 and 4 , and portal 2, is Valve losing there touch?I understand you need to make more money for later projects, but this just seems unimagitive.I can name at least 3,000 people on the internet that would give there right arm for HL2E3,(okay, maybe I can't name 3,000 people)and the fact us console players would absolutely love some new updates for Team Fortess 2.There's just alot of things that seem unfinished for them to move on like this.

I'm so sick of hearing console players whinge about the update situation on TF2. There has been numerous addresses to this situation, so many I'm not even going to list them for you.

Beyond that, Valve are fine. Haven't made a SINGLE bad game yet. Bioware have had 1, (althought this is subjective, some people liked it...) Jade Empire. Blizzard have... uhh nothing. They're perfect. Bethesda have... uhh no they're pretty perfect too (they merely published WET, doesn't count). I'm off track...

Valve are flawless and that is that.

 

[themattd1000]

I guess they're getting worse since l4d2 was kinda pointless and tf2's becoming more and more watered down. Not to mention the utter lack of HL2 ep3...

All in all they are just a company and a company will have its ups and downs.

 

[Yostbeef]

If you play Valve games on a console you deserve to be treated like shit.

Hey that is bull shit man.Before i had access to a competent gaming pc or a 360 i had to play Hl2 on the xbox and while the effort was admirable it wasnt meant to be yet i played through the whole thing and when i did get a chance to play it in all of its PC glory it was still like playing it for the first time

So people who play it on the console do not deserve to be treated like shit if anything they should be commended it also helped me realize the PC is the most satisfying way to game.

 

[Yureina]

I am half-wondering if Valve's "big announcement" at E3 this year will be Half-Life 3, and not just some tacked on additional episode. I think that would knock some people out of their chairs. ;P

As per the topic... the last Valve game i've played was Portal, so i'm not really sure.

 

[Jaranja]

Their games are already bad, they're not getting any worse.

 

[Pyode]

If they say they can't dev for the PS3 fine.

Again, it shouldn't be about whether or not they can or can't. Just because they can doesn't mean they should have to.

But Newell then went on to insult the PS3 itself...

I do not recall him directly insulting the PS3, could you provide me with a link?

You have to admit when they dev for PC, 360 and Mac, not announcing PS3 support is a little strange if not stupid.

Not it's not strange or stupid at all.

I think you are underestimating just how much work goes into a port. It's not a simple copy and paste deal. It's a shitload of all new codding, not to mention the fact that they basically have to completely re-test the game almost as thoroughly as they had to on the original platform.

All things considered, it's amazing that they have these games on three separate platforms as it is.

 

[Woodsey]

"and the future release of L4D3 and 4"

And they're confirmed in any way, shape or form are they?

No, they're not - they take forever to release stuff, but looking at their track-record that's a major plus. They take their time and they do things right.

Anyway, with the amount of threads begging for Episode 3 it's not like they're hated - and they won that March Mayhem thing.

It's evident that their fanbase isn't particularly concerned with their quality however.

That's a rather laughable comment when looking at:

a) the critical reception of all their games

b) the size of their fanbase

 

[Hito-Chan]

Valve just has more... soul than any other game company I've seen.

Sure, Portal was being developed before Valve got to it; but Valve injected the black humor, the lovable/hatable GLaDOS, and the cake. Without Valve, Portal was hardly more depth-y than a flash game. A nice flash game with a fun concept, granted, but hardly more worthy of pause than most things from Armor Games. Instead, Portal is a cultural phenomenon. Start singing Still Alive in any high school classroom, and you'll get at least ten people singing along. Even people who've never played Portal will say "The Cake Is A Lie".

Valve doesn't make huge jumps in gameplay; but the writing, the characters, the atmosphere- all those things that major game studios seem to brush over in favor of nice graphics and big bangs- those are the focus of Valve games. Have you ever done something in a one-player game that warranted telling your friends? Felt real, pulse-quickening fear in an action game? Grown attached to an inanimate object? Even when they use zombies, a concept as old as the sun, they make it interesting. Valve is there in the little details, which is why they have a reputation for doing quality work. The sheer amount of extra stuff they have for Portal & Portal 2 is fascinating, and could live without a game- they have a whole alternate history, dating back to the 1950's. They just go above and beyond, especially when they don't have to. The worst they've ever been accused of is being on the same level as companies with far more staff and money than them. Their games take longer because they make them better, and that hasn't changed, and I doubt it'll be changing anytime soon.

 

[Legion]

How is this a change? Am I the only one with a long enough memory to recall the six-year period when literally the only games they released were Half-Life mods that they were packaging and charging for?

Remember where we are. Most people here would father Gabe Newells children regardless of whether nature would allow it or not.

OT: If Left 4 Dead 3 gets announced any time soon then my answer will be yes.

So far however I say they are doing a very good job (even though I am annoyed Portal 2 is delayed). I am yet to play a game that I have not enjoyed of theirs so it is very hard for me to criticise them.

 

[Binerexis]

Valve are fine, it's the impatient dipshits who want the company to do everything they want because "WE BOUGHT THE GAME SO U R SLAVES NOW K?".

There are only two things about Valve that I would say are bad. The first is the idea of episodic gaming, they dropped the ball there. There were large gaps between episodes and they didn't feel long enough for the price paid (although they were the first major company to try it, from my knowledge, so I consider it progression on the whole). The second thing isn't really Valve but just the general people who play Valve games. It hasn't got to the point where I want to remove the communication features in the games but hearing people go on and on and on about HL2:Ep3 or the fucking hats or class updates to TF2 annoy the shit out of me. That's not the fault of Valve at all but I just needed to get it off my chest.

 

[Ninjamedic]

But Newell then went on to insult the PS3 itself...

I do not recall him directly insulting the PS3, could you provide me with a link?

Linky: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/77826-Gabe-Newell-Calls-PlayStation-3-A-Waste-of-Time
Its an old one, but still.

 

[mjc0961]

If you like gaming on the PC, no.

If you like gaming on a console however (especially the PS3), Valve might as well be the same guys that make all those crappy barbie and my little pony games.

 

[scnj]

Okay, here goes. Valve is a shockingly overrated company.

1. Half-Life was good, but is not the be all and end all of shooters. The scripted events were nice back in 1998, but it's been surpassed many times since dating all the way back to Deus Ex in 2000.

2. Half-Life 2 felt dated on release. The graphics looked nice, but the actual gameplay (aside from the gravity gun) hadn't moved on since Half-Life, six years before. The driving was massively inferior to what Halo had already managed three years previously, and the ending felt rushed.

3. The Episodes. Episode One was literally a continuation of Half-Life 2, even down to using the slow elevator trick and another fucking seesaw puzzle. Episode Two promised to be more open, but really that didn't happen until the very end, and most of it up until that point used to horrific driving physics. We're still waiting on Episode Three despite promises of shorter development times and frequent releases.

4. Portal. Ridiculously overrated. It was a fun little game, but the internet managed to kill any humour it had in the first place, and with a length of three hours, if it had been packaged by itself it would have been decried as a ripoff. There's zero need for a sequel, and yet we're getting that before any substantial news on Episode Three, which should be Valve's focus, given that Half-Life is supposed to be their main franchise.

5. Left 4 Dead/Left 4 Dead 2. Really not that fun. The maps get old pretty fast, and releasing the sequel so quickly after divided the community. Despite claims, the AI director becomes predictable, and the aging source engine makes the game look older than it should given it's a new release.

6. Team Fortress 2. I haven't played much of this, since I never really got into it, so I won't bother complaining about updates or lack thereof.

 

[DazBurger]

-snip
and the fact us console players would absolutely love some new updates for Team Fortess 2.

You know, theres a reason for that.
Valve and Microsoft had a dissagreement over the updates.
Microsoft wanted money for them (surprised?) and Valve wanted them free.
Ended up with MS denying them to put any free updates up and Valve giving them the finger :/

So no TF2 updates untill MS gives in... Which wont happen

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

I do feel that Valve is spreading themselves quite thin recently. It just feels as if they need to reassess their priorities.

If you play Valve games on a console you deserve to be treated like shit.

Hey that is bull shit man.Before i had access to a competent gaming pc or a 360 i had to play Hl2 on the xbox and while the effort was admirable it wasnt meant to be yet i played through the whole thing and when i did get a chance to play it in all of its PC glory it was still like playing it for the first time

So people who play it on the console do not deserve to be treated like shit if anything they should be commended it also helped me realize the PC is the most satisfying way to game.

Just report and move on. He just said people should be treated like shit for their gaming system of choice. If that's not textbook fanboyism I don't know what is.

 

[Pyode]

-snip-

So, as a developer, he explained that he thinks the hardware choices that Sony made with the PS3 where mistakes and that in the long run these decisions offer no benefit to the console and that Sony should take the console in a new direction.

I admit that some of the language he uses was kinda harsh, but in terms of what he is actually saying, I don't see it being that big of a deal or being an insult.

It's not like he just said "The PS3 sucks. Next question." He actually explained what he, as a developer, doesn't like about the console.

 

[Ninjamedic]

-snip-

So, as a developer, he explained that the thinks the hardware choices that Sony made with the PS3 where mistakes and that in the long run these decisions offer no benefit to the console and that Sony should take the console in a new direction.

I admit that some of the language he uses was kinda harsh, but in terms of what he is actually saying, I don't see it being that big of a deal or being an insult.

It's not like he just said "The PS3 sucks. Next question." He actually explained what he, as a developer, doesn't like about the console.

Still it is condescending to say that then support the mac.

 

[redstar alpha]

Gabe Fucking Newell. Enough said.

..........What exactly is wrong with the L4D series?

The fact that they've made a sequel in the gap of a year and that they haven't done anything else.

so its wrong because they made a sequel in a short span of time? You do know its only one company? They arent EA.

 

[Ninjamedic]

Gabe Fucking Newell. Enough said.

..........What exactly is wrong with the L4D series?

The fact that they've made a sequel in the gap of a year and that they haven't done anything else.

so its wrong because they made a sequel in a short span of time? You do know its only one company? They arent EA.

Didn't EA support bioware for Mass effect and dragon age as well as publish mirrors edge and dead space?

 

[mad825]

Besides, it's not like they have been focusing entirely on HL this entire time. In that 3 year span, they have released two full games, plus ported Steam as well as several games to the Mac. Not to mention the work they have been doing on Portal as well as the new Source engine that they may be revealing at E3.

All things considered, I would say 3 years is perfectly acceptable for a game that we have no idea the size of.

heh, heh, I suppose you have got me however we do know that it's going to be an "episode" and not a full,new instalment but comparing it to the first two episodes it shouldn't take too long.