Poll: Why does Valve have such a stronghold on the gaming industry, and is it right?

[SoMuchSpace]

Now if there is one company which has the most loyal and ardent fanbase, it is Valve.No other company closes.For those of you who remember the MM, when bethesda posted on FB to get votes, they got the lead on valve by 50 votes.When Valve did that, they were leading by a good 1500.This might not show anything, but it shows that how much people love valve and are willing to do whatever it takes to make them win in any shape or form, be it a stupid online poll.

Noq let me just say, i LOVE their games.But i often notice that while every one of their games is fantastic, the games themselves are a small part of why Valve is loved so much.Which ones of them are the mos responsible?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I may not be as huge a fan of Valve's games as a lot of people on this site, they're great, but I just don't feel an urge to sing their praises.

Their business practices, however, should be lauded.

They're honest, they treat their customers like people instead of walking wallets, and they don't feel a need to cash in on a franchise just because it's popular.

When Valve decide to make a game, they do it right, no matter how long it takes.

 

[Dr Pussymagnet]

Cause they're the only ones with a steam powered stronghold.

 

[Aircross]

Valve is also a private company, so they can afford to exercise their values without having to bend over to outside demands.

When Valve decide to make a game, they do it right, no matter how long it takes.

A lot of developers that have similar resources like Valve should also do the same *coughbiowarecough*.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I may not be as huge a fan of Valve's games as a lot of people on this site, they're great, but I just don't feel an urge to sing their praises.

Their business practices, however, should be lauded.

They're honest, they treat their customers like people instead of walking wallets, and they don't feel a need to cash in on a franchise just because it's popular.

When Valve decide to make a game, the do it right, no matter how long it takes.

agreed, as much as i find their games "okay", i love their business principles and how they run steam.

*runs back to treasure chest of steam purchases*

 

[Hazy992]

Because they don't treat their customers like crap. Sure they still just want your money, but the way they go about getting it is a hell of a lot better than a company like EA. You respect your customers and they'll come back.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

It's obvious why Valve have such a loyal fanbase, they treat their fans well, make good games, and basically have a monopoly on digital distribution because of their excellent service.

Monopoly is never really a good thing, but hopefully Valve's excellent business practices will have a good influence on "evil" companies like EA and Activision.

 

[Sixcess]

Valve is of course more than just one man, but Gabe Newell is their greatest asset.

He's 'one of us' - he doesn't come across as hating and distrusting gamers, being obsessed with squeezing as much money out of us as possible while offering as little in return as he can, or as being hopelessly out of touch and/or insane. Sure he's a businessman and wants to make money, but he does so by delivering good products and services at fair prices.

And it's kind of sad that this makes him stand so high above many other publishers and developers, especially the big guns.

 

[RJ 17]

I'm going to say a cussing phrase so explicit I'll probably get insta-banned, buuuuuuuut.......

"I've never played Half Life, nor do I intend to. And Counter Strike sucked for what it did to the gaming community in general."



That said, I still like and respect Valve as a company mostly because of what everyone else has said: in comparison to the business practices of numerous other developers, Valve comes across as a bunch of saints.

 

[Tayh]

Now if there is one company which has the most loyal and ardent fanbase, it is valve.

They are hardly unique.
Take Apple or [insert popular religion]; those also have large, fanatic fanbases that will crucify you for thinking differently.

 

[TehCookie]

Like the numerous comments above me, they realize that there are people holding those wallets of money and contrary to popular belief of other publishers, they do not walk around on their own. They have good ideas to attract consumers and treat them well enough so that they return. They also realized people love sales!

As for is it good or bad, the respecting your customers is good but I hate DRM and DD. Though I'm just another weak willed gamer who has bought still games for it (even when I got store copies steam still liked to fuck with me and not let me play them, not to mention sharing games is a pain which makes me more inclined to do it just to spite them).

 

[XMark]

I don't like DRM, but Steam seems to have the most sensible approach to DRM in use. You can download the game to as many computers as you want, and the only real limitation is you can't play it on two computers at the same time (a situation which would not arise unless you gave someone else access to your Steam account)

 

[Paladin2905]

I'm not sure that you could say that Valve has a stronghold on the gaming industry... but they do have a major advantage in having a fairly unique service in Steam. I realize that there are many other download services, but Valve (with their head start) managed to make it into the industry's "Kleenex". Nobody offers the service as well as them, and they tend to be rather humane in their dealings with customers.

To put it simply:
Good customer service is where you and the customer get what you want, and leave happy.
Great customer service is where you and the customer get what you want, they leave happy, AND they want to do more business with you based on the interaction.
-In my experience, Valve tends to practice the latter of the two.

That being said, I can't say I'm really a fan of Valve anymore. I like steam, enjoy the services it offers, loved the half-life games... but damn have they burned up a lot of karma chips with me over HL-Episode 3. I like things released when they are complete, but there is a fine line between "released when its done" and "Duke Nukem Forever".

 

[ThriKreen]

Flip side, due to Steam and them taking a % cut from sales, they are self-funded and don't have the time, budget and publisher pressure practically every other studio has to deal with to survive.

One has to wonder what would Valve be like if Steam wasn't available and funding their pockets, if they had to do more regular releases of their titles instead of in Valve Time?

Obviously it's a good for them, and of course, I love and my wallet hates Steam. But it's also a bit unfair to other studios. Like, what if Obsidian Entertainment had the time to finish KOTOR 2? Or Troika and Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines? How would Origin, Impulse, and DD compare 8 years from now to match Steam's maturity?

Gotta put things into perspective here.

 

[Dandark]

Valve is really popular, probably because of their buisness practices and the fact they seem to be more pro-consumer rather than say EA who is seen to be incredibly anti-consumer.

I'd also say they deserve the influence they have, they do some pretty nice stuff.

 

[LilithSlave]

The PC is the gaming industry? Since when do they have a "stronghold on the gaming industry", when a good portion of games that come out now, aren't even available for Steam?

I think that they should have better competition in the industry than things like GamersGate, or even worse, Origin. But their business practices seem to be decent, even if I could care less about Valve(I could care less about and am honestly sick of seeing first person shooters everywhere). I hear they take a much smaller percentage than Sony with the PlayStation Network does. What's amazing, is that even though they have a monopoly on the PC market, they don't sell things like they do.

I hope they get some competition anyway. If anything, because I don't think that digital distribution should be dominated by a developer which focuses on creating first person shooters. Did I mention I don't like first person shooters?

 

[sextus the crazy]

"I've never played Half Life, nor do I intend to. And Counter Strike sucked for what it did to the gaming community in general."

CoD's mulitplayer more or less ripped off Counter-Strike's horrible balance and vocal assohole fan group, but forgot to have mods or make the multiplayer fun.

 

[Aprilgold]

Do I want them to have such a stronghold on the industry? No, but they are the only ones intelligent enough to get to that point.

If I ever meet you in person I will give you a big giant hug for saying this. At the end of the day, Valve has shown that ignoring intrusive DRM* and treating customers well will rake in more dough then one man could ever need. Their smarter because they understand that we aren't walking wallets, and I applaud them for that.

*Yes, steam's a DRM but it has a good cause, so shut your asshole your pulling arguments from.

The PC is the gaming industry? Since when do they have a "stronghold on the gaming industry", when a good portion of games that come out now, aren't even available for Steam?

Off the top of my head there is Street Fighter X Tekken, Call of Duty franchise, Battlefield, Walking Dead: The Video Game, Resident Evil 4 and 5, All Zombies Must Die, Burn Zombie Burn, Isanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Lost Planet 1 and 2, Assasin's Creed Series, Elder Scrolls Series, Mass Effect Series, Driver SanFransico, Alan Wake with its DLC's, Magicka, Super Street Fighter 4, Dead Rising Off the Record and Dead Rising 2, Saints Row 2 and 3, Rayman Origins and soon Dark Souls are all available on Steam after a console release or at the same time as a console release, so what are these major games that don't get released on PC again? Because thats just off the top of my head of games that were eventually released onto PC. And the way you worded it was that most don't get released on PC at all, but a wide selection from Triple A to Indie have been ported to PC.

Also Lilith, if there was enough support to bring Dark Souls into development for PC then the PC audience have enough voice to convince a publisher and developer to give them what was supposed to be a console exclusive.

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Valve is nice, and no matter how long it takes them, they always make a good or even great game. Easy way to put it, their not the EA of the PC market, and that makes me smile.

 

[TephlonPrice]

Good business practices, treating the customer right so they'll come back to you, and understanding that people love sales. Of course, Valve's out to get money, but the way they do it puts them entire floors above the rest of the bullshit in the industry (Kotick & EA, take some goddamned notes.)