"Valve rarely release games" - NONESENSE!

[EternalFacepalm]

Jesus Christ, there is no reasoning with Valvedrones.

Arguably, those disagreeing with you would say the same.

"Miles different in their play style" BULL. SHIT. All of these games follow the same control scheme, physics and perspective.

Stop, stop, stop. You're complaining about the control scheme being intuitive, because it isn't switched around, now? Do you want them to rewrite their physics engine? I don't think you realise just how difficult creating working physics is. Also, you basically just agreed with me here, regarding you not wanting new gameplay elements, but a new perspective (and physics, but what the fuck?), so that's all good.

The characters all control the EXACT SAME WAY (again, TF2 has speed difference)

That can be attributed to how you expect a certain normal speed. It's intuitive to have a certain speed, although relatively small changes still works. How would it work if in one Half-Life game, you're super-fast, but in another, you're a snail?

and the only defining aspects of each is the map, the format and the story. Jesus if CoD was made by Valve you'd all be applauding how diverse each installment is.

No.

But modders get supported so it's the best

If they were "supporting" the mod community, they would be allowing the modder to mod and perhaps even make some dosh. Supporting isn't taking the Mod, getting a team to work on it and then slapping a huge "WE MADE DIS" sign on it, with or without the modders approval.

Recite one instance where they did it without the modders' approval, please. Aside from that, I really can't remember that many engines that allowed you to sell your game without a license. There's Unity, but aside from that, I can't remember anything. Anyway, you can sell Source games. [http://source.valvesoftware.com/licensing.php]

Why is it that people feel it necessary to defend such bad practices? Why is this the best, but the worst when anyone else does it? Why is DRM the worst thing in existence but steam is a godsend? It's Because the valve defense force is a hypocritical bunch.

Because they're not bad practices, and I prefer Steam because it's neat, tidy and I can't remember an instance where it didn't serve me well. There are also daily sales, along with Midweek Madness and Weekend Madness. Compared to other DRM, that's pretty good.

 

[Patrick Buck]

Mods or expansion packs. Not really different games. So... :/

 

[Conza]

Your list

Half Life - 1998

Team Fortress Classic - 1999

Half Life Opposing Force - 1999

Deathmatch Classic - 2000

Ricochet - 2000

Counter Strike - 2000

Half Life Blue Shift - 2001

Day of Defeat - 2003

CS: Condition Zero - 2004

Half Life Source - 2004

CS: Source - 2004

Half Life 2 - 2004

Half Life 2 Deathmatch - 2004

Half Life Deathmatch Source - 2005

Day of Defeat Source - 2005

Half Life 2 Episode 1 - 2006

Half Life 2 Episode 2 - 2007

Portal - 2007

Team Fortress 2 - 2007

Left 4 Dead - 2008

Left 4 Dead 2 - 2009

Alien Swarm - 2010

Portal 2 - 2011

Dota 2 - 2012

CS: Global Offensive - 2012

Half Life 3 - 2098

Now let me tell you how many are considered games, just by Wikipedia, I'll quote wiki each time

Half Life, 1998 - "Half-Life is a science fiction first-person shooter video game" Game:1

Team Fortress Classic, 1999 - "Team Fortress Classic was originally released for Windows on April 7, 1999 as a modification to Half-Life." Game:1 Mod:1

Half Life Opposing Force, 1999 - "Half-Life: Opposing Force is an expansion pack for Valve Software's science fiction first-person shooter video game Half-Life." Game:1 EP:1 Mod:1

Deathmatch Classic, 2000 - "DMC is a multiplayer video game developed by Valve as a tribute to Quake." Game:2 EP:1 Mod:1

Ricochet, 2000 - "Ricochet is a multiplayer mod of the popular first-person shooter Half-Life" Game:2 EP:1 Mod:2

Counter Strike, 2000 - "Counter-Strike...is a tactical first-person shooter video game" Game:3 EP:1 Mod:2

Half Life Blue Shift, 2001 - "Half-Life: Blue Shift is an expansion pack for Valve Software's science fiction first-person shooter video game Half-Life" Game:3 EP:2 Mod:2

Day of Defeat, 2003 - "Day of Defeat is a team-based multiplayer World War II first-person shooter video game" Game:4 EP:2 Mod:2

CS: Condition Zero, 2004 - "Counter-Strike: Condition Zero...is a multiplayer video game" Game:5 EP:2 Mod:2

Half Life Source, 2004 - "Half-Life: Source is a straight port"? Game:6 EP:2 Mod:2

CS: Source, 2004 - "Counter-Strike: Source...is an FPS video game" Game:7 EP:2 Mod:2

Half Life 2, 2004 - "Half-Life 2...is a first-person shooter video game" Game:8 EP:2 Mod:2

Half Life 2 Deathmatch, 2004 - "Half-Life 2: Deathmatch is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game" Game:9 EP:2 Mod:2

Half Life Deathmatch Source, 2005 - "You may create the page "Half-Life Deathmatch Source", but consider checking the search results below to see whether the topic is already covered." Game:9 EP:2 Mod:3

Day of Defeat Source, 2005 - "Day of Defeat: Source is a team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game" Game:10 EP:2 Mod:3

Half Life 2 Episode 1 - 2006 *Gives up quoting*

Half Life 2 Episode 2 - 2007

Portal - 2007 Game:11 EP:4 Mod:3

Team Fortress 2 - 2007 Game:12 EP:4 Mod:3

Left 4 Dead - 2008 Game:14 EP:4 Mod:3

Left 4 Dead 2 - 2009 Game:15 EP:4 Mod:3

Alien Swarm - 2010 Game:16 EP:4 Mod:3

Portal 2 - 2011 Game:17 EP:4 Mod:3

Dota 2 - 2012 Game:17 EP:4 Mod:3 (not released)

CS: Global Offensive - 2012 Game:17 EP:4 Mod:3 (not released)

Wow, more than I expected, I wouldn't consider Counter-Strike (except CZ) or Team Fortress to be self deserving games, but Wiki does so I'll leave it at that, ~17 with them, otherwise I'd only count 5 as games, and 11 of those games as Mods/EPS.

So really, its HL, HL2, Portal, Portal 2...Alien Swarm... The rest are all derivitive/remakes/ports/expansions, ect.

 

[Moth_Monk]

You see children the way I see it, it doesn't matter whether it's a game or a mod or an expansion or a published title, it is still content from Valve every one to two years.



Captcha: Strike a match

^ Indeed

 

[DoPo]

You see children the way I see it, it doesn't matter whether it's a game or a mod or an expansion or a published title, it is still content from Valve every one to two years.



Captcha: Strike a match

^ Indeed

You still talked about games - the usual way people use it (and what you tried to disprove), it means HL 1+2, Portal 1+2 and so on, not just releases. Seems pedantic but the words have a meaning for a reason - you misunderstood and misused that one, thus showing why that the meaning matters.

 

[Moth_Monk]

You see children the way I see it, it doesn't matter whether it's a game or a mod or an expansion or a published title, it is still content from Valve every one to two years.



Captcha: Strike a match

^ Indeed

You still talked about games - the usual way people use it (and what you tried to disprove), it means HL 1+2, Portal 1+2 and so on, not just releases. Seems pedantic but the words have a meaning for a reason - you misunderstood and misused that one, thus showing why that the meaning matters.

I used the term "game" in the OP casually because I (foolishly) did not expect a 3 page argument over semantics and what is really a fine example of Sorites Paradox

The definition of a "game" is a multimedia product that the user can interact with; in the context of this discussion.

 

[karoliso]

The unreal engine allows a lot more variety than the source engine does in terms of gameplay.

You have no idea what you're talking about, do you? I doubt you realise that any engine can be tweaked to accommodate whatever style of gameplay the developer wants. Ever heard of a Half-Life 1 modification called Earth's Special Forces? Look it up.

The problem i encounter with Valve? What do TF2, portal, half-life, counter strike and left 4 dead have in common. THEY ARE THE SAME DAMN GAME WITH 1 OR 2 DIFFERENCES.

FPS games based on dominance have something in common. Oh snap.

I do see merit in some of the arguments The Red Goblin presents, however do not let your irrational phobia of a game engine cloud your judgement. Complaining that the control scheme is persistent in all Valve games is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Reggie Rock]

The unreal engine allows a lot more variety than the source engine does in terms of gameplay.

You have no idea what you're talking about, do you? I doubt you realise that any engine can be tweaked to accommodate whatever style of gameplay the developer wants. Ever heard of a Half-Life 1 modification called Earth's Special Forces? Look it up.

My apologies good sir, bad wording on my part. What i should have said was that we have seen a lot more variety in games made with the unreal engine than we have with games made with source. But i suppose then again, maybe there are shit tons of amazingly varied games i just dont know about. Earth's special forces is something new to me, thanks for that.

The problem i encounter with Valve? What do TF2, portal, half-life, counter strike and left 4 dead have in common. THEY ARE THE SAME DAMN GAME WITH 1 OR 2 DIFFERENCES.

FPS games based on dominance have something in common. Oh snap.

I do see merit in some of the arguments The Red Goblin presents, however do not let your irrational phobia of a game engine cloud your judgement. Complaining that the control scheme is persistent in all Valve games is absolutely ridiculous.

Once again, i feel the need to point out that i do actually enjoy Valves games and have no problems with the source engine itself, but the way Valve's games use it is not really varied. I'm not asking them to create an entirely new engine (although i think it's time they moved past source, even though it is still holding up well),i'm asking that they make a game that i pick up and don't immediately know the controls of.

If someone who had never played left 4 dead before tried to play it, they would almost instantly know the controls if they had played previous valve titles. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with this consistency, i think it's great to have an easy to adapt control scheme. But i just think you can only leave the bread out for a while before it becomes stale. Don't think i'm trying to say Valve makes terrible games and that they suck because i'm not saying that. I'm just saying that the praise they get for releasing consistently good games could be unfair, because if they create similar games with just enough difference to warrant a new series it isn't the same as other developers who release games in a different method.

Valve's model is like pizza, if you make a good one make new like it and no matter what different stuff goes into it it'll still be pretty good.

 

[Reggie Rock]

Snip

That's fine an all, but i think when people say valve doesn't release many new games they mean full retail price type games. Valve release new content all the time.

 

[Sangnz]

The list from the OP is about 1/3 full blown games 1/3 expansions and 1/3 mods, also not everything on the list was actually developed by valve just published by them.
Add on to it that a good chunk of the games are just updated versions of older titles moved onto the source engine and you get a better idea why many people feel Valve doesn't release new stuff very often.