VALVe trolling us about Episode 3?

[Kopikatsu]

So, Newell and the Half-Life writer have said that there is no ARG for Episode 3. But...

Everyone should be familiar with the episode 3 t-shirts and Gabe Newell's response to 4chan's letter by now.

But things that you may not know about are these:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/12/12/valve-vga-vid-appears-to-offer-hl3-clues/

Also, in Team Fortress 2, server owners can put a word or phrase as the server's status using sv_registration_message. However...if you check the status of a VALVe server, it comes up as 'Gordon'.

There is also this...http://i.imgur.com/qJIsN.png

Looking too much into it?

Edit: If anyone can make a future date using these numbers, that would be awesome.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwa6nmLT4b1ql5iudo3_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1324309698&Signature=cuel7P6EFTF54XSDLT%2B3hr2WSQU%3D

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwa7wvQ5mu1ql5iudo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1324309698&Signature=enBX3mveykzj0Rb3LMnCVEcdkdg%3D

Edit 2: Well, eh. Wheatley said his coordinates were 1-1-1 before getting cut off. 13-22-13 minus 1 is 12-21-12...END OF THE WORLD. But nah, that's just silly.

 

[ResonanceGames]

Why would Valve need to troll us when their community does such a wonderful job of trolling themselves?

Here's the forumula: Valve announced nothing. Community flips out, looks for clues that aren't there, becomes convinced that they've found them. Valve says it's nothing. Community gets mad at Valve for trolling them. This has been happening for years now.

 

[Lilani]

Why would Valve need to troll us when their community does such a wonderful job of trolling themselves?

Just what I was thinking. I mean really, looking for hints is one thing, but some of the "hints" people said they found in the VGA videos and whatnot were just ridiculous. Valve didn't even have to throw them a bone to get clamoring over it.

Anyway, I don't think Valve is trolling, they're just being their usual vague selves. They've always liked to keep their big projects and announcements close to the vest, because most of the time even they don't quite know what they've got and when it's coming out (for example, the Portal 2 trailers featured the crusher panels, but they took them out of the main game before it shipped because playtesters and people who saw the trailers thought it would be too hard).

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Meh. I've lost all my hype for HL3 now.

I'm sure when they do announce it 6 years from now I'll get excited again.

 

[sgt. soap mctavish]

I wouldn't be surprised if Gabe would be trolling. He does this type of stuff all the time.

 

[Souplex]

I don't see why you guys are so excited.
Valve has used the money made from Half Life 2 and it's episodes to pump out good games like Portal, so-so games like L4D, and games that were good until they started messing with them like TF2.
Can't you be happy that the studio is improving slightly instead of dwelling on this one series?

 

[Souplex]

I don't see why you guys are so excited.
Valve has used the money made from Half Life 2 and it's episodes to pump out good games like Portal, so-so games like L4D, and games that were good until they started messing with them like TF2.
Can't you be happy that the studio is improving slightly instead of dwelling on this one series?

Whether they're improving or not is debatable. Really, really debatable.

And no, because they left a great story at a nutcracking cliffhanger.

Ah yes, how could I forget the brilliant story of a power-armored non-character fighting generically evil aliens armed with a generic arsenal with the exception of a gimmick weapon which amounts to nothing more than a grab-throw button assisted by his minority sidekick/shoehorned in love interest?

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I don't see why you guys are so excited.
Valve has used the money made from Half Life 2 and it's episodes to pump out good games like Portal, so-so games like L4D, and games that were good until they started messing with them like TF2.
Can't you be happy that the studio is improving slightly instead of dwelling on this one series?

Whether they're improving or not is debatable. Really, really debatable.

And no, because they left a great story at a nutcracking cliffhanger.

Ah yes, how could I forget the brilliant story of a power-armored non-character fighting generically evil aliens armed with a generic arsenal with the exception of a gimmick weapon which amounts to nothing more than a grab-throw button assisted by his minority sidekick/shoehorned in love interest?

IT R STOREHTELLIN MASTARPEESE.

I'm not entirely sure why Valve in general gets the fandom it does, but still. I can understand why people are looking forward to HL3, but no game that we no absolutely nothing about should get that much hype.

 

[The Virgo]

I don't see why you guys are so excited.
Valve has used the money made from Half Life 2 and it's episodes to pump out good games like Portal, so-so games like L4D, and games that were good until they started messing with them like TF2.
Can't you be happy that the studio is improving slightly instead of dwelling on this one series?

Whether they're improving or not is debatable. Really, really debatable.

And no, because they left a great story at a nutcracking cliffhanger.

Ah yes, how could I forget the brilliant story of a power-armored non-character fighting generically evil aliens armed with a generic arsenal with the exception of a gimmick weapon which amounts to nothing more than a grab-throw button assisted by his minority sidekick/shoehorned in love interest?

Where the fuck did this guy come from? He probably thinks Modern Warfare 3 is one of the most original games around. -_-'

OT: I just honestly don't care about Episode Three anymore. It's been way too long since Episode Two's cliffhanger ending for it to actually be relevant anymore. Which is sad, because I used to be a huge Half-Life fan. But then VALVe turned their back on me, so I turned my back on them. They can keep Episode Three for all I care.

 

[Woodsey]

I don't see why you guys are so excited.
Valve has used the money made from Half Life 2 and it's episodes to pump out good games like Portal, so-so games like L4D, and games that were good until they started messing with them like TF2.
Can't you be happy that the studio is improving slightly instead of dwelling on this one series?

Whether they're improving or not is debatable. Really, really debatable.

And no, because they left a great story at a nutcracking cliffhanger.

Ah yes, how could I forget the brilliant story of a power-armored non-character fighting generically evil aliens armed with a generic arsenal with the exception of a gimmick weapon which amounts to nothing more than a grab-throw button assisted by his minority sidekick/shoehorned in love interest?

Oh please, you could do that to practically anything.

OT: They'll announce it when they announce it. As far as I'm aware that HL3 shirt was just on some random guy that someone CLAIMED was a Valve employee.

 

[Sassafrass]

Where the fuck did this guy come from? He probably thinks Modern Warfare 3 is one of the most original games around. -_-'

Don't worry, it's what he does. He's been doing this sort of stuff since I joined.

OT: They're probably just making people think they're trolling then BAM! Next year, the big game of 2012 will be Ep 3. Although if that happens, I won't care as HL isn't a series I'm interested in.

 

[Souplex]

I don't see why you guys are so excited.
Valve has used the money made from Half Life 2 and it's episodes to pump out good games like Portal, so-so games like L4D, and games that were good until they started messing with them like TF2.
Can't you be happy that the studio is improving slightly instead of dwelling on this one series?

Whether they're improving or not is debatable. Really, really debatable.

And no, because they left a great story at a nutcracking cliffhanger.

Ah yes, how could I forget the brilliant story of a power-armored non-character fighting generically evil aliens armed with a generic arsenal with the exception of a gimmick weapon which amounts to nothing more than a grab-throw button assisted by his minority sidekick/shoehorned in love interest?

Where the fuck did this guy come from? He probably thinks Modern Warfare 3 is one of the most original games around. -_-'

Don't insult my intelligence, I dislike Half Life 2 (And episodes) because they are sub-par games that have had a damaging effect on gaming as a whole.
I also dislike the Modern Warfare games for the exact same reason.

 

[The Virgo]

Where the fuck did this guy come from? He probably thinks Modern Warfare 3 is one of the most original games around. -_-'

Don't insult my intelligence, I dislike Half Life 2 (And episodes) because they are sub-par games that have had a damaging effect on gaming as a whole.
I also dislike the Modern Warfare games for the exact same reason.

Damaging effect on gaming? And what exactly would those damaging effects be? I've yet to see any real negative effects as a result of Half-Life 2's release.

And if you ask me, they are hardly sub-par games. Portal was a sub-par game. Half-Life 2 was not.

OT: I just honestly don't care about Episode Three anymore. It's been way too long since Episode Two's cliffhanger ending for it to actually be relevant anymore. Which is sad, because I used to be a huge Half-Life fan. But then VALVe turned their back on me, so I turned my back on them. They can keep Episode Three for all I care.

...And yet you'll still buy it when it comes out, I bet. Besides, keeping silent =/= turn back on.

No, I'm not going to. I've got a lot better things to do with my money than reward VALVe with my $50 for making me feel like a red-headed stepchild. Also, it's more than keeping silent; it's called "fanbase alienation". They hardly acknowledge us and, four years later, we don't even know if they're doing anything about it, except for Doug Lombardi saying "Hang in there". Too late for that, Mr. Lombardi.

Yeah, PC Gamer had a rumor about a "EP3 Weaponizer idea", but that doesn't prove anything. IF anything, it proves they're just in the idea stage all this time later.

 

[lacktheknack]

Where the fuck did this guy come from? He probably thinks Modern Warfare 3 is one of the most original games around. -_-'

No, he just doesn't like Half Life. And he gets a kick out of trolling Valve fans. He's been doing this for a long time.

OT: I just honestly don't care about Episode Three anymore. It's been way too long since Episode Two's cliffhanger ending for it to actually be relevant anymore. Which is sad, because I used to be a huge Half-Life fan. But then VALVe turned their back on me, so I turned my back on them. They can keep Episode Three for all I care.

...And yet you'll still buy it when it comes out, I bet. Besides, keeping silent =/= turn back on.

 

[Killimus2188]

Something no-one has really been talking about which supports a new game in 2012 is the Possible Acceptance Speeches made for the VGA's. These were not aired as Nathan, Marcus, and Wheatley did not win. Watch Wheatley's though. He mentions how he might finally be going home, however the award is shot too him and knocks him deeper into space.

The key is the last line... where Wheatley says: "I don't even get to keep the trophy! Oh well, maybe next year."

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/potential-acceptance-spike-vgas/725041

 

[Beryl77]

There's no evidence that that VGA video has any clues, related to anything.
The E-Mail is just a joke. Newell has said that he likes to respond to insulting E-Mails because it makes the people realise that they're talking to an existing person and they get really polite after he writes them. So yeah, it doesn't mean much.

The newspaper lambda thing, is just funs who want to see the lambda symbol, seeing it everywhere. It's a simple symbol, look in your soup and you can see it.
Fans are looking for it and if something coincidentally looks like a lambda, they assume that it's a hint from Valve.

As for the TF2 'Gordon' status message, I have no idea what it means. It could be a mistake and some leftover code from hl2 or a real hint.
This and the T-shirt are the only two things that actually could hint at hl3.