Whats The Big Deal About Valve?

[Dr. Paine]

You criticised Valve on these forums? You, my friend, have behemoth sized balls of steel.

b-b-b-balls of steel! (couldn't help myself)

Don't like valve, never enjoyed their games with the freak exception of portal which I don't consider a valve game. (if you know the story behind the portal dev team you'll know why)

I agree on Portal. I loved it (still loved the rest of the games, but Portal just has a special place in my heart). However, the game idea was before they got recruited into the VALVe team. It was called Nebecular Drop, if I'm correct? Anyways, they developed Poral while in the VALVe team.

And was 15 minutes long, was a fantasy setting, didn't have the gun, had a princess, and... yeah, you see where I'm going with this? The basic concept of reality-warping portals stuck, but everything else changed. You might as well say Bioshock and Crysis are the same because they're first person and you use a gun.

Portal was also a test game- they really didn't know how people would react, so it was very short. It took off, and Portal 2 is going to have to stand entirely on its own. And will be a full length (I'm guessing 12+ hours) game.

 

[Frostmourn]

You criticised Valve on these forums? You, my friend, have behemoth sized balls of steel.

b-b-b-balls of steel! (couldn't help myself)

Don't like valve, never enjoyed their games with the freak exception of portal which I don't consider a valve game. (if you know the story behind the portal dev team you'll know why)

I agree on Portal. I loved it (still loved the rest of the games, but Portal just has a special place in my heart). However, the game idea was before they got recruited into the VALVe team. It was called Nebecular Drop, if I'm correct? Anyways, they developed Poral while in the VALVe team.

And was 15 minutes long, was a fantasy setting, didn't have the gun, had a princess, and... yeah, you see where I'm going with this? The basic concept of reality-warping portals stuck, but everything else changed. You might as well say Bioshock and Crysis are the same because they're first person and you use a gun.

Portal was also a test game- they really didn't know how people would react, so it was very short. It took off, and Portal 2 is going to have to stand entirely on its own. And will be a full length (I'm guessing 12+ hours) game.

I know about Portal 2 being much longer (with Portal being roughly 3 hours long), but the setting for Portal seemed much more Sci-Fye than fantasy. Also, the Apeture Science Hand Held Poral Device didn't count as a gun (Portal Gun)? And a princess? What? Sorry, if this is sarcasam (which I am horrible with) sorry I can't see it.

 

[Dr. Paine]

You criticised Valve on these forums? You, my friend, have behemoth sized balls of steel.

b-b-b-balls of steel! (couldn't help myself)

Don't like valve, never enjoyed their games with the freak exception of portal which I don't consider a valve game. (if you know the story behind the portal dev team you'll know why)

I agree on Portal. I loved it (still loved the rest of the games, but Portal just has a special place in my heart). However, the game idea was before they got recruited into the VALVe team. It was called Nebecular Drop, if I'm correct? Anyways, they developed Poral while in the VALVe team.

And was 15 minutes long, was a fantasy setting, didn't have the gun, had a princess, and... yeah, you see where I'm going with this? The basic concept of reality-warping portals stuck, but everything else changed. You might as well say Bioshock and Crysis are the same because they're first person and you use a gun.

Portal was also a test game- they really didn't know how people would react, so it was very short. It took off, and Portal 2 is going to have to stand entirely on its own. And will be a full length (I'm guessing 12+ hours) game.

I know about Portal 2 being much longer, but the setting for Portal seemed much more Sci-Fye than fantasy. Also, the Apeture Science Hand Held Poral Device didn't count as a gun (Portal Gun)? And a princess? What? Sorry, if this is sarcasam (which I am horrible with) sorry I can't see it.

No, I was talking about Narbacular Drop. It was 15 minutes long, in a fantasy setting, the character was Princess No-Knees... everything that made Portal what it is happened when Valve got and started writing it. And I don't count the Device as a gun either, but most people do x3

 

[ThisWasAWaste]

All of these games have begun like a mod or an independent project, and Valve just bought them later.

No... valve HIRED the creators, then assisted them with making the games, on one degree or another. The people became EMPLOYEES at valve, and I see not what is wrong with that.

Yes, sometimes it was primarily the same dev team that was working on the mod that made a product (for example portal was completed pretty much entirely by the same group of students that valve hired based on their college project game based on portals), but they remained at valve and even worked on other games (ex: Kim Swift, lead designer of Portal, worked on L4D2 level design. She did later leave the company, but that was a personal choice so she could work with friends at Airtight games).

 

[Frostmourn]

You criticised Valve on these forums? You, my friend, have behemoth sized balls of steel.

b-b-b-balls of steel! (couldn't help myself)

Don't like valve, never enjoyed their games with the freak exception of portal which I don't consider a valve game. (if you know the story behind the portal dev team you'll know why)

I agree on Portal. I loved it (still loved the rest of the games, but Portal just has a special place in my heart). However, the game idea was before they got recruited into the VALVe team. It was called Nebecular Drop, if I'm correct? Anyways, they developed Poral while in the VALVe team.

And was 15 minutes long, was a fantasy setting, didn't have the gun, had a princess, and... yeah, you see where I'm going with this? The basic concept of reality-warping portals stuck, but everything else changed. You might as well say Bioshock and Crysis are the same because they're first person and you use a gun.

Portal was also a test game- they really didn't know how people would react, so it was very short. It took off, and Portal 2 is going to have to stand entirely on its own. And will be a full length (I'm guessing 12+ hours) game.

I know about Portal 2 being much longer, but the setting for Portal seemed much more Sci-Fye than fantasy. Also, the Apeture Science Hand Held Poral Device didn't count as a gun (Portal Gun)? And a princess? What? Sorry, if this is sarcasam (which I am horrible with) sorry I can't see it.

No, I was talking about Narbacular Drop. It was 15 minutes long, in a fantasy setting, the character was Princess No-Knees... everything that made Portal what it is happened when Valve got and started writing it. And I don't count the Device as a gun either, but most people do x3

Ohhhhh. Ok, sorry for the misunderstanding

ADDITION: Wait, Princess No-Knees? Lolwut?

 

[Friktion012]

Personally I disagree with most every point from the OP. I happen to find a great deal of satisfaction with Half-Life and Half-Life 2 storytelling to the point where I care about the characters. That was new to me in a FPS because until then, FPS protagonists was just "you".

As for Counter-Strike, Portal, Team Fortress, and all that, saying they are not a part of Valve is like saying Hawaii isn't part of the United States. Who knows what would have happened to these games if Valve did not keep their ear to the ground and foster these developers. As an avid player of most of these games, I thank Valve for the help.

And finally, stop stroking the OP's "balls of steel" by daring to bad-mouth Valve on these forums. Walking into an Apple store and screaming I LOVE WINDOWS doesn't make you brave, it just makes you a jerk-off trying to pick a fight.

And that is pathetic.

 

[Areck]

I like them. I could rant, but I'd feel like a dweeb. I want to share how much I like them, but its impossible without being construed into being either a fan-boy or a dick. I guess the only way to put it is, as a lifelong gamer (18 years) I've enjoyed what little they have given me, more than any other developer. Its just fun for me, and sure you may not like it, but damn me to hell if I never play another valve game.

 

[ThisWasAWaste]

... Okay end of rant... Back to playing Doom II. Or Devil May Cry. Or anything where I can PLAY instead of pretending I'm playing.

...Whaaaaa....?

*brain drips from ears*

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

They make games I enjoy, and if it wasn't for those games, Garry's Mod wouldn't be around, and I fucking love Garry's Mod.

Also..

Half-Life series - One of my favorite settings for a video game, especially Half-Life 2, and with an interesting story.
Counterstrike - Used to play it a lot and love it, not so much any more because I suck. Still, there was a time I enjoyed it.
Team Fortress - Funny, fun to play and fast paced.
Portal - I liked Narbacular Drop, so I liked Portal.
Left 4 Dead - I like zombies, I like killing zombies, I like Left 4 Dead.

 

[Stuntcrab]

an over used physics engine.

Well it was released in 2003 so over used physic engines were basically what alot of people like like scenes were you bash into a pole or something and everything gets knocked down killing the enemys under it thats what people like.

 

[himemiya1650]

Because... Counter-Strike is the only game we can play thats considered fair and event, since everyone's play it at one point. Also its normally the default game that everyone has installed at LAN parties.

 

[Anticitizen_Two]

Alright why do we all seem to love Valve so much? They take a long time to produce a single game and yet they are never really critizied if the game was not worth the wait. It seems that they owe most of their fanbase to the Half-Life series which I have tried, don't say HL1 is better than most games today because it isn't, it's a piece of shit by todays standards and take off your rose coloured glasses. As for HL2 played it didn't like it, gun play was bad, story wasn't great, no real characterization and an over used physics engine.

My main problem with Vavle is that they hold so much gaming prestige and only release maybe 1 game a year, most of the time (in my point of view anyway) it seems that it truely wasn't worth all the effort they put into it. Granted I haven't played Portal, and when I tried to play Team Fortress 2 no one was playing it (that usually means it's not that great), so maybe I should try Portal though that probably won't change my mind about Vavle being a mediocre game studio with a fanbase that is completly devoted to them if they release a certain game within the next 1000 years.

Now I realize this will probably earn me a ton of hate from the community here, but you know what? I really don't care if I do.

In the words of Jeffrey Lebowski: "Well, that's like... your opinion, man."

Seriously though, I'm not a Valve fanboy, I think they're criminally overrated. However, you should play Portal and TF2, they're both great.

 

[Dr. Paine]

You criticised Valve on these forums? You, my friend, have behemoth sized balls of steel.

b-b-b-balls of steel! (couldn't help myself)

Don't like valve, never enjoyed their games with the freak exception of portal which I don't consider a valve game. (if you know the story behind the portal dev team you'll know why)

I agree on Portal. I loved it (still loved the rest of the games, but Portal just has a special place in my heart). However, the game idea was before they got recruited into the VALVe team. It was called Nebecular Drop, if I'm correct? Anyways, they developed Poral while in the VALVe team.

And was 15 minutes long, was a fantasy setting, didn't have the gun, had a princess, and... yeah, you see where I'm going with this? The basic concept of reality-warping portals stuck, but everything else changed. You might as well say Bioshock and Crysis are the same because they're first person and you use a gun.

Portal was also a test game- they really didn't know how people would react, so it was very short. It took off, and Portal 2 is going to have to stand entirely on its own. And will be a full length (I'm guessing 12+ hours) game.

I know about Portal 2 being much longer, but the setting for Portal seemed much more Sci-Fye than fantasy. Also, the Apeture Science Hand Held Poral Device didn't count as a gun (Portal Gun)? And a princess? What? Sorry, if this is sarcasam (which I am horrible with) sorry I can't see it.

No, I was talking about Narbacular Drop. It was 15 minutes long, in a fantasy setting, the character was Princess No-Knees... everything that made Portal what it is happened when Valve got and started writing it. And I don't count the Device as a gun either, but most people do x3

Ohhhhh. Ok, sorry for the misunderstanding

ADDITION: Wait, Princess No-Knees? Lolwut?

The character in Narbacular Drop was named Princess No-Knees because she had no ability to jump x3 (I watched the interview on GameInformer during their Portal 2 thing...)

 

[Silent Eagle]

I think people just like it because they get to solve kindergarten style physics riddles.
You beat Half-life! Congratulations! Your in 1st grade now!
The story line on the other hand.. Above average. I give it a B on a grading scale.
B+ if Freeman actually spoke and dictated his own actions.

 

[Composer]

one of the companies thats friendlier to their community?

 

[Stuntcrab]

They have provided amazing modding tools, for free to their fans which allow them to make their own levels and whole separate games using the engine. This is fairly commonplace on the PC now, but back in the early days it was unheard of.

Ever heard about id Software or Epic Games?

One problem I have with Valve is, they often receive undeserved praise for 'inventing' something they didn't invent.

The only thing they invented were ways to screw up the FPS genre. Then Microsoft brought the Xbox and finished the deed.

How did they screw up the first person shooter genre? they actually promoted it because they were one of the first games to have ragdolls instead of those nonsense animation deaths were the thing just does something and the corpse stays there. I have my opinion on a game that ruined the fps genre but its not related to this subject.

 

[Arcanist]

Oh wow, where do I start?

For one, Source, their debut engine, is very-open source(natch), an idea most devs at the time would have laughed at.

Then there's the fact that they've produced some of the most innovative and and creative games in recent memory. To this day, Portal remains my favorite game of all time.

 

[Stuntcrab]

Valve are currently pissing me off -.- i've joined the herds of people screaming for the release of half life 2 episode 3 and i didn't enjoy left 4 dead 2 as much as i enjoyed number 1.

Also i hate steam, i've voiced my opinion on why i hate steam many times and valve will get no love from me on that front.

Well to start this off people are waiting for episode 3 because its supposed to be a big part in the half life series, which A TON of gamers love. l4d2 was sort of a let down in some cases but in other cases it was pretty good in the sense of gore, zombies and campains and one thing

Can you explain what you hate about steam? its just a game community were people can buy games from other companies and can chat with up to 100 freinds while playing.