Cause and effect

[hunter-killer25]

sorry if there was a massive post on this before, but if logic has its way then this should be the way CS:S will make hl2 be released in 2 1/2 weeks or less.
Cause: CS:S is released
Effect: Massive amount of people order the bronze, silver, or gold pack to play CS:S

if vivendi waits more than 2 week after CSS's release, they'll probably lose at least 10% of their sales due to people buying the Bronze package to play CSS (and of course voucher holders already have the bronze pack) and they cant do shit about it except release the goddamn game. The long they hold it, the less money they'll make. Since Vivendi is a buisness.. money is good and letting people buy the game from steam without the boxed version's opposition would be a pretty goddamn stupid move. Therefore, theres actually a pretty good chance it will come out at the end of the month.

Or i could be missing something.... am i? can you play CSS for free until hl2 comes out? i dunno but if i'm right then... yay for october!! /rant off

 

[[Dragoon]]

Most people have had the same idea. It's a pretty smart move on Valve's part. The longer Vivendi holds off on the release, the more sales they lose. Valve's way of getting around the "6 month release window" in the contract without actually breaking it by releasing the game themselves.

Brilliant if you ask me.

 

[Ownzed]

Yes, it is pretty smart, but I want the retail box...

 

[UndercoverBob]

im getting it over steam..its cheaper

 

[UnmarkedOne]

if vivendi waits more than 2 week after CSS's release, they'll probably lose at least 10% of their sales due to people buying the Bronze package to play CSS

I think you already know, but just to clear it up, anyone who buys via Steam (Bronze, Silver, or Gold) will get CS:S early. The 10% you estimated, I'm assuming, are the people who planned to buy retail but change their mind after they see everyone having a blast with CS:S, right?

Either way, it's genius on Valve's part. Last time there was a major "Retail vs Steam" thread posted, about 65-70% of the voters planned to buy via Steam. This should be a huge deal to Vivendi, because that means as soon Valve makes HL2 available for purchase on Steam (sometime this week) they (VU) immediately only have 30% of the HL2 fanbase left who want a retail copy.

And as mentioned before, once that 30% starts hearing how much fun CS:S is from friends and forum-goers, we're bound to see a large number (5% maybe? Possibly more over time?) of them buy over Steam just to have the Source engine to play with while we wait.

-UnmarkedOne

 

[hunter-killer25]

exactly, its almost like a chess game and valve is kicking ass. Check and Mate ^_^
vivendi is fighting agaisnt steam and valve has a trump card that allows them to sell halflife2 before its out. it truely is ingenious. go valve. DIE TAPWATER COMPANY!

 

[SMT]

sorry if there was a massive post on this before, but if logic has its way then this should be the way CS:S will make hl2 be released in 2 1/2 weeks or less.
Cause: CS:S is released
Effect: Massive amount of people order the bronze, silver, or gold pack to play CS:S

if vivendi waits more than 2 week after CSS's release, they'll probably lose at least 10% of their sales due to people buying the Bronze package to play CSS (and of course voucher holders already have the bronze pack) and they cant do shit about it except release the goddamn game. The long they hold it, the less money they'll make. Since Vivendi is a buisness.. money is good and letting people buy the game from steam without the boxed version's opposition would be a pretty goddamn stupid move. Therefore, theres actually a pretty good chance it will come out at the end of the month.

Or i could be missing something.... am i? can you play CSS for free until hl2 comes out? i dunno but if i'm right then... yay for october!! /rant off

Nah. Like it or not, most people who buy HL2 are going to be the people who haven't been following its development as closely as we have. They'll be the ones whistling and sidling through the aisle at Best Buy or EB when suddenly they see the box. Maybe they'll have read a review in PC Gamer this month, maybe they'll vaguely remember the first game (if, indeed, they played PC games when it was released), or maybe they'll just check out the box and buy the game on impulse.

Most people won't even know that there's an option to buy the game through Steam, or they'll distrust it simply because it is a new frontier. Most people won't know or care that they could get Counter-Strike: Source in advance by putting money down on the unreleased game. Those of us who are following Half-Life 2 closely and buying the game through Steam are still a comparatively small percentage of total purchases, and that's one thing Vivendi has on their side... for now.

Now, fast forward a few years to where almost every household has a broadband connection and digital distribution is a more widespread, proven, and thoroughly accepted business model, and things could be very different.

 

[gallon]

In sweden I think 2/3 of all the household have broadband. We are a bit nutty with techstuff here... its cold and we don't have anything better to do

 

[hunter-killer25]

yay sweden! america sucks interm of broadband.... at least until we have optical fully wired around the country (my town will have it in 6months or less)... 50MBps HELL YEA!!!!

 

[Demonmerc]

why does everyone forget that VUG is suing Valve for selling HL2 on steam?????

If VUG wins they get all the money Valve makes off HL2 over steam.

 

[SoNiCbOoM]

also tho

VUG might "get there own back" by pissin us off n not releasing hl2 for another 6 months

 

[hunter-killer25]

VUG have hardly even enough grounds in court to stand on, they wont win no chance in hell. They've done their fair share of deception as well and profit hoarding. if VUG wins, they might just win so money, winning steam IP and halflife/halflife 2 IP will be a hell of a challenge and require an army of lawyers

 

[Demonmerc]

the lawsuit is about Valve telling VUG that the steam release would be minor... not about IP. IP has nothing to do with it. I assume VUG is suing Valve to stop them from selling it over steam and/or recouping any lost profits from steam sales.

 

[63]

also tho

VUG might "get there own back" by pissin us off n not releasing hl2 for another 6 months

Yeah, they do that and every HL2 fan (pretty much the entire gaming community) will boycott anything with the name Vivendi on it.

 

[Mr. Redundant]

yeah Counter-strike players make up the majority of the online gaming community unfortunately.
fortunately in Valve's case, not so for Vivendi... regardless I doubt even if every single person on these boards, and most of the CS community purchased through steam.. it would dent Vivendi's profits.

 

[Cynical]

valve sued Sierra regarding unpaid loyalties or some s##t like that, so vivendi is just playing hard ball and counterd with a lawsuit of its own. technically vivendi has no right to stop valve from selling the game through steam since the spa they both signed gives valve blah blah blah.
what troubles me is that so far we've heard nothing concrete yet from vivendi. what on earth r they waiting for? 1, 2, 6 months i just wanna know damn it.


edit: Mr R
yes vivendi would still make profit, but the profit they don't make by pissing people off isn't little. we're talking millions

 

[Platinum]

well 2 things to remember

valve wants the game out just as much as we do ... the longer vivendi waits after teh cs:s release , the less money theyre gonna gain ... but you also have to remember that they have work to do still so no matter what they cant just make the game gold when cs:s comes out ... but i bet 2 weeks after cs:s is released it goes gold

edit: whoa 500 posts sweet

 

[Cynical]

well 2 things to remember

valve wants the game out just as much as we do ... the longer vivendi waits after teh cs:s release , the less money theyre gonna gain ... but you also have to remember that they have work to do still so no matter what they cant just make the game gold when cs:s comes out ... but i bet 2 weeks after cs:s is released it goes gold

edit: whoa 500 posts sweet

i made 60 posts whoa :naughty:
but seriously i hope ur right, even tho i dont think they have much to do before declaring the game gold, probably just finishing up the installer. after they do declare it gold then they will have alot to do (but i'm no publisher, so i should probably stfu).