For future reference, Valve

[Razak]

radical haha

guidelines=laws

They are used for the same purposes.

 

[Mr Neutron]

Originally posted by Razak
guidelines=laws

Um...laws are enforced by governments? So I'll assume you're right of center then? Reactionary, perhaps? I thought confusing 'everything one thought should be' with 'need for government enforcement' was supposed to be a leftist disease.

 

[Razak]

na just call me a moderate conservative

 

[iamlod]

I'm not pissed at VALVe for not releasing this game when they said they would, not really anyway. What I am pissed about is the fact that all of the focus on video cards and good computer specs to play the game got me to spend money on upgrading my machine. Now, when the game comes out, I would have spent more money to upgrade my computer than if I had waited. I'm not going to upgrade again, but I'm also not going to have the pleasure of knowing that this is the best my computer could be for this game.

 

[MadMechwarrior]

We have every right to feel cheated. Think about the people who preordered, they were told they would get the product on the 30th, 7 days before the said product is supposed to be on their desks it gets delayed 2 months. Im not pissed at valve for doing it, they prolly have a good reason and im not one to fret over a game not being released when I want it to. Valve owes us nothing the same way we owe them nothing. Its a mutual agreement, we get entertainment, they get food and a place to live. The fact that they didnt deliver on time is a bummer, whats worse is that they didnt tell us it would be delayed until the 23rd. Its just bad business and it certainly doesnt put a smile on customers faces. Mind you there is only so much you can do to make a date, they probably had a good reason, so in that sense im not pissed or anything, just wish they would tell us earlier.

 

[SuperFat]

Originally posted by Razak
Man some of you people are pathetic. Welcome to the real world. Nothing always works out the way you plan it. Can't always meet a deadline. Valve owes you nothing. They never promised the 30th, but only set a goal for themselves. I think unless you are part of the software business or part of a gaming company you have no room to talk, since you know nothing and would only be spitting out BS. They said it would be tight to make the 30th, and thats the reason i think they waited so long to tell us. Most of you do not know about how business works. Being disappointed about it is fine, but when you are angry and throwing a hissy fit like your going through PMS is just sad. Get a life.

Well that is your opinion, and other people's opinions are to think that it was a bad decision by valve, and are allowed to get angry. Chill out.

 

[John]

Its not an opinion; some people here really need a life.

and a girlfriend, at that.

 

[SuperFat]

Oh ok, well whatever, too lazy to care. Heheh

I don't know people have lives though, do you mean they need a life in the way which you see it?

 

[LUSITANO]

why did they have to wait so long to tell us.6 days, 6 ****ing days. and dont tell me to get a life cuz ur reading this shit 2.

Mr gabe, only f***** open ur mouth if u know when the game is being released. new years is also hollidays so i think this might taka a while.


Flammmmmmmme alll u want ****s

 

[JonTheCanuck]

Originally posted by TheOriginalEvil
To the guys that say we should be kissing their feet because they are making the game for us, and we will like it nomatter when it comes out:

Like I said without us Valve would not be in business... It's just repectful for a game company to tell us well before hand whether there is a delay or not... not a few days before. Valve left us in the Dark big time, and I do not respect them as much as I did before.

ditto to that, i dont respect valve nearly as much as i did before, that was uncalled for what they did.... who like my shiny new avatar ooOOOOOoooOOOoooo

 

[Mountain Man]

Whatever the reason for the delay, it's pretty safe to say that Valve has betrayed the trust of everyone who believed their "It'll be released September 30" bullsh*t.

Frankly, I can not think of a single conceivable reason why they'd hold this information back from us until the last minute.

 

[alco]

I'm so fucking tempted to post 'Valve doesn't owe you anything' in big bold font again.

 

[Mr.Reak]

Outcome still will be the same.

 

[Mr Neutron]

I should make it clear that I think Valve still has a chance to redeem itself on the 'lack of heads up' transgression by releasing within 4 weeks. 6 weeks (mid-November) would be painful but forgiveable. Anything beyond would make this late notice fiasco a real blight on their record. Not that this should be the only concern for Valve, if even the highest, but that's just the reality here.

 

[Ghoti]

Did anyone consider the possibility that Valve didn't know it would be delayed until very recently?

Yes, it sucks that it's been pushed back. Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I suprised? Not entirely.

Be that as it may, they announced the delay before the original release date. That's all they really have any sort of obligation to do. Pre-orders are exactly that: Orders placed ahead of time.

And what the [bleep] is it with some of you people, going on tirades on how you somehow feel "cheated"? Half-Life 2 hasn't been released for sale yet. Ergo, you have not purchased it. Thus, you can't possibly have been "cheated" out of anything.

Most of you probably have purchased the original Half-Life, some more recently than others. All that purchase entitles you to is Half-Life itself and any mods you choose to play.

Some of you, again, may have pre-ordered HL2, but all that does is (presumably) reserve you a copy at your store of choice once it is released.

 

[Typhon]

Ghoti, the last month or so of a game release is almost always the same. They have to finish the game, then it gets sent off to play testing. Playtesting lasts a few weeks (depending if they find any bugs) and then it goes Gold. After going gold, it takes a week (at the absolute radically freakish minimum) to 3 to release.

The only way they could not have known about it until yesterday was if, on the last day of playtesting (they were already pushing it if they were still playtesting) they found some massive amazingly horrible bug that meant some sort of overhaul.

Fact is, they probably knew or were almost sure at least a week ago if not more (which is very likely)

 

[shiv]

Originally posted by alco
I'm so fucking tempted to post 'Valve doesn't owe you anything' in big bold font again.

Well lets hope you dont run a business, cause there is a certain way you should treat your customers.

 

[.5c0ut-WHoR3.]

Originally posted by Ghoti
Did anyone consider the possibility that Valve didn't know it would be delayed until very recently?

How could you not know 1 month before the game is meant to be released?! taking another 2 months to fix or whatever.

 

[Sporky]

Yeah I think the biggest problem here is not that they haven't apologised (I don't really think it would help much) but some sort of communication outside of an email saying bluntly 'It's delayed' would be nice.

Even a statement that said 'We've hit a few serious bugs late in the playtesting process that have pushed it back' or similar would be very gratefully received. It's the ominous silence that most people find unsettling.

Also it's pretty shocking that a delay of that magnitude wouldn't have been known about before. Gabe had the perfect opportunity to stick some feelers out with spitcodfry, something like 'It's looking like we might slip' or something a week earlier. I feel, and I'm sure most do, that whilst this doesn't seriously impact any purchase I'm going to make it was mishandled pretty badly by Doug/Valve.

I shall arch my eyebrows accusingly at him..

 

[el Chi]

Originally posted by Mr Neutron
An apology is in order--albeit a very small one (they hardly murdered our families).

Listening to some of the people round here, you really would wonder, though...

Sure they've buggered us about, and they really REALLY should have announced this earlier, but it's still coming out and one can only hope that it'll be better than it would've been had it been released next tuesday.
It'd f*cking better be.

Who knows - could be Vivendi's fault. But if it is we'll NEVER hear about it.

 

[Mountain Man]

Originally posted by alco
I'm so fucking tempted to post 'Valve doesn't owe you anything' in big bold font again.

And I'm sick of people who think that supporting a company doesn't deserve some kind of compensation. Commercial business is a two way street. Customers support a business because they feel they're getting something in return (and that's usually more than just a product; good customer support is about far more than just selling the goods).

Valve has received some very solid and tangible support from their customers for the past six months, and now Valve turns around and flips us the bird. What, you really think the fans deserved that?

 

[Mountain Man]

Originally posted by Ghoti
Did anyone consider the possibility that Valve didn't know it would be delayed until very recently?

A few weeks delay? Certainly, that's entirely possible. A few months delay? No way in hell were they unaware of it until just recently. They should have known at least a month ago that they had four or five more months of work before the game would be ready, so I can only assume they were willfully lying to their fans when they said they were on track.

Will I still buy the game? Of course, and maybe in the end that's all Valve cares about, which doesn't say much for them as a company. But for what it's worth, I'll not make the mistake of taking them at their word any time soon.

 

[-JeZ-]

I'm starting to believe that the few months is just a placeholder to give NVIDA time to optimise their fcuked drivers. That would be the only excuseable reason for a 2 month delay. And in my mind the most likely. As for vivendi, well if they are fcuking with us then I recommend that we all buy it via steam to deny them their cut. I hate all the corporate bullsh*t.

 

[hilly]

Its only delayed because Gabe Newell is indeed the Iraqi Information Minister in a Jabba The Hutt costume.

 

[Sushi]

Originally posted by Sporky
Yeah I think the biggest problem here is not that they haven't apologised (I don't really think it would help much) but some sort of communication outside of an email saying bluntly 'It's delayed' would be nice.

Even a statement that said 'We've hit a few serious bugs late in the playtesting process that have pushed it back' or similar would be very gratefully received. It's the ominous silence that most people find unsettling.

Also it's pretty shocking that a delay of that magnitude wouldn't have been known about before. Gabe had the perfect opportunity to stick some feelers out with spitcodfry, something like 'It's looking like we might slip' or something a week earlier. I feel, and I'm sure most do, that whilst this doesn't seriously impact any purchase I'm going to make it was mishandled pretty badly by Doug/Valve.

I shall arch my eyebrows accusingly at him..

Very well put, I hate the people who still blindly follow Valve, eventhough they just made a very uncalled for announcement.

Here we have thousands of people around the world awaiting the greatest game ever known to man, and just 6 days to release, they push it back another 1 or 2 months. That is just a slap in the face to all the loyal fans who are following the game, and creating virtually all the hype around it. All Valve needed to do was make an announcement earlier and we the fans would have been a bit dissapointed, but we would at least understand.

But in this case, Valve has left us dangling since not only did they announce the delay seemingly out of nowhere, but they haven't said why. How hard is it for them to type "a major bug came up in late playtesting"?

Right now I'm still probably going to buy HL2, but if anything else bad happens, I'm canceling my pre order, since games like Halo PC and Call of Duty look mighty good (HL2 isn't the only fish in the pond).
*edit for sp*

 

[el Chi]

Originally posted by hilly
Its only delayed because Gabe Newell is indeed the Iraqi Information Minister in a Jabba The Hutt costume.

Personal attacks aren't cool and WILL get you banned.

 

[Jasco]

Originally posted by DaBinks
if you promise something then deliver

if you cant deliver dont promise

VALVE OFFICIALLY SUKCS BALLS

:cheers: to that

 

[Headwires]

heh gotta wait another 8 weeks :/

 

[Mountain Man]

To quote someone from another forum:

"Don't pimp if yer limp."

 

[hilly]

yea whatever el chi, they have gotta expect these personal attacks, due to the fact that they have handled this situation, so badly its untrue

 

[SuperFat]

I think is should be like this, Valve: "Hey HL2 is coming out soon!"
Within the next day: "HL2 hits stores!"

It'd be so much easier, and valve could take their time.

 

[Mr Neutron]

Originally posted by SuperFat
I think is should be like this, Valve: "Hey HL2 is coming out soon!"
Within the next day: "HL2 hits stores!"

It'd be so much easier, and valve could take their time.

Maybe. They should just lie to us and say December 10th (but not something devastatingly far off, like January) and then release it November 10th, or along those lines. Normally I'd say that they'd never release without the public pressure of a commitment, but it seems Valve doesn't really heed THAT much.:hmph:

 

[Detharin]

Vivendi is probably at fault here. From the begining they have been saying a holiday release and valve has been saying September 30. Follow my logic and see if this makes more sense.

Vivendi wants a holiday release because historically the unemployed gamers, usually highschool/middleschool kids, will be able to get the game as a gift.Otherwies they will either get it when they can, OR not get it at all because new thing X will come out closer to christmas. Its in Vivendis best interest to release during prime xmas shopping season.

Now imagine your valve, games done and ready for worldwide release on the 30th, but vivendi decides to say "nope we are waiting until christmas to release it". What begins is a battle of lawyers going over the contract, Corp Drones having meeting after meeting to find a way to resolve this. Now of course you cant put out a press release that says "the publisher who paid us a buttload of money wants to wait and the game is finished so its christmas or nothing". That would make Vivendi look bad.

So as this corporate bickerin goes back and forth the release date gets closer, Gabe is certain they will fold so he doesnt change the date, and then boom something happens. Some legal loophole is discovered and Vivendi gets there way. That would explain the suddenness, the silence since as they try and find a plausible excuse other than the publisher pulled legal and we messed up in the contract.

If they were in crunchtime and they needed some extra time to squash bugs they would say something like "we have to push back the date we forsee a (week, couple weeks, we arent sure but we will let you know). Not we are pushing it back until its sure to make the most money in the first week.

Make sense?

 

[spitcodfry]

Originally posted by Detharin
Vivendi is probably at fault here. From the begining they have been saying a holiday release and valve has been saying September 30. Follow my logic and see if this makes more sense.

Vivendi wants a holiday release because historically the unemployed gamers, usually highschool/middleschool kids, will be able to get the game as a gift.Otherwies they will either get it when they can, OR not get it at all because new thing X will come out closer to christmas. Its in Vivendis best interest to release during prime xmas shopping season.

Now imagine your valve, games done and ready for worldwide release on the 30th, but vivendi decides to say "nope we are waiting until christmas to release it". What begins is a battle of lawyers going over the contract, Corp Drones having meeting after meeting to find a way to resolve this. Now of course you cant put out a press release that says "the publisher who paid us a buttload of money wants to wait and the game is finished so its christmas or nothing". That would make Vivendi look bad.

So as this corporate bickerin goes back and forth the release date gets closer, Gabe is certain they will fold so he doesnt change the date, and then boom something happens. Some legal loophole is discovered and Vivendi gets there way. That would explain the suddenness, the silence since as they try and find a plausible excuse other than the publisher pulled legal and we messed up in the contract.

If they were in crunchtime and they needed some extra time to squash bugs they would say something like "we have to push back the date we forsee a (week, couple weeks, we arent sure but we will let you know). Not we are pushing it back until its sure to make the most money in the first week.

Make sense?

Perfect sense...but I think Steam was also a factor...I mean they only got 10,000 people online successfully for the first time the day I took the tour---a guy working on it told me so. I'm sure they have plenty of content servers...but they need to increase bandwidth and stability if they're planning on releasing a full game across it to people's hard drives.

 

[Homer]

I would say the blame almost certainly lies on valve. vivendi is NOT going to sit on a finished game to make it a holiday relese. they arent ea guys, they have some morals.