Fragmaster Leaves PHL, Thanks HL2.net(?)

[Kadayi]

I'd read his fairwell letter as a clear case of Sour grapes. He has some chips that he is cashing in with the content (but naturally avoids the facts), and hopes to stir up a few hornets nests with his comments. Because he hints at something doesn't necessarily make it so, it's just an attempt to stir the shit one last time. :dozey:

 

[Duracell]

Its a shame to see someone like him lose complete faith in VALVe. How ever he acted, he was still the editor of one of the largest Half-life series fan sites in the world, ever.

Its a shame to see him leave, especially like this.

I'd read his fairwell letter as a clear case of Sour grapes. He has some chips that he is cashing in with the content (but naturally avoids the facts), and hopes to stir up a few hornets nests with his comments. Because he hints at something doesn't necessarily make it so, it's just an attempt to stir the shit one last time. :dozey:

I don't think its like that at all, its just him. He has always been "agressive". I don't think he is trying to annoy or get the last say with this final post, if anything I think this was one last "sorry" post

 

[Edcrab]

Hmm. I must now humbly admit that the guy appears a lot less like an arsehole now that he's trying to clear things up.

Yes, this could be interpreted as a kamikaze assault on Valve and the significant fraction of the gaming world that disagreed with him, but at the same time I can't help feeling that, whatever his reasons, he was right to quit. It's not exactly a fan site if you hate your subject matter.

Strange that he made a mistake that bound him to silence, and it seems a bit naive to pass over Valve's actions without commenting on the situation behind their silence and behind their scenes, hearsay and speculation though it would be.
I hate to say it, but Fragmaster made a very poor decision deciding to report (and continue to do so) upon the Valve situation, when he had access to protected insider information, both for his sanity and that of the community, even if he wanted the fan base to know the truth. He did really come across as a total arsehat, with mannerisms in his news posts and an overall attitude not dissimilar to a generically misinformed llama ("yuah HL23 will sukc nad will cmoe out in 23007,. my freind whoi works at someplacce tlldl me sio"), hence why so many dismissed his claims when he couldn't post any substantial evidence.

The irony is that, apparently, he was right twice over.

Now let the conspiracy theorists run riot! IT’S WHAT I'M HERE FOR!

*readies his reactive combat armour*

Oh, and Doug Lombardi is an irredeemable bastard. That is all.

 

[Gergor]

In early April 2003, Half-Life 2 rumors started to leak out. Print magazines were given the exclusive on all Half-Life 2 information and online sites weren't allowed to post screenshots or previews until 5/8/03. I felt this was a pretty stupid thing to do -- forcing people to jump through hoops and hunt down low-quality, blurry magazine scans to get a glimpse of the sequel they've been waiting five years for -- but hey, that's just my opinion and I'm obviously biased about the viability of the print medium. Valve's doing essentially the same thing again this year; print mags saw HL2 awhile back and that information will start trickling out shortly.

I knew Half-Life 2 was going to be delayed, and instead of backing down and keeping my mouth shut, I kept (loudly) proclaiming that HL2 was going to miss 9/30 while other sites kept reporting the exact opposite

I don't really have a problem with that guy, but maybe the reason Valve chooses to send info to mags over websites is because whenever sensitive info (delays) gets out to the sites guys like Fragmaster decide to tell everyone about it. Valve had their reasons for the delay, and I can hardly believe that there is any way for Valve to appease everyone. No matter what they do, someone will bitch about it.

 

[Triggerhappy41]

Im just gonna take the flames and say that his farewell post was actually beautifully written. I can now understand why was so pessimistic, and why he was right so often.

I can also see that valve hasnt been the best to their community, but they havent been the worst either. I mean we do have a post with over 400 emails from them, am i wrong?

In my mind, valve still isnt the best at marketing and whatnot, Its their second game that theyre releasing and its one of the biggest things to happen in the gaming industry for years. There is a lot of pressure on them and they arent quite perfroming to spec. But i think we can all be rest assured that if they get enough time, they are going to release on hell of a game.

Seems a bit funny all this can be caused so we can see moving pixels of colour in a certain order at any given time. Oh well.
*sips beer*

good point. :E

 

[Duracell]

Hmm. I must now humbly admit that the guy appears a lot less like an arsehole now that he's trying to clear things up.

Yes, this could be interpreted as a kamikaze assault on Valve and the significant fraction of the gaming world that disagreed with him, but at the same time I can't help feeling that, whatever his reasons, he was right to quit. It's not exactly a fan site if you hate your subject matter.

Strange that he made a mistake that bound him to silence, and it seems a bit naive to pass over Valve's actions without commenting on the situation behind their silence and behind their scenes, hearsay and speculation though it would be.
I hate to say it, but Fragmaster made a very poor decision deciding to report (and continue to do so) upon the Valve situation, when he had access to protected insider information, both for his sanity and that of the community, even if he wanted the fan base to know the truth. He did really come across as a total arsehat, with mannerisms in his news posts and an overall attitude not dissimilar to a generically misinformed llama ("yuah HL23 will sukc nad will cmoe out in 23007,. my freind whoi works at someplacce tlldl me sio"), hence why so many dismissed his claims when he couldn't post any substantial evidence.

The irony is that, apparently, he was right twice over.

Now let the conspiracy theorists run riot! IT’S WHAT I'M HERE FOR!

*readies his reactive combat armour*

Oh, and Doug Lombardi is an irredeemable bastard. That is all.

Exactly

I really am happy he has ended it with a post like this, he has tried to clear everything up with his community.

 

[Spiffae]

All I can say is that I find this disturbing... It sounds like the problems with Half-Life 2 run deeper than we suspected, and I'm inclined to believe Fragmaster... He's never lied or been anything less than honest with me, and we've e-mailed back and forth a number of times. What he says does fit, and I can only hope that Valve will make the best of this.

This post of his has finally moved me into the "Valve should make a statement" camp. I'm having a hard time trusting this summer release all of a sudden.

 

[PainLord]

Look on the bright side. We still get exclusive stuff in the next month. And we still have our health :cheers:

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

I dont think I ever actually disliked fragmaster but I wasn't too fond sometimes. I mean I am sure he is fine really. Just some of the stuff he said seemed weird to me.


I mean PHL is a fansite surely.... yet on several occations he attacked valve.
Seems odd to me.....



Anyway, I think its a shame somewhat. Esspecially if it has anything to do with us.

 

[GorgeousOrifice]

Slightly off topic, but I don't really care about fragmaster or planethalflife. I don't really care about whatever little dramas he has in his life, because I have my own little dramas and, frankly, they're much more entertaining. I want the game, but I want it good. This means I have to wait. Valve has shown that they are good judges of quality and that they will not release a crap game. When they're ready to ship, I'll be ready to play it.

Back on topic:

A lot of people are going to freak over the "content has been cut from HL2" comment. I don't know if it's true or not; I have no reason to disbelieve him, especially since I now know he's seen things I haven't. I assume that it is true. We really shouldn't stress over it: in any creative work (game, movie, album, book) things are cut or reduced for all sorts of reasons. Valve has said that there were numerous things they wanted to do in HL1 that the tech just wasn't capable of doing. I bet many of those things will be in HL2, especially since they're building the tech specifically to do those kinds of things. Don't take this to mean that the game will only be five hours long on hard, or that City 17 just lost half its office buildings. It's part of the normal creative process.

 

[Lobster]

I suggest we cut everything here, put it in a folder, and mark it :

September-Gate

And move on

 

[Zapp$ter]

wow. what a difference a couple of hours makes. I just came back onto the forums now, and it really does feel like all of a sudden everyone is a lot less optimistic about the release dates. It was only a couple of hours ago I was reading threads where people were defending valve to the hilt with regards to their treatment of the community and stuff.

I think that's the thing that probably pissed me off the most with regards to the delay, the way the whole thing was handled.. People will make comparisons to the HL1 delay but the circumstances were totally different and the way valve handled them were totally different

 

[Moto]

Eh, I don't care for him anyway. He shows no confidence in HL2 releasing this year. He is so pessimistic.

 

[MapE]

Is he the one being pesimistic for saying things he know (or atlest have more facts to back it up then most hl fans) or are the rest just being naive ? ..

 

[Triggerhappy41]

A lot of people are going to freak over the "content has been cut from HL2" comment. I don't know if it's true or not; I have no reason to disbelieve him, especially since I now know he's seen things I haven't. I assume that it is true. We really shouldn't stress over it: in any creative work (game, movie, album, book) things are cut or reduced for all sorts of reasons. Valve has said that there were numerous things they wanted to do in HL1 that the tech just wasn't capable of doing. I bet many of those things will be in HL2, especially since they're building the tech specifically to do those kinds of things. Don't take this to mean that the game will only be five hours long on hard, or that City 17 just lost half its office buildings. It's part of the normal creative process.

Exactly. That is the kind of writing thats needed to keep the "OMG CUT CONTENT?!?!" people from freaking. gj

 

[Shuzer]

Eh, I don't care for him anyway. He shows no confidence in HL2 releasing this year. He is so pessimistic.

..did you read his farewell letter? He sounds pretty justified in the end. I do agree, however, just because they were shady and missed the first date doesn't necessarily make it the same for the second.

 

[Triggerhappy41]

i cant wait till the glorious day where they just cut all of this bullsh1t and release the game already. I know they wont release it until its a quality game, and i encourage and respect that, but all of this crap is like a oversized online soap opera.

OMG fragmaster is breaking up with valve? Who will he go out with next?

 

[Spiffae]

It depends on the reason for cutting content, and how important that content is. If the removed content was an extra side plot or something, a character who was never critical to the story, then fine. If it's something major, and while playing the game I notice a story hole or something that doesn't make sense, or even worse, a feature that was not included, then i don't think cutting content is ok.

If we're talking about reducing the number of monsters, that's one thing. If we're talking about removing a chapter from the game, that's another.

 

[Lobster]

Wanted: One E3 time jumping machine thingy, Will swap for 3 jelly babies and a half chewed pencil.

 

[Shuzer]

Wanted: One E3 time jumping machine thingy, Will swap for 3 jelly babies and a half chewed pencil.

What kind of pencil, #2?
Oh well, E3 is about 3 weeks away.. the magazine content is even sooner. We can wait :|

 

[Lobster]

Its a Pink "My best friends a Barbie" pencil with the rubber missing...

Indeed, lets try and hold off the suicidal tendancies for a few weeks :O

 

[blahblahblah]

A lot of people are going to freak over the "content has been cut from HL2" comment. I don't know if it's true or not; I have no reason to disbelieve him, especially since I now know he's seen things I haven't. I assume that it is true. We really shouldn't stress over it: in any creative work (game, movie, album, book) things are cut or reduced for all sorts of reasons. Valve has said that there were numerous things they wanted to do in HL1 that the tech just wasn't capable of doing. I bet many of those things will be in HL2, especially since they're building the tech specifically to do those kinds of things. Don't take this to mean that the game will only be five hours long on hard, or that City 17 just lost half its office buildings. It's part of the normal creative process.

*Enters Paranoia/Conspiracy Mode*

I think fragmaster is talking about features that were mentioned during the E3 demo not existing. If Valve axed certain features that late into the creation of HL2, you have to be worried. I understand decision changes, its a fact of life, but it shouldn't be late into the developement of the game (after all this game was supposed to be released Sep. 30)

I remember the first time I read about the videos, and saw the screenshots, I said to myself - this is not possible. You really have to wonder if they are in over their heads. Think about it logically, can HL2 really have great graphics, advanced AI, and complex physics. I don't think so. I really wonder where they are going to draw the line.

 

[Lobster]

I think he was refering to game content, not the engine :O

 

[Spiffae]

dear half-life 2,
once again, you have hurt my feelings. i know that you
mean well, but this is a destructive relationship.
love
spiffae

 

[Kadayi]

A lot of people are going to freak over the "content has been cut from HL2" comment. I don't know if it's true or not; I have no reason to disbelieve him, especially since I now know he's seen things I haven't. I assume that it is true. We really shouldn't stress over it: in any creative work (game, movie, album, book) things are cut or reduced for all sorts of reasons. Valve has said that there were numerous things they wanted to do in HL1 that the tech just wasn't capable of doing. I bet many of those things will be in HL2, especially since they're building the tech specifically to do those kinds of things. Don't take this to mean that the game will only be five hours long on hard, or that City 17 just lost half its office buildings. It's part of the normal creative process.

Well put dude, that's exactly how I would read it, you have an idea and when it comes down to it, you decide 'it's not working' you drop it. All games get trimmed, Frag is merely putting his 'take' on things. Naturally I doubt that's going to stop at least half a dozen threads emerging going 'OMG, VALVE are cutting HL² OMG, OMG, OMG!!' over the next few days, but that rather seemed the point of him saying it in his Letter.

 

[Shuzer]

dear half-life 2,
once again, you have hurt my feelings. i know that you
mean well, but this is a destructive relationship.
love
spiffae

*Shuzer gives Spiffae a hug and steals his wallet

 

[blahblahblah]

As far as I know these things specifically about HL2.

Ant Lions
City 17
Headcrabs/Zombies
G-man
Alex
Dr. Kliner
Barney

And thats about it. If they cut anything else, chances are it would have to involve the source engine somewhere down the line. :O

 

[Kadayi]

Think about it logically, can HL2 really have great graphics, advanced AI, and complex physics. I don't think so. I really wonder where they are going to draw the line.

So D³ and Stalker are vapourware also?

 

[blahblahblah]

So D³ and Stalker are vapourware also?

Doom 3 is promising graphics. Stalker is promising open enviornments/gameplay. HL2 is promising graphics, physics, and AI. Which one seems out of the ordinary? I never accused HL2 of vaporware. I just think they are extremely ambitious. Being ambitious is only bad if you bite off more than you can chew. :cheers:

 

[Shuzer]

Err.. STALKER is promising all the things HL2 is promising, and more :|
Doom 3 also has most of the same features.

 

[blahblahblah]

I haven't heard anything about Stalker's advanced AI or physics. Doom 3 is the same way. They may have AI and physics but they are not promising us the moon like Valve is. I just hope that Valve can deliver what they promise.

 

[Shuzer]

I haven't heard anything about Stalker's advanced AI or physics. Doom 3 is the same way. They may have AI and physics but they are not promising us the moon like Valve is. I just hope that Valve can deliver what they promise.

I haven't heard alot of Doom 3, then again, I'm not keeping tabs on it.
However, GSC is claiming SO much more than VALVe is for AI and world interaction in STALKER..

 

[blahblahblah]

Really? haven't heard that one about Stalker. :O

But, I do know that Doom 3 physics are supposed to be impressive in other ways which aren't readily visible. But they aren't promising what HL2 is.

 

[Lobster]

blahblahblah its not that difficult to believe, the physics system was already developed by Havok, the rendering is very nice but nothing impossible or amazingly beyond belief, and as for the AI, contextual based AI is very simple to do, but no one has really bothered to do it before..

Grunt arrives at door, Checks what state the doors in, Takes whatever action the door is scripted to do under that state, its a basic linking of previous ideas, but done in a very nice way, that side of things was quite simple for valve, the difficult bit is making all the maps etc, anyone who has worked on a mod here knows bugs in maps and weapons can take forever to solve, and getting things just right is an almost endless process.

 

[Shuzer]

Really? haven't heard that one about Stalker. :O

But, I do know that Doom 3 physics are supposed to be impressive in other ways which aren't readily visible. But they aren't promising what HL2 is.

GSC's going the "everything you do has an affect on the outcome of the game" route, and claiming that the NPCs live lives even if you're not around.. we'll see, though. They're putting alot on the table, be nice if they deliver as promised.

I really have no concern over VALVe lying, considering they're willing to do whatever it takes to make sure HL2 lives up to the hype.. besides, PCG UK already said in their "teaser" issue that the game lives up to the hype


Lobster: Keep in mind, although VALVe did license Havok 2, they completely revamped it.

 

[Kadayi]

But, I do know that Doom 3 physics are supposed to be impressive in other ways which aren't readily visible. But they aren't promising what HL2 is.

Tell that to Pseudonym_ he'll tell you D³ pants HL² in every department, apparently

 

[Shuzer]

Tell that to Pseudonym_ he'll tell you D³ pants HL² in every department, apparently

My sig is a tribute to him

Oh well, we'll see.. I really hope VALVe has a release date to give at E3, and alot of new media.. benchmark date too, hopefully. Or maybe, benchmark release at the show..

 

[blahblahblah]

\pretends to be devil's advocate.

Sure you may be able to do it. But everytime you add something, you create a more and more complex situation. What happens to frame rates when the game is calculate a complex scenario, while trying to have the AI figure out what the heck is going on, and perform whiz-bang graphics? Somethings gotta give, I am afraid its going to be my computer.

Lobster - do you mean "resonance phase cascades" cause I don't know what "resinance phase cascades" are (in your sig).

 

[Lobster]

Lobster: Keep in mind, although VALVe did license Havok 2, they completely revamped it.

I know im just saying, although the games looking really really damn sweet, the features are not impossible like he made out.

Anyway yes, The PR may be in tatters but the games quality is all that matters at the end of it all, lets just see what the magazines have to say in ... 9 days.

 

[Lobster]

LOL , my bad, one thing i know for sure is my spelling and grammer suck beyond belief.