Feath
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(Sorry for posting this in a new thread. If the site was up, I'd ask for it to be part of the articles.)
Half-Life 2 Delay Editorial: A Rebuttal
Everyone's favourite optimist, Fragmaster, has recently posted an editorial about why he believes Half Life 2 will be delayed. You can read this at http://www.planethalflife.com/features/articles/delayeditorial/
Fragmaster starts off by mentioning that the release date hasn't been official changed. This is certainly true unless you count "EB said it was late" as an official announcement. But, the question is, when does Fragmaster expect the game to be officially delayed? I'm writing this on the 9th of September, 3 weeks until the game is expected to be released. It's getting a bit late to announce a delay. Does Fragmaster expect them to announce the delay on the 29th of September, or does he believe that they are hiding the fact the game has been delayed?
He says, "We don't even think Valve knows for certain when the game is coming out." This sentence in itself is true, but his context isn't. He's implying that Valve are clueless about the date, which is untrue. The last statement from Valve was that they were pretty confident of the 30th of September release date. They expect to meet the date, but something drastic could come up. While this isn't "Knowing for certain" when the game is coming out, it's along the lines of "90% certain of the release date."
He continues, "I can't post any proof that the game is delayed, but then again, you can't post any proof the game isn't delayed outside of a few old quotes, speculation, and blind faith that Valve will live up to their so-called promise." While he is certainly right about having no proof that the game is delayed, we have enough proof that it isn't. The "Few old quotes" he refers to are barely two weeks old, and they were said by both Doug Lombardi and Greg Coomer. I think this counts as proof. I think "Innocent until proven guilty" fits here, with no reason to doubt what Valve have said before.
His remark, "Besides, he didn't say September 30th, 2003, so he can always say, "oh, I didn't say what year."", is easily countered. Lombardi said "The release date is unchanged". The release date was September 2003 last time. He attempts to dismiss Lombardi's quotes as just being marketing. This is a poor argument, because what interest would Valve have in misleading people about the release date if the game is actually delayed? It's not a good way to market the game at all.
Fragmaster also states that the major retailers have changed their dates because the game is actually delayed. The retailers had pretty much random dates before ECTS and some of them didn't change it back. The dates retailers have given have varied from August to Feburary. If the retailers knew the true release date then wouldn't they all agree with each other?
As for Multiplayer and the Collector's edition. I've just watched a video interview with Gabe Newell (which was recorded before E3) in which he says "We [Valve] don't want to reveal any details about multiplayer until we ship". If they were planning on not revealing multiplayer in July, why would they go back on that now? Also, isn't the Collector's Edition coming out some time after the games release date? Maybe that would explain why we don't have any details yet.
The reason we haven't seen any new videos or screenshots has been explained countless of times. Valve doesn't want us to play the game through screenshots or videos. They've said this many times.
As a closing statement, I'd just like to mention that Fragmaster bases his opinions about the game being delayed on what he thinks has been done of the game so far. He frequently says such things as "That leaves Valve only 40 days to..." and then lists a long list of things Valve need to do. But, Fragmaster doesn't know how far Valve are with Half-Life 2, his claims are baseless.
Half-Life 2 Delay Editorial: A Rebuttal
Everyone's favourite optimist, Fragmaster, has recently posted an editorial about why he believes Half Life 2 will be delayed. You can read this at http://www.planethalflife.com/features/articles/delayeditorial/
Fragmaster starts off by mentioning that the release date hasn't been official changed. This is certainly true unless you count "EB said it was late" as an official announcement. But, the question is, when does Fragmaster expect the game to be officially delayed? I'm writing this on the 9th of September, 3 weeks until the game is expected to be released. It's getting a bit late to announce a delay. Does Fragmaster expect them to announce the delay on the 29th of September, or does he believe that they are hiding the fact the game has been delayed?
He says, "We don't even think Valve knows for certain when the game is coming out." This sentence in itself is true, but his context isn't. He's implying that Valve are clueless about the date, which is untrue. The last statement from Valve was that they were pretty confident of the 30th of September release date. They expect to meet the date, but something drastic could come up. While this isn't "Knowing for certain" when the game is coming out, it's along the lines of "90% certain of the release date."
He continues, "I can't post any proof that the game is delayed, but then again, you can't post any proof the game isn't delayed outside of a few old quotes, speculation, and blind faith that Valve will live up to their so-called promise." While he is certainly right about having no proof that the game is delayed, we have enough proof that it isn't. The "Few old quotes" he refers to are barely two weeks old, and they were said by both Doug Lombardi and Greg Coomer. I think this counts as proof. I think "Innocent until proven guilty" fits here, with no reason to doubt what Valve have said before.
His remark, "Besides, he didn't say September 30th, 2003, so he can always say, "oh, I didn't say what year."", is easily countered. Lombardi said "The release date is unchanged". The release date was September 2003 last time. He attempts to dismiss Lombardi's quotes as just being marketing. This is a poor argument, because what interest would Valve have in misleading people about the release date if the game is actually delayed? It's not a good way to market the game at all.
Fragmaster also states that the major retailers have changed their dates because the game is actually delayed. The retailers had pretty much random dates before ECTS and some of them didn't change it back. The dates retailers have given have varied from August to Feburary. If the retailers knew the true release date then wouldn't they all agree with each other?
As for Multiplayer and the Collector's edition. I've just watched a video interview with Gabe Newell (which was recorded before E3) in which he says "We [Valve] don't want to reveal any details about multiplayer until we ship". If they were planning on not revealing multiplayer in July, why would they go back on that now? Also, isn't the Collector's Edition coming out some time after the games release date? Maybe that would explain why we don't have any details yet.
The reason we haven't seen any new videos or screenshots has been explained countless of times. Valve doesn't want us to play the game through screenshots or videos. They've said this many times.
As a closing statement, I'd just like to mention that Fragmaster bases his opinions about the game being delayed on what he thinks has been done of the game so far. He frequently says such things as "That leaves Valve only 40 days to..." and then lists a long list of things Valve need to do. But, Fragmaster doesn't know how far Valve are with Half-Life 2, his claims are baseless.
