Half-Life 2 Delay Editorial: A Rebuttal

[Apos]

Fragmaster is lying.

A few weeks ago, I sent Fragmaster an email asking him what information he had that had him so convinced that HL2 was delayed. His response, as well as other things he was saying at the time, strongly suggested that there WAS a reason, but he couldn't say what it was.

Now he's claiming that he has no secret information: that the delay is plainly obvious.

In short, he's full of it. Either he lied to me then, or he's lying now.

 

[Feath]

Re: Fragmaster is lying.

Originally posted by Apos
A few weeks ago, I sent Fragmaster an email asking him what information he had that had him so convinced that HL2 was delayed. His response, as well as other things he was saying at the time, strongly suggested that there WAS a reason, but he couldn't say what it was.

Now he's claiming that he has no secret information: that the delay is plainly obvious.

In short, he's full of it. Either he lied to me then, or he's lying now.

The only place where he mentions having special information is this thread (http://www.forumplanet.com/planethalflife/topic.asp?fid=2348&tid=1146985&p=1)

Me: I just don't want to lie to people and lead them to believe something that I have very good reason to believe isn't true. It's been very difficult reporting on this, since I can't really say...

But after people asked him about it, his reply was to talk about how Valve always delay their games. (http://www.forumplanet.com/planethalflife/topic.asp?fid=2348&tid=1146985&p=2)

But he also mentions this:

P.S. What kind of people need to know when a game is coming out well in advance? Think about who got the first HL2 previews.

Is he implying that some people at Vivendi have told him that it's delayed?

 

[Apos]

He also implied to me that he had special information. That's why I'm so bothered: regardless of what he said publically.

 

[Feath]

Originally posted by Apos
He also implied to me that he had special information. That's why I'm so bothered: regardless of what he said publically.

But then again, why would Valve lie about the release date at ECTS (a while after Fragmaster got his special information)?

Wouldn't coming out and just saying it was delayed be far, far better than lying about it and announcing a delay 2 weeks before the game is meant to be released?

Seriously, if there was some special information at the end of July about the delay, wouldn't it be out of date by now? Particularly since Valve have confirmed that they are still aiming for 30th of September.

 

[Kyle2]

Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass. Fragmaster can kiss my ass.


Any questions?

 

[Goombatommy]

Well, maybe theirs something Vivendi knows, that Valve doesnt. As in Valve will find out they cannot release it due to certain circumstances from Vivendi last minute.

 

[Guest]

This just in!!! FRAGMASTER IS AN IDIOT!! Read his article. He is a terrible journalist and his blows his reputation and any credibility that he has by contradicting himself many times during the article. He's jsut some dork who wants to stir up controversy. Oh and Dscowboy or whatever you name is, get off Fragmaster's balls. You just repeat him all the time. POINT BLANK, FRAGMASTER IS A RETARD!!!

 

[Goombatommy]

Yea, I agree with you, Fragmaster is a little on the ghey side.

 

[spitcodfry]

Originally posted by Goombatommy
Well, maybe theirs something Vivendi knows, that Valve doesnt. As in Valve will find out they cannot release it due to certain circumstances from Vivendi last minute.

If Vivendi did such a thing without informing Valve about it toot sweet then Valve would rip Vivendi a new asshole.

 

[Kyle2]

LOL Fragmaster reminds me of France.

Fragmaster- "YOU WILL NOT RELEASE HL2!"
Valve- "You guys hear something?"
Fragmaster- "WE HAVE THE PUBLIC ON OUR SIDE NAAA !!!"
Valve- "What the hell is this jurisdiction crap? Screw it release HL2 anyways"
Fragmaster- "WE ARE RIGHT!!!"
Valve- "yeah yeah yeah shut the f*ck up already"

 

[RhapSidious]

Originally posted by Goombatommy
Yea, I agree with you, Fragmaster is a little on the ghey side.

Agreed.

Good job on your rebuttal Feath. It's obvious to me that Fragfag is full of sh*t, and is just trying not to look stupid after all the propaganda he's been pumping.

Of course thats just my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

[Wesisapie]

Hahaha fragmaster is hilarious. Watch Doom House 2000 if you don't think so.

He just said some stuff, who cares if he's wrong or right, and who cares how he's acting about it. It's time you thought about him as a comedian rather than a serious journalist.

I honestly doubt he cares what people think about him.

 

[Kyle2]

He's acting childish if anything. Watch when the game is released I bet he won't even admit defeat.

 

[Wesisapie]

and who cares? i think it's pretty funny the way it has all you guys boiling your blood over it.

 

[Kyle2]

it's the fact that we've been so loyal to him and now he's being an ass about hl2.

 

[Agent4054]

Originally posted by Deadline
Man, Fragmaster is such a freaking f*g. Sure hes sorta funny, but hell, have you seen him? You should watch his video called Doom House... omg you will laugh ur ass off at him. http://www.somethingawful.com/download.php?file=movies/sa/doom house 2000.wmv

He is the "cop"...ugh

Dude, those guys musta been stoned when they made that. They act like they are. That, or they are just generally f**ked up to begin with.

 

[Wesisapie]

Nah not stoned... just funny

 

[kinggi]

the guy that posted his "evidence" that hl2 will be delayed also said somthing about doing something crazy if he was wrong ( as a bet kinda) anyone remember? maybe we can get that on video.

 

[Kyle2]

Originally posted by kinggi
the guy that posted his "evidence" that hl2 will be delayed also said somthing about doing something crazy if he was wrong ( as a bet kinda) anyone remember? maybe we can get that on video.

that was fragmaster and everyone is making a huge deal about it and he's gay

 

[Gunner]

That Doom house video is really awful.

 

[Wesisapie]

you could even say it was "something awful" HAHAHA not funny.

 

[Gunner]

Hehe, I didn't notice that; anyway I thought a few things were funny like changing details (wearing a cap, then shades in the next shot, etc..) but they should'nt have dragged it along so much, it should've stayed short. : )

 

[JavaGuy]

I didn't read the whole rebuttal, but then again, I think Fragmaster is an idiot, so there's no need for anyone to convince me that his editorial was anything more than a steaming pile shit. Simply put, he opened his mouth awhile back about the release date, and he's using Valve's recent silence (common during a "crunch-mode") as an opportunity to make a last ditch effort to reinforce his opinion.

If anyone actually thinks his arguement is the least bit credible, please remind yourself that one of his points was that "retailers say it's not 9/30". If that's not classic n00b-ism, I don't know what is.

Also, these "few old quotes" that he was yammering about are actually only a few weeks old. I guess if it wasn't said YESTERDAY, then Fragmaster just dismisses it as old news. Basically, unless Gabe emails Fragmaster every day with a status update, then Valve MUST be lying! B@D MARK3t3rZ!!!1

Likewise, the game was just announce approx. 4 months ago, yet he says their marketing and PR sucks. Are you kidding me? How long is the "Info From Valve" thread?? How quickly do they respond to consumer email? Besides, how has their marketing been "misleading"? It would be nice if Fragmaster would state PRECISELY what's been misleading.

This is all just a function of Fragmaster not knowing what's going on behind closed doors, and then wildly speculating that Valve are all in this huge conspiracy to kill us with marketing schemes.

He's an idiot, and that's all there is to skim off from his "editorial".

 

[EclipseRS]

Release Date

This is where a lot of people get confused, on release dates. When games or modifications set a release date it’s because they have a sufficient amount of work done and think they will be able to make the date if no major problems come up and if they do a lot of people act like it’s the end of the world, you’ll just have to wait a little bit longer. In the case of valve, they said it would hit store shelves in September, but a lot of people are spreading rumors, no one has officially made a press appearance announcing HL2, here is where they get most of you, you see all this drama going around, look around, see any new faces on HL2 sites, forum goers, etc, they are all coming to see what’s up with HL2, in my opinion, its just a publicity stunt, some modifications have done it in the past to get the hype up and then they release like two or three days after the date.

There’s one flaw to this plan though, they have other shoot-em-up games coming out this year, such as Halo 2, etc. Now they are faced with HAVING to release within a certain window, most are dedicated HL2 fans, but some are not, and that’s the group that they are worried about, the people who don’t, if someone goes out (12 year old for example with 40$) and buys Halo 2 for 40$, then HL2 comes out and he wishes he had that 40$ because now he cant buy HL2, bad choice, or bad timing?

The moral of the story is don’t get excited when release dates are set, only the extremely reliable are to be considered seriously, most, if not all, never make the release dates.

-Eclipse

 

[FluxCap]

I guess I am in the minority because I think Fragmaster is right. I hope I eat my words however when the gold announcement is made in under a week.....we hope.

 

[Mountain Man]

Fragmaster: "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..."

He seems genuinely ignorant of the fact that the burden of proof lies with him to validate his statements, not with us to invalidate them.

 

[EclipseRS]

Fragmaster will disappear when HL2 makes the date, if it doesn’t; he’s going to run around going “told you so”. It’s kind of like what your little brother did when you were young.

-Eclipse

 

[Mountain Man]

Re: Re: Half-Life 2 Delay Editorial: A Rebuttal

Originally posted by dscowboy
I agree that the retailers clearly do not know the actual, specific release date. But there is something else going on here: retailers are getting information from Vivendi that makes them believe HL2 will not make Sept 30th.

It could be nothing more than the simple fact that a high profile triple-A title hitting its announced release date is largely unprecedented and that despite Valve's assurances, Vivendi is skeptical.

 

[Feath]

Originally posted by FluxCap
I guess I am in the minority because I think Fragmaster is right. I hope I eat my words however when the gold announcement is made in under a week.....we hope.

The only way you'd agree with Fragmaster is if you agreed with him before the editorial. Nothing in the editorial would convince anyone that Half Life 2 is delayed.

I wrote this rebuttal because his arguments are very flawed. He says himself that it's very little on the facts, but it's quite heavy on the made up stuff as well.

Even if there was no proof that the game is not delayed (Like Fragmaster says), delays aren't usually kept totally secret. A delay release shouldn't have to be guessed. If it was delayed, Valve would've said at ECTS.

 

[JavaGuy]

Originally posted by Mountain Man
He seems genuinely ignorant of the fact that the burden of proof lies with him to validate his statements, not with us to invalidate them.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Seriously, this is just Fragmaster

a) trying desperately to draw attention to himself
b) trying desperately to draw attention to PHL, especially considering that it appears that HalfLife2.net has become "the source" of HL2 information
c) trying desperately to justify his earlier remarks about HL2 when it was first announced
d) all of the above

What really gets me is how he attacks Doug Lombardi and his "marketing tactics" in addition to Valve's overall PR. What in the world has Doug done wrong? They haven't been tricky or misleading in HL2's presentation OR marketing (which is why Fragmaster's post is, admittedly, VERY short on actual FACT).

All I know is that Valve, in a very disciplined manner, waited to announce HL2 until the light at the end of the tunnel could be seen, and since then, have been very cautious about keeping the game as a whole shrouded in a level of secrecy - not because it's not finished (they've been VERY open regarding the technical details of both the game and the engine), but rather because they want it to be a great experience when we actually play the game.

I know Fragmaster stated that it was just an editorial, but even editorials need to be grounded in SOME measureable facts, or people will just laugh at you and flame your ass... just like we're seeing now.

And he deserves it. Needlessly (and without any merit whatsoever) bashing Valve (sorry to sound like a fanboy, but as a developer, I have the utmost respect for companies like Valve that can take on MASSIVE projects like this and see them through to an excellent completion) in the final hour of development. It's really pretty lame, and only confirms my previous notions of Fragmaster's true identity: Reverend Al Sharpton.

 

[EclipseRS]

I don’t support phl anymore simply because they don’t post hardly anyone’s news.

-Eclipse

 

[Xrenity]

what a dork...
he says we haven't got any new info because it's not gonna make 30 september... Well, maybe it's because Valve wants to keep things secret!

It's just a weird guy....

 

[Mountain Man]

Originally posted by Xrenity
what a dork...
he says we haven't got any new info because it's not gonna make 30 september... Well, maybe it's because Valve wants to keep things secret!

There's no maybe about it. Gabe Newall has specificially said this is the case. They want the gamer to discover all the cool things for themselves, not in magazine previews.

 

[Deadline]

Originally posted by Mountain Man
There's no maybe about it. Gabe Newall has specificially said this is the case. They want the gamer to discover all the cool things for themselves, not in magazine previews.

Damn I cant wait!

 

[JavaGuy]

Originally posted by Mountain Man
There's no maybe about it. Gabe Newall has specificially said this is the case. They want the gamer to discover all the cool things for themselves, not in magazine previews.

Maybe that's Fragmaster's problem - he has his panties all in a wad because Valve won't give GSI a preview... so he gets all disgruntled and just tells himself "if they were actually close to release, they'd give us a preview, but since they're being so secretive about it, they're just being bad bad men and not playing fair".

In fact, now that I think about it, that's probably far closer to reality than many of us may initially think.

 

[Mountain Man]

I still have a hunch that it's just a publicity stunt intended to put PHL back in the spot light after getting its thunder stolen by HalfLife2.net. Controversy creates its own publicity. Unfortunately, Fagmaster (not a typo) is a little too good at playing the arrogant S.O.B. and instead of driving people to the site, it's actually driving them away.

 

[Be-vishead]

yeah is is kinda anal that he keeps saying that hl2 is delayed. Think about this he said that if hl2 makes it out on sept 30th he was gonna dress like gordan freeman and pass out free copies of half life 2 so of course he's gonna be against the release date.