I'm staggered....

iamaelephant, you tend to bitch a lot on these forums. ;] Anyways, can't really put any of the blame on Valve. They finally found a way to prevent pre-release piracy, but then the retailers start selling a game that can't be played yet. Figures... You can't have it all. =/ Ah well, just a few more days and these disapointed buyers will be satisfied.
 
You cant say its "out on the shelves" because 0.01% of the shops decided to break the date. Whats the point of a worldwide release date if Steam customers get it days before 99.9% of retail customers.
 
UKchaos2 said:
You cant say its "out on the shelves" because 0.01% of the shops decided to break the date.
Click to expand...

All 650 Best Buy stores in USA are now selling the game if they have it, apparently.
 
Yep, it's kind of a strange situation, but you'll better get used to it. I'm guessing that a lot more companies will adopt systems like Steam trying to keep piracy in check.
 
So we let Best Buy decide the release date FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD?
 
jaguar_987 said:
This internet activaton thing is bollocks, causes more hassle than good.
Click to expand...

Hassle? Where, show me? Please, I want to see even one incident where somebody that has got hold of HL2 didn't know the actual release date. All the people that have got a hold of the game early knew the situation and were not really suprised to see that they can't yet play. There is no real problem here, if the "average" player that does't know about the unlocking date gets a hold of the game Steam will tell him that it will be activated on the 16th. Then the player will call the retailer and ask what is that about, they will explain that they can't acutally play it yet. The customer will get mad, not to Valve, but to the retailer for not telling this when he bought it.

Only ones worrying about this stuff is ppl that now this problem excist, normal customer should know it too if the retailer wants to keep his customers happy.

Forget this, nobody will remember this thread even excisted after the 16th.
 
There is another thread on the forum about this and my opinion is this

It should be explicit on the box that you can only play on the 16th
i dont care whos fault it is shop/vivendi or valve.
 
look... there are LESS THAN 3 DAYS LEFT. quit wining, and go get ome fresh air. NO ONE can play it until the 16th, so who cares if people are buying it retail.
 
iamaelephant said:
All 650 Best Buy stores in USA are now selling the game if they have it, apparently.
Click to expand...

Have you confirmed that, or are you just going off a random post on the steampowered forums?

Regardless, it's nothing to do with Valve. Activation was set for the 16th. Release date was set at the 16th. This has been known for ages. Valve never stated that an early sale would lead to mass unlocking.
Vivendi control the unlock date, not Valve.

You can't say that Valve should have foreseen this - why should they? Retailers have a specific date to sell the game on. That's the whole point of a worldwide release - everyone gets it at the same time.

You really seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel in your attempts to find something negative to say about Valve.
 
iamaelephant said:
I'm not "slating" Valve you moron. I understand the situation that Valve and VUG are in, but as I said, why should they punish the customer because of it?

And would people stop making personal attacks against me and actually respond to my posts from now on? It's getting old....
Click to expand...

Well what about punishing the customers that don't get it before the 16th?

I know i'd be extremely pissed off if Valve unlocked it before the 16th.
 
Whot if the would activate it? Then millions of people that have not bought it on Steam nor live any near one of the illegal stores wouldn't be able to play it until the 16th. And there are much more of those people than there are of the ones you described.
 
It should say on the box about the 16th so people knew and not get home and complain about it
 
UKchaos2 said:
So we let Best Buy decide the release date FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD?
Click to expand...
Uhm... entire world..? do you mean Mexico and Canada... uhm... wait!.. are you suggesting?!!?... there are other contries out there? :O
 
Its about time a company took action to enforce a release date. For years shops have been cheating over each other by releasing a game early and risking the fines to make a quick buck.

On top of that Viv and Valve are in court over the distribution of Half Life 2 - to allow either Steam or the CD version to unlock before the release date would just cause a headache in court for both companies.
 
azz0r said:
Its about time a company took action to enforce a release date. For years shops have been cheating over each other by releasing a game early and risking the fines to make a quick buck.

On top of that Viv and Valve are in court over the distribution of Half Life 2 - to allow either Steam or the CD version to unlock before the release date would just cause a headache in court for both companies.
Click to expand...

Thats a good point but i dont think thats the point of the activation.
VAlve wants to prove they they own their product all the way from start to finish.

But i repeat my thought the activation date should be explicit on the box because it was bound to happen and buyers should have been warned.
 
Then the retailers should have warned the buyers. They knew damn well they were selling early. They also knew about the activation date. They should have told each customer that bought it that they wouldn't be able to play it until the 16th.

The retailers are at fault.

Valve is not at fault.
 
Tropico said:
Thats a good point but i dont think thats the point of the activation.
VAlve wants to prove they they own their product all the way from start to finish.

But i repeat my thought the activation date should be explicit on the box because it was bound to happen and buyers should have been warned.
Click to expand...

The box shouldnt even be visible until the 16th, therefor theres no need for a warning.
 
Best Buy okays release

I don't know if this was posted earlier...but Best Buy just okayed the Mass release of HL2....I know..you can but it any best buy right now...
 
i hope the dont unlock it early, I like seeing all the whining.
 
elephant: read the inquirer article. it makes perfect sense..
 
Does anybody have a retail copy of the game does it say anything about an online activation on it?
 
stop being a wining bitch, the steamdudes knew they werent getting hl2 emediatly, and they had to wait alot longer, its only, what 3/2 day's.

blahblahblah, steam this steam that boohoohoo, no excuse for being a wining bitch..
 
iamaelephant said:
I can't believe Valve's audacity. The game is out on shelves, people are paying damn good money for it, yet they aren't allowed to play it. I don't know what to say - I honestly can't believe Valve is letting this happen. This is not a "bitch at Valve" thread, because I know it's not Valve's fault that retailers have let the game out early, but I honestly can't believe they would do this to their fans (the people who put all that food on Gabe's table).

I'm not talking about the sort of fans that spend alot of time on this forum. I'm talking about the average gamer, the guy who buys maybe the occassional gaming magazine, but has no interest in closely following the development of a game. This is the guy who makes up the vast majority of game sales. He has no idea what the "real" release date is, doesn't have a clue about this whole fiasco. He rocks up to a local department store and sees Half Life 2 on the shelves, decides to pick it up and have a go. Do you remember last time you bought a game, installed it, and got told "Coming soon... you can play this game in a few days".

Personally I'm disgusted with the whole situation. I'm not in this for my own selfish wants - I would be happy if Valve unlocked retail copies now and Steam bought copies on the 16th - but I don't think this is any way to treat your customers.
Click to expand...

Maybe people could stop being bitches and start realising the sacrifices VALVe makes for us rejects. Wait 2 days, goddamnit it'll be here soon.
 
Right now, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe VU hasn't given the old wink to these stores to sell it early. This would accomplish a couple things. People who are unfamiliar with Steam or just don't want to buy online would buy copies, thereby taking profits away from Valve. But most importantly it makes Valve and Steam look really bad. VU gets to say, hey it's not our fault you have the game in hand and can't play it, blame Steam. If it was a regular game that was sold a bit early you'd be able to play it now.
 
I know it's a bad situation, but really, all you can do is blame Valve. If it wan not for thier original lawsuit, we wouldn't have the current court order preventing release before the date set by vivendi.

I agree with iamelephant...last night i went to my local bestbuy, and there were about 40 copies of HL2 on the shelf. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Becasue i knew that the game would not be unlocked, i didn't bother to pick up a copy...I was actually there looking for Bloodlines...but it was not on the shelf. Anyway, i watched 2 people pick up thier copies. I felt obligated to tell them "You might not want to buy that just yet," I said...dude was like "Why the hell not..I've been waiting for years!" So i told him that the day before copies were sold and that they would not be able to play until tuesday...dude simply said "I waited years for this game...i can wait a few days more," and he put the game down. LoL. Valve have made a small mistake...but in the end, i don't think that it will affect sales. Annoying as crap, nevermind that the box for the videocard i bought said "THE card for Half-Life2", and then the current Alienware ad comes out...sheesh...someone screwed me over!
 
cadaveca said:
I agree with iamelephant...last night i went to my local bestbuy, and there were about 40 copies of HL2 on the shelf. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Becasue i knew that the game would not be unlocked, i didn't bother to pick up a copy...I was actually there looking for Bloodlines...but it was not on the shelf. Anyway, i watched 2 people pick up thier copies. I felt obligated to tell them "You might not want to buy that just yet," I said...dude was like "Why the hell not..I've been waiting for years!"
Click to expand...

I don't quite understand how he could be waiting for years and not know the date it comes out.. hmmm are you iamelephant?
I also can't understand how a HL2 fan could see the game and not buy it.. strange goings on :cool:
 
dude was about 30...almost as old as me. Not all of us that have families and jobs have time to check this stuff out...i only know becasue i belong to a overclocking forum, and bought a 9800XT last year, and got a coupon for HL2. I actually thought the game was out when i bought the card.

I am not iamelephant..i'm sure he'd hate the comparison. I'm not that shallow.
 
sry for suggesting you were him.. i just figured by now most fans would be hip on the goings on.. i'm 31 but fortunately have the time to investigate.

anyway, we're all going to forget about the troubles here in a few days!
 
i am surprised that you didn't buy it when it was right there though.. then you could tell us what's on the box.. (can anyone?)
 
polypod said:
sry for suggesting you were him.. i just figured by now most fans would be hip on the goings on.. i'm 31 but fortunately have the time to investigate.

anyway, we're all going to forget about the troubles here in a few days!
Click to expand...


Yes, we will....but i have to open my kiosk in the mall on the 15th...not gonna be alot of time to play once that happens. Thankfully i make the schedules! :thumbs:


the pictures posted yesterday have already shown what was in the box...so i held back. I have 3 pc's and plan on getting a CE and a reg edition for the other 2 machines...not really excited about it tho.
 
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