More rumours debunked

[Munro]

Recently there has been a rumour floating around the internet suggesting that Valve will be submitting the final version of Half-Life 2 to Vivendi in the coming weeks for publication, and that Vivendi hope to have Half-Life 2 on the store shelves this fall. [br]This has been published on a number of mainstream news sites but is just pure speculation. Just to reiterate we’ve gone straight to the source and spoken to Vivendi and Valve Software about this again for the real information. [br]Vivendi wish to state that:[br]

“We will not be giving a ship date for Half-Life 2 until we get a gold master from Valve. When that happens we'll be able to tell the world when we're going to ship the game. Until then, we are not going to give a date or comment on rumours or speculation.”

Valve also remains adamant that Half-Life 2 will be released this summer.

 

[Feath]

Hooray for Competent news reporting.

 

[Apos]

Hmm, might be better to say "has been published on a number of mainstream news sites but for the moment remains just speculation." Vivendi didn't confirm it, but they didn't deny it either. And it doesn't really clear up what the news sites like CNN were basing their info on: it could have been "unofficial" sources from Vivendi that Vivendi doesn't want to yet publically acknowledge in case the game (for whatever reason) is unexpectedly delayed again and they are left looking like they made broken promises.

In addition, Coomer posted in these forums about how they are still planning on finishing up the game by the end of summer. babyhcrb's emails say they will release by summer. But both statements could be reconcilled if the game was going to be released sometime early or mid September: some consider that still summer, some consider that fall. If this is the case, EVERY statement we've heard out of Valve and Vivendi (fall & summer) could technically be true.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

Apos:

I thought it was astoundingly clear - Vivendi aren't going to set a date until HL2 is Gold. They're not sitting on it, as has been rumoured.

 

[G-Dub]

thats what i like about this site... no bs

 

[Varsity]

Wait, people thought for a moment that stuff was true?

 

[Tarkus]

this is starting to get tiresome.. all this is useless, in hl2.net it is better than known not to believe anything related to this...except valve, and even they can be misleading... but i guess some rumours are always good, at least they keep us busy..

 

[SidewinderX]

but i guess some rumours are always good, at least they keep us busy..

heh, so true. Although it's be good if a certian game was released soon...

 

[Apos]

I thought it was astoundingly clear - Vivendi aren't going to set a date until HL2 is Gold.

I agree that's clear (and pretty obvious: they CAN'T set a release date until it goes gold).

They're not sitting on it, as has been rumoured.

I highly doubt this too, but the news post above doesn't make it clear that that is the specific allegation being rebuked. Of course, Vivendi's statement also doesn't confirm or deny it (and they apparently sat on CS:CZ for some reason). I can't see why Valve would LET Vivendi just sit on a game they've been so eager to get out to fans. Valve has the ultimate power here: they own the game (probably moreso than CS:CZ even).

 

[PowerLlama]

thnx for puttin this on the front page munro =)

 

[Rupertvdb]

amen.... The Gold go ahead can only come from Valve right? So we shall more than likely know the second that occurs so let us continue waiting, i'm getting very xen.

 

[Apos]

Maybe

Recently there has been a rumour floating around the internet suggesting that Valve will be submitting the final version of Half-Life 2 to Vivendi in the coming weeks for publication, and that Vivendi hope to have Half-Life 2 on the store shelves this fall.

Should use a "but" instead of an "and" and then a phrase about how this implies that Vivendi will be sitting on the finished game.

 

[G-Dub]

amen.... The Gold go ahead can only come from Valve right? So we shall more than likely know the second that occurs so let us continue waiting, i'm getting very xen.

basically yeah

 

[Apos]

First, they usually send "release candidates" back and forth, which Vivendi either approves or denies after doing their own testing. However, since Valve owns the game and is even distributing it themselves over Steam, I'm not clear on whether they really need Vivendi's approval. Probably do, just to keep things the same for everybody, but it will probably be mostly a formality in this case, because Valve will do all it's own testing.

 

[63]

Once again HL2.net saves the day!

 

[Zerox]

Sounds great!

 

[ACLeroK212]

apos, i think it's people like you that are the source for these kind of rumors in the first place.

why can't you just take their words for what it's literally worth and be content?

why must every statement have some deep hidden meaning behind it?

it's not like it's freakin secret code or anything

 

[Apos]

apos, i think it's people like you that are the source for these kind of rumors in the first place.

Lol.

why can't you just take their words for what it's literally worth and be content?

I'm just pointing out what Vivendi actually said, and how that squares up as far as debunking rumors. I don't want any cases to be overstated, and I think clarity is the enemy of rumors.

 

[ACLeroK212]

and i didn't mean you are a DIRECT source of rumours.

just saying all this unnecessary speculation does nothing but confuse people and fuel rumours.

for example, the rumours concerning this thread. they've obviously been debunked (as the title says), yet you still feel the need to dig deeper and try to make a case out of them.

i agree that clarity is the enemy of rumors but i don't see how your clarifying anything. how does debating the use of the word "and" instead of the word "but" in a statement clarify the overall message? these people develop games, they're not english majors (for the most part). i think even more important than clarity, when concerning the elimination of rumors, is simplicity. how can your head not have exploded by now from all this over-analysis? :rolling:

 

[Chris D]

Lol.



I'm just pointing out what Vivendi actually said, and how that squares up as far as debunking rumors. I don't want any cases to be overstated, and I think clarity is the enemy of rumors.

As far as I'm concerned if Vivendi are that adamant about the specifics of Half-Life 2 being kept quiet then there is no way whatsoever that they told CNN etc and then confirmed with HLSource that the game is gold in a few weeks and will be out in Fall.

 

[Apos]

just saying all this unnecessary speculation does nothing but confuse people and fuel rumours.

Actually, my intention is to REDUCE the amount of speculation by making sure we don't read too much into what we know.

they've obviously been debunked (as the title says), yet you still feel the need to dig deeper and try to make a case out of them.

I'm just pointing out that the statement by Vivendi doesn't really confirm or deny all of the rumors per se. It just states that they are unwilling to comment on things outside of the release date (which they have not set, and can't until the game goes gold and they have some idea when they potentially could have it out), not that the news sites are wrong. That's why Murno wrote that it was speculation. It doesn't mean there's nothing to that speculation, just that none of it is officially confirmed. That's not quite the same thing as saying it's wrong.

how does debating the use of the word "and" instead of the word "but" in a statement clarify the overall message?

Because the rumor was that Vivendi was going to sit on the finished game. But the newspost doesn't make it clear that this was the rumor. Hence, it doesn't make it clear that it is debunking that rumor, since it doesn't make clear reference to it. This rumor, I think, does need to be debunked, because it's pretty obviously groundless. The only reason people think that is because there was a discrepancy between when Valve said they would finish and when they thought Vivendi wanted to release the game. But that doesn't prove anything about Vivendi sitting on the game: the most it could mean is that they have two different estimates of when they'll all be done.

 

[nOOB]

Alright, I skimmed the comments and i dont think anyone said this.

So how many of you seen the HL2 video from E3? probably a lot of you. Well the version that i say has Gabe Newell stating that HL2 will be shipped this summer. There was about 20secs of video after the CS demo that he talks about it. I dont know why this is even a rumore it has been confirmed so many times it is just freaking funny. I know words from Gabe are taken with a grain of salt but still.

BTW, that comming from them is just a standered when it is done answer. That says nothing. I am stop optimistic that it will be out this summer.

 

[Marijn]

offcourse why not believe valve, hl2 will be on the selves 30th september 2003 errr 2004 trust us

 

[Javert]

People, there's nothing here to debunk! They're just reiterating what everyone is thinking and was released at E3 2k4, a release of some kind during the fall. It's not like they all of a sudden went "OMGOMG EXACT PRECISE RELEASE DATE!!!!11".
As for going gold within the "next couple of weeks", it's all too vague. Even the official source has no clue.
Nothing new.

 

[63]

People, there's nothing here to debunk! They're just reiterating what everyone is thinking and was released at E3 2k4, a release of some kind during the fall. It's not like they all of a sudden went "OMGOMG EXACT PRECISE RELEASE DATE!!!!11".
As for going gold within the "next couple of weeks", it's all too vague. Even the official source has no clue.
Nothing new.

Munro is "debunking" this because many other hl2 fansites are treating this particular topic as fact.

 

[The Mullinator]

The rumor was that Valve was going to ship the game to Vivendi in a few weeks and Vivendi supposedly told CNN that they hoped to have the game out by fall.

It has been debunked because with Vivendi being so tight lipped when it comes to the release date (as is seen here) then it seems unlikely that they told CNN anything, and then that of course means that CNN doesn't actually know anything and the whole thing was just a rumor nothing more.

 

[Striker]

amen to that mullinator..

 

[gunstarhero]

Hmm, might be better to say "has been published on a number of mainstream news sites but for the moment remains just speculation." Vivendi didn't confirm it, but they didn't deny it either. And it doesn't really clear up what the news sites like CNN were basing their info on: it could have been "unofficial" sources from Vivendi that Vivendi doesn't want to yet publically acknowledge in case the game (for whatever reason) is unexpectedly delayed again and they are left looking like they made broken promises.

In addition, Coomer posted in these forums about how they are still planning on finishing up the game by the end of summer. babyhcrb's emails say they will release by summer. But both statements could be reconcilled if the game was going to be released sometime early or mid September: some consider that still summer, some consider that fall. If this is the case, EVERY statement we've heard out of Valve and Vivendi (fall & summer) could technically be true.

Two words: Kill Joy

 

[Aethaecyn]

They are in all likelyhood going to release it september 30th.. lol.. just so they can say they halfway met their release date.. wrong year tho pals.. kind of odd i remember last year waiting for halflife's release day like it was yesterday and its only 3 and a half months or so until september 30th agian, meh.. i feel like an old fart

 

[skull24]

Sit back and wait

We should all just sit back and wait for everything to come to us. Just let Valve do there job.

 

[CrewXp]

hey bud, were you not here? That's what we've been doing. We'll turn to dust if we just let them "do their job". We need to get them going (not like if they care though). Worth a try.

 

[Apos]

Lol, please don't bother us with random dates from random sites. Think about it: you really think these sites, which have no particular interest in Valve or the game, have more accurate dates than fan sites, which are obsessed with them?

 

[Azzy]

vivendi have repeatedly said to me its not coming out until summer
if not later

 

[LAYP]

I still can't forgive valve for putting an Half Life 2 demo video cd with cs:cz. My god I thought it was the real thing for second. Damn those bastards, and if Half Life 2 doesn't come this summer (which it will) then they will lose many sales, the game would lose hype and valve will be hated...but it would still rock.

 

[HybridM]

The news post could not have been more cut & dry.

The game will be out when it is out. No amount of hoping or speculation on your part will change that. If you don't anticipate the release so much it will seem to arrive quicker. Trust me.

 

[acme420]

oh no!

this is august 2003 all over again!@!@!#!112313

/panic

 

[ACLeroK212]

I still can't forgive valve for putting an Half Life 2 demo video cd with cs:cz. My god I thought it was the real thing for second. Damn those bastards, and if Half Life 2 doesn't come this summer (which it will) then they will lose many sales, the game would lose hype and valve will be hated...but it would still rock.

valve will be hated? maybe
lose sales and hype? very doubtful

i don't know if you've noticed on these boards but there's quite a few people who are more than obsessively excited about hl2. they're not just going to give up on it if valve were to push the release back (most likely in an effort to make the game even better anyways).

 

[Dougy]

What i find odd is the amount of people who think the game will go gold in a few weeks then take till FALL to come out...

i mean LOL vivendi dont make money by taking their time mass producing the game.

last week 2 games i want went gold Soldiers hereos of ww2 and Ground control 2.

and both will be out at the end of the month/very early next month...

so why would it take 3 months to make an even more popular game by far get copied?

 

[ACLeroK212]

What i find odd is the amount of people who think the game will go gold in a few weeks then take till FALL to come out...

i mean LOL vivendi dont make money by taking their time mass producing the game.

last week 2 games i want went gold Soldiers hereos of ww2 and Ground control 2.

and both will be out at the end of the month/very early next month...

so why would it take 3 months to make an even more popular game by far get copied?

that's what i've been trying to tell people too, but i think the majority would rather believe all these crazy rumors then plain ol common sense.

they always think vivendi is going to hold on to the game until christmas or something to hit their target market..........

based on hype alone the game could be released today and still sell WELL into and beyond the holiday season. think vivendi's gonna miss out on a few months of this cash cow?! hell no!

 

[galoot3000]

im just glad they said it will be out this summer