Thank you Gamespot!

[SFLUFAN]

For taking what would be a normally standard provision in any developer/publisher contract and in the interests of self-publicity, blown it all out of proportion (knowing full well the effect it would have on the Half Life 2 community) with a needlessly sensationalistic headline that has caused our beloved community needless angst.

You deserve a :flame: for that!

 

[Asuka]

What? I dont get it.

 

[Hazar]

Neither do I....

:/

 

[Chris D]

I don't understand what your issue is. Gamespot have been giving excellent coverage based on factual information from Valve, VUG and legal documents from the hearings.

They also then posted a news posting tonight about HL2 being held hostage, which is indeed what may happen.

They've not blown anything out of proportion, it is all very serious indeed and it could mean us waiting another six months.

 

[Grand Architect]

lol too true, anything for a story right?

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Needless angst? This is angst we needed to have!! THIS IS NEEDFUL ANGST!!

Unknown angst is even worse! The angst generated from being kept in the dark. Condition-Zero going gold October 2003 and no release till March 2004? It would have been great to have been told "Vivendi are holding it up!". Although i suspected it all along..hearing it officially would have been nice.

 

[SFLUFAN]

I will respectfully disagree with you on this point. The more I think about it, the more it would seem that this clause in the agreement is nothing more than a standard formality and not something unique to the Valve/VU relationship.

The phrasing of their headline has led to a series of conclusions that HL2 HAS been held hostage when no evidence exists to support such a claim. The use of the term "held hostage" is needlessly inflammatory and should not have been used to describe this situation.

I might have been a bit harsh to GS - but it does seem like a bit of "yellow journalism".

 

[rrm]

I think gamespot has been sensationalistics. The lawsuit surely won't affect the release of hl2 because, as people has said millions of times, vu would lose cash

anyway gamespot are a bunch of console/rpg pussies

 

[Cyb3rac1d]

I think the community would prefer to know ahead of time what worst-case scenario can be prepared for as opposed to not knowing what's going on at all while nothing new is given until an eventual release.

 

[SFLUFAN]

I'm not saying that the community does not have a right to know this information - indeed it does.

I just object to the manner in wish GS has decided to report this news.

 

[Concept]

How are Gamespot blowing this all out of proportion exactly?

These are Vivendi's own words:

"Valve has announced that it will deliver a release candidate version of Half-Life 2 (HL2) (a game required under the 2001 SPA) to Sierra/VUG within the next few weeks. If Valve delivers a release candidate version that complies with the contract and is a Final Milestone, then VUG will have six months to release the product under the 2001 SPA. Valve is pressing VUG to release the product early within that six month window, and its representatives have made a number of public statements without our consent or concurrence that the product will be published and released to the general public in September of this year."

It sounds pretty serious to me, and that the company isn't best pleased with Valve's recent interactions with the community.

 

[Ghost Freeman]

Are their petitions?

 

[eQUIV]

Are their petitions?

Petitions are like rocking chairs, it gives you something to do.. but it doesn't really get you anywhere.

 

[cadaveca]

nobody seems to think that maybe we were intended to wait in the first place, and this is why the current fiasco....most developers don't say "boo" about anything until gold is actually a reality...

don't get me wrong, i want this game just as fast as everyone else, but part of vivendi's claims are that valve has alienated vivendi customers by releasing info on the development, and thereby affecting vivendi's release schedule. Also remember that Valve have been trying to get out of this contract EVER SINCE VIVENDI TOOK SIERRA OVER. Maybe ther is some bad blood here?

i hate to post these things, and the current situation troubles me greatly, as current events could not have got gamers in more of an uproar...and that can't be good for the industry, not just vivendi.

It seems to me that is is possible that Valve have leaked all this stuff to the forums in order to bring poeple onto their side of things, that the postings on hlfallout and the tests and binks here were becasue this was all one big plan to get people to buy from steam and get valve more money for their effort...i hope it isn't so, but it is a very possible situation.

 

[Cole]

Vivendi's gonna go backrupt ^_^, i bet you all they will if they dont release HL2 by december 1, 2004.]
I say we all go to vivendi's building and make a riot! Someone find it, and we all get signs saying "Release HL2 or we will own your sorry asses".
WE CAN ALL CHAINT "ALL HAIL VALVE, DOWN WITH VIVENDI, WE WANT HL2!"

 

[Sgt.Igneri]

gamespot is dolce, thats why i pay for them rather then give money to those stupid fileplanet weiners.

 

[mortiz]

Just because Vivendi are unhappy about VALVe pushing a september release date doesn't mean we'll have to wait an entire six months, do you really think Vivendi would hold onto HL-2's final RC for that amount of time out of spite for VALVe? They're not children, they know exactly what period HL2 will get the most sales, and that is obviously the holiday period. Vivendi said they weren't happy with VALVE saying september, but we've known for a while now HL-2 isn't coming out in september. So that leaves us with October, November and December of this year which could see a HL-2 release, VU didn't say they wouldn't release it early into the period.

You've also gotta remember that people will buy HL2 as a chistmas gift, and that those people are more than likely to go with the boxed version over STEAM version, one because they probably won't know about steam and two because it's nicer to wake up in the morning to something physical like a box. It's obvious Vivendi know when they're likely to get the most sales out of the boxed versions and so they're holding off for that date.

 

[killahsin-[CE]]

actually most developers do say stuff but they don't have 18 million fans behidn them following their every move. Thats why what mostd eveloeprs say about rc's and expected release dates and the likes don't always make front page news. But what valve has done is just the same as most other developers. It's just the massive community size that makes it front page news, and talked about over and over.

When you have your posts on sites that have nothing to do with games, being linked to front page news. You know any bit of info the media gets will end up on front page. Most games don't have thousands of fansites/newsites/magazines, emailing them daily to find out about rc's and whatnot either.

 

[DimitriPopov]

For taking what would be a normally standard provision in any developer/publisher contract and in the interests of self-publicity, blown it all out of proportion (knowing full well the effect it would have on the Half Life 2 community) with a needlessly sensationalistic headline that has caused our beloved community needless angst.

You deserve a :flame: for that!

Except for the fact that VU actually DID delay CS:CZ for 6 months , as a result it was a game horribly out of date as soon as it came out , even more than it was 6months before. And now its just a joke among gamers. Yeah , VU is great.

 

[Asuka]

I don't understand what your issue is. Gamespot have been giving excellent coverage based on factual information from Valve, VUG and legal documents from the hearings.

They also then posted a news posting tonight about HL2 being held hostage, which is indeed what may happen.

They've not blown anything out of proportion, it is all very serious indeed and it could mean us waiting another six months.

Oh man why you have to remind me.

 

[Kadayi]

I'm not saying that the community does not have a right to know this information - indeed it does.

I just object to the manner in wish GS has decided to report this news.

I agree. It is important information, but GS are making a mountain out of a molehill, by not highlighting the financial risks Vivendi would be taking by delaying the release needlessly:-

1) Whose to say what the state of the gaming public are going to be hot for in 6 months? Right now the world is expecting HL² (after a year delay already). But there are some more upcoming titles that might supercede it (stalker for example).

(2) Public tolerance is going to be fairly short if Vivendi hold things up, and everyone is clearly aware now that any delays would be firmly on their part.

(3) With every day of an enforced delay of a game of HL²'s magnitude you run the risk of a copy falling into the wrong hands, and we all are familar with what happens then.

(4) If Vivendi did needlessly delay for 6 months and then lose their court case, Valve would be in a strong position to seek financial damages for loss of income during that period.

(5) The games division are presently running at a loss. Even if steam took 20% of the sales, HL² is still going to put them in the black.

 

[Ownzed]

No comment.

 

[Concept]

1) Whose to say what the state of the gaming public are going to be hot for in 6 months? Right now the world is expecting HL² (after a year delay already). But there are some more upcoming titles that might supercede it (stalker for example).

Those are exactly my feelings. For me, Stalker is the potential Half-Life of this generation; a relatively unknown quantity of a game coming from relatively unknown developers. And to be honest, with each passing Half-Life 2 delay, it's adventurous sounding freeform gameplay, coupled with technology that on the surface appears to supercede Source... Well the game's simply becoming more and more enticing.

There's an awful lot of innovation and technical brillance in Stalker that isn't harmed by the delays and messy situations Valve's would-be masterpiece is seemingly beginning to find itself swamped in.

Half-Life 2, from a gameplay standpoint, appears to have slightly less ambitious and probably more realistic aims in achieving quality than Stalker. It's a more traditional and focused FPS. But Valve's title is the big sequel this time - The game with everything to prove.

I feel with some amazing technology and ideas just around the corner, the more we see of the likes of Unreal 3 and Stalker, the more they risk taking the edge off Half-Life 2 that it currently owns.

Any delays beyond 2004 and I think such developments may hurt the impact and the potential historical importance Half-Life 2 deserves to have. Don't get me wrong, I think Half-Life 2 will be an absolutely fantastic game regardless of when it's released...

Trouble is, the competition is becoming a lot more threatening than it was back in 2003.

Stalker is the real dark horse to Half-Life 2, and if it launches before (scheduled currently for early January 2005), then I just feel the air is going to be swept right from under Valve's feet.

And if Vivendi are responsible for that then I'd be angry at them for taking away one of PC gamings defining moments, due to timing they just had to interrupt.

 

[Raziaar]

I hope nobody ever lets Vivendi publish their games in the future.

 

[Kadayi]

Stalker is the real dark horse to Half-Life 2, and if it launches before (scheduled currently for early January 2005), then I just feel the air is going to be swept right from under Valve's feet.

And if Vivendi are responsible for that then I'd be angry at them for taking away one of PC gamings defining moments, due to timing they just had to interrupt.

Yeah stalker is looking to become an interesting game. I remember seeing some of the early footage (even before HL² had been mentioned by Valve) and thinking 'this looks special'. Right now is the time to definitely release HL², I'm in full agreement there.

 

[Tork]

Wasnt Stalker delayed because of the release of HL2 ? I was looking forward to that too this november. It sucks when these things happen if it does end up being delayed for 6 months....

 

[killahsin-[CE]]

Stalker is pretty interesting, and will most likely be a candidate for game of the year next year. It all rides on the AI though. Since the whole concept of their game is fundementally built around the ai. So basically success and failue in stalkers terms of being one of the best ever, seems to be way tod ependant on one scope of technology, to inherently make the experiance fun. But thats my speculation, heh, I can't wait to get my hands on Stalker =)

To be honest if VUg does try to further delay hl2. You may start to see alot of seperate lawsuits come up against them from other publishers/development houses. troika/whitewolf/activision etc.