What have been some of valves biggest mistakes?

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Skyace65

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we all love valve, i doubt many of us would be here if we didn't.....but no game company is perfect, even valve has its flaws. and we're about to begin a new generation of gaming, steam machines and source 2. but nobody is ever going to do better unless you look at the problems and recognize them, so what do you think have been some of valves biggest mistakes?(games,steam,hardware, anything valve related)

the stuff i see as their biggest flaws? well my points involve mainly modding and the SDK

-Fracturing the source SDK(each game gets it's own tools now). i don't even know what the point of this is it just makes things harder to find and deprives people of the "create a mod" wiziard tool. so now you have to do that manually and i don't even know where to begin, i have the source code just no idea on what to do with it

-having to launch a game with a command line to use an engine tool.(https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Engine_tools) it's something that's ridiculous,it takes more time to start up or switch between tools. and it's hiding things from the community. I knew about the particle editor before, I only recently discovered the other tools like the commentary editor and act-busy editor. same as before, all of this stuff should just be in one easy to use place for moders to use

-how dated some of the tools have become. even valve themselves have said content creation with the current set of tools is sluggish and they are working on a new set right now(probably for source 2) stuff like hammer is extremely user friendly when it comes to the basics, but the majority of it is so much more complex than it needs to be.
 
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I understand the game needed updates every once in a while but it just got so damn ridiculous. I just wanted more official payload (non-race) maps. The first was the best (Goldrush).
 
Source SDK has always been a pain in the ass to use. 2013 version is very stable and is the update everyone wanted many years ago. Most people moved on to other engines. Anyway, let's talk about the games.

> First of all, Half-Life on Steam is probably the worst version of Half-Life out there. I know Alfred fixed some of the ancient engine bugs (and made the game run faster) in the recent months, but it's still terrible. The original disc version is superior in every way.

> Opposing Force and Blue Shift were designed to work on a modified version of the Half-Life engine. Valve ported them to latest version of the engine and broke everything. Even before Steam, Valve's bad business decisions ruined both games. Especially Opposing Force's Capture the Flag mode.

> The 2010 update for Half-Life 2 series ruined pretty much everything in the game.

> The engine updates for Half-Life games also broke many mods. They need to be fixed manually, which is a difficult process, if you're not familiar with modding.

> They never fix bugs and exploits in the Left 4 Dead games. They need to have a tutorial for new players.

> They killed Day of Defeat.

> Counter-Strike: Condition Zero.
 
Barnz said:
Source SDK has always been a pain in the ass to use. 2013 version is very stable and is the update everyone wanted many years ago. Most people moved on to other engines.
Click to expand...

probably getting off topic, but "stable"? the SDK doesn't even work for me anymore after the 2013 update. barely any of the programs can run(i think it says it's missing some configuration file or something) and when i can run hammer on a select few games, opening a map causes some kind of glitch that won't let me do anything to the map. I've checked the cache, reset configurations, nothings fixing it
 
another few things about tf2:

-valve still hasn't completed the training mode and making it mandatory for new players

-they hyped up red and blu teaming up to fight gray mann and his gray robots, but they pulled the ol' switcheroo and made it red vs. blu. so really nothing's changed
 
Danny_ZQ said:
-they hyped up red and blu teaming up to fight gray mann and his gray robots, but they pulled the ol' switcheroo and made it red vs. blu. so really nothing's changed
Click to expand...

Only RED team appear in the mode because the robots are essentially BLU team, which means you can change very little of the game's core functionality to get Mann vs. Machine working at a base level. Personally, I wouldn't say this was a mistake, especially when you consider most, or all, of what Barnz said.
 
-=Plzwork1122=- Sloth said:
That is a Steam Community failure. Ricochet is awesome if you can find a server with people.
Click to expand...
no there are some gameplay issues as well, but it's not like it's terrible or anything. if they could expand the gameplay it would be fantastic
 
While I too am tempted to say the knee-jerk "not making Ep. 3", I think what really has been the bigger mistake is just their approach to communication on the topic either way.
 
JWikes said:
While I too am tempted to say the knee-jerk "not making Ep. 3", I think what really has been the bigger mistake is just their approach to communication on the topic either way.
Click to expand...


The last time Valve talked about a game before releasing it they changed the whole thing before it even came out. Not talking about it gives them all the time they need. Remember Half-Life 2's Hydra? Me neither because they removed it.
 
-=Plzwork1122=- Sloth said:
The last time Valve talked about a game before releasing it they changed the whole thing before it even came out. Not talking about it gives them all the time they need. Remember Half-Life 2's Hydra? Me neither because they removed it.
Click to expand...
while reasons like that are understandable since so much does change. they should be informing the fanbase if they ever will make another half-life game again or not.
 
Skyace65 said:
while reasons like that are understandable since so much does change. they should be informing the fanbase if they ever will make another half-life game again or not.
Click to expand...


This. I completely agree that they are under no obligation to elaborate with lots of specific details on progress, expected release dates, etc. But when there is clearly a very an interested fan base, to leave them in the dark on even a will-happen/not-gonna-happen was a bad PR move. I realize that on one hand it's created quite a cult of interest, which is great for Valve. But it's really left a bad taste in alot of peoples' mouths.

Of course, who am I kidding. It's all a bit academic in the end. Everyone is still gonna but the damn thing if it ever comes out anyway.
 
Skyace65 said:
while reasons like that are understandable since so much does change. they should be informing the fanbase if they ever will make another half-life game again or not.
Click to expand...


It will come out, but I do have a theory.

It could be a business tactic, not saying anything not only gives them more freedom, it makes more people want it.
 
Biggest mistakes?
Let's see...
CS:Zero, it was a bad game overall.
Source engine updates that broke more things than they have fixed. (ABH :D)
GoldSRC support which is nonexistent for quite some time.
Killing F-Stop instead of making a game with it.
TF2 Golden weapons (they are cool,but brake the game so bad with their effects)
Ricochet to a certain extent...While the core of the game is solid, it had (and still does i believe) some stupid bugs.

And BY far the biggest
Steam Servers
Not reliable at all to be honest, losing steam connection because the dota2 server caught fire from overload, or steam just generally failing to connect to its servers,dcing you in the middle of a game, and after that you need to restart the whole steam and pray to god it was your clients and the servers connection (which is 50% of the time).
It might be peachy and clean in the us, but here it's annoying as hell,since valve simply cannot predict the traffic they generate in europe and part of asia.
As far as i know Frankfurt is the only check server in Eastern eu. ADD MORE SERVERS VALVE!!!!

P.S. wanted to include the steam client aswell, but it technically is not a failure, it just needs a complete overhaul, it is showing its age.
Overall a lot of mistakes,but they are not that big as lets say EAs or Activisions.
At the end of the day,Valve makes great games and their politics of a game is late for a while, but sucks forever is ok wih me, let them take all the time they want, just let me play masterpieces
 
tomemozok said:
Biggest mistakes?
Let's see...
CS:Zero, it was a bad game overall.
Source engine updates that broke more things than they have fixed. (ABH :D)
GoldSRC support which is nonexistent for quite some time.
Killing F-Stop instead of making a game with it.
TF2 Golden weapons (they are cool,but brake the game so bad with their effects)
Ricochet to a certain extent...While the core of the game is solid, it had (and still does i believe) some stupid bugs.
Click to expand...

CS:Zero was really... Urgh


Portal 2 was much better than what F-stop could have been, although I wouldn't mind an F-stop now.

Australium! (Also they decreased the rareness of the Wrench)

Agreed... Hate to say it but agreed.
 
Also I think one of the BIGGEST failures was the Day of Defeat abandonment... It is a great game and I have a lot of fun playing it even now...
 
I didn't include Day of defeat here since the game has fallen off in recent years,plus there were a lot of ww2 type games so it was logical for them not to make another one. I wouldn't mind them making a sequel now, but they have bigger games in the works i think. Plus i think noone in valve is hyped up about DOD.
All in all, not a failure per se, but could be counted as one from fans from the franchise :D
 
Yeah F-Stop was such an awesome idea. If only the lubricant and protective goggles had been cheaper to mass produce.
 
Lobster said:
Yeah F-Stop was such an awesome idea. If only the lubricant and protective goggles had been cheaper to mass produce.
Click to expand...

Did Valve ever actually reveal what f-stop's puzzle mechanic is?
 
-=Plzwork1122=- Sloth said:
What's wrong with making money?
Click to expand...


Making money isn't bad per say, but certain business decisions in recent years have negatively affected their games. The Mann co update on TF2, cash shops in CSGO, adding a hat store in Portal 2 (which flopped) and of course the year after Left 4 Dead 1 cash grab (left a nice lasting impression on that community).

There isn't a game where Valve won't monetize, they'll do it even if it hurts the style or balance of their games.
 
SpotEnemyBoats said:
Making money isn't bad per say, but certain business decisions in recent years have negatively affected their games. The Mann co update on TF2, cash shops in CSGO, adding a hat store in Portal 2 (which flopped) and of course the year after Left 4 Dead 1 cash grab (left a nice lasting impression on that community).

There isn't a game where Valve won't monetize, they'll do it even if it hurts the style or balance of their games.
Click to expand...


Ohhh noooo a company is making money on their games! That's horrible! It doesn't hurt the balance of the game, many weapons are just skins.
 
In fact, I love the updates, I think it's what makes Valve great! There are two types of Team Fortress players in the world, those who say they need more weapon updates, and those who say they unbalance the game.

Everyone wonders why there is so many hats... It's because they do nothing to the game.
 
SpotEnemyBoats said:
Making money isn't bad per say, but certain business decisions in recent years have negatively affected their games. The Mann co update on TF2, cash shops in CSGO, adding a hat store in Portal 2 (which flopped) and of course the year after Left 4 Dead 1 cash grab (left a nice lasting impression on that community).

There isn't a game where Valve won't monetize, they'll do it even if it hurts the style or balance of their games.
Click to expand...

while it might seem like a cash grab L4D2 was still a good solid game, with a fun new campaign, L4D1 content on PC(except last stand) and new special infected.
 
- The episodic gaming model was a cluster**** of a miserable failure in every department.

- The SDK is a piece of shit. Even the 2013 SDK which improves many things is still causing problems in various areas. This is from a purely technical standpoint - not even commenting on how dated, frustrating or outright esoteric some of the tools and systems are.

- Like Barnz said, they killed Day of Defeat and that is a truly unforgivable sin since that's probably my favorite MP FPS of all time.

- Seriously, just release Half-Life 3 already. I don't care about Steam Machines or your VR headset and futuristic input devices.

- I demand Ricochet 2.

- From a UI perspective, Steam has always been far behind what it could be.
 
Hey lets promise a game to be released a year from now and then not mention anything about it ever again
 
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