Valve Fans Boycott Left 4 Dead 2

http://www.developmag.com/news/32117/Valve-fans-rebel-against-Left-4-Dead-sequel

"The L4D boycott has actually appeared on practically every single game site on the internet. IGN, Kotaku, NGN, Destructiod, etc, etc.

Heck, it even appeared in The Mirror, a british TABLOID."
- Observation made by an active member of the Steam Forums

Revised Manifesto
Credit: The18thLetter

WE RECOGNIZE:

-Valve is a company with financial needs and cannot be expected to survive without the release of new games.
-Judgment cannot be passed on the quality of Left 4 Dead 2 until its release.
-Left 4 Dead was, and is, a quality game which deserves the praise of the entire gaming community.

WE ARE COMMITTED:

-To holding Valve to its promise of free, continual updates to Left 4 Dead in order to build and sustain the community.
-To keeping the Left 4 Dead community together in order to improve the quality of online gaming.
-To supporting the model of continual updates Valve has set forth with its staple products like Team Fortress 2.

WE BELIEVE:

-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 as a stand-alone sequel will split the communities and decrease the quality of multiplayer gaming.
-The announced content of Left 4 Dead 2 does not warrant a stand-alone, full-priced sequel and should instead become updates (free or otherwise) for Left 4 Dead.
-Left 4 Dead has not yet received the support and content which Valve has repeatedly stated will be delivered.
-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 will make Left 4 Dead an obsolete purchase and inferior piece of software after only one year since release.

WE REQUEST:

-That Valve honor its commitment to release ongoing periodic content for Left 4 Dead.
-That Left 4 Dead 2 not be released as a stand-alone, full-priced sequel but as either a free update to Left 4 Dead or an expansion with full compatibility with basic Left 4 Dead owners.
-That Left 4 Dead owners be given discounts for Left 4 Dead 2, should it be released as premium content.

They're just mad L4D isn't getting the constant attention TF2 is.

Or pissed that Valve didn't deliver.

Well, I remember during an interview before L4D1's launch the developers promised to deliver more weapons, campaigns, characters, etc.
Fans, including myself, are pretty disappointed that they went back on their promise and instead worked on L4D2 the moment they released L4D1

LordTacodip said:

A concise list of what people are disappointed about:
1 Significant content for L4D1 was promised, and never delivered
2 Valve put little faith in L4D1 since they almost certainly started working on L4D2 right after release
3 The fact that L4D2 is nearly identical to L4D1 will decimate the community for both games
4 The announced date is not nearly enough time to polish content or make significant gameplay changes
5 The new character designs seem bland and unappealing so far
6 L4D2 is too colourful to fit in with L4D1's visual aesthetic
7 The fiddle-based horde music is extremely disliked, though the differently orchestrated music is otherwise welcome
8 L4D2's release will result in a drop in quality and frequency for L4D1 content, even compared to before
9 The community has lost faith in Valve's former reputation for commitment to their games post-release

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1) Is L4D dead already? has the world ended? These guys know for a fact content is not on the way?

2) Thats generally how it works with just about any AAA title. Nothing out of the ordinary to start the sequal right off the bat

3) So all we have is a couple videos and everyone already knows its identical to the first?

4) Polish what? If its so identical to the original what exactly needs polished?

5) Because 2 white guys a white chick and black guy is so inspiring and appealing. Isnt that the common makeup for pretty much half the fucking sitcoms in the last 30 years?

6) Is this boycott for diablo 3 or L4D2? having trouble keeping up.

7) Really?

8) Damn these boycotters are fucking psychics how do you argue with people that know the future?

9) One questionable thing and all these people act like its the end of the fucking world! VALVE HAS SOLD US OUT GUYZEZ HURRY AND BOYCOTT

Give me a fucking break

Whats truly irritating about it is the whiney fuckers will probably get their way and valve will push it back and give them some fucking content for L4D1 (That would have likely happened any way) while those of us that actually want the new one will just have to wait and deal with it.

Relax, relax, don't get too excited over the whole deal
I just saw that this whole entire boycott has gotten so big that it has actually achieved news media attention and I found it surprising; so I posted it.

Maybe I shouldn't have posted all of this I can see that this topic is very touchy at the moment.

- Edit
Using profanity isn't as attention grabbing as you may think it is. Some may even think of it as a firm display of immaturity. It's great you're voicing your opinion, but it can be done without using the word "fuck" or even a variation of it.

Has Valve really ever disappointed before?

Maybe if Valve had just called this "Left 4 Dead: Episode 2", people wouldn't get their panties in such a bunch.

How exactly does everyone "know" that it won't be backwards-compatible with the older game? Why would it 'decimate' the community if it ends up being just a bunch of new maps that are interchangeable with the old ones in the same server browser? ESPECIALLY, given that it's just that thing - new maps and weapons! - that people have been clamoring for so much?

I think people are just more pissed off at the fact that they bought L4D on launch day for $49.99 with the promise of continuous free updates like how TF2 was being serviced.
Then not even a year later they're shown L4D2; the "continuation" of L4D1, and are expected to pay another $49.99 for it (assuming they're selling it for retail price, since Valve does indeed dub L4D2 as a full game)

why even bother boycotting crap? who the hell was actually going to buy the game anyways? because i sure as well wont buy it unless its in the 99 cent bin at Fry's..

less qq, more pew pew

I wonder what heights that a kids sense of entitlement will reach on the internet.

O-P-M said:

Has Valve really ever disappointed before?

Click to expand...

See also: Day of Defeat: Source.

I would be pissed too if I paid $50 for the mod and told there's going to be more content added. Shit maybe l4d2 isn't actually going to be sold as a full game but maybe an expansion.

kuyaglen said:

less qq, more pew pew

I wonder what heights that a kids sense of entitlement will reach on the internet.

Click to expand...

Huh. I don't want any entitlement on the internet
But I do agree that L4D, the original, was overpriced. I preordered it and had a lot of fun with all of my friends who bought it as well during LAN games, but other than that, it isn't a lot of fun playing it with random people on public servers.

I really hope L4D2 shows up on G2Play

dderidex said:

Maybe if Valve had just called this "Left 4 Dead: Episode 2", people wouldn't get their panties in such a bunch.

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Haha very true.
By the time L4D2 rolls around, you know most of these people will buy it regardless.

Its the internet.. people will bitch about anything.

Litfod said:

Haha very true.
By the time L4D2 rolls around, you know most of these people will buy it regardless.

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its more along the lines of.. by the time L4D2 rolls around, no one will even remember what L4D was.. seriously.. L4D is boring enough to completely forget about after a couple months..

something that people need to remember is that Valve swooped in and bought up left 4 dead from some other developer right before launch so it's understandable that it's not getting the attention that TF2 is since it's not really their game.

O-P-M said:

Has Valve really ever disappointed before?

Click to expand...

You should be well aware at this point that a near perfect track record of exceptional quality and unrivaled post-retail support and development buys you nothing.

They used to say : "you are only as good as your last game", now they apparently say "you are only as good as the paranoid, psychotic pseudo-fans who are convinced that you are planning to screw them in the future think your next game will be".

See also: Blizzard.

The misplaced sense of entitlement (that Valve somehow owes them something and that Valve should produce free stuff, just for them, forever) these people have makes me sick.

I say, wait until they screw you before flaming them for screwing you.

pfunkman said:

-snip-

Click to expand...

I <3 these answers.

@2 COD much?

"i dont like the visual asthetic". thats nice. Evedentaly visual evolution isn't something these people are fans of.

"i dont like the music" um, ok!? Firstly I quite enjoyed the generally creepy music in L4D. But for (apparently a majority of) other people, there's this thing, called an alt key, its a beautiful thing espescially when combined with the tab key, a music volume slider, and itunes! problem solved?

I'll... stop here, but as it turns out, angry gamers are just as (hilariously) mentally challenged as any other angry community.

Humor: Hitler's thoughts on L4D2
That never gets old lol.

Even though I am indifferent to the issue, I can see why so many people are angry. A lot of people shelled out 50 bucks for the game on the promise that it would be updated with content as TF2 was (especially more maps/campaigns), and secondly that the SDK would be released allowing users to create as much content as they want.
Both promises Valve failed on, and now show they have no intention of keeping as they focus on the sequel.
There's a few videos like this one highlighting the promises Valve made about the game then didn't keep.

As for me personally I am indifferent to the issue, I knew from the start 50 bucks was too much for 4 maps so I waited for the weekend discount. I only play the co-op campaign every now and then, and 4 maps is pathetic for 50 bucks - it should be at least 12 maps.

(Please don't let Valve's PR department fool you into thinking the co-op campaign has 16 maps. Just because they split 4 maps into 4 parts each does not magically make it 16 maps. Its 4 maps and no SDK, which is piss poor for 50 bucks.)

people keep talking about how they want more maps, but I think the majority are hypocrites. Join #findscrim and 99% of the time when someone says "de_any" (meaning any bomb based map), they end up playing de_dust2. In TF2, distpite having some truely explosively entertaining maps, such as fastlane or hydro, nobody plays them, its all dustbowl and goldrush. These days I'm playing versus mode pretty exclusively, and in the vast majority of isntances, "find a game in progress" finds me a No Mercy game.

The entire of steam was developed and worked on by a 12 man team. They currently imploy hundreds. Most (probably not all) of the content promised to L4D will show.

O-P-M said:

Has Valve really ever disappointed before?

Click to expand...

By my standards yes.

I felt screwed by DOD:S content (4 maps on release is a joke)
I felt screwed by the long wait and short gameplay of Ep1 and Ep2
I felt screwed by Valve dumping the black box and forcing me to buy games I already own
I felt screwed by Valve with L4D, there isnt enough campaigns to warrent the full price and I have many other gripes.

dderidex said:

Maybe if Valve had just called this "Left 4 Dead: Episode 2", people wouldn't get their panties in such a bunch.

Click to expand...

I personally dont care about naming conventions, what I care about is what I pay and what content I get. Games like the episodes from valve dont really live up, I pay 2/3's price and get 1/2 content compared to full blown AAA title, not to mention most of that content is repeated from a previous game i bought, same enemies same weapons same set pieces etc.

sirmonkey1985 said:

why even bother boycotting crap? who the hell was actually going to buy the game anyways? because i sure as well wont buy it unless its in the 99 cent bin at Fry's..

Click to expand...

Theres a small chance that if we let know Valve why we're not buying it then they might reconsider their position, if not then no harm lost, it wasn't exactly painful torture to see the group and click join.

MartinX said:

You should be well aware at this point that a near perfect track record of exceptional quality and unrivaled post-retail support and development buys you nothing.

Click to expand...

Perfect track record, yeah right. Valve do some things well but do others things with upmost stupidity. The dropping of the black box was monumentally thick.

The misplaced sense of entitlement (that Valve somehow owes them something and that Valve should produce free stuff, just for them, forever) these people have makes me sick.

Click to expand...

No.

Valve promised specific things and before they've delivered them they're working on a sequel, everything they do stinks of making them the most money at the expense of the gamers. They promised particular content and that was never delivered, they've worked with TF2 to show great after sales support and then promis the same for other games and then using our faith in that screwed us over.

Also they said in video interviews the SDK would follow quickly (2 weeks) and its still not fully out, if anything would stop people from buying L4D2 it would be decent fan made content (which powers any coop games post release due to coop content getting boring quickly)

MrWizard6600 said:

I <3 these answers.

*snip*

I'll... stop here, but as it turns out, angry gamers are just as (hilariously) mentally challenged as any other angry community.

Click to expand...

Not every gamer in the group agrees with 100% of those points, i mean use your brain, sersiously...then you pick out the 2 weakest points in a list of many and rip in to them...bravo.

BOTTOM LINE

Most gamers are boycotting because they didn't feel that L4D was worth its price point, but because of valves history of post game support, and their promises in interviews we felt like the content was coming which would justify our purcahse.

Then they start working on a full price sequel before they even finish their first game, it just takes the piss.

This whole done on a promis thing where valve sell games as a "service" and continue to offer updates was good to start with, but they've shown what they're all about now and I won't buy in to that anymore.

I'll buy their future games when and only when they reach a price point which matches their CURRENT content at the time. Thats the only rational way we can really continue our relationship with a company who works on a business model like theirs. Games as a service is great, give me a list of exactly how many post release maps we're going to get, at what dates, and hwat new weapons and features and at what dates and put yourself in a position where you're legally responsible for them, then i'll buy into games as a service.

*edit*

I should add that the group is at nearly 20,000 people now, at $50 a piece thats $1 Million in lost revenue.

PrincessFrosty said:

I should add that the group is at nearly 20,000 people now, at $50 a piece thats $1 Million in lost revenue.

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While your absolutely right and I too hate L4D, a million dollars is Gabe's McDonalds money. It's a drop in the bucket to them.

next-Jin said:

While your absolutely right and I too hate L4D, a million dollars is Gabe's McDonalds money. It's a drop in the bucket to them.

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Well then he won't miss it will he, we'll boycott and they can take the hit, it's really their choice, post action to a boycott really doesn't involve anything more than sitting around bitching about it anyway, that's almost as entertaining as the game itself.

I was under the assumption that mods were supposed to be free? *wink* *wink*

I learned my lesson after I bought L4D and found out it was so... meh (even though I didn't pay full price for it, like as if). Never get into the hype. Never trust a game developer/publisher.

It's these kinds of things that make PC gamers look like the spoiled brats of the gaming community.

Uhm, no really. But I'd rather be a "spoiled brat" who stands up against BS like this than a gullible dumb sheep who takes it and likes it. Like we give a f*** about what consoletards think. If they didn't swallow so much dumbed down shit maybe we wouldn't be such "spoiled brats"

Raudulfr said:

Uhm, no really. But I'd rather be a "spoiled brat" who stands up against BS like this than a gullible dumb sheep who takes it and likes it. Like we give a f*** about what consoletards think. If they didn't swallow so much dumbed down shit maybe we wouldn't be such "spoiled brats"

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I'm hardly a "consoletard". How does using such terms lend you any credibility anyway?

And some of you are crying because you're not getting a bunch of extra shit for free when you were stupid enough to buy a very minimalistic (and overrated) game on the sole premise that it was made by Valve. That seems pretty sheep-like to me. Congratulations. Enjoy your whinging and being nailed to your "omg developers don't care about me" cross.

Plague_Injected said:

I'm hardly a consoletard.

And you're all crying because you're not getting a bunch of extra shit for free when you were stupid enough to buy a very minimalistic (and overrated) game on the sole premise that it was made by Valve. That seems pretty sheep-like to me. Congratulations. Enjoy your whinging and being nailed to your "omg developers don't care about me" cross.

Click to expand...

Well, if the cap fits wear it.

As for the rest, yawn. Pot calling kettle black? Seems like a lot of anger and bitterness for someone who wasn't "stupid" or "sheep-like" to buy such a game. Minimalistic and overrated? Sounds like someone bought it and didn't like it. Oops. Gotta love hypocrisy. Have fun taking it quietly and enjoying, we won't

Raudulfr said:

Well, if the cap fits wear it.

As for the rest, yawn. Pot calling kettle black? Seems like a lot of anger and bitterness for someone who wasn't "stupid" or "sheep-like" to buy such a game. Minimalistic and overrated? Sounds like someone bought it and didn't like it. Oops. Gotta love hypocrisy. Have fun taking it quietly and enjoying, we won't

Click to expand...

Anger and bitterness? No, I never bought L4D, nor have I really showed any interest in it. So unless you have some kind of proof of me buying the game, shut the fuck up.

My post is out of frustration about how PC gamers (in particular, and I do consider myself one, so you can stick your "consoletard" label) expect ridiculous amounts for their pithy $50 and cry murder when they don't get it. People like you bitch about everything; if the people who made the very best game in the whole world delivered that game for free to your door, you'd probably whinge and bitch that they didn't send it to you via Steam because you have to get off your ass to answer the door.

L4D was my biggest buyer's regret in years, even before the anouncement of the sequel. It was a waste of money then, it continued to be a waste of money, and now the chances of it being not a waste of money sometime in the future looks slimmer and slimmer.

In other words: it was shit. The development and release L4D2 can in no way help L4D1. In the best scenario, L4D1 will continue on its really shitty update schedule (ie. pretty much none).

All of you whining about the boycotters are just as laughable to read as the people who didn't figure out we got swindled at release of L4D1 and kept claiming DLC will save it (newsflash: 8 months later; not saved).

Neurofreeze said:

All of you whining about the boycotters are just as laughable to read...

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Care to elaborate, Mr "I'm so hardcore edgy that I can disagree with everyone on the internetz"?

pfunkman said:

1) Is L4D dead already? has the world ended? These guys know for a fact content is not on the way?

2) Thats generally how it works with just about any AAA title. Nothing out of the ordinary to start the sequal right off the bat

3) So all we have is a couple videos and everyone already knows its identical to the first?

4) Polish what? If its so identical to the original what exactly needs polished?

5) Because 2 white guys a white chick and black guy is so inspiring and appealing. Isnt that the common makeup for pretty much half the fucking sitcoms in the last 30 years?

6) Is this boycott for diablo 3 or L4D2? having trouble keeping up.

7) Really?

8) Damn these boycotters are fucking psychics how do you argue with people that know the future?

9) One questionable thing and all these people act like its the end of the fucking world! VALVE HAS SOLD US OUT GUYZEZ HURRY AND BOYCOTT

Give me a fucking break

Whats truly irritating about it is the whiney fuckers will probably get their way and valve will push it back and give them some fucking content for L4D1 (That would have likely happened any way) while those of us that actually want the new one will just have to wait and deal with it.

Click to expand...

1) A bunch of post-l4d2 announcement interviews basically said that there would be
minimal updating to l4d. Essentially they would implement MM 2.0 and that's it.

2) Agree.

3) The videos show it is nearly identical with just a few extras on the way -- something that was expected to be released for l4d1. Ex. An early review from someone who played the demo said all the weapons are exactly the same and are just reskins.

4) The first game was never polished to the extent people expected it would be. Again, the 10 videos I've seen show a nearly identical game with features you would expect in a cheap expansion pack (or in Valve's case, free updates). The OP is right in that there isn't enough time to get any major changes before release.

5) Not concerned with the characters. L4d1 characters became annoying also.

6) I don't think all the maps will be in the daytime and colorful, so I don't know why people are so upset. I'd rather see them change it up. It's not like night is essential for the fright factor as l4d wasn't scary anyway.

7) Yes, most people I've talked to or seen talking about it on forums hate the new southern-style music. I don't particularly care as long as the gameplay is good. But, it certainly isn't a positive of the new game.

8) It's pretty obvious that l4d2 would be first priority of updates, therefore, l4d1 would certainly receive less updating than it would have if l4d2 wasn't released. Like I said before, interviews basically said l4d1 would get matchmaking 2.0 and that's about it.

9) Well this is Valve's problem, but I'm still going to buy games from them and I'll most likely buy l4d2.

Haha I'm willing to bet at least half the people "supporting" this buy it anyway. Boohoo, you guys bought a game and now are complaining that the company didn't make it 10x better than it was when you bought it? They could have released a ton of crappy content, would that have made people feel better? I guess I don't understand why people buy something for what it might become rather than for what it is.

The thing I don't understand is how people spent $50 on this game in the first place when it has so little content and a promise that more will come. How often do these same people rake other developers over the coals for releasing unfinished games under the "let's get it out the door, we can patch it later" guise?

If these gamers are so smart, they should have waited it out, or tried it before they bought it at full-price. I can understand people feeling burned by Valve, but if they had stuck to their own standards they would've never paid full-price for a fraction of a game. They scorn console fanboys for their blind loyalty in the same keystroke as worshipping the seemingly-infallible Valve. That is hypocrisy.

/random: I can't help thinking that if L4D 2 was coming out next year (even if it was on New Year's Day) nobody would have a problem with it. Just me? Okay.

Plague_Injected said:

And some of you are crying because you're not getting a bunch of extra shit for free when you were stupid enough to buy a very minimalistic (and overrated) game on the sole premise that it was made by Valve.

Click to expand...

Actually, Valve promised multiple times in interviews and such of certain things which would be released at a later date - and now they are retracting all those promises. I can fully see why there are many angry people.

A year ago,
Question from reporters: Why is this game worth 50 bucks ?
Answer from Valve: There will be new campaigns, maps, updates, weapons, monsters released in the future, as well as an SDK which will allow users to create any kind of new content they want. We will be updating this game for years to come.

Now,
Question to Valve: L4D2 ? What about all the updates for L4D1 which were promised ?
Answer from Valve:

Bah if ppl don't like the group why don't you make an anti-l4d2 boycott group. See how that works out. Its a free world, and this a perfectly reasonable way to voice your opinion (eg: utter disgust in valve). At the end of the day, you vote with your dollars, so if L4d2 tanks in sales (probably not), then a job well done, if not, then you still did not contribute to valve's margin, so a job well done regardless. Win/Win scenario for all.

Here's me thinking you lot praised and worship valve LOL forme they have gone downhill after releasing half life 2