Valve: No more episodic content

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Plague_Injected

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From develop-online.net:

After Half-Life 2, a significant change was made to the timelines which Valve put on projects. The company had introduced an episodic model – one which was promised would shorten development cycles and give staff more room to breathe.

Two episodes later, that model has been completely replaced, Newell says. Everything Valve designs and makes today is built under the credo of the connected age – as ‘entertainment as a service’.

Games will no longer be cut into slices, he says, but instead will become their own platforms that Valve can continually evolve and update through Steam.

“We went through the episodes phase, and now we’re going towards shorter and even shorter cycles.

“With episodes, I think we accelerated the model and shortened development cycles with it. If you look at Team Fortress 2, that’s what we now think is the best model for what we’ve been doing. Our updates and release model keeps on getting shorter and shorter.”
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So it looks like Valve could be taking the TF2 approach to all of its games from now on. It also probably means Half-Life 3 will be the next HL installment.
 
That last bit makes no sense. I don't play TF2, but isn't there a really long time span between updates? How can he say updates keep getting shorter and shorter? Seems like he's flat out lying.
 
All I can say is "I told you so Valve fanboys"!

Also

LOL
 
TF2 updates use to be around 6 month each. Now it's roughly 2month each update although a lot of the free content are actually cross promotion items for other game (Buy them and get this free hat/weapon etc...) and community submitted items.
 
So when will we get EP3 then ? we have waited forever and even duken nukem forever will be out in a month and still no news on this..
 
Valshistixol said:
Valve's experimenting ruined TF2. Can't wait to watch it ruin HL3.
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i happen to still enjoy tf2 immensely. most of the new weapons do not break or change the game in a significant way that would affect balance.

i hear people complain all the time that the hats are stupid, i dont really understand that point of view. the hats dont affect the gameplay in any way and they give you an interesting way to customize your character.
valve has been providing substantial content updates to a 5 year old game on a regular basis for FREE. i really dont understand how you can complain about that when you consider that most companies want to charge you $15 for 4 extra maps every few months. not to mention that tf2 was originally part of a bundle of great games for the same price most companies charged for just one.

valves "experimenting" as you call it kept players in tf2 servers long after most games die. im looking to see what valve has in store for us with hl3, i highly doubt it has anything to do with hats.
 
Mortuus said:
So when will we get EP3 then ? we have waited forever and even duken nukem forever will be out in a month and still no news on this..
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There are no more episodes. I've said it quite a few times in Valve related threads. Valve would continue milking the prospect of an episode for as long as possible, but they would never release it. These news just confirms it!
 
herfalerf said:
valves "experimenting" as you call it kept players in tf2 servers long after most games die. im looking to see what valve has in store for us with hl3, i highly doubt it has anything to do with hats.
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So you're not miffed at all, that Valve promised episodic content, delivered 2/3 of it (in more time than it should) and is now throwing it away ?
 
I used to like Valve but they are now on my Sh-list. They really don't care about the series that got them to where they are today anymore. We haven't seen a shred of an update about a new Half-Life DLC/Episode/Game/whatever in years. I also thought they were working on a new Counter-Strike? It's like if Blizzard completely abandoning Diablo and Warcraft. They wouldn't be Blizzard anymore.
 
When they talk about "TF2 model", are they actually talking about microtransactions?
 
To me, it seems like very little people in this thread actually read the article and instead just read the headline.

This article made me like Valve more, not less. Give it a real read.
 
so HL3 will come with buyable jimmy hats for gordon to wear while he humps scientists and stuff?

this is all so they can move into console and make PC the 2nd fiddle....already started with portal 2.
 
I like the way Valve makes games.

Their unpredictable nature and non-existent release deadlines sell their games.

I mean Assassins Creed, Modern Warfare are too predictable which just makes the games less interesting to me. I want to play games that are new and fresh, not some rehash of the same content and ideas that gets pushed out the factory line every 6 months.

When they announce HL3 more people are going to purchase it then if they tried to push out an episode every 6 months. The game will be innovative too, I mean they invented the physics puzzle, what will they invent for HL3 that will change the games industry.

It is just so exciting. I can't wait to see what they have planned for Portal 2.
 
If you look at Team Fortress 2, that’s what we now think is the best model for what we’ve been doing.
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Translation: "Screw all the fans that have been waiting for Episode 3. We're making too much of a killing selling virtual hats." I think I know where they're going with this, and if I'm right HL2's story line will turn into a series of per-chapter mini-transactions. Instead of paying $20-$40 for a full episode you'll pay $10 for less than half the content, and if you want special "unlocks" you'll have to pay for those too. Players are more likely to fork out $5-$10 at a time than a one-time $50 purchase so in the long run Valve makes a lot more money. Players like myself, who wait for games to hit the bargain bin because we're f'ing poor will get the shaft.

I really hope I'm wrong about this, but if he's serious about following TF2's "model" I can't see it unfolding any other way. :(
 
I'm glad about this. It seems like they realized EP3 on Source would be a failure, so they decided to go ahead and give us HL3. Hopefully this decision was made years ago though so the wait won't be horrendous.
 
The stuff you pay for in TF2, are just cosmetic..

Would you rather it the other way round?

Think about it this way, updates cost money, Activision charges for map packs, but lets you change your face paint. Valve does the opposite. If you want frequently released games with free cosmetic DLC, then keep playing COD, no one is forcing you to play Valve's games.
 
If they were to make a new Half Life game, please use a different engine and not the same old Source engine they have been using since 2004 if I'm correct.

I never even bought those DLC for Team Fortress 2, don't really see the point of it, I'm happy with what I got.
 
I know that L4D2 regularly gets new/altered functionality, they've released a couple of new maps, and they have the "weekly" mutation which gives players some change within the same game. All of these changes are no extra charge, BTW. That'll work for the multiplayer stuff, but I don't see how it would work for the HL series, for instance. It would also work well for Portal, really, with new levels coming out every so often...
 
Why are you people so QQ about hats being added to TF2? It's one thing if you could benefit from the hats in-game, then you would be buying performance. But it's a FREAKING HAT. The only thing that does effect performance (weapons) are FREE. Given how much free content they have worked on for 5 years I say good for them if they want to introduce an OPTIONAL way to make money on half a decade of effort which 99.9% of developers wouldn't have made.

I also don't care if they release more Half-Life content as an episode or as a full game, I would just like them to return to their roots at some point. Bashing them for dropping the episode model makes no sense. Why would you push on with a plan you have determined to be less-than-ideal just because you had started on it? You might as well run to be a political leader with that thinking, you'll fit right in.
 
ljbade said:
I like the way Valve makes games.

Their unpredictable nature and non-existent release deadlines sell their games.

I mean Assassins Creed, Modern Warfare are too predictable which just makes the games less interesting to me. I want to play games that are new and fresh, not some rehash of the same content and ideas that gets pushed out the factory line every 6 months.

When they announce HL3 more people are going to purchase it then if they tried to push out an episode every 6 months. The game will be innovative too, I mean they invented the physics puzzle, what will they invent for HL3 that will change the games industry.

It is just so exciting. I can't wait to see what they have planned for Portal 2.
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Correction, they bought up the team/students that created the original project.
 
I understand how all this can work with MP games like TF2 or LFD series, but how the fuck he wants to apply this to work with a SP game like Half Life? It makes no sense to me.
 
Silus said:
So you're not miffed at all, that Valve promised episodic content, delivered 2/3 of it (in more time than it should) and is now throwing it away ?
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Just because episodic content is no longer going to be their model, this does not mean that HL3 is dead. :rolleyes:
 
I understand that money makes the world go around but this is getting ridiculous. They want to turn pc gaming into freaking apps you can buy/download anywhere. I don't want that....pc gaming is not the same as mobile platforms or consoles...I don't want to buy DLC every 2 freaking months, give me a good full size game and mod tools you bastards.
 
Climber said:
Just because episodic content is no longer going to be their model, this does not mean that HL3 is dead. :rolleyes:
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It was never their model. Episodic content means "more content in less time" and not "less content in more time" as Valve did.

Also, no one said that HL3 is dead, only you. What is dead is Episode 3.

By the way, have fun waiting for HL3! I'm sure Valve will get right on it, just like they did with Episode 3 :)
 
Half-Life 2 Episode 3 = Duke Nukem.
Come on............it's done when it's done.:D
 
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They think they're saving themselves from any negativity by not announcing HL3 prematurely. However, considering they are already getting a lot of negativity from plenty of other sources, such as some of their less than thought out statements, and their apparent willingness to pursue more console like methods and products, the least they could do to turn that around is announce HL3. At this point, I think most people wouldn't care how much longer it takes, so long as we know that it is actually coming.
 
don't get enough content out? change development model deliver same amount of content
don't get enough content out? change development model deliver same amount of content
don't get enough content out? change development model deliver same amount of content
don't get enough content out? change development model deliver same amount of content
 
Tom128 said:
Why are you people so QQ about hats being added to TF2? It's one thing if you could benefit from the hats in-game, then you would be buying performance. But it's a FREAKING HAT. The only thing that does effect performance (weapons) are FREE. Given how much free content they have worked on for 5 years I say good for them if they want to introduce an OPTIONAL way to make money on half a decade of effort which 99.9% of developers wouldn't have made.

I also don't care if they release more Half-Life content as an episode or as a full game, I would just like them to return to their roots at some point. Bashing them for dropping the episode model makes no sense. Why would you push on with a plan you have determined to be less-than-ideal just because you had started on it? You might as well run to be a political leader with that thinking, you'll fit right in.
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People act like someone hurt their baby. I have played since TF2 Beta started and the core of the game is unchanged. Sure we have some items that change stats around a bit but they are not game changing, especially since most people play on larger servers. In other words, a good player/team is still going to rock regardless of what items he is using. Plus, I think they did a decent job of balancing those combo items.

While I do not pre-order Valve games any more, they still release high quality content. I can see where they are going with this (somewhat). They already stated they are toying around with infusing SP and MP together. They are trying out new ways to experience and deliver gaming entertainment. Seems like a win win to me. Then again I am not stuck in 1999.
 
Shwick said:
don't get enough content out? change development model deliver same amount of content
don't get enough content out? change development model deliver same amount of content
don't get enough content out? change development model deliver same amount of content
don't get enough content out? change development model deliver same amount of content
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What are you talking about? lol
 
IronChef75 said:
They think they're saving themselves from any negativity by not announcing HL3 prematurely. However, considering they are already getting a lot of negativity from plenty of other sources, such as some of their less than thought out statements, and their apparent willingness to pursue more console like methods and products, the least they could do to turn that around is announce HL3. At this point, I think most people wouldn't care how much longer it takes, so long as we know that it is actually coming.
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Agreed. I personally have lost faith in Valve and their ability as a development company. Beyond inventing new ways to make money they have left a lot to desire in the game mechanics side. All their recent games have been part of IP they bought up or rehash of the old. The releases are still high quality but at some point I gave up on Half-Life as they have shown to me they do not care enough about it. Or they care too much about it lol.
 
umm LOL @ Valve -

what you meant to say is "We failed at the Episode approach and so now we are just calling it something else"
 
Hornet said:
When they talk about "TF2 model", are they actually talking about microtransactions?
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Well think about it, this would actually fit well with the other changes they've announced such as staying away from singleplayer only content.

Hats for Gordon don't work in single player, but work a treat in coop. Quite frankly I find the whole business model disgusting, it makes the games really shallow and commercialised, they might as well stream adverts into their games if this is really the route we're headed.

One thing is for sure I'm not getting drawn in to this mess, I've not been very pleased with what valve has been up to recently, the L4D sequel rubbish, portal 2 being short and the whole micro transaction thing going on, sick of it all now.

I simply do not, and cannot trust Valve, the problem with games as a service is that there is no clear indication of exactly what extras they're going to give us. Now, if the game is worth it's price point at launch that's fine, anything extra is just a bonus, but quite frankly valve are moving towards less and less content at launch and relying on the added content to bring the value up over time, and that I have no interest in unless they're going to put themselves in a position where they're legally obliged to deliver X or Y amount of content, for example the Sam and Max style games where we have a fixed episode release schedule. Any consumer would be quite frankly retarded to pay over the odds on merely a promis of more content later with barely any indication of what we get and when.
 
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PrincessFrosty said:
Quite frankly I find the whole business model disgusting, it makes the games really shallow and commercialised, they might as well stream adverts into their games if this is really the route we're headed.

One thing is for sure I'm not getting drawn in to this mess, I've not been very pleased with what valve has been up to recently, the L4D sequel rubbish, portal 2 being short and the whole micro transaction thing going on, sick of it all now.
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This is all so disheartening. Makes me think I should get a lobotomy, sell my PCs, buy an iPad, and play Angry Birds until I croak.
 
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