Valve: ‘Ton’ of content makes L4D2 too big to be DLC
It’s a cohesive, single thing. It’s Left 4 Dead 2.
Amid a growing online petition, 16,571 Members strong at the time of writing, that pledges to boycott the game, Valve has defended its decision to release Left 4 Dead 2.
Left 4 Dead 2, scheduled for release this November for Xbox 360 and PC, adds five new campaigns, four new characters, a new setting, melee weapons, new Infected, location-based damage, a new version of the AI director and a new unannounced game mode.
The 'L4D2 Boycott' group has outlined a raft of complaints on the Steam forums. It believes 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.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com at E3 last week, writer Chet Faliszek said that Left 4 Dead 2, which was originally called “this big thing” by the development team, is a large enough game to justify it not being DLC, pointing to all the new announced content.
He said: “It was just like, OK, this is big enough that this isn’t DLC, we’re not going to be able to leak it out. It’s a cohesive, single thing. It’s Left 4 Dead 2.”
Faliszek also promised Left 4 Dead fans that updates are still due for the original. “In fact Left 4 Dead one, we still aren’t done with it,” he said. “We still have updates coming. Our focus is always on what we’re putting in the box, put as much as we can in the box. Let’s not worry about: let’s save that and not put that in the game. No, let’s put that in. And with the five campaigns, all of them out of the box, playable Versus, co-op, Survival and the new mode, there’s just a ton of content in there.”
When asked if Left 4 Dead had now become an annually updated franchise, and whether 2010 would see the release of Left 4 Dead 3, Faliszek replied: “We do it once in a year and everyone’s like, oh my God! Let’s do this one. Let’s worry about this and then we’ll see.”
What do you think? Is Chet Faliszek right? Let us know in the comments section below.
Highest Rated Comment
guyderman
As far as I'm concerned if the DLC has ended up being good enough to actually become a second game then great.
The first game had a massive price drop not long after release, (I believe at the request of Valve), and then free DLC.
If I was Valve I'd be tempted to say B*ll*cks to all the ungrateful B*st*rds moaning and start charging for DLC and not recommending a price drop.
User Comments
guyderman
and a damn site easier to update as DLC than what Valve are doing with L4D2.
I for one will be buying L4D2 and most certainly won't be signing any boycott against a company that have made a quality title and will no doubt make a quality sequel.
If everyone turned on a company when they didn't come through with 'promises' or live up to expectation then no one would be playing games on anything - MS and Sony as a start have both come out with their fair share of crap in their time.
Malooga_Man@ BG
I do understand that this is essentially skins, and that does kind of suck. However, it seems alot of Valves response to the issue is going unnoticed. They have announced new patches and new content in the last week to come for L4D before the sequel releases. While it is sucky that this is going to be a full blown sequel my point is that is has to be or consoles will be ignored. Microsoft wont allow DLC of that size on the marketplace, the largest they have allowed thus far is Shivering Isles for Oblivion. They dont have a price plan for something like this. I think that was what ultimately swayed Valve to start with. I think it sucks for PC owners, but Valve did say they were going to incorporate both games into the sequel, so maybe it wont be so bad. I think this is largely a wait and see scenario, but I think people should be mindful of our roots. Remember Mario? We dont think of it often but that was a fifty dollar game when it released, and I remember buying it at said price. All I did in that game was jump on goombas and hurt my head in a fiscal rat race. I think we should appreciate the content we are getting these days with so little inflation, especially in an economic downturn.
I appreciate this conversation though, as I said Valve tends to recognize mannered fans, and you are no doubt one. I have noticed one thing about the boycotters, they are for the most part very respectful, which makes this a fun debate rather than an internet bashing. I also should point out however, no matter how much Valve attends to their community fan base, theyve invested millions of dollars into this sequel, and have a 3 million and strong fan base...its not going to get canceled or changed due to 20, 30, 50 0r even 100,000 boycotters, thats just my opinion. Since the announcement of DLC still to come for L4D the boycott group has already lost steam. No pun intended.
BG@ Malooga_Man
Also that boycott group is very appreciative of the support Valve gives to TF2 and sees this as a game they could do similar support because they dont "have to" make L4D2, they decided to. Instead of releasing another couple maps/guns/textures. Besides, Valve is also no stranger to Polls and statistics. Would it be so strange to ask the community what would they be more likely to pay for, a full price for what most felt like wasnt enough in the first L4D game or 1/2 price for updated maps and textures?
The director is an excellent way of keeping the same maps fresh, though like everything there is a finite amount of time people will play it before it becomes repeatative. Eventually you exhaust the different ways a map can be played.
L4D2 will have 5 movies, new guns and characters. Besides the voice acting, I just see that as New textures in the same game. The 5 movies will be very refreshing, they could have gave 2 movies to the L4D community (even 360?) then started up on L4D with 3 movies going into the project pressing the need for only 2 more. Director 2.0 makes things seem like it should be in the sequel I agree (especially with the ability to change pathes and weather to match the setting is a real break through worthy of the sequel). Besides that I feel a little let down by what they could have done.
I do agree with you though that it is very unfortunate that the console version of many games don't receive the support the way that PC games do. Though I'm not convinced Xbox or any other console user expects that the way that all PC gamers have come to see Patching and updated maps as a constant value (including the modding of games and community developed content). PC users dont have the space limitations that Proprietary consoles do, nor the burden of bandwidth/servers that Sony or Microsoft have to run to get the data to them.
I wouldnt say that the Boycotting group is turning on Valve at all. Just a single game; L4D2 and its' implementation. They have updated their Mission statement and have stated that they really enjoy the hard work Valve puts into thier work.
I have understood that Maddens' releases are Amazing versions every year that always seem to do something mind-blowing in the sequeals. Not to mention that sports' players and stats change yearly, thus pushing the need for a new version.
I hadn't known that Turtle Rock and Valve had disagreed though. Where did you read about that?
Malooga_Man@ BG
The console version got no map editor, no achievement updates. Yet there is still a growing community of players. L4D sales in the month of May were in the 100,000's. There is a large fan base regardless of repetition, because the Director allows for subsequencing narrative.
All in all, people have been spoiled by Valve, and the one time they do something mildly disagreeable, the community turns on them? Its deplorable, people have just become greedy, and thats not to say the points on L4D2 arent valid, some are. It means if people continue to buy Madden without a boycott, then whats the problem with this? Turtle Rock and Valve disagreed on when to announce the DLC and what to announce, they slipped up. Its called a mistake people, and they, unlike companies like EA and Bungie, are trying to correct it.
BG@ BlueBomber87
Therefore you can join the petition for free.
http://storefront.steampowered.com/d...eamInstall.msi
BG@ guyderman
Valve Co-founder, Gabe Newell said on 10/09/2008 (8 monthes ago):
"One of the things that we're doing is we seem to be in a transition between games as a package product and games more of a service... So each time we've released one of those for Team Fortress 2 we've seen about a 20% increase in the number of people who are playing online. And that number is really important because it determines how many community created maps there are, how many servers are running, and so on. So we'll do the same thing with Left 4 Dead where we'll have the initial release and then we'll release more movies, more characters, more weapons, unlockables, achievements, because that's the way you continue to grow a community over time."
http://www.videogamer.com/news/valve...h_pl ans.html
BG@ stoeckd
My point being that if we look at Chets' quote in the context of the xbox version; "too big for an update" makes more sense. Which is still a load of crap because I highly doubt they will release a full version game for xbox and PC, as well as a DLC for L4D in Nov. Expect a DLC sometime in 2010 when No ones playing. Maybe they will allow the creation of some interesting mods from the L4D community to make the game better (FOR FREE).
I know so many people stopped playing L4D because its just too repeatative. New maps and new content would have breathed a little more life into it. Simple fact is, the company wants to make more money from the Xbox community as well as the PC one. They made promises, then realized that they could just squeeze a little more $$ out of us because for every person that wont buy L4D2, there are 2 more that will... These Companies Know That.
Malooga_Man
The size: Opinion--I think there is enough stand alone content to make a sequel, simple as that. I wont go into logistics because we have already heard it before. If EA can sell titles with nothing more than a roster change from year to year, then perhaps Valve should be cut some slack. Truth--The Xbox hard drive is not suited for that kind of DLC. Microsoft has set a scale for how much DLC they will allow before saying 'too big'. Thats why you see map packs released in sets of three and four. Because otherwise they would have to charge 15 bucks instead of 10, and companies know less people will shell out 15 for three new maps. If Microsoft is saying 'this is way too big for DLC' thats another sign that maybe theres enough there for a sequel.
As far as the comment below about Chet dodging the issue, he hasnt. He has addressed them all at one point, saying that Gabe announced the L4D updates prematurely, and that Turtle Rock was split on that. People who adore Valve have been spoiled on TF2, all that post-release free content that never made its way to consoles. It has been the same with L4D, dont you think we want a map editor? Or new achievements? None of that is possible, or ported to the system and still the game sells. Thats because its a great game. The sequel will be a great game. I pick three games a year to shell 60 bucks for, so moneys an issue, but Ive gotten 100+ hours out of the console version of L4D, and theres no way Im missing a sequel.
What made the original game great...the multiplayer (new maps, new mode), the characters (all new dialogue, storyline), the tech (AI director 2.0), the level design (5 new campaigns). Thats it, f*** the guns, I could be using a spud gun and still have fun. F*** the graphics, the Source engine is the easiest to mod and edit from release, and nips slowdown in the butt.
2009 must have games
Borderlands
Left 4 Dead 2
Prey 2
Thank you Valve for making my list that much easier to fill.
Mike-Ludkipz@ RocknRollaToaster
Also, EA sux.
CheekyLee@ guyderman
I believe that Ben 'Yahtzee' Crowshaw (of Zero Punctuation fame) said it best.
Quote:
guyderman
As far as I'm concerned if the DLC has ended up being good enough to actually become a second game then great.
The first game had a massive price drop not long after release, (I believe at the request of Valve), and then free DLC.
If I was Valve I'd be tempted to say B*ll*cks to all the ungrateful B*st*rds moaning and start charging for DLC and not recommending a price drop.
RocknRollaToaster
No one rects like this when EA annouced their sports games
wowzies
Karlius
BlueBomber87@ renegade