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Will Valve Leave Us 4 Dead?

by sweep

BEST BLOG TITLE, EVER. The heads over at Valve will imminently be releasing Left 4 Dead on both PC and 360. But with poor developer support for Team Fortress 2 on 360 still fresh in my mind, I'm finding it hard to commit to a developer that seems hesitant to support its consumers. Brains! Valve doesn't have any! The response this worry generated when voiced in the IRC was unhelpful. " You shoul...

BEST BLOG TITLE, EVER.

The heads over at Valve will imminently be releasing Left 4 Dead on both PC and 360. But with poor developer support for Team Fortress 2 on 360 still fresh in my mind, I'm finding it hard to commit to a developer that seems hesitant to support its consumers.


Brains! Valve doesn't have any!The response this worry generated when voiced in the IRC was unhelpful. "You should go and buy it on PC then!" If that's your opinion then fuck you. When I buy a game, it shouldn't matter what platform I buy it on. I should receive an equal share of the developer support - arguably more so considering the 360 version will undoubtably cost more - irrespective of the convenience to the developer.

I love Team Fortress 2 - but since release the 360 version of the game has been completely maimed and systematically raped by glitches, bugs, and abusive players. Post-release the game has been completely ignored by Valve. There was one patch a while ago which fixed a few errors with the server browser - but the gameplay remains unchanged. The PC version however has been pimped out with bug fixes, new character weapons, new levels and new game modes. Apparently the 360 will eventually recieve these upgrades - as DLC. Which you have to pay for.

Valve is taking the piss.


Of course, this rage is heavily reliant on the understanding that developers should now be obligated into supporting their products with patches and updates. The age of digital distribution is upon us. At this stage in time, I now expect a certain amount of developer support which is included and paid for in the retail price of the games I buy. Developers should not simply push a game overboard and then watch it sink-or-swim.

Whats frustrating is that Valve clearly does not do this. The support for Team Fortress 2 on PC has been reported as examplary. So why have the 360 owners been completely screwed over? The community of TF2 players on 360 still exists (it would probably be a lot larger if the game was better maintained) but the lack of updates and bug fixtures means that to play TF2 on 360 you now need to evolve your style of play to actually incorperate the glitches. Which is fucked up.

Critereon Games are a great example of a developer who are doing things right. The support they have given to Burnout Paradise has been fantastic. Games like COD4, Halo3, Gears Of War - all have recieved updates and map packs. MMORPGs depend entirely on patches - WOW gets updated weekly for fucks sake. Fable 2 recieved a patch on day one release - which demonstrates an amazingly fast turnaround. DLC and Developer support has now become so valuable that Microsoft is willing to pay Millions for it - GTA4 style. So what the fuck is going on Valve!!

The result of this is, despite loving zombies (Yeah thats right, I make love to zombies!) is I dont really want to buy L4D. Or rather, I dont want to be Left 4 Dead because i'm not recieving the support I feel that, at this stage in computer game development, I am entitled to.


I dont want to. I'm still going to.



So I'm a hypocrite. Fuck you.

Thanks For Reading
Love Sweep