makingmusic476 on 07 June 2009
Guys, this is no random web poll. It's a Steam User Group, and all members are members of Steam. Most of them, from the looks of it, active PC gamers:
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/L4D2boycott/members?p=1
It shows whether each member is online, and what they are playing. Many are online, most playing TF2, HL2, L4D, or a handful of other games.
This issue has also spurred quite a debate on gaf as well.
The crux of the issue is this: Valve promised plenty of new features, add-ons, DLC, and patches for L4D for quite some time to come, similar to their extensive post-release support of Team Fortress 2:
1UP said:
Keeping on the online bonanza, writer Chet Faliszek said that Valve plans to get the DLC rolling much more quickly with Left 4 Dead than it has been able to for Team Fortress 2. Plans already in the works call for new campaigns, weapons, and boss infected (the game's zombie enemies). In addition, there were strong hints at a flamethrower coming not long after launch.
Keeping on the online bonanza, writer Chet Faliszek said that Valve plans to get the DLC rolling much more quickly with Left 4 Dead than it has been able to for Team Fortress 2. Plans already in the works call for new campaigns, weapons, and boss infected (the game's zombie enemies). In addition, there were strong hints at a flamethrower coming not long after launch.
VideoGamer.com said:
He said: "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 if you look at Team Fortress 2, one of things that's really helped grow the community is the continuous updates, where we release new maps, new character classes, new unlockables, new weapons. And we tell the stories about the characters, like the meet the sniper, or meet the sandwich. And that ongoing delivery of content really seems to grow the community.
"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."
He said: "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 if you look at Team Fortress 2, one of things that's really helped grow the community is the continuous updates, where we release new maps, new character classes, new unlockables, new weapons. And we tell the stories about the characters, like the meet the sniper, or meet the sandwich. And that ongoing delivery of content really seems to grow the community.
"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."
Given their meager support of the game so far, and the announcement of a sequel so soon, it seems they are reneging on these promises, something which doesn't fly with many PC gamers, especially Valve fans, who have been spoiled in the past by the (usually free) post-release support of many PC games (an area where Valve usually stands ahead of the pack).
