If this is just an incremental update, I will be really disappointed. I'm a bit conflicted regardless. I'm already a L4D fanboy so I'm not sure if I can even objectively speak about this.

Yeah, some of the the stuff they're talking about doing goes beyond the scope of DLC (like ai director 2.0) but after reading a bunch about it, it feels like a cash grab aimed squarely at the sequel-a-year xbox 360 audience who have no problem getting a slightly better game for $60. L4D did extremely well on x360, and this may be Valve's response to that at the expense of PC gamers who frankly have higher expectations for their games in general, and from Valve in particular. I can't blame valve for wanting to make money, but I hate games billed as sequels that only offer relatively minor improvements.

I will buy it because I'm a fanboy though.

I am NOT going to boycott Left 4 Dead 2. I am likely to not get it, because I feel the original does enough interesting stuff, that it fills into the library well. To me, it is like what you get when you buy a boardgame. You get it, planning on replay value and playing it over and over. L4D does that for myself fine. I am not really much of a zombie person either.

I don't get why it's not just being released as an expansion.

actually I read the whole thing and I still think it's a stupid to Boycott but hey it's your money so power to you 

I do recall reading that they were going to add lots of new content and such to the first game and all the fans got was survival mode and the ability to play versus mode on more maps. Does the announcement of Left4Dead 2 mean that the first game will now be abandoned?

I don't mind getting new characters, settings, and fighting zombies in the daytime. However, I wouldn't want to buy it at full price since it feels more like an expansion (ie - $30). At the very least, I hope that it stays true to offering a lot more than the first game so quell the uneasy feelings and to make it feel like it's really worth the $50 (or $60) to the fans.

we need to boy cott left 4 dead 2 now

It's a bit early for a sequel, but hey more content is more content and it's not like L4D will be abandoned by us gamers :)

Sincerely, a Valve fanboy.

Could it be L4D success caught them pants-down and the wheels had already been set about everything else?

Like I said, let's see when it comes sales time.
It's gonna sell gangbusters right along with Halo ODST and Modern Warfare 2.

Everyone thinks Forza 2 is gonna sell like crazy, but in reality the top three sellers for 09 will most likely be FPS.