Half Life 2: A call for communication

[Grimmie]

I think this here's a worthy cause: http://www.messagetovalve.com/

The lack of communication between Valve and the Half-Life community has been a frustrating experience. While continued support for current and future products is greatly appreciated, fans of the Half-Life series have waited years for a word on when the franchise will return.

So, Instead of focusing efforts in a negative and disrespectful way, we have decided to gain Valve's attention by delivering a basic message:

Your oldest and longest running fanbase would like better communication.

Waiting patiently for over four years can be challenging as a fan, especially when E3 comes and goes without any sign of the Half-Life series and its continuation. Valve had stated that information was scheduled to be released towards the end of 2008, and we believe that if they have chosen to change those plans, fans should be acknowledged, regardless of developmental plans for the next Half-Life project.

The entire trilogy of episodes was scheduled to be completed and released by 2007, and if Valve have decided to do other things for the time being, that is fine; all that we ask for is a basic response on the matter, and to let fans know whether or not the current story arc is scheduled to conclude at another point in time.

In addition: This message is in no way, shape or form attempting to rush the development of the Half-Life series; in fact, most members agree that Valve should take the time needed to deliver a complete and polished product.

If you agree with the above message and statements, please join this group and share your support constructively.

Hopefully such attention will be recognized by Valve, and the community's voice will be heard.

I don't know if it will be any use, but it's certainly a way to protest the utter lack of communication from Valve regarding their longest running series.
I, for one, will be firing up HL2 for an hour or two tomorrow night at 7pm.

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/messagetovalve

[Mr. Johnson]

This is indeed a good initiative, but I won't be home tomorrow night so I can't join.

[FatherJack]

I should really complete Ep 2 sometime as my own message to Valve. Perhaps it is what they have been waiting for.

[friznit]

Aren't they too busy writing patches for Left4Dead? That must be the most patched game in the history of forever. It seems like a new comes out every day. I'd love to know how such a simple game could require so much patching.

[Mr. Johnson]

Aren't those the mutations? they change those every week I think, if they're still going.

[TezzRexx]

I'll join, it is mighty frustrating but narf, I think everyone's come to expect it from Valve.

[FatherJack]

Nowadays everybody's always talkin bout Left 4 Dead or Teef
but nothin real comes out of this patchy-patch bull-shit
just a bunch of lame updates
And motherfuckers act like they forgot about Fré

[spoodie]

Personally I think Valve should be left only to develop whatever HL3 will become. Details announced will be considered set in stone by parts of the community and you know what parts of the gaming community are like, they're arseholes. I'd rather not know anything and be pleasantly surprised.

[Grimmie]

Go time. I'll be on TS if anyone wants to chat at the same time.

[Dog Pants]

Personally I think Valve should be left only to develop whatever HL3 will become. Details announced will be considered set in stone by parts of the community and you know what parts of the gaming community are like, they're arseholes. I'd rather not know anything and be pleasantly surprised.

Agreed. Isn't (or rather wasn't) this all rather entitled? HL3 may or may not get released as and when, and if, they have something to release. All just smells of fanboyism to me.

[FatherJack]

Personally I think Valve should be left only to develop whatever HL3 will become. Details announced will be considered set in stone by parts of the community and you know what parts of the gaming community are like, they're arseholes. I'd rather not know anything and be pleasantly surprised.

Agreed. Isn't (or rather wasn't) this all rather entitled? HL3 may or may not get released as and when, and if, they have something to release. All just smells of fanboyism to me.

The "we deserve to know" line does have the taint of inflated entitlement to it, but I don't see the harm in letting people know whether they're working on HL2:Ep3 or HL3, just so the fanboys know what to get overexcited and widly speculate about.

Personally, I'd love either and am pretty sure one or both will happen at some point in Valve time unless someone says something bad about the lovely Gabe, which as we all know resets the Valve clock. I, too will plump for being pleasantly surprised at sometime in the (hopefully) not-too-distant future.

I suppose a resolution to the Ep2 story would be nice, but I think a lot of what they put into the game almost as Easter eggs, such as the Black Mesa vs Aperture bits were either cross-game marketing or simply there to encourage wild speculation. Portal 2 has been and gone since then, within which were various provocative elements tying the two series, such as the Ship Overboard achievement. I rather think they enjoy being cryptic and seeing what the fans come up with - after all, that's what the whole potato puzzle thing was about.

[buzzmong]

I'd imagine it can't be too far away, they've not got any big releases outside of their DOTA game on the horizon (new CSS is being dev'd by an external studio iirc), so unless they're working on something else that's super sekrit, they should have spare dev capacity.

[Stoat]

so unless they're working on something else that's super sekrit

Funny you should mention that. Who doesn't love wild speculation?!?
http://lambdageneration.com/posts/more- ... -game-sob/

[spoodie]

I'm hoping that Valve are holding back on HL3 until they have something spectacular, like the last two games. And no doubt they're not being complacent and are constantly thinking of what can be done with the series to do it justice. Perhaps even a new or heavily updated engine. Source functional but is looking long in the tooth. And there's the next generation of consoles to consider, which may see light in the next couple of years. Like it or not consoles are a strong in the gaming market place and it'd be unwise to ignore them. A great launch title on a new console(s) would be a major win for Valve.