Do not want!
As of this posting, 13,160 Steam members have joined the Steam group L4D2 Boycott. The boycott is in response to the recent announcement of sequel Left 4 Dead 2, if you didn't catch that. Developer Valve has always had a reputation for delivering quality content at the gamers' highest benefit, sometimes even giving content for free; now, it seems they are shattering their image, and fans are confused and upset.
We've seen what happens when gamers cry out. 13,000 members of a makeshift petition is nothing to sneeze at: that's 13,000 less sales pledged. On top of the sheer numbers, L4D2 Boycott is creating quite a witty campaign, starting with the video at the bottom of this page -- if nothing else, these ballsy Valve (ex?)fans are gaining notoriety as a talented group of people who know what they want...and quite possibly: how to get it.
See what I mean? Witty, if not altogether crass.
Supposedly, the team that governs the Valve forums is not appreciative L4D2 Boycott's motivating speeches (yeah, right), as they've apparently removed any content pertaining to the petition/group. Of course, this claim originates from the group's Steam page, so take it with a grain of salt. Personally, I believe the claim -- I've done my share of trolling as well as moderating, and neither is ever right in the eyes of the other.
But this is Valve's product we're talking about here; if nothing else, they've been generous and supportive of user-created mods and spin-offs of their intellectual properties. If I remember correctly, Counter-Strike was a mod that was turned into its own wildly popular entity, and its creator -- a young modder -- earning beaucoup cash when Valve published his ideas in an official retail package.
As I write about this and wonder how our community here will react, I can't help but think of Burnout Paradise and the Burnout Party Pack DLC, which was the first piece of premium (costly) content following an impressive lineup of free goodies previous to it. It was said so in the article comments, the forum, and even the Co-Opticast: in general, we were glad that Criterion was taking the opportunity to grab some well-earned cash after all of the free content.
So why is Valve different? What standard are we holding this developer to?
Sound off in the comments/forum; we would like to read what you think about the situation. Do gamers really feel cheating or misled by Valve? Or is this a knee-jerk reaction to the loss of the last great developer of free, high-quality, post-release content?
Source: Link 
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Wolfe at 07:00 AM on 6.7.2009
November is a long ways away, and are these people serious about this? What a joke, L4D has been out for a while yet, they should be more appreciative of a great new game coming up. Its not like they cant still play fucking L4D and still play L4D2... they just need something to bitch about. 
BigBadBob113 at 07:27 AM on 6.7.2009
Yeah, I dont get this at all. I know that if they announced the sequel to a game I enjoyed I'd be jumping for joy. 
WildCard Zen at 07:40 AM on 6.7.2009
Sometimes, people have to learn the hard way. Most of the time, it doesn't pay to buy a game the day it comes out and at full price. It's a hard discipline to follow, and I'm not always perfect at doing it myself, but there are good reasons to wait a while before getting a game, and now it looks like 13,000 idiots are learning this lesson.However, for us frugal gamers who know better, we can now see a hit online game drop in price. If anyone is keeping score - that's a score for the average Joe gamer, and sour grapes for the 1337 gits.
Anonymous at 07:48 AM on 6.7.2009
So many people complain that Valve takes forever to release a sequel. The one time they release a timely sequel, everyone bitches. 
Jackel at 07:58 AM on 6.7.2009
Now I'm holding off jumping on the hate wagon (as Valve has done most thing right by me). And I have faith Valve will add enough things to warrant a sequel (as opposed to just new maps / melee)But for you first 2 posters (OP included). Tell me what consumers are supposed to do after hearing about all this awesome support they'll get for their game post-release
http://www.videogamer.com/news/valve_de ... plans.html
Wolfe at 08:31 AM on 6.7.2009
Technically, they are releasing new maps, weapons & more in the form of a sequel... JasonSuave at 09:02 AM on 6.7.2009
I don't think people are realizing that these companies are in business for one thing to make money. They need to keep making money in order to churn out games in the future, so we, as consumers, need to shut it and let them run their business. I'd rather have a dilution of good franchises than NO company to release them! 
bapenguin at 09:07 AM on 6.7.2009
There's a big difference between a $10 piece of DLC and a $50 dollar full priced game. Plus they had already promised that we would see DLC in the form of campaigns, etc - which some people probably made purchasing decisions on. That being said, I don't see anything particularly WRONG with what Valve is doing, afterall it's a business.
I'm not quite sure WHAT this has to do with your political views and or free speech. Politics is rarely black and white, and the media especially never reports it as that. We read what we want to read from it and only understand what makes us feel justified in our views.
A petition to not play a game is quite a bit different than a rally against the government.
ryfter at 10:15 AM on 6.7.2009
You know, I was figuring that Valve would release new levels for this game. The 4 campaigns were a good start, but really, needed more than 4. Adding survival wsa a good thing, and adding versus to 2 more of the 4 campaigsn were good starts.In the past, I have given Valve a pass at fewer levels, and less content, because I knew they would add updates.
While I am annoyed that they are aiming at a new, FULL PRICED game already, I can see that it IS an entirely new game. I just feel like it is too soon.
WildCard Zen at 12:15 PM on 6.7.2009
I'm sure Valve has their reasons, most of them money oriented, and they've got to do what they have to do to compete with other game titles and companies. Frankly, I think these are just uber-obsessive fanboys over-reacting. Games have been known to be delayed (Cough-Cough! Borderlands, Ghostbusters, Aliens: Colonial Marines, etc, cough, cough!) so there's no guarantee that the sequel will actually come out in November at this time. Announcing the sequel at the biggest convention for gamers is a better PR move than to announce stuff the fans already knew was coming -or nothing at all.
Besides, the summer is just getting started. There's plenty of time for the expansions & DLC for Left 4 Dead to hit the market and for the fans to get burned out on it long before the sequel comes out.
Politics plays into everything humans do. It's naive to think otherwise, and I'm sure Van Lingo's intentions were to point out the anti-capitalism element to this boycott that prevails in many of the younger gamers today.
And to answer Jackal's question, consumers can do with their money as they see fit, at least for now. If a consumer is angry over this, then they can choose not to biy the next game. If enough consumers don't buy Valve products this November, then Valve has learned their mistake as their competition benefits.
BUT - if Valve profits, then they can drive other companies to crank out their sequels faster.
As a consumer, I already advocate not buying a game on it's release day (or Pre-ordering) as a good way to keep the price of gaming down. I never buy single player games at new price, and I heavily screen multiplayer games ( for quality and who's playing them) before buying them on their release WEEK! Very few do I buy new.
slhunter at 12:38 PM on 6.7.2009
I hate to admit it, but I'm honestly not that bothered by it... I'm pretty sure that they were pressured/encouraged into getting L4D out for the 2008 Holiday Rush (by EA or Microsoft, or maybe even their own critical financial reasons) and it probably didn't include everything that they wanted it to. Rather than DLC, DLC, and DLC to get everything where they wanted it to, they are releasing another one a year later. For all that we know, there could be additional reasons why the new stuff being added isn't DLC worthy. For example, if the cost (to them) to put the DLC on there (obviously, if they were to do the DLC for the L4D2 stuff, it wouldn't be for everything that's on there, just a couple of maps) would necessitate them to charge $20 for it (I'm not sure exactly how MS's DLC cost structure is, but I've heard it's not the most favorable; even patches supposedly can be a big headache...) and still make minimal profit, then maybe it would make much more business sense for them to release a new game, so they can make a little more profit, but also give the customers more value for their money.Lastly, unless I'm mistaken, Valve doesn't have a history of doing this, but they do have a history of making excellent games. So, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt this time...
Arttemis at 01:20 PM on 6.7.2009
"Do gamers really feel cheating or misled by Valve? Or is this a knee-jerk reaction to the loss of the last great developer of free, high-quality, post-release content?"DLC was promised in the form of weapons and campaigns. With the forthcoming sequel, it seems much less likely that L4D will get any of it.
What's worse is that the SDK is still in beta! The modding community hasn't even taken off yet and there will be a sequel to potentially disorganize all of their efforts.
I don't care that they're releasing a sequel, I just want them to deliver on their promises.
txshurricane at 02:15 PM on 6.7.2009
You're right, Nick, that was not appropriate. I'll leave the politics to Twitter. 
Mrxknown_JG at 08:35 PM on 6.7.2009
I know I won't be buying Left 4 Dead as the two games I'll buy this year have already been marked and now must past the release phase as WildCard says.Not to mention, I'll still have L4D to play I don't need another.
But I agree with the group's views. I bought Left 4 Dead on the basis that new content was coming (I'm starting to feel like a sucker for DLC promises). But the biggest sell for me was the demo and the fact that I had Co-optimus to feed me players for co-op
A company should not "crank out" sequels. I don't even think Madden needs to be released every year, just stat updates & some DLC would suffice.
A game works only because the developers took the time to craft the experience. If a one-hit wonder group (not Valve) decides they want to re-create the sequel as soon as possible, they may lose what made the first game unique.
But that's a different topic.
Off-topic txshurricane, I must have missed the political chat hopefully you weren't rallying against Valve for Iron Sights
Zonf86 at 11:22 PM on 6.7.2009
I think if they had stayed away from calling it L4D2 they might be in a better position. 
Biohzrd451 at 03:12 AM on 6.8.2009
I am looking forward to it, I mean yea DLC for L4D would be awesome and who knows they might still put stuff out for it November is awhile off so who knows what will happen.I think this is one of those Damned if you do Damned if you don't type situations.
Zonf86 at 03:56 AM on 6.8.2009
Couldn't agree more.
Parflagush at 05:55 AM on 6.8.2009
I understand why people are upset, but since I was able to get L4D discounted, I already feel that I've got my money's worth out of it. Hopefully I can snag L4D2 at a special discounted price as well when it's released. It is dissapointng that there will be no official DLC for L4D(1), but hopefully there will be some decent user-created content that will keep me happy until L4D2. 
hedgehogaj at 06:10 AM on 6.8.2009
It is a bit of knee-jerk reaction, but that doesn't really matter. 13,000 people are upset by this enough that they don't intend to buy the sequel. And those are just the most hardcore about it. I never really complain when a game doesn't live up to what I expect from it, or what it claims to be, but I become much less likely to buy a game from that developer in the future. Mrxknown_JG at 06:23 AM on 6.8.2009
New update from an IGN article that came out after Co-optimus broke the story here A dev from Valve has stated there is DLC coming for L4D, but did not mention a date or what the DLC might be.
Maybe it's a campaign or it could just be the new Francis, "I hate..." song
Biohzrd451 at 06:43 AM on 6.8.2009
They hint at new DLC on the Last Stand Survival map, in the bedroom on the wall gives a date of 10/30/09 not sure if it is significant or not but just something I noticed.
Mrxknown_JG at 06:53 AM on 6.8.2009
Or it could be the date the story takes place
Hopefully, it won't be that close to the "sequel"
Lethal_HeaDBanG at 03:23 AM on 6.9.2009
Im a huge fan of l4d,im a fan of zombies in general.and im honestly not upset by this at all.in fact im stoked.I understand we were all waiting on DLC for l4d,and are prolly not getting it anymore.but to all the nay sayer,how about you give it time and see what happens.Personally I think it will take valve until late 2010 to make l4d the solid game we all want it to be.So adding new guns levels etc.to it seems like a step backwards for the franchise,so why not embrace a sequel that has the potential to be solid in a years less time,and then add the new guns levels characters etc.l4d2 could be valves way of giving the franchise a fresh start.and doing right by finally giving us what we wanted,and a whole games worth more.This could be benifiting all of us,and its a shame that 13000 are so quick to judge Zonf86 at 04:27 AM on 6.9.2009
There are a lot of pros and cons to this whole debate. For me it really comes down to this... what will all of you say/do if L4D3 comes out November 17th 2010? Biohzrd451 at 04:53 AM on 6.9.2009
For me the answer is simple; When I bought L4D I did so because the demo showed me a solid game that not only provided the level of challenge I was looking for (Expert) but also proved to me to be one of the best co-op experiences I have ever had.
Now let me also say I didn't buy L4D expecting them to give me DLC or to add anything to it, if they do cool that's awesome and I would love to see more content, but to diss L4D2 solely based on promises made about L4D just seems petty to me if you don't want L4D2 don't get it plain and simple.
For me I will be picking it up, it's one of the few games I can pick up with 3 people and rock out on, and it is one of the only games my wife has really enjoyed and is always willing to play. Some might say I am just throwing my money at Valve, maybe... but is it throwing money away if I am paying for an experience I enjoy? I don't think so.
As long as Valve makes a new and improved experience everytime I will keep giving them my monies .
Silverblur2 at 05:02 AM on 6.9.2009
I think by the time it comes out, I'll be ready to buy it, it's Valve- you usually cant go wrong with them and "if they make some money off of it- Sweet, At least someone's making money- joke/joke" Zonf86 at 05:12 AM on 6.9.2009
You know what? You've almost convinced me to get it on release... you don't work for valve do you ?
Brainp0wa at 04:21 AM on 6.12.2009
I think its over 25K now.As for L4D2, yeah I admit that I feel like I got burned. After the way the 360 version of TF2 was handled I guess I should have seen it coming though.
About the only thing I can do because I will want to play the game is to wait a week and buy it used from GameStop so that they get the money and not Valve. I don't buy used games because the few dollars I save is more than eaten up by the gas/time/effort it takes to get the game that way and I like to support the devs when I can.
Give me a discount on the game for buying the first and I will call it even. It worked for UT2003/2004 didn't it?
Biohzrd451 at 04:39 AM on 6.12.2009
Nope but if they want to pay me to advertise I will lol. Like I said I really enjoyed the first game, hell I enjoyed TF2 for what is was worth knowing new maps probably would never come.
I am hoping that what I have heard about L4D2 is true with the changing environments and having to take different paths due to the director toying with you.
Like I said though my wife loves this game and any game that me and her can sit down and play together as well as friends is awesome.
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