TF2 General Chat and Speculation Station: Whiteboard Blues - Games

[QUOTE=gjw22;52655811]I don't give a [I]fuck[/I] how jill works. If Jill "worked" we might have an update by now. Not only that we're customers. Their jobs rely on us. I don't care if he's trying to be funny. He's coming of as a stuck up prick. Looks like a /b/head to me.[/QUOTE] Their jobs don't rely on us, they are not contractually obligated to communicate and no single member of the team is obligated to do so on behalf of the team. Their jobs rely on their ability to work, and on the stream of revenue which will continue regardless of the pyro update. However, they do have a logical reasoning to communicate, and i'm sure have accepted the whiplash they will inevitably get for failure to ever do so.

Last year we were asking valve not to tie the pyro update in with smissmass. We might have to do that again. oh my god o h m y g o d

It's also not fucking unprecedented that people have gotten worked up because a lack of communication over timing of something for a Valve game. Sure some dipshit shouldn't have said anything on twitter and people shouldn't have gotten excited. But it takes a tweet. Less than 30 seconds to go on twitter and debunk a rumour. There has never been an excuse for silence, and it's gross that they get away with it.

Valve doesn't need [B]any[/B] of its games. The Steam store on its own produces more than enough income for such a small company. The only use their games have is bringing new users to Steam. When their competitors start being important enough, old games will not be what brings new users in and old users back. So playing the card of "they should because we are their players" means fuck all. The card "they should, because that's what decent human beings would do" is much better, only just as useless.

[QUOTE=Gavitro;52655796]Heavy was promised to receive an update some time after the one Pyro's getting. I'd be legitimately shocked if they canceled that.[/QUOTE] ...and I will be legitimately shocked when the Heavy update arrives. (No, additional nerfs do not count as an "update.")

[QUOTE=Punchy;52655806]This, so many people come out of the woodwork to denounce people who feel annoyed by Valve because of this. No, valve is not responsible for what people post about their trips there. Yes, had valve been competent at communication in the first place this incident would have never happened. Yes, if valve had been competent at communication they could have stomped out this rumor in the days leading up to it. Valve isn't necessarily at fault for people being let down by this rumor, but they are at fault for making people have to cling to rumors as their only chance of information. Anybody who feels personally offended that nothing came of today needs to take a deep breath though.[/QUOTE] Definitely don't feel offended but I'm most certainly disappointed for the exact reason you stated above. It's kinda sad how easily it could have been avoided. End of the line, Invasion and now Jungle. All have been speculated to come out much earlier than the official release due to endless rumors and theories that the TF2 team never feel the need to dismiss.

You know, I wake up at 4am every day just to go to facepunch. Seeing some people lose their mind right in the middle of the week is priceless. Of course, I want the update just as much as anyone (or I wouldn't wake up at 4am).

Okay, maybe they're not actively malicious. I mean, they clearly saw everything that happened in the past four days, and had numerous points of interactions with the community where they could have said something about it. I'm infuriated that the only communication we got with Valve on the topic of ninesix was- what did you call it, Geel? Shitcatting? And not shitcatting as soon as people started asking questions, but shitcatting right before there was no reason to keep hoping for the update to happen. Why couldn't they have said anything earlier? Why couldn't they have taken the goddamn less-than-a-minute to type up a post somewhere saying "9/6 is a date for internal testing/etcetc, not anything for you guys to worry about yet. You'll hear from us when we have something!"? Why did they wait so long to say [I]anything[/I], and why did it have to be- and I quote you here- shitcatting once they finally did say something? At worst, they legitimately hate us. They actually despise the people fucking stupid enough to still be invested in this game after so long. [I]At best, they're just stupid[/I]- they're just so unbelievably naive that they think shitposting about our disappointment and refusing to take the moment it would have taken to de-confirm a rumor (with solid evidence behind it!) is better. They could have said something so none of us would have wasted the past few days having the nerve to get excited about an update to our favorite game.

[QUOTE=Zeos;52655838]It's also not fucking unprecedented that people have gotten worked up because a lack of communication over timing of something for a Valve game. Sure some dipshit shouldn't have said anything on twitter and people shouldn't have gotten excited. But it takes a tweet. Less than 30 seconds to go on twitter and debunk a rumour. There has never been an excuse for silence, and it's gross that they get away with it.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Contra132;52655849]Okay, maybe they're not actively malicious. I mean, they clearly saw everything that happened in the past four days, and had numerous points of interactions with the community where they could have said something about it. I'm infuriated that the only communication we got with Valve on the topic of ninesix was- what did you call it, Geel? Shitcatting? And not shitcatting as soon as people started asking questions, but shitcatting right before there was no reason to keep hoping for the update to happen. Why couldn't they have said anything earlier? Why couldn't they have taken the goddamn less-than-a-minute to type up a post somewhere saying "9/6 is a date for internal testing/etcetc, not anything for you guys to worry about yet. You'll hear from us when we have something!"? Why did they wait so long to say [I]anything[/I], and why did it have to be- and I quote you here- shitcatting once they finally did say something? At worst, they legitimately hate us. They actually despise the people fucking stupid enough to still be invested in this game after so long. [I]At best, they're just stupid[/I]- they're just so unbelievably naive that they think shitposting about our disappointment and refusing to take the moment it would have taken to de-confirm a rumor (with solid evidence behind it!) so none of us would have wasted the past few days having the nerve to get excited about an update to our favorite game.[/QUOTE] ...but it [I]does[/I] set a precedent for Valve to comment on rumors, which would result in people expecting future rumors to be confirmed/deconfirmed by Valve. If they start choosing to comment on false rumors in an official and direct capacity, people will read into their lack of response if confronted with a true rumor, so it's one of those deals where they have to tread carefully. I suspect this is why Jill's deconfirmation of the rumor was so nonchalant and shitposty. I imagine he was trying to keep it low key instead of unintentionally making Valve obligated to answer rumors in the future. That, and as discussed, it was really something that only a niche of users were trying to read into - I [I]really[/I] don't feel that this necessitates some large, grand-standing apology from Jill and the others.

-fuck me-

[QUOTE=Contra132;52655849]Okay, maybe they're not actively malicious. I mean, they clearly saw everything that happened in the past four days, and had numerous points of interactions with the community where they could have said something about it. I'm infuriated that the only communication we got with Valve on the topic of ninesix was- what did you call it, Geel? Shitcatting? And not shitcatting as soon as people started asking questions, but shitcatting right before there was no reason to keep hoping for the update to happen. Why couldn't they have said anything earlier? Why couldn't they have taken the goddamn less-than-a-minute to type up a post somewhere saying "9/6 is a date for internal testing/etcetc, not anything for you guys to worry about yet. You'll hear from us when we have something!"? Why did they wait so long to say [I]anything[/I], and why did it have to be- and I quote you here- shitcatting once they finally did say something? At worst, they legitimately hate us. They actually despise the people fucking stupid enough to still be invested in this game after so long. [I]At best, they're just stupid[/I]- they're just so unbelievably naive that they think shitposting about our disappointment and refusing to take the moment it would have taken to de-confirm a rumor (with solid evidence behind it!) so none of us would have wasted the past few days having the nerve to get excited about an update to our favorite game.[/QUOTE] agreed with you to a point but you went dumb

[QUOTE=Blackavar;52655853]do you get banned for chickening out on a toxx[/QUOTE] that's literally the point

Recommend keeping your posts tame otherwise we're gonna be handing out calm down bans, we understand you're frustrated but you don't have to rant about Valve being Valve you getting hyped over some scribbles on a whiteboard that could meant anything. Consider this the only warning, if you see anyone getting out of hand, report the post. This is meant to be a general discussion thread, not drama central that you guys keep making it be. [editline]7th September 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Blackavar;52655853]do you get banned for chickening out on a toxx edit: is it a day long ban or a permaban[/QUOTE] You get perma'd.

[QUOTE=Blackavar;52655853]do you get banned for chickening out on a toxx edit: is it a day long ban or a permaban[/QUOTE] [I][B][U]DONT YOU STARPLUCK ON US[/I][/U][/B] We want paper chewing action!

[QUOTE=BlindSniper17;52655852]...but it [I]does[/I] set a precedent for Valve to comment on rumors, which would result in people expecting future rumors to be confirmed/deconfirmed by Valve. If they start choosing to comment on false rumors, people will read into their lack of response if confronted with a true rumor, so it's one of those deals where they have to tread carefully.[/QUOTE] ONE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED POINTS OF COMMUNICATION I MENTIONED WAS THEM COMMENTING ON A RUMOR [url]https://www.reddit.com/r/artifact_game/comments/6xyvxv/how_it_started/dmlir5h/?context=3&st=j77yccpl&sh=46358f69[/url] The precedent literally just got set.

[QUOTE=Blackavar;52655853]-fuck me-[/QUOTE] May I recommend some unprocessed or cooking rice-paper and food coloring?

also I'll cut the angry ranting out, sorry boss

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/xnoTJpp.png[/IMG] [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Shitpost - Not helping" - Reagy))[/highlight]

[QUOTE]I'M WEDGIN MY SONG THROUGH THE DOOR HERE TO TELL YOU I'M SORRY[/QUOTE] [img]https://i.redd.it/igutsmnuvckz.png[/img] [URL="https://np.reddit.com/r/tf2/comments/6yjr3c/hey_im_wedgin_my_head_trough_a_door_ere_to_tell/"]Source[/URL]

[QUOTE=Chicken McFly;52655868][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/xnoTJpp.png[/IMG][/QUOTE] 100% legit not fabricated evidence, this man knows what's up

Jill just went offline on Steam. If it's happening it's happening within the next 10 minutes I'd say.

I admit my mistake of posting the cryptic tweet. I did it out of excitement literally a few hours after I left Valve's offices. Yep, bad move. I should have either just been clear about what I saw (like my follow-up clarifications) or just kept my mouth shut. And for not making those choices, I apologize. Since we're approaching the event horizon of the 9/6 update officially being over, I might as well be extremely clear about what I saw, nothing left out. This information does not reflect my opinion or any speculation of mine. When we were walking through the doorway that leads into where the TF Team has all of their desks, Eric took us past a rectangular shaped board room with a glass wall, so you could see inside of the entire thing from the hallway. We stopped in front of it and he explained to us what it's used for (it's used for meetings, to no one's surprise). Inside the board room was three things: a television on the far left wall, a long board room table and chairs in the middle, and a whiteboard on the far right wall. I remembered seeing this room through the glass wall during my first visit in January. When I saw it the first time, I remember the whiteboard being basically full of random writings, none of which was clearly visible. This time, the entire whiteboard was blank except for a few things in the bottom left corner, clearly visible (for the most part) through the glass wall. I stared at it for a good long while during Eric's explanation of the room's purpose, and saw that it was exactly the following: The words "September 6th". Below that, a time of day. This was considerably smaller than the date, so I couldn't see exactly what it said, but it was clear to me that it was a time of day. It looked a little bit like 11:30am or something, but I couldn't be sure. So I have always left that information out, since I don't know what it said. Then, underneath that - a very simplistic doodle that was very obviously a jungle. There were a few tropical looking trees and bushes all sitting on a bit of land. Looked more like a small island than anything, but it was obvious to me that it was a very small doodle of a jungle. That was the only thing written on the whiteboard. Past that, I have no other information from my discussions with the four Valve employees we spoke with for a few hours over lunch and in their office. I've said it before in other places, but 90% of the time, we spoke to them about what we think is good, what we think needs improvement. They listened, we talked. It was not an official meeting by any means, I only wanted to visit again because I genuinely enjoy the atmosphere of Valve, the TF Team is very friendly and down-to-earth, and I love their game and respect their passion for the game. I was in town, so I wanted to stop by and catch up. I didn't go to just press them about Pyro Update news, or interview them like Tyler did. Sure, I would have loved to have gotten some sort of hint directly from the team, but they love their surprises, so the lack of new info wasn't... surprising. And if the TF Team would have told me anything in confidence, I wouldn't talk about it publically. In fact, there are still things I learned during my first visit that I haven't spoken to anyone about, and I don't plan to - simply because it was told to me in confidence. The difference between leaking the date I saw on the board, and leaking something the TF Team told me directly comes down to the fact that I have no idea what it meant. My mistake was that I implied it was "official" via loosely cryptic tweet. The only reason I've had faith in the date being real is because... 1) The implication is pretty damn strong. I mean, it's a date and time over a doodle of a jungle. What else could that possibly mean? I thought it was obvious. 2) It's in their board room, which is used for meetings. I imagine it went down like this: They call a meeting intended to decide the launch date. While everyone goes around confirming that their individual projects are completed, someone doodles a jungle on the board to pass the time. Once they all confirm when they think it will be done, a date is written, along with a time. Meeting adjourned, nothing else to discuss. Back to work. 3) The NINESIX meme has been bumpin' for 4 days. If a launch date decision wasn't the reason for this date being written on the whiteboard, you'd think that someone from the TF Team (like Jill) would publicly debunk it. It would take a second, and it would prevent all the disappointment from happening very easily. It would take 10 seconds. I know Valve employees don't like to speak up or clarify things, but I would imagine that an assumption this popular would warrant at least a "nope, lol" from someone. This is the main reason I was expecting it today, to be honest. This post is getting really fucking long, so I'll just call it here. Once again, sorry for the bamboozle. I was excited, I made a mistake in the way that I brought the speculation to the public. Thanks for being a tad more understanding than the Reddit, guys. I know the Uncle Dane Hunting Memes are mostly in good fun, but do know that I actually feel bad about the way it's gone down and the only thing I can do now is wait and hope just like everyone else.

[QUOTE=Contra132;52655861]ONE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED POINTS OF COMMUNICATION I MENTIONED WAS THEM COMMENTING ON A RUMOR [url]https://www.reddit.com/r/artifact_game/comments/6xyvxv/how_it_started/dmlir5h/?context=3&st=j77yccpl&sh=46358f69[/url] The precedent literally just got set.[/QUOTE] Yes, and that was a low-key Reddit post too, as opposed to a more direct and official blog post or press statement or whatever. That is the point I was trying to make. Back on topic, I hope we get another blog post of what to expect as we've gone a good while without something of substance (and I'm not counting case unboxing updates as "substance") :v:

the day of the sap is soon, dane

[QUOTE=BlindSniper17;52655880]Yes, and that was a low-key Reddit post too, as opposed to a more direct and official blog post or press statement or whatever. That is the point I was trying to make. Back on topic, I hope we get another blog post of what to expect as we've gone a good while without something of substance (and I'm not counting case unboxing updates as "substance") :v:[/QUOTE] There is always tomorrow for a blog post if nothing else.

[QUOTE=UncleDane;52655875]-dane post-[/QUOTE] you're good, dude. the jokes about lynching you were in jest- at least on my end. it's not your fault. you saw what you saw, explained it pretty quickly and even said it could be anything. I'm not even slightly upset with you, just with Valve's disappointing, arguably insulting communication on this one. thanks for being real with us, dude. if it wasn't day 1, at least we know now that it was something internal, and something worthy enough of being explicitly marked. I don't know what that would be, but hey. There's always next week.

what if the tf2 team is waiting for me to eat the (rice) paper so they can release the update and laugh at me

[QUOTE=BlindSniper17;52655852]...but it [I]does[/I] set a precedent for Valve to comment on rumors, which would result in people expecting future rumors to be confirmed/deconfirmed by Valve. If they start choosing to comment on false rumors in an official and direct capacity, people will read into their lack of response if confronted with a true rumor, so it's one of those deals where they have to tread carefully. I suspect this is why Jill's deconfirmation of the rumor was so nonchalant and shitposty. I imagine he was trying to keep it low key instead of unintentionally making Valve obligated to answer rumors in the future. That, and as discussed, it was really something that only a niche of users were trying to read into - I [I]really[/I] don't feel that this necessitates some large, grand-standing apology from Jill and the others.[/QUOTE] Or maybe they can adopt a policy of transparency like almost every other gaming company these days.

You know what? Fuck this. It's all been lies, deceptions, smokes and mirrors. I don't even believe that Jill is a man anymore. HE MIGHT NOT EVEN BE HOT. I'm going to go to sleep now. Tomorrow (typically today, being 4:45 in the morning) is a new day of disappointment.

Like I know everyone is like lynch dane for saying that the update is today or something. but did he actually say that yea it's today or was it taken out of context? Edit: welp im fuckin blind. lemme just get 5 more pairs of glasses to fix my eyes