Half Life 3 WILL Release, Here's Why [VNN] - General

Valve isn't going to alienate the majority of HL's fanbase by making 3 a VR title. Not happening.

[QUOTE=Mio Akiyama;48297570]Wasn't it because Valve was moving away from that, so they weren't needed?[/QUOTE] They never asked, "hey stop working on AR and work on VR", because even though they focused on AR they were also helping out on the VR side of tech. Also it wasn't just hardware people that were fired at that time the part that was working on Android development. Those people could have been asked to move to the other OS in development or other parts of the game. And the second hit to hardware of abrash (who wasn't fired) hired off a huge chunk of the people still working on VR to Oculus, though can you blame them in having better job security for the same pay and good benefits. Good news is that valve hardware got a machinist a little while back (there was a problem in that they NEEDED one), got a guy from Alabama which orange county choppers was interested in. (I forget the details). The thing is about the massive layoffs, even the employees who were fired don't know why they were. Even the hardware people still might not know (I never asked them and probably under NDA officially), they only spectated that they were known to work more on the VR and controller.

They don't release games, they half-arse everything on Steam, its taken them years to properly permit the basic consumer right of refunds, and they're constantly trying to squeeze every penny out of what they have got released with things like ingame stores. I don't hate Valve but I see no reason to respect them as a paragon in the industry

[QUOTE=Flubbman;48297381]He also spread misinformation about TF2C which gave a lot of people the wrong idea about the project.[/QUOTE] Like what did he say? What happened?

[QUOTE=Super Muffin;48298498]Not really: - Sales (Prices / sale theme or game) get worse every year [/QUOTE] Over the past 5 years of summer sales, the sale prices have been the same or better. The theme is entirely subjective, I thought this year's summer sale theme was one of the best.

Not to mention it's entirely up to the devs to decide what sale will the game drop to. If they refuse to let Valve to go down to certain level, Valve can't do anything about it. See: GTAV not-sale.

Considering the amount of shit Valve's Steam department has caused. I don't know if I can support this game. But, fuck it, it's HL3. It's bound to be the good.

[QUOTE=Super Muffin;48298498]Not really: - Sales (Prices / sale theme or game) get worse every year - They continue to add things then never refine them (Steam Music, Steam Video Player) - Have only produced games with ingame transaction stores for five years. [Excluding Alien Swarm] (Which is apparently okay because Valve) - Release absolutely no information on Half Life 3. Fans resort to videos like these just to get what may feel like official information, proving Valve needs to communicate. It's been almost a decade. - Not allowing some developers who have already released a game on Steam to release new games to the store. They've been forced to go through Greenlight. Again. - No proper system of content control on Greenlight. (Which they will soon kill) - No proper quality control system for Early Access. We all know how good games on EA are phrased as "Really good for Early Access!" and not "A good game". - Releasing community content as paid DLC for their games. (e.g: CS:GO Operation Vanguard which is no longer for sale) - Resisting any form of refunds or resale for the entirety of Steam's existence, causing them to get hit by international litigation until they released refunds this year. - Have dropped support for some games entirely, leaving them with ridiculous bugs. (e.g: Dod:s was completely abandoned. Turning your flashlight on would crash the game for six months.) I like Valve's history as much as the next guy, but I'm not going to pretend they've done anything to earn my favor for the last decade. With the last almost decade and all this in mind I can't possibly get hyped for the next Half-Life.[/QUOTE] These are mostly problems in their Steam department, which is not composed of the same folk as the game departments. They haven't released any games in so long because the industry keeps leaping forward and they're trying to get ahead of the curve. They were a little too comfortable with Source in 2008

This guy has literally no ties with Valve and provides no sources, so I don't see why his word is any more credible than Funhaus's. His words are just words that people want to hear more. Including me.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, [I]speculation is not news. It's an essay.[/I] This video, and Funhaus' + their source which is so painfully obvious to not be a Valve Employee, are just speculative sources and should not be taken so factually. The only fact we have is what we know previously (which is that HL3 has been worked on in the past, and the emails we've received.) Let's not lose our heads here folks.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;48298574]On the other hand this is another kind of bullshit. Where were you when they introduced refunds for which everyone is eligible without having to as much as give a reason until 2 hours of gameplay? Where have you been when that change made them fucking take Batman out of the store because of it?[/QUOTE] Are you forgetting the fact that it took like, a decade for Valve to implement a decent refund system? And they still have terrible customer service.

I believe every word than man just said, because it is exactly what I wanted to hear.

[QUOTE=Keychain;48298735]This guy has literally no ties with Valve and provides no sources, so I don't see why his word is any more credible than Funhaus's. His words are just words that people want to hear more. Including me.[/QUOTE] :clickbait:

[QUOTE=thrawn2787;48298158]- "Valve employees get to work on whatever they want" - that is probably true up to a point. If a project is far enough along I'm willing to bet Valve will [I]strongly encourage [/I]people to switch to it if they need more people on it. - "Valve's desks have wheels" - there was a very disgruntled ex-Valve employee who mentioned this was just "company cool-aid/propaganda" and never actually used in the office. - "Well documented this freedom exists" - only by the company handbook. I've never really seen employees talk about it besides the disgruntled one above. That clip of Chet Faliszek doesn't really support this either as he isn't exactly a generic Valve employee. - I don't think Valve is dumb enough to make HL3 VR only. Not everyone will shell out $500 (or whatever) for a Vive on top of their gaming PCs just to play it. - "Valve working towards profit is not how Valve works at all" - except that is how Valve works. Valve are "innovators" and they only "innovate" when there's money to be had. HL1 was made because Gabe saw that DOOM was more popular than Microsoft Windows. Since their experiment with microtransactions I don't think Valve is interested in making traditional games at all anymore (they've even done interviews as such - there has to be some multiplayer component (where in they can put microtransactions)). Portal 2 was probably Valve's last traditional game. They attempted to have an online store but it did extremely poorly. Not to mention what the hell is innovative about Dota 2? F2P moba with microtransactions and steam workshop - nothing new here. But there is a shit load of money. While I don't think the original story is that trustworthy this guy is just making shit up too. Fact is no one knows what is going on with HL3 except Valve - and Valve are fine keeping it that way.[/QUOTE] I hate mentioning my visit so much but I've seen the those desks wheeled around. When my family visited Valve, we saw this guy with his desk full of random hardware and wires all of his desk wheeling over to where we eventually saw the HTC Vive and the Steam controller. More importantly, while all of the areas dedicated to TF2, DOTA, etc, are adorned with fan submissions and stuff like that, that's it. Nothing looks permanent. If you were at Valve, you'd see how eerily blank everything seems. Everything is on wheels. Everything looks as if it's constantly repurposed.

a lot of it sounds like wishful thinking "guy at valve says fear doesn't influence decisions so this [I]completely debunks[/I] the theory that valve is afraid of releasing half life 3" no it doesn't? who's to say that wasn't mostly just PR talk? or wishful thinking of his own? or that fear of backlash might not influence whether or not they're working in the game but IS influencing the massive delay?

More than excitement, when HL3 is announced I'll be absolutely paralyzed with shock. It's been so long it doesn't even seem real anymore, like it was always just a fairy tale.

Shit, I thought "Valve News Network" actually had some affiliation with Valve for a second. But VNN still didn't appear go out on a limb with "secret sources" from what I listened? More like something that anyone could conclude from listening/reading everything that Valve has ever said about the issue (also when talking about other issues) in chronological order. Anyways, as Valve and in fact Gabe himself has said, everything they do comes down to the question "Is it a good idea?" and particularly when. And right now, as clearly evident, VR is one of the things that we know that Valve finds a good idea to invest in. And they've been open about it, because it's probably the next big thing. Valve has always been like this, innovative across the board from beginning continuing to this day. When you look at it, we don't really know about [I]any[/I] of their future game development plans, unless again they are certain it's a good idea that we should know specifically what's going on with which franchise next, and be shown bunch of cool stuff/news about it. So, we can pretty much conclude HL3 hasn't been considered a "good idea" for quite some time now since so little word on it, due to how the winds have been blowing. However it doesn't mean it's never going to be made. And it's almost certain there is at least [i]some[/i] progress made on HL3 already, which may as well date back to around HL2/Episodes being made. As far as I'm concerned nobody really knows. HL is still one of their games, and it's certainly not cancelled nor finished if we're anything to go by here.

While I feel this video is closer to the truth than Funhaus', I feel like towards the end of the video the dude started to get more and more in to a passionate fanboy mode than being objective, right around talking about how Valve doesn't 'need money'. Valve might not need money, but that doesn't stop them from pursuing it anyway. Corporations don't just go "Hey, we have enough money, let's just dick around!" The pursuit of money for a corporation is [I]endless.[/I] Money and what will make money will always be on their minds. Anyway, as for the video as a whole, the thing that bothers me most is that the perspective the guy talks from, that everything that Valve ever says is word of God 100 percent whole truth. In reality, this is written from the perspective of what [I]we[/I] know. He takes things for granted, like 'wheeling around different projects', that might not actually even be the case, but just something that Valve tells us because it's good for PR. Valve might want to cultivate that air that it's this free relaxed but super efficient different company that promotes creative genius and worker freedom, but it could just be that; air. It's entirely possible that the company does not work like they tell us they do. I'm not saying they do or don't, I'm saying we're taking their word wholly for granted when we shouldn't be. And judging from some points people brought up earlier in the thread, it [I]is[/I] the case that there [I]are[/I] discrepancies between what Valve tells us is going on and what is actually going on. I feel like the pursuit of money is becoming Valve's primary goal now. It has been a very long time since Valve has made a significant game that [I]wasn't[/I] either a multiplayer focused experience or filled with micro-transactions, or both. I feel like Half Life 3 will be got out of the way eventually or possibly never depending on what Valve decides they want to do. But I'm not about to go make a YouTube video parading around that it's 'news' that I think it's in a state of flux because Valve's more interested in money these days than anything else. The Funhaus video was speculation, this video is speculation. I know the channel in general is supposed to be about news, but, at least say that this is speculation or put a disclaimer instead of talking about this all like it's objective fact.

[QUOTE=Mister Sandman;48299989]While I feel this video is closer to the truth than Funhaus', I feel like towards the end of the video the dude started to get more and more in to a passionate fanboy mode than being objective, right around talking about how Valve doesn't 'need money'. Valve might not need money, but that doesn't stop them from pursuing it anyway. Corporations don't just go "Hey, we have enough money, let's just dick around!" The pursuit of money for a corporation is [I]endless.[/I] Money and what will make money will always be on their minds.[/QUOTE] I think what he was trying to convey was that they've got money secured with TF2, CS:GO, etc. He just said it in a sappy way.

One day, we'll all look back at our comments about the game and laugh.

The only reason why I'd be compelled to believe that they wouldn't make and release any new installements in the Half-life series is because of just how well [B]Steam[/B] took off; it essentially is their major source of income. However the fact that they still have a huge amount of staff working in various RnD, are making their own VR Headset, AND have a brand new source engine and complementary development kit, the potential is there to fill the flagship role of demonstrating their new tech with a HL game, just as they have in the past. However they have brand new IP's like Left 4 Dead which could fill the roll, or simply use the tech just for Dota 2, OR even just porting over older games like TF2 (which is 8 years old already and on its last pair of legs). But I agree that it would make sense to use the headset and VR in general as the "hot new technical video game enhancement", which isn't really befitting of a MOBA and more so of an FPS a la Half life. I used to think that valve was afraid of making a new one because of how long its been and because of having a convoluted story since the integration with the Portal franchies, but those emails in the video changed my opinion on that

It is a fever dream of the community that half life 3 will be the most perfect, beautiful, amazing game in the entire world forever. In fact, that's sort of the joke, just like it was for duke nukem forever. I remember how that turned out, and it still gets mocked to this day, though it's somewhat forgotten. The sad truth is, nobody except valve has any idea of the status of half life 3, and the enigma seems to be what's keeping people attached to it. Sort of like an urban legend or myth, the fun is in speculation and wonder, rather than the actual product. I don't know how truthful either of these two videos are, so i've taken to them both with a grain of salt until there's official comment on them from an official source, not "my dad works at nintendo". That aside, I wonder what will happen whenever it does get released. Only time can tell, I suppose.

[QUOTE=thrawn2787;48298158]- "Valve employees get to work on whatever they want" - that is probably true up to a point. If a project is far enough along I'm willing to bet Valve will [I]strongly encourage [/I]people to switch to it if they need more people on it. - "Valve's desks have wheels" - there was a very disgruntled ex-Valve employee who mentioned this was just "company cool-aid/propaganda" and never actually used in the office. - "Well documented this freedom exists" - only by the company handbook. I've never really seen employees talk about it besides the disgruntled one above. That clip of Chet Faliszek doesn't really support this either as he isn't exactly a generic Valve employee. - I don't think Valve is dumb enough to make HL3 VR only. Not everyone will shell out $500 (or whatever) for a Vive on top of their gaming PCs just to play it. - "Valve working towards profit is not how Valve works at all" - except that is how Valve works. Valve are "innovators" and they only "innovate" when there's money to be had. HL1 was made because Gabe saw that DOOM was more popular than Microsoft Windows. Since their experiment with microtransactions I don't think Valve is interested in making traditional games at all anymore (they've even done interviews as such - there has to be some multiplayer component (where in they can put microtransactions)). Portal 2 was probably Valve's last traditional game. They attempted to have an online store but it did extremely poorly. Not to mention what the hell is innovative about Dota 2? F2P moba with microtransactions and steam workshop - nothing new here. But there is a shit load of money. While I don't think the original story is that trustworthy this guy is just making shit up too. Fact is no one knows what is going on with HL3 except Valve - and Valve are fine keeping it that way.[/QUOTE] Why does in "internet rumors" vs official handbook, video clip of chet ... does internet rumors come out on top? Have some more, [url]http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/abrash/valve-how-i-got-here-what-its-like-and-what-im-doing-2/[/url] [editline]27th July 2015[/editline] Everybody who works in videogames, do it because they are passionate about it, its stressful, its hard, and doesn't pay nearly as well as any comparable sectors. Its anything but stable, and completely normal for a company to hire 20-30 people a year before shipping a project, and then firing them the day they ship. The people who work at valve come from the same industry and aren't an exception.

[QUOTE=PelPix123;48301271]His argument is basically "The next HL game isn't out yet because the HL series is basically a series of tech demos and Valve wants to make the next HL game a VR tech demo." He's right.[/QUOTE] According to Gabe, he is not. [QUOTE] We aren't holding any game until VR is shipping. You don't want to create that kind of dependency.[/QUOTE] [url]https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1zkfmv/wearea_videogame_developer_aua/cfufwky[/url]

[QUOTE=Valiantttt;48297995] I really don't hope it will become VR cause I still see VR as a big gimmick that you have to buy devices for and there has been nothing to convince me otherwise so far.[/QUOTE] Yeah and in a couple of years people are going to laugh at people saying this because it's like saying you don't want a PS4/Xbone(etc) because you don't want to buy an HDMI compatible TV. [editline]27th July 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Wowza!;48301673]According to Gabe, he is not. [url]https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1zkfmv/wearea_videogame_developer_aua/cfufwky[/url][/QUOTE] Your point is implying that Half-life 3 would be finished before the Vive ships. [editline]27th July 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Gamerman12;48298777]I've said it before and I'll say it again, [I]speculation is not news. It's an essay.[/I] [/QUOTE] Have you never heard of a speculative news piece?

[QUOTE=PelPix123;48301271]His argument is basically "The next HL game isn't out yet because the HL series is basically a series of tech demos and Valve wants to make the next HL game a VR tech demo." He's right.[/QUOTE] They're not tech demos though, but yes you could definitely see it that way. Valve VR debuting with HL3 would be fucking nuts. Especially if it all just worked, and we'd be immersed in the story-driven FPS once more, this time with VR-shits on our heads.. which I've also found myself slightly skeptical of (the whole VR-way of playing) or.. well, mostly the controls for fluid gameplay. I see a question mark there.

The VR + killer app theory actually makes a lot of sense, however I still think a killer app for both VR + Source 2 would be L4D3, however we'll see

Sorry but I'd take a sea of gore and endless hordes of zombies in VR over HL3 any day.

[QUOTE=fruxodaily;48301890]The VR + killer app theory actually makes a lot of sense, however I still think a killer app for both VR + Source 2 would be L4D3, however we'll see[/QUOTE] L4D3 makes the most sense, it's an easy game to jump in and jump out, but doesn't rely on using high speed movement like TF2.

[QUOTE=IrishBandit;48298674]Over the past 5 years of summer sales, the sale prices have been the same or better. The theme is entirely subjective, I thought this year's summer sale theme was one of the best.[/QUOTE] They've also been allowing more and more draconian measures by developers such as increasing prices and then accounting for price drops.