Artifact has lost over half its active playerbase in a week
113 replies, posted
Yeah, funny story similar to that:
In one of the first dota internationals, the winning team got some exclusive TF2 items as a bonus trophy.
The thing is apparently that those items have never actually been seen in TF2, as the Dota 2 players never played it.
I feel like this is a good step in the right direction in terms of communication
Valve is the biggest sellout in the industry
ah good old valve communication, only happens when shit is on fire.
Its bizarre that "we're going to keep working on the game don't worry" is even an announcement they feel they need to make in the weeks following the launch of a multiplayer only game but it guess it shows they may internally be aware of how dire things are currently.
thanks
Rockstar's a slightly different case though. They're not an independent developer - they're owned wholesale by Take-Two. Valve's descent into total greed is an entirely unique case in the industry, given that they're the only company of their size that is privately owned by a single individual. Also, they're in a position where they created the ultimate money printing press and could make and sell Half-LIfe 3 at a huge loss and still come out well into the black at the end of the fiscal year. Steam freed them to essentially do whatever the fuck they wanted without suffering any financial consequences - and they've responded by becoming consumed solely with making even more money.
Valve is probably the definitive example of our time at how bunk Randian Objectivism is. Given unlimited freedom and absolute freedom from any oversight or structure, Valve morphed not into the John- Galt-esque" utopia Ayn Rand envisioned, but a Lord of the Flies scenerio where the people who figure out the easiest, laziest ways to make more money control everything, and technical and artistic innovation are both squelched by pure greed. All of Valve's classic franchises are dead or languishing, every single original idea they have had since Portal has been canceled (Stars of Blood, the fantasy co-op game, etc), and Source 2 is likely never being released to the public. (If Gabe Newell's own fucking son couldn't get permission to build his game on Source 2, nobody is ever going to, mark my words.) But predictably, the single greediest idea for a game they have ever became their first full-fledged title that made it to release in six damn years.
Fucking what, somebody still plays L4D2? Wow.
At this rate, following couple of months, they will make Artifact f2p and reduce all associated costs as much as possible just to stay relevant. However, if this happens, im not entirely convinced that it will help Artifact the way Valve saved CSGO before,given the shitstorm it got, see e.g. Battlefront II
