Seriously, can this game get much more awesome?
Answer: Yes
But only with zombie strippers

Haha, that’s absolutely terrible! :D

I kind of understand, in a vague way, why you think that you have the right to expect that a game being heavily supported included making sure it’s got a thriving mod community.

I have no clue, however, where you derive that it is Valve’s responsibility to keep the player base for L4D, or for any game, high. That’s just, to me, extraordinarily silly.

Added on to this, of course, is that this is just a timing argument. Nobody is making the argument that they shouldn’t make a sequel. The only argument that’s being made is that the sequel is being made ‘too quickly’.

I’m not certain, again, why people think that there’s a specified amount of time that is supposed to pass before a sequel occurs, and that Valve is violating it. I guess it’s part of those people who consider sequels as supposed to be ‘better’, rather than supposed to be ‘different’– which isn’t the way I look at things.

I actually think that the outcome could be potentially worse than what Vinraith suggests, as some modders will stay with the original whilst others will move to the sequel and the same will happen to the play base. Neither will ever be able to thrive under those conditions and both games will eventually die out.

I think the best way for Valve to release this game would be with the original fully integrated. If you own the original you can buy it at a discounted price (£15-20) or if you don’t you buy the bundle which could be priced as a standard full price game (£30-35). That way there would be absolutely no split in the community, servers won’t have to double their efforts and modders would just have the single package to work with. I can’t really see anyone complaining about that.

Did you just compare advising a game company on how they could have avoided a PR mess to spousal abuse?

It’s pretty simple from my perspective: if they fail to support integration the playing and modding/mapmaking communities for L4D1 will die as a result of L4D2. People are saying “if you don’t like L4D2 don’t buy it, it’s not hurting you!” but rather clearly it would be under those circumstances. Taking a game and completely obliterating community support and available player base a meager year after its release is going to piss people off, and rightly so. When the company that does it promised significant, long standing support for the game in question it’s going to piss them off even more. When the company in question trades on its good reputation for supporting multiplayer games long into the future, it’s going to cost them that good reputation.

Some people don’t seem to understand why people are angry, I’m trying to help them (and Valve) understand. This has been a PR mess for Valve, they’ve gone from having a rabid fanbase to having a partially rabid fanbase (see RobF above) on one side and a horde of apostate detractors on the other. That’s not good for business, and it’s not good for gaming. When Chet’s running around insulting people with legitimate concerns, it only goes to exacerbate the problem.

“Well, I wouldn’t have had to hit you if you’d just do as you’re told, darling”

I’m sorry, but why do you feel that way? They both (I’m assuming) use the Source Engine, and porting stuff from one to the other should be, if not a breeze, then at least relatively simple. I’m not sure mods will just work out of the box– attention would have to be paid to where there was change– but unless they’re not actually using Source, it shouldn’t take that much work.

I’m not sure why you think people get screwed even if the worst case scenario occurs: where Valve says, “We’re not going to be even supporting modders for L4D anymore, or updating it at all.”

I haven’t encountered a single bug in the game (except hordefail, which is a necessary balance bug), it’s far more polished than the average AAA release, and I don’t feel it needs mods to keep it alive.

I’m really unsure why you think that both games need to be played from the same interface; it’s something not even all expansion packs have, and most mods don’t.

Now what I’m unclear on is what you mean by “in order for this to work”. It seems like you’re speaking half from the perspective of an individual gamer, and half from the perspective of someone giving business advice to Valve.