By John Walker on September 11th, 2009 at 8:49 am.
The Boycott Left 4 Dead 2 campaign has taken some very strange turns in the last few days. You may well have heard the remarkable story of Valve flying two of the campaign’s figureheads to visit their Seattle HQ last week. Walking_Target and Agent of Chaos were flown to the developers and shown the game running, as well as given behind-the-scenes access to the continuing development of the original L4D. And it seems to have made a difference. You can read their reaction to the trip here (and of course the furious reaction of others). Then the story gets more strange.
So these two vociferous boycotters wrote after their trip,
“We can definitely say that support for L4D is NOT being dropped by Valve and that they are actively pursuing bug fixes for Left 4 Dead. We’re going to continue to talk to Valve and ask questions as needed, however if the frantic pace which we had seen people working at is any indication, we’re not going to be left in the dust. The staff seemed to honestly love the original 4 Survivors and many said that ‘we’re not done with them yet’.”
It’s a magical story. These ‘Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott Staff’ also reported that the sequel is not the rush job they’d been campaigning against.
“As for L4D2, things seemed balanced and ‘tight’ and did not feel like a rushed job. While we were visiting their offices we personally witnessed what can only be called a small army of artists, coders, mappers hard at work, which explains the rapid transformations in artwork that we’ve all seen. What we can say with confidence is that the quality of gameplay in Left 4 Dead 2 is not in question; and it will only get better (from what we understand, almost daily testing of game builds by most of the staff at Valve).”
Now clearly this isn’t going to appease everyone, and of course many others in the group now feel betrayed by this apparent about-face. But this isn’t a post about them, or what happened there. It’s about what happened next.
Australian L4D modder Joe decided this was decidedly unfair. He’s been making Valve game-based mods for a while, but has never once been flown to visit Valve. He wrote to Gabe Newell to demand that this be changed in light of his currently in development L4D1 map.
And received this reply:
This took Joe by surprise. He realised the tables had been turned, and wrote back:
It seems he does. And not just Gabe. Erik Johnson too.
So rather brilliantly, Joe has now begun a fund-raising scheme to raise the money needed to fly Gabe and Erik out to Brisbane, Australia. Hopefully if they play his mod they’ll change their minds and call off their boycott.
He’s at $400 so far, which isn’t really close to the amount needed to fly Mr Newell in the aerial accommodation to which he’s likely accustomed, let alone Mr Johnson too. Come on everyone, let’s donate! Let’s make this happen! Paypal donations can be made on Joe’s site, and he promises to return the money if Gabe and Erik change their minds.
Will Gabe be creating a Steam group and printing his own t-shirts? So far this information has not come to light, but it can only be a matter of time. Thanks to Nicholas for the tip.
11/09/2009 at 09:06 Captain Haplo says:
I live in Brisbane! The idea of Gabe Newell being closer than Seattle warms my heart.
11/09/2009 at 09:08 Blast Hardcheese says:
I would totally buy that T-shirt.
Y’know, the theoretical one that you said at the very end, since the boycott thing never mattered to me.
11/09/2009 at 09:09 Idle Threats and Bad Poetry says:
See, this is why I love Valve. They may make a decision that causes a whine storm once and a while (oops, did I say that?), but they’ve got personality and they do a lot for the community.
11/09/2009 at 09:09 Rinox says:
Awesome stuff!! If I had a Paypal account I’d donate a buck.
11/09/2009 at 09:12 Vinraith says:
It’s hard to stay mad at a company once it’s no longer a faceless organization and instead is a (very friendly) set of faces that is kind enough to fly you in to look around. This is the first savvy PR thing Valve’s done in this mess, but I don’t think it’ll get them quite the mileage they expect. The fundamental issue (L4D is too short on content) doesn’t sound like it’s being addressed at all.
I’m not sure following that up by mocking the boycott is all that bright, but it’s certainly consistent with their handling of the situation.
I wish Joe luck, certainly the mod community is doing a lot more for L4D these days than Valve is (or is ever likely to).
11/09/2009 at 09:18 subediii says:
The hilarious thing about those two boycott leaders is that they’re now being tagged as “sell outs” by members of their own group.
I’m actually pretty amazed that LaCabra’s raised $400 in just a day though (two days?). Guess Gabe’s going to Brisbane whether he likes it or not.
11/09/2009 at 09:20 sigma83 says:
People will often be silly for absolutely no reason at all. I blame the lack of critical thinking.
11/09/2009 at 09:35 Lack_26 says:
What ever happened to the days where developers could some bug-fixes and provide a good SDK and they would be praised in their work to support their game?
11/09/2009 at 09:38 Schmung says:
This is brilliant. I bet the amount of rage on the steam forums is pretty impressive.
cuh, now everyone will be trying to get Valve to fly out and have a look at their mods. Time to put a paypal on the front page I guess..
11/09/2009 at 09:41 Jayt says:
I live in Brisbane… DO IT
11/09/2009 at 09:44 Liatach says:
@captainhaplo
As do I, sentiment Seconded.
11/09/2009 at 09:46 Lukasz says:
Man. I love the internet.
11/09/2009 at 09:48 Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
Let’s fly them around the globe…Europe, anyone? Well, the only flaw might be that it may delay Ep. 3/HL3 (…) by another ten years…But who would in conscious mind cared about that? >.>
11/09/2009 at 09:51 Catastrophe says:
It sounds to me like they’ve got some lackies to grab the 2 peeps, threw em into a van, drove to airport, flew them to HQ, tied them to a seat and tortured them into submission.
Or L4D2 is actually good.
11/09/2009 at 09:55 Mr Pink says:
This is so awesome. Although the amount of anger from the rest of the boycott group is slightly scary.
11/09/2009 at 09:58 espy says:
Nearly fell over laughing :D
11/09/2009 at 10:00 nine says:
This could be brilliant.
11/09/2009 at 10:08 Scalene says:
By the way: Here’s Joe’s L4D campaign, since silly Mr. Walker didn’t link to the campaign, which is absolutely mind-blowing:
http://joesmoddingmenagerie.blogspot.com/
11/09/2009 at 10:08 pepper says:
Hehe, they have humour.
11/09/2009 at 10:17 gulag says:
Watching the Internet Angry Men (L4D2 Makes Me Angry Chapter) tear into each other on the forums is a real treat.
11/09/2009 at 10:27 Fede says:
He’s posting all the donations on the comments. Look at this:
This is Robin Walker, from Valve. The rest of us at Valve would sure appreciate a couple of days without Erik around, so thanks for organising this!
Quick question though: if I donated more, would you buy a one-way ticket for him?
Robin.
11/09/2009 at 10:29 Hmm-Hmm. says:
But.. eh.. what have Valve really shown the L4D crowd? You know, just askin’.
11/09/2009 at 10:35 JuJuCam says:
I feel I’ve basically missed the boat on L4D and am probably going to jump on board L4D2 because everything about it intrigues me.
11/09/2009 at 10:39 Lukasz says:
I just donated 10 bucks. the whole situation is worth two beers!
11/09/2009 at 10:42 frags says:
New steam group created ‘Boycott Valve Boycotting Joe’s Custom Campaign’
11/09/2009 at 10:45 vasagi says:
Valve=funny fuckers
11/09/2009 at 10:45 phil says:
By god, Valve are my favourite corporate developers by a country mile, EA/Sony/Ubisoft’s fan engagement seems to consist of marketing fluff and legal threats, Valve seem… human.
11/09/2009 at 10:50 gobion says:
I’ve donated $10 this whole thing amuses me and Valve’s reaction gives me a pleasant warm feeling :)
11/09/2009 at 11:05 Lukasz says:
lol. Gobion is your real name?
Hope they will reach the target and valve will fly to Australia!
11/09/2009 at 11:17 Ian says:
I love the smell of boycott AIMs in the morning.
11/09/2009 at 11:21 Dominic White says:
Hats off to Valve. They’ve taken possibly one of the most incompehensibly angry things in internet history, and turned it into whimsical comedy through a mix of clever PR and just being nice/daft.
It also makes anyone still furious about L4D2 look rather silly. Well, more silly than before. Which was very.
11/09/2009 at 11:23 Christian says:
So…just that I understand:
There is a bunch of people complaining that L4D will be dropped in favor of all new-and-shiny L4D2.
So Valve listens to those people, invites the two organizers over and shows them around and also shows them that L4D still is strong and will continue to get support.
So basically what these people have wanted, what this whole thing is about, right?
So, instead of saying “Hooray, we truly have achieved something today!” they are complaining and whining and are angry.
What the f**k do these people want? Is it just about being angry? Seems so, because the original topic has been dealt with..
Sometimes, the internet scares me a bit..but I still can point my finger at them and have a nice laugh :)
Or am I missing something here?
11/09/2009 at 11:23 Rinox says:
Hey, this interesting piece of info in the (former) boycotter’s post hasn’t been highlighted here yet:
The good news: 4v4 matchmaking is supposed to drop before the release of Left 4 Dead 2.
W00t!
11/09/2009 at 11:48 Dzamir says:
I donated 2$. :-)
11/09/2009 at 11:56 Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
I donated 2 dollars as well :)
11/09/2009 at 12:11 The Hammer says:
Ahahahahaha.
This is hilarious news. I totally didn’t expect that.
11/09/2009 at 12:29 itsallcrap says:
So, they got to see the inner workings of Valve by organising a boycott against them?
Who wants to start a ‘Boycott Mila Kunis’ campaign with me?
11/09/2009 at 12:33 Biorbio says:
What the f**k do these people want? Is it just about being angry? Seems so, because the original topic has been dealt with..
Seems like it’s part angry brainless mob, part having a sense of community and belonging. They probably also feel they would lose face if they admitted there was no cause for the uproar to begin with.
11/09/2009 at 12:37 The_B says:
I think we should ignore the petty fools clinging on to their original boycott and concentrate solely on the crazy-loveliness of this story.
11/09/2009 at 12:40 PHeMoX says:
“See, this is why I love Valve. They may make a decision that causes a whine storm once and a while (oops, did I say that?), but they’ve got personality and they do a lot for the community.”
That’s nuts. They don’t do a lot for the community at all, they do as they please basically. I’m sure Left 4 Dead is basically just something to keep us busy anyways.
Are they still working on HL2: Episode 3? Who knows? Who cares?
I hope they stop their madness and start working on HL3.
11/09/2009 at 12:49 TotalBiscuit says:
Well played you magnificent bastards. It’s the perfect crime, it decapitates the boycott movement by turning it against itself, shows it to be the angry, unruly, brainless mob of manchildren that we always knew they were and makes Valve look funny, down-to-earth and magnanimous at the same time.
As we all suspected, the boycott movement has no interest in campaigning for the resolution of issues, the vast majority of them simply want to be angry at something. Reminds me of the healthcare bigots over in the States right now. At least nobody’s going to die as a result of this.
11/09/2009 at 12:58 Mark says:
I’m finding it hard to imagine a bigger bunch of ungrateful whiney nerds.
Valve made an awesome game that sold and people played heavily and all they get is crap for wanting to make a sequel to their awesome game. So what if you -want- or even expected more content – I bet half the boycotters have got dozens or hundreds of hundreds of hours of play out of the game. It’s no like the game is unplayable and desperate for a patch.
Valve give gamers more than 99% of the other developers out there and in the process they’ve attracted a vocal bunch of ungrateful twats.
11/09/2009 at 12:59 Diji says:
I got to be the first Daniel, and got Kieron’s name right above mine. This is indeed a great victory for me.
11/09/2009 at 13:07 vasagi says:
Keiron gillen now officaly better than john walker it would appear.
11/09/2009 at 13:14 jalf says:
@Mark: Ah yes, the wonderful old strawman argument which has absolutely nothing to do with why people are upset. Well done. You’re almost as good as Valve at this.
If I were to buy a new car, the company delivered me a bike, and I got hundreds of hours of use out of it, does that mean I wouldn’t have a case for complaining? The problem is not whether L4D was a good game, or even whether L4D2 will be a good game. The problem is that many people bought the game because of promises made by Valve which have still not been fulfilled. They said the product was something it was not.
Anyway, like TotalBiscuit said, well played, Valve. They knew the people in the boycott group are apparently total morons, and used that to their advantage. And suddenly they’ve decapitated the group.
Just sucks for the rest of us who aren’t dumb enough to jump on the boycott wagon, but still think Valve screwed their customers.
11/09/2009 at 13:26 Shadow says:
“itsallcrap says:
[...]
Who wants to start a ‘Boycott Mila Kunis’ campaign with me?”
I will :D, one question though, who gets to test out her “gameplay” first?
11/09/2009 at 13:32 Vivian says:
Reading peoples inappropriate rage on this issue is like putting on special glasses that let me see what I’m like about bioshock. Shit.
11/09/2009 at 13:37 Dominic White says:
@Jalf – so, when the heads of the hilariously angry boycott group say that Valve are still hard at work supporting L4D1, you think they’re lying? If not, then how are Valve screwing anyone?
11/09/2009 at 13:38 Malagate says:
@Shadow, I’d be worried about such a boycott, especially as itsallcrap kind of intimates you’d be doing it to see the “inner workings” of Milk Kunis. Celebrity evisceration is not my cup of tea (usually).
11/09/2009 at 13:42 cyrenic says:
I demand a flight out to Seattle, and a kiss from Gabe when I get there.
11/09/2009 at 13:52 Mark says:
@jalf: You’re talking shit, no two ways about it. 99% of people bought the game because they saw it in gamestop, read a good review, saw an advert, a friend reccomended it to them – whatever. Your “many” people who bought the game because of “promises” from valve are a tiny tiny minority. The reality is the vast majority of probably even those in the boycott group would have bought the game long before they learned of the extra “promised” stuff.
The fact is the community got its hopes up that is was going to get more than they really were. We still got a fucking ace game that everyone has played tonnes that has been heavily supported since its release. The boycotters are fickle, ungrateful geeks with a hillarious-to-watch sense of entitlement.
Keep throwing poo at valve if you like though. I’m sure most of them find it pretty amusing, as the rest of us do.
11/09/2009 at 13:52 Subjective Effect says:
What the f**k do these people want? Is it just about being angry? Seems so, because the original topic has been dealt with..
Seems this post and the commentators have missed the fact that this is all a joke that Valve and Joe are acting out for the lols.
11/09/2009 at 13:52 Whiskey Jak says:
So once again, it has been proved that all this whining and complaining was for absolutely nothing and simply gave a corporation (that I like and appreciate very much) used to get good PR.
Valve: a Gazillions points. Angry Group of Whiners: 0
11/09/2009 at 13:57 jalf says:
@Dominic White: I’m just saying that Valve is essentially just repeating the same promises they made before launch. The reason people are upset is that we haven’t seen those promises materialize into actual updates to the game. So what difference does it make that Valve *repeats* those promises once again? The situation is the same. Valve still hasn’t *delivered* what they said they’d deliver. If you’re going to boycott L4D2 at all, then surely you should do it until they’ve *delivered* on their promises, not just until they say “oh yeah, about those promises… yeah, we still want to do that, just not today”.
No, I don’t think the boycott heads “lied” to anyone. I think they’re just parroting what Valve told them. Which is what I find amazingly dumb, since Valve is just saying what they’ve always said. Nothing has changed. Valve is saying what they always said, and they’re still not delivering what they said they’d deliver. I think most of the people in the boycott group expected more than a renewal of the promise for L4D updates. I think they expected *actual* updates.
Then again, the boycott group was ridiculous from the start. They tried to incorporate pretty much everything Valve has ever done, including all the 14 different reasons why different people are upset about L4D2, including both the one or two meaningful reasons, and the countless flawed ones.
They never seemed to know what they wanted, or what they were angry about, and now Valve has shut them up.
To answer your question, Valve screwed their customers by saying that if you bought L4D, you’d get something you never got. Yes, they may, at some point in the future, deliver what they said they’d deliver, and yes, they may even be working on it now (they may even, if we stretch ourselves a bit, have been working on it all along, rather than starting on it a month or two ago when they discovered that people were unhappy about L4D being left for dead)
But until now, they still have not delivered what, for some, was the reason for buying the game in the first place. (And if we take their promises literally, then it is now *impossible* for them to deliver on their promises, because one of the promises was that these updates would be delivered quickly, and at a faster pace than TF2 updates.)
Not delivering what people paid for is, as I understand the word, “screwing your customers”.
11/09/2009 at 14:11 Biorbio says:
@Subjective Effect: They’re not referring to Joe and Gabe.
11/09/2009 at 14:13 jalf says:
Why is it that in this thread, the pro-Valve camp is the one acting most like Angry Internet Men?
Does it matter?
Is a company allowed to screw over 1% of their customers?
My issue is not whether or not the majority of L4D owners are happy. But I think companies should play fair. I think companies should be honest to their customers. People were generally happy to let Bernard Madoff steal their money too. I don’t think that makes it ok.
Is it so crazy to expect a company to deliver to their customers what they paid for? If I were to buy a 500GB harddrive, the manufacturer takes my money and send me a 400GB disk instead, should I just let it pass because “eh, I didn’t need more than 400GB anyway”? That may be true, but I still paid for 500GB, and in not delivering that to me, the company screwed me over.
Whether or not your customers are happy to be screwed over doesn’t matter.
Yes, many, but not all. But does it make a difference? Is a company not obliged to deliver what people paid for, whether or not people would’ve been satisfied by less?
I don’t understand why. If I say “Give me $50 and I’ll give you A in return”, you give me $50 and I then give you B instead, then I think you have the right to be upset. Your sense of entitlement is perfectly justified. You were promised that you’d get something different for your money. The B might be super awesome, sure, but it’s still not what I said you’d get when you paid me. It doesn’t matter if 99.999% of my customers are happy with the B. It was still false advertising. I still lied to my customers.
Ah, delicious irony. I must say I find your self-righteous fanboyism amusing as well. Especially because you, who are so exceedingly happy with your purchase, still seems to be the one bursting with anger at these ungrateful people who dare to criticize your heroes.
Honestly, I’d take you a lot more serious if you weren’t the one coming across as an angry, whining, complaining geek.
11/09/2009 at 14:21 Wounder says:
Where… and I’m not saying it’s not there, I’m asking in earnest… did Valve promise to deliver something that’s not currently already in L4D1? And was there a timeline associated with that promise… as in, “by August 2009, we’ll have five new campaigns, a new set of survivors and a bunch of gameplay tweaks”?
11/09/2009 at 14:24 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Why do people have a tendency to confuse future plans with personal pledges of undying commitment?
11/09/2009 at 14:25 Ian says:
@ jalf: Did it say on the box/download page/whatever that for your $x that there’d be future content?
The whole 500GB/400GB hard drive comparison isn’t the same thing at all.
11/09/2009 at 14:25 Diogo Ribeiro says:
@Wounder: No. People just like to think there was such a promise.
11/09/2009 at 14:28 Martin Coxall says:
If L4D2 is more than DLC for L4D, why does it look exactly like DLC for L4D?
11/09/2009 at 14:28 Ffitz says:
Haha Jalf. Marvellous. Well done.
11/09/2009 at 14:30 Martin Coxall says:
Also, “bugfixes”?
That’s all Valve are working on for L4D? Fixing bugs they should have fixed a year ago? Pathetic.
11/09/2009 at 14:35 Lukasz says:
@Meat Circus:
why is that every single msg of yours is full of negativity and anger?
It is really hard to pay attention to you.
11/09/2009 at 14:37 Zeb says:
jalf- hang on a second – call me a blithering old nincompoop here, but isn’t there a new l4d campaign about to be released later this month? And what was the survival pack if not dlc delivered free-gratis to the loyal fans / baying masses? What exactly is it that valve isn’t doing?
peaces!
11/09/2009 at 14:39 TotalBiscuit says:
@Martin Coxall – Probably because anyone who judges a game based purely on how it looks is pretty damn stupid? Yes, that does mean you.
Debunk the Episode 1, 2 and 3 being described by Valve as ‘Half Life 3′ and the hundreds of other sequels that have looked very similar to the originals bar some updated graphics, monsters, weapons and maps and then we can talk. Until then, your so-called precedent and by extension your nerdrage, is meaningless.
11/09/2009 at 14:47 Greg Wild says:
@Meat Circus: The sheer level of content is easily double that of L4D, if not more. You honestly expect Valve to commit its whole content design team to adding to L4D for free/cheap considering the level of work is apparently (and if the visiting boycotters are right, evidently) that of a new retail release?
That just self-righteous, greedy nonsense. Valve have bills to pay, too, you know.
11/09/2009 at 14:47 Noc says:
Also, it’s pretty clear from the post that it’s bugfixes and new content.
But since the continued prevalence of bugs was one of the reasons people thought that L4D support was being dropped, they showed the boycott team that they were, in fact, working on ironing the bugs out. As well as working on new content, and such.
And presumably their new confidence in L4D2 is due to, after having played the damn thing, being satisfied that it’s not just L4D DLC wrapped in money. Which seems to be the entire point of the exercise, really.
11/09/2009 at 15:03 Matt says:
@ Greg Wild:
Not siding one way or the other, but it “double the content” accurate? Technically, if they replace 4 survivors with 4 other survivors, you get the same amount of content, no? Being able to choose 8 survivor models among 4 players would be closer to double content… or am I looking at it the wrong way… If I buy a can of Pepsi, and then I buy a Sprite, the Sprite isn’t double the content of the Pepsi. They’re both awesome drinks, but quantitatively they are equal, unless I got both for a 2 for 1 deal… right?
11/09/2009 at 15:03 Ian says:
The best part is where the L4D2 boycott leaders went from justified, rational crusaders fighting for the common man to brainwashed sell-outs who couldn’t find their arses with both hands.
11/09/2009 at 15:06 phuzz says:
So the last post on Mr Joe’s site says he’s going to bed, which I assume was a while ago, and since then, RPS has posted about him and by the looks of things lots of people here have given him money (those who aren’t trying to kill each other while not in the game, sillies!).
I now imagine him waking up tomorrow, checking his pay pal and finding 000′s of dollars (in my mind, he falls off his chair with a big grin on his face).
Can’t wait for the next entry in this soap opera :)
11/09/2009 at 15:08 CJohnson03 says:
This is hilarious, who else thinks it’s awesome that Gabe actually finds time to respond to fan emails, and does so in hilarious fashion?
11/09/2009 at 15:09 Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
I’m probably repeating someone else, but I don’t have the time to read it all:
1. One of the reasons why they will release a new game instead of a DLC (apart from being far too big for a DLC) is there just MUST be the prediction that such a gameplay changing DLC would displease many players irreversibly, so there wouldn’t be enough players to play with (~bad for newcomers). Hence the compatibility of these two titles.
2. People keep comparing TF2 and L4D, but it’s different. TF2 is more of an ad for Valve and it works as a f2p MMO (Guild Wars/APB style) just without the hub cities, shops etc.; the way L4D is constructed does not allow that, so it might end up in a loss (or it already did).
11/09/2009 at 15:11 Alaric says:
This whole affair is win.
11/09/2009 at 15:15 John Walker says:
Let’s have this thread dedicated to discussing the story of Joe and Gabe, and not yet more discussion over L4D2 not being free enough, eh?
Take it to the forum, or any of the 90238342234912378324634 other places where it’s happening. It makes me want to be dead, and I’d prefer to be alive.
11/09/2009 at 15:19 Matt says:
Sorry John. :(
11/09/2009 at 15:20 Duffin says:
I am not a boycotter, or ever was…. but from a boycott perspective I don’t see how this changes anything. They have still made no concrete anouncements about L4D and I don’t see how stating “they are actively pursuing bug fixes for Left 4 Dead” changes anything. The boycotters want more CONTENT simple as, if Valve just came out and said, “yeh we are planning full size campaigns as DLC in addition to Crash Course” that would calm alot of angry men, but still they haven’t. If anything this is only going to stir boycotters up even more.
Don’t get me wrong, I am eagerly looking foward to L4D2 but Crash Course certainly looks like something jumbled together since the boycott movement started and conveniently labelled as making Versus mode more accesible in order to cover the fact its actually not even half a campaign in length.
11/09/2009 at 15:20 DarkNoghri says:
@Wounder
http://www.videogamer.com/news/valve_details_post_left_4_dead_launch_plans.html
“Valve intends to support hotly anticipated zombie survival shooter Left 4 Dead post-release with new characters, new maps, new achievements and new weapons in order to grow the community, Gabe Newell has revealed.”
Thus far, we’ve gotten no new characters, one new map (no, I don’t think the survival maps count as new, and DA/DT versus should have been in from the beginning (they still have major issues, as well)), one new gamemode, some new achievements, and no new weapons.
Yes, I’m aware that this is not a promise. This is Valve, however, and I took them at their word. Almost every review of L4D mentioned that it was short on content, but that it was Valve, so that would probably be rectified.
I’m not a part of the boycott, but I’ve been waffling on whether to buy the sequel. Valve actually fixing some gameplay bugs would go a long way to persuading me to (at least eventually) pick up L4D2. Thus I am waiting for great anticipation for the Crash Course release. Patches/content that come with it will probably make my decision.
11/09/2009 at 15:21 gobion says:
@Lukasz yep its my real name :)
http://red-redemption.com/team/#gobion
My dad had a thing for ancient celtic names :)
11/09/2009 at 15:21 DarkNoghri says:
You have my apologies, John. You just ninja posted on me.
On topic, I do think this is hilarious, and this type of thing is one of the reasons I love Valve.
I’m too cheap to actually donate, however.
11/09/2009 at 15:23 army of none says:
HA. This is amazing. Things like /this/ are why Valve is one of my favorite developers. Humor and tact together in one tasty mix.
11/09/2009 at 15:24 gobion says:
John Walker says: “It makes me want to be dead, and I’d prefer to be alive.”
Agreed! :)
11/09/2009 at 16:01 Columbus007 says:
This is a win-win-win situation that is full of win.
Joe wins! He got thousands of people to see his campaign. If he does raise enough money to fly Gabe and Erik to Australia (which I’m sure he will if he raised $1000 before this got a lot of coverage), and they agree to fly (which they should, they’d let everyone down if they didn’t), then he gets them to playtest his campaign, which can only make it better.
Gabe and Erik win! Free trip to Australia! (Plus a tonne of good-will)
Everyone who contributes win! They paid what they saw fit to have some fun on the internet. Plus, with the help of Gabe and Erik, maybe Joe’s L4D campaign will be that much better.
Thumbs up!
11/09/2009 at 16:03 Lilliput King says:
Sweet name Gobion!
11/09/2009 at 16:06 Persus-9 says:
I couldn’t decide what to say to this so here’s three comments for the price of one: -
Comment 1: It’s a TRAP! As Fade pointed out Robin Walker has chipped in $100, can’t you see what’s going to happen!?!! He’s paying to get Gabe out the country so he can fire everyone again! If this happens then Robin will finally get his way and all hope for L4D, L4D2, TF2, Portal 2 and HL:E3 is lost!!
Comment 2: This is so god damn unfair!! Why should ingrates like Gabe and Erik get to see Joe’s work early and get a tour of where it all happens and get to meet Joe and get a free trip to Brisbane just because they were dicks and decided to boycott Joe’s campaign for no good reason?!! How about something for those of us who aren’t selfish troll huh?!
Comment 3: This is full of win. Last time I saw this it was at $17 after being up on Kotaku for quite a while and I didn’t think he’d make it but now I’ve woken up this afternoon and it looks like a sure thing. People coming together like this to do really silly things like this make me feel all warm and fuzzy.
11/09/2009 at 16:12 Tom says:
LMFAO!!!!! that’s brilliant.
Only Valve.
11/09/2009 at 16:12 TotalBiscuit says:
@Matt – You’re treating the survivors as if they’re just new models. One of the frequently overlooked aspects of L4D that made it stand out was the stellar voice-acting, along with the sheer amount of it, particularly if you were playing singleplayer. This added atmosphere and gave each character a fleshed out persona. 4 new, fleshed out personas (particularly since they said there would be more voice-acting in L4D2 than there was in L4D) is, for some people, tangible content.
11/09/2009 at 16:13 Tom says:
“We’re boycotting your campaign” LLLMMMAAAOOOOO
11/09/2009 at 16:18 Rinox says:
Someone should really start a Steam group to boycott Joe’s campaign. He’ll be at a million billion dollars in no time!
11/09/2009 at 16:19 Heliosicle says:
Latest count before he went to bed was about $950
pretty good if you ask me..
11/09/2009 at 17:13 TeeJay says:
Hstory repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second as farce (att. Marx)
History doesn’t always repeat itself. Sometimes it just screams, “Why don’t you listen to me?” and lets fly with a big stick. (John W. Campbell Jr)
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. (Mark Twain)
History is an angel falling backward into the future (Laurie Anderson)
11/09/2009 at 17:18 Lunaran says:
I can think of at least seven hundred thousand worthier causes to raise money for than “fly rich men to Australia” just off the top of my head.
11/09/2009 at 17:18 Stupoider says:
It’s moments like this that make you proud to be a fan of Valve. :D
11/09/2009 at 17:22 DF7 says:
I donated $5, just to be a part of this story, which will undoubtedly become part of the legendary Valve tale.
11/09/2009 at 17:32 drewski says:
Sorry, John Walker. I hope Joe gets enough money for the flights, and then Gabe and Erik pay for their own flights and donate the money to charity. Because they should reward the effort of Joe, and go see his campaign, but they don’t need the money and other people do.
It’s a win win.
11/09/2009 at 18:35 Alastayr says:
Group created:
Boycott Gabe and Erik Boycotting Joe’s Custom Campaign at http://steamcommunity.com/groups/BGAEBJCC/
I’m going to steal a picture from up there if no one mind, m’kay?
11/09/2009 at 18:41 Rinox says:
@ Alastayr
You’ve got yourself a first member! Also, managed to steal someone’s credit card off them to give Joe 15 bucks. Godspeed! Let’s boycott this boycott!
11/09/2009 at 18:46 Alastayr says:
@ Rinox
That’s the spirit!
11/09/2009 at 18:54 Nick says:
This made me smile, thanks for pointing it out.
<3 Valve
11/09/2009 at 19:02 Vinraith says:
@John Walker
Apologies, didn’t even see your post up there, since it’s not colored the way RPS posts usually are. Having observed Mark and Jalf’s exchange I didn’t realize the moderation considerations of the thread had changed mid-way. I suspect I’m not alone in that, maybe you could place your (entirely reasonable) request at the end of the article text so no one could miss it?
11/09/2009 at 19:04 Psychopomp says:
I like where this debacle is going.
11/09/2009 at 19:36 Wastrel says:
I’m hoping that Gabe and Erik will fly over with their own money, and then all the money Joe raised can be sent to Child’s Play (as judging by the site that’s what the majority chose). As Lunaran said, there’s better causes to raise money for than flying rich men around.
That said, this is really awesome of Valve. <3
11/09/2009 at 19:45 Tei says:
I have created the group “Boycott Mila Kunis”.
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/boym4k
I will make co-leaders, the first ones to join the group.
11/09/2009 at 20:02 dingo says:
Damn that will be expensive!
Gabe alone needs a full row of seats. :p
11/09/2009 at 20:15 Anthony Damiani says:
Is it too late to boycott unless they name the sequel Left Five Dead?
11/09/2009 at 21:00 Jelly says:
Donated the couple of pounds that were left in my paypal. Would love to see this happen, and I bet Gabe and Erik are awesome enough to go with it.
11/09/2009 at 21:05 Vinraith says:
Am I the only one disquieted by the idea that so many people will donate money to send Valve’s (very wealthy) CEO on vacation? Gabe can pay for his own plane flight, thanks.
Better yet, he can stay home and work on Episode 3 and Portal 2. THAT I almost would be willing to donate money towards.
11/09/2009 at 21:12 TCM says:
@Vinraith: I’m sure they can pay for the trip themselves, and probably will, I think it’s just an interest gauge tool.
11/09/2009 at 21:20 Vinraith says:
In that case I want to know where the donation box that says “my interest is in Valve getting back to making Half-Life universe games” is located.
11/09/2009 at 21:25 Dominic White says:
It wasn’t Valve that set up the donation box, and having them fly over wasn’t their idea either.
It’s just a a little joke over email that has grown into a larger, more elaborate and fantastic joke.
11/09/2009 at 21:43 Rinox says:
I’m really curious to see how much money Joe will have amassed once he wakes up. I’m guessing at least 1700 bucks, if the trend from when it started continues more or less. I’m sure the money will end u with Child’s Play regardless of whether they actually come over or not. Which is fine.
11/09/2009 at 21:43 jsutcliffe says:
@Vinraith
What if L4D _is_ the HL universe, and just as soon as we get rid of the Combine the zombies try to take over?
Or maybe the zombies took over in the years Freeman was away and the Combine saved humanity from them to gain our trust.
—
But yeah, more Half Life please.
11/09/2009 at 22:49 ChampionHyena says:
Re: Half-Life 2 universe, I once had an idea in my head about replacing all the zombies in Left 4 Dead with the HL2 metrocop models. I theorized it as taking place just before the Citadel exploded, with frantic unled metrocops running at Gordon full-tilt, trying to punch him and kick him in the groin until he died.
11/09/2009 at 23:33 Funky Badger says:
Far, far more interested in L4D than HL.
(Valve have evoled FPS gameplay with L4D, the guts of any HL would need a radical rework or look, well, prehistoric)
12/09/2009 at 00:30 Roritharr says:
I’ve just donated 20$ to this guy, simply because i’d love to be in his shoes and wish him best of luck.
12/09/2009 at 01:53 NeonBlackJack says:
I’ll donate a few bucks to this. Why not. It’s more entertaining than the cup of coffee I would otherwise get.
but.
I’m relying on you, RPS, to keep me informed of the outcome of my donation!
12/09/2009 at 02:26 NeonBlackJack says:
Also, @ChampionHyena, that’s a great mod idea and I would surely play it with gleeeee!
12/09/2009 at 03:12 Greg Smith says:
C’mon guys…everyone knows Valve don’t have any spare time for any other games…they are too busy making fun stuff for all of us playing TF2….LOL
12/09/2009 at 05:28 Johnny Law says:
Looks like contributions from this point will go to Child’s Play if the airplane trip doesn’t pan out. What the heck, I threw in a few bucks.
12/09/2009 at 06:07 Fumarole says:
Valve is full of win it seems.
Ever notice how some people always post something negative? Methinks Gabe should fly around the globe and give them all hugs.
12/09/2009 at 06:23 Noc says:
@Fumarole: We’re boycotting hugs.
12/09/2009 at 06:34 Walter says:
I see what Gabe is doing here! RPS reports:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/07/21/gabe-newell-suggests-public-funding-for-games/
12/09/2009 at 06:49 Psychopomp says:
@Noc
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/BOYCOTTHUGS
Why the hell not?
12/09/2009 at 09:11 Lukasz says:
oh man.
370$ more and he will reach the target. awesome!
12/09/2009 at 09:51 Lambchops says:
I’ll donate some funny virtual foreign money.
This a brilliantly awesome story – I sincerly hope that they do end up going to Australia.
12/09/2009 at 11:18 mejobloggs says:
Donating…. Not because I know anything at all about this mod, just the situation is pretty funny and I think it could end up quite entertaining
12/09/2009 at 13:02 Lambchops says:
The guy that runs serverFFS just donated $500 dollars, which means . . .
Joe has raised the required funds! Good for him.
now it just remains to be seen whether the guys fly out there or not.
12/09/2009 at 13:05 ZedLab says:
Ok, updates on this hilariously epic situation for my RPS comrades:
When asked how much he would need to raise for these two return tickets, Gabe replied to him via email:
=====
Well, a couple of minutes on Expedia resulted in this:
from $1211 Roundtrip avg/person (from $2422 total)
12:00 pm Depart Seattle (SEA)
Arrive Brisbane (BNE) 7:45 am +2 days Mon 23-Nov
Duration: 25hr 45mn
Qantas Airways 3746 / 16
Connect in Los Angeles (LAX)
So Erik and I aren’t in too much danger.
=====
Oh contraire mon frere! With the help of a huge $500 donation from serverFFS, Joe has at the latest count raised:
$2,560.22 dollars. TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXITY US DOLLARS. (and 22 cents)
So whatever happens now, you can be sure that Gabe and Erik have to do something in response. The fact he’s raised an amount they thought impossible in just a couple of days from random strangers across the interwebs demands it.
Joe has said that any further donations will go towards a camera that he will use to film Gabe and Erik touring his house. This tickles me greatly.
I’m going to have to leave it there, because I’m laughing too much at all of this. But let me just finish with saying – the internet is fucking awesome at times.
SPARTAAAAAA!
12/09/2009 at 13:50 Lambchops says:
From Joe’s site:
“Just a quick post to say I urged the previously-skeptical Gabe Newell to view the site again.
His response?
Uh-oh.”
12/09/2009 at 13:58 Lukasz says:
A great response.
12/09/2009 at 14:51 Rinox says:
Looks like Gabe and Erik might be making a trip soon! Or at the very least, do something extremely awesome to justify their previous boycott attemtps. ;-)
12/09/2009 at 15:26 apnea says:
@Lunaran
“I can think of at least seven hundred thousand worthier causes to raise money for than “fly rich men to Australia” just off the top of my head.”
Indeed. Or “buy a camera for affluent First Worlder”.
12/09/2009 at 15:33 Dracko says:
but what about ma zombie games, apnea?
12/09/2009 at 15:42 Fumarole says:
Yeah, and I can think of several hundred thousand worthier things to do than be cynical in the internet. When this is over, Child’s Play will be several thousand dollars ahead and this Brisbane chap will have a job at Valve, mark my words.
At least now I know where Gabe’s first few hug stops should be.
12/09/2009 at 17:17 El_MUERkO says:
Saturday, September 12, 2009 – Gabe’s response
Just a quick post to say I urged the previously-skeptical Gabe Newell to view the site again.
His response?
Uh-oh.
Posted by Lacabra at 5:24 AM
hehe
12/09/2009 at 17:42 Boser says:
Lunaren: “I can think of at least seven hundred thousand worthier causes to raise money for than “fly rich men to Australia” just off the top of my head.”
Apena “Indeed. Or ‘buy a camera for affluent First Worlder’.”
What a mind-numbingly stupid argument. Why throw a few quid to a homeless guy when you can donate to a city levelled by an earthquake? Why bother spending money to help out a single natural disaster when you can give aid to Darfur? Why give aid to Darfur when you can put money into advancing lung cancer treatments? Why put money into lung cancer charities when you can fund a cure for Malaria?
Just because a few gaming geeks on the internet throw a few bucks this guy’s way it doesn’t mean all those other charitable causes are going to lose out. It probably means a couple less pints down the pub for them, or not buying that mediocre “Classic” PC title from a local store’s bargain bin this week.
Seriously, screw you both and the morally righteous high horses you rode in bareback on. It’s not your place to judge what other people do with their money. If you feel it’s such a perversion of generosity, then why don’t you go donate 10% of your bank account to the Red Cross instead of whining about other people’s actions on a freaking gaming site.
Jesus wept.
12/09/2009 at 21:13 PHeMoX says:
@Fumarole: “Valve is full of win it seems.
Ever notice how some people always post something negative? Methinks Gabe should fly around the globe and give them all hugs.”
Ever noticed how most Valve fanboys don’t seem to even think at all when their favorite developer milks a franchise in an overly obvious manner?
Also.. for your info, it’s easy to say people are negative all the time, when the right moment to complain is when you don’t agree. Guess that simply happens often. Why bother commenting when everything is fine and dandy?? Seems like a waste of time to me to be honest, even though critical comments often go unnoticed as well… say with Blizzard and Diablo III. The arrogant bastards. :P
12/09/2009 at 21:37 Dominic White says:
Dear god, man, give it a rest. I’m not even particularly a Valve fan. Hell, I avoid buying stuff off Steam if I can get off Gamersgate/Impulse, and I never really got into TF2 or L4D, but I still think that they need to start a global free hugs project, because some of you guys seem to have pure vitriol running through your veins.
This thread is all the proof anyone should need. How can anyone be angry/bitter about this? It’s funny, it’s innocent, it’s nerdy.
How can anyone be so angry all the time? I can’t even be angry for an hour without feeling mentally exhausted…
12/09/2009 at 21:57 Vinraith says:
@Dominic
Give this thread an objective read through and tell me which came first, the “vitriolic boycotters” or the boycott baiting. Then tell me who’s “angry all the time.”
12/09/2009 at 22:46 Savage Designer says:
Ah, so this man has figured out how to transform potential lulz into cash. Good for him! I’m sure this is a Red Letter day for scammers everywhere!
13/09/2009 at 08:19 DarkNoghri says:
According to joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/11/tired-of-boycotts-donate-money-and-fly-gabe-newell-to-australia/), Valve has confirmed that if the money has been raised (and it has been), Gabe would be flying to Australia.
13/09/2009 at 08:20 DarkNoghri says:
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/11/tired-of-boycotts-donate-money-and-fly-gabe-newell-to-australia/
Gah, that close parentheses got included in the link.
13/09/2009 at 12:59 Basil says:
I for one would like to see proof of what Valve supposedly “promised” about L4D, because I can’t remember anything that could justify this fascinating display of stupidity on part of the boycotters.
13/09/2009 at 18:46 Wedge says:
I suppose RPS itself hasn’t gotten used to the fact there’s no reasoning with these AIM, it’s kind of a shame so many commenters and even the editors actually try to bother leaving responses. Just because a troll can spell, doesn’t make them any less of one. Really they’re far worse, because it can give the illusion of there being potential for actual discourse.
14/09/2009 at 00:41 andrew says:
Just for interest, the “fly Gabe Newell fund ” now is more than $600 over budget (ie, they have enough money to pay for the flights with getting on towards $1000 left over).
15/09/2009 at 05:45 Benny says:
um… I mean, it’s not super hard to guess, I guess, but should Gabe’s email be displayed in the “does that mean I have to fly you there” email.
Or is this some private joke that everyone already knew?
15/09/2009 at 05:50 MD says:
It’s a publicly available address, Benny, used for correspondence with the unwashed masses.