Why is it a bad take? Valve is indeed a corporation. I’m also someone who has grown irritated by their ways of screwing up good games for profit (you know, hat simulator, gambling, push for centralization, etc.). There is also a history of really sketchy anti-consumer choices basically no one is aware of, like them getting sued for not issuing refunds and being forced to implement refund system or accepting money from Microsoft to not release a free DLC to L4D, but rather as a new game (just so they don’t set a good example), paid mods fiasco, barely fighting back against adult content purge, etc
screwing up good games for profit (you know, hat simulator, gambling, push for centralization, etc.)
I actually don’t know what you’re talking about. To me adding cosmetic purchases to free games doesn’t count as “screwing up good games for profit”.
There is also a history of really sketchy anti-consumer choices basically no one is aware of, like them getting sued for not issuing refunds and being forced to implement refund system to
This is incredibly misleading. Valve always have refunds, it’s just that they did not have a written policy at first and it was administered case-by-case. In 2014 they got sued by an Australian in a case that was more about jurisdiction and whether Australian consumer protection laws could apply to digital goods sold by a US company. That was the impetus for Valve to publicly release a written policy, which is widely considered to be one of the most consumer-friendly on the industry.
accepting money from Microsoft to not release a free DLC to L4D, but rather as a new game (just so they don’t set a good example),
Do you have any more info on this? I think you’re getting this confused with the controversy around Crash Course, the 2nd DLC for the first game.
Valve released Left4Dead 1 and an ounces their plans for free updates. The first update released for free everywhere. Crash Course released for free on PC, but cost money on Xbox Live. Valve claimed that it was Microsoft’s decision, not theirs. Afaik Microsoft has neither confirmed nor denied this, but it seems pretty plausible to me. It also lines up with what Todd Howard has said in interviews about the infamous Horse Armor. Microsoft has a history of pressuring DLC prices up on Xbox- i don’t blame Valve for that.
paid mods fiasco
This always seemed to me like a very complicated and nuanced discussion that always gets described as a “fiasco” or “catastrophe”, whether it’s Valve or Bethesda or whoever else. I always thought it was an incredibly cool idea to have a framework for monetization, which could lead to bigger and better mods. I think it’s reasonable for the original publishers/developers to get a cut since they made the game. I think it’s reasonable for Valve to get a cut if it is done through the Steam Workshop and Valve is handling the payyment processing.
Heck, Valve in particular has a history of supporting mod makers. DOTA was a mod of Warcraft. Counter-Strike was a mod of Half Life.
barely fighting back against adult content purge
We’re at the point of literal victim blaming. Blame Collective Shout. Blame Visa and PayPal. Blame governments for not having (or enforcing) legislation forcing these payment processors to be neutral. What do you want Valve to do here? The payment processors are orders of magnitude larger and can destroy Valve overnight if they wanted to.
The whole lootboxes thing has been in high focus for the past decade, but you’re the first gamer who doesn’t know what are people talking about and it’s just cosmetics? I’m sorry, WHAT?
This is incredibly misleading.
Please learn why they were sued and stop spreading lies like they were easily issuing refunds. Your argument suddenly starts falling apart when you learn the facts and remove the gabe-glasses.
Do you have any more info on this?
Actually, I likely don’t. This comes from era of forums, constant leaks and insider info. You might be able to find more after terms like “L4D and Xbox dlc pricing”
Uh oh, you’ve kicked the hornet’s nest now. The brigade comes for anyone who doesn’t worship at the feet of valve. The brigade comes at night.
Is it a brigade of worshippers or just pointing out a bad take is bad?
Why is it a bad take? Valve is indeed a corporation. I’m also someone who has grown irritated by their ways of screwing up good games for profit (you know, hat simulator, gambling, push for centralization, etc.). There is also a history of really sketchy anti-consumer choices basically no one is aware of, like them getting sued for not issuing refunds and being forced to implement refund system or accepting money from Microsoft to not release a free DLC to L4D, but rather as a new game (just so they don’t set a good example), paid mods fiasco, barely fighting back against adult content purge, etc
I actually don’t know what you’re talking about. To me adding cosmetic purchases to free games doesn’t count as “screwing up good games for profit”.
This is incredibly misleading. Valve always have refunds, it’s just that they did not have a written policy at first and it was administered case-by-case. In 2014 they got sued by an Australian in a case that was more about jurisdiction and whether Australian consumer protection laws could apply to digital goods sold by a US company. That was the impetus for Valve to publicly release a written policy, which is widely considered to be one of the most consumer-friendly on the industry.
Do you have any more info on this? I think you’re getting this confused with the controversy around Crash Course, the 2nd DLC for the first game.
Valve released Left4Dead 1 and an ounces their plans for free updates. The first update released for free everywhere. Crash Course released for free on PC, but cost money on Xbox Live. Valve claimed that it was Microsoft’s decision, not theirs. Afaik Microsoft has neither confirmed nor denied this, but it seems pretty plausible to me. It also lines up with what Todd Howard has said in interviews about the infamous Horse Armor. Microsoft has a history of pressuring DLC prices up on Xbox- i don’t blame Valve for that.
This always seemed to me like a very complicated and nuanced discussion that always gets described as a “fiasco” or “catastrophe”, whether it’s Valve or Bethesda or whoever else. I always thought it was an incredibly cool idea to have a framework for monetization, which could lead to bigger and better mods. I think it’s reasonable for the original publishers/developers to get a cut since they made the game. I think it’s reasonable for Valve to get a cut if it is done through the Steam Workshop and Valve is handling the payyment processing.
Heck, Valve in particular has a history of supporting mod makers. DOTA was a mod of Warcraft. Counter-Strike was a mod of Half Life.
We’re at the point of literal victim blaming. Blame Collective Shout. Blame Visa and PayPal. Blame governments for not having (or enforcing) legislation forcing these payment processors to be neutral. What do you want Valve to do here? The payment processors are orders of magnitude larger and can destroy Valve overnight if they wanted to.
The whole lootboxes thing has been in high focus for the past decade, but you’re the first gamer who doesn’t know what are people talking about and it’s just cosmetics? I’m sorry, WHAT?
Please learn why they were sued and stop spreading lies like they were easily issuing refunds. Your argument suddenly starts falling apart when you learn the facts and remove the gabe-glasses.
Actually, I likely don’t. This comes from era of forums, constant leaks and insider info. You might be able to find more after terms like “L4D and Xbox dlc pricing”
Here is one article that touches on the topic of why this happened: https://www.xboxachievements.com/news/news-3496-l4d-1-dlc-pricing-down-to-ms-not-valve.html
Note that this was a problem for Xbox, but valve for whatever “mysterious” reason decided to do that for PC too.
Rest of your comment is basically downplaying shitty things. Yeah, no, sorry, you did not convince me yet to join this religion
In other words, you’re just making all this shit up. Cool story.
It’s a brigade of worshippers.
Ya sure.