Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott
Lots of gamers have it out for the new Left 4 Dead title being released this November. People are blasting the game, the company, and have formed official boycott groups against the sequel.
We’re hearing things like it’s too early for a sequel. It will diminish the first game. Valve is no longer Valve.
A Steam group called L4D Boycott (NO-L4D2) exists with thousands of members, focusing on nine particular issues:
• Significant content for L4D1 was promised, and never delivered
• Valve put little faith in L4D1 since they almost certainly started working on L4D2 right after release
• The fact that L4D2 is nearly identical to L4D1 will decimate the community for both games
• The announced date is not nearly enough time to polish content or make significant gameplay changes
• The new character designs seem bland and unappealing so far
• L4D2 is too bright to fit in with L4D1’s visual aesthetic
• The fiddle-based horde music is extremely disliked, though the differently orchestrated music is otherwise welcome
• L4D2’s release will result in a drop in quality and frequency for L4D1 content, even compared to before
• The community has lost faith in Valve’s former reputation for commitment to their games post-release
Clearly the group feels that a sequel this soon will not only be unjustified and poor in itself, but will harm the quality of and stop any continued development for the first game.
Members are getting reprimanded on Steam, people wonder why this game’s content couldn’t just be a DLC, and many die-hard fans of Valve’s legendary focus on continued development and community respect are second-guessing their favorite company. Thousands agree the timing is off, the characters seem lame, the aesthetics of the new game being in the deep south is not L4D-esque (yet it can’t be too similar or it fuels the pointlessness of the release). Valve seems to be in a tight spot.
Clearly the game deserves a sequel – but are things being handled the wrong way? What do you think?
One thing’s for sure – Hitler is pissed about the news.
It needed a bit more time really – another six months doesn’t really seem appropriate given all the content that has recently been released for L4D.
I welcome a sequel, but would have preferred it a little later – maybe early next year when all the big titles have come over Christmas and I am looking for something to sink my teeth into.
Now L4D2 will end up near the bottom of my hefty winter games pile, the new IPs will always come over sequels in my book, as appreciated as the sequels may be, it’s just how I prioritize.
First of all the boycotter’s complain of not enough content being released for Left 4 Dead,
Yet Valve has released a game mode titled “Survival” along with the release of two campaigns
added to the “Versus” game mode. Later on this month, Valve will be releasing another
Campaign for Left 4 Dead titled “Crash Course” which will be a bridge between No Mercy and
Death Toll. Once Left 4 Dead 2 is released, Valve will still be adding content for the
original Left 4 Dead. I don’t see why they complain about the “Lack” of content. When you
bought this game, You bought it to play the game, Not for the content that will be released
in the future, Valve dosen’t need to release any Content if they do not wish to, and that
“Promise” of content they made to you is the very same thing your Boycotting. If this much
Content comes out, Then you must pay for it, Things in life aren’t Free. Second, Left 4 Dead
2 can not be released as Downloadable Content for these reasons: (1) Left 4 Dead 2 now runs
with AI Director (2.0), Which is superior to the AI Director (1.0). AI Director (2.0) will
Change many things in the game, Including the games whether, The games routes that are taken
to reach a safe house, and tailor every ‘zombies’ clothing, In every spawn the zombie has.
That alone, To be added as Downloadable Content would take over 4 monthes, For a system like
the XBox 360, Not including the other features the AI Director (2.0) has. Reason (2) There
will be 5 New Campaigns, 4 New Survivors, Over 10 New Weapons, Including Melee Weapons, and
3 New Special Infected. These new Tools/AI would take a very long time to convert into
something small enough that it could be Downloadable Content, Maybe only 1 Campaign could
come out at a time, Which is pointless if were getting them all together, Including the
weapons and the Special Infected. Clearly you see why this cannot be “Free” as the
boycotters wish it to be. They also complain about the Release date of the game (November
17th 2009) not being enough time to polish content or make gameplay changes? Well, Of the
Gameplay I have seen of Left 4 Dead 2, I can say that they have definetly made many changes
to the environment, Which is another thing they complain about.. Being to colurful? This
game takes place in another area of the world, The environment changes throughout the world,
Which I think we ‘Should’ all know. Heh at this point I think they are just adding
Ridiculous reasons to the list. They complain of the music of when the Horde attack being
Disliked? Do you mean disliked by you, yourself? (Author of Boycott list) because then that
would be perfect to say, I in the other hand love the music, Along with almost the 3 million
members of the Left 4 Dead Commmunity. Well if they complain about the characters being
bland, I might agree alittle bit, But many people don’t care who there playing as, aslong as
they enjoy fighting endless hordes of zombies. They also say that it will Split apart online communities of both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2? Well if that was the case then I guess the Developers of Any game shouldn’t be allowed to make a sequel. There will still be many people on the original Left 4 Dead, Along with many of L4D2. Most of the Boycotters will be first in line
the day of release, Which I find amusing. I think that we can all agree that 60$ Is a small
price to pay for the sequel of one of the greatest Multyplayer Games on the market.
Well put NickT.