Anyone else think valve has canned episode 3...

[Maximilian]

and decided to make a full half life 3 instead?

I think they have, i base this on absolutely nothing but it makes sense to me. What do you guys think?

 

[Schadenfroh]

They will get back to alien invasions once they finish the zombie plague milking with L4D sequels and DLC.

 

[ahenkel]

I think the problem is Valve makes enough money off their Steam client that they can do what they want on their own schedule. Which is on one side bad cause we have to wait. On the other side they can perfect the game.

 

[simonizor]

Some sort of announcement would be nice. We don't even need a release date, just something to say "hey, we didn't forget about this game and we're still working on it." When's the last time that they said anything about episode 3?

 

[KaOTiK]

I'm pretty confident they are just doing a full blown HL3 at this point.

 

[AstroManLuca]

They're too busy coming up with new and creative TF2 hats.

 

[Elcs]

They're doing a Blizzard.

"Hah! We have enough money to make <insert sequel here> when ever we want. Deal with it bitches!"

And just look at the Starcraft 2 crowd... lapped it all right up.

 

[RobertPters77]

Episodic Content pisses me off. It's just another way for developers to push half finished game and 'fill them in later.' I'd rather play a game in it's entirety in one weekend, than play portions of the game every few months/years.

Personally I thought the Original Half-Life was a much better game than the sequel.

 

[darkewaffle]

I kind of wondered this simply based on what was revealed at the end of episode 2. It sounds like the scope of what comes next is more in line with a full game than simply an episode, but I could also see them using Ep3 as a pretty direct lead in to HL3 where Ep3 would be the "journey" and then HL3 is everything that unfolds at the destination itself.

 

[Bateluer]

...I'd rather play a game in it's entirety in one weekend...

And this right here is why so many genres are dying from the consolitis plague. You should not be able to play through a good game in a single weekend, especially one like a story driven RPG.

I'm not opposed to episodic content, if the prices are in line with the amount of content in each episode and provided the episodes are released in a timely manner. But when you go years between episodes, or introduce bugs and glitches with episode and/or DLC, its going to fail.

 

[wuliheron]

The only way I can imagine that might be true is if they've already built a new engine. The source engine is showing its age and has been used in some 10 games already (possibly twice that if you count sequels.) The unusual thing about the engine is it uses a highly modified Havoc physics engine. As much as I'd love to see a new source engine with even better physics I know it ain't easy to do. Physics are just tough to do even on an expensive rig and improved physics may have to wait until the next generation consoles come out.

What is more believable is that they've been telling the truth about being side tracked making games like Left 4 Dead and the soon to be released Portal 2. As much as I want to play the next Half Life I don't mind waiting if that is what it takes to make it perfect.

 

[KaOTiK]

Episodic content can work if done well, TellTale has proven that already. Just for major titles it wont really work cause of the amount of time that is needed for the lvl those games aim for.

 

[sanzen07]

I'm hoping they make a new product announcement soon after Portal 2 comes out. Valve could wait several years more to make it and it would still sell well anyway. At this point though, they should probably just make Half-Life 3.

 

[zagood]

http://www.gamersmint.com/valve-were-not-done-with-gordon-freeman

 

[simonizor]

http://www.gamersmint.com/valve-were-not-done-with-gordon-freeman

I guess that's something, but not very satisfying after waiting nearly 4 years. No talks of even a YEAR that it will be released? That means it definitely isn't going to be out this year, or even next year. Don't get me wrong, HL is probably my favorite game series, but I honestly don't know whether or not I'll give a rat's ass about what happens to Gordon Freeman by then.

 

[RobertPters77]

And this right here is why so many genres are dying from the consolitis plague. You should not be able to play through a good game in a single weekend, especially one like a story driven RPG.

So you're saying that demanding for a developer to release a whole game and not DLC every few months is a plaque? No sir, opinions like your own are killing gaming.

I'd rather enjoy a game in it's entirety than wait for the developer to 'finish it.' Videogames are a form of entertainment unlike anything else. Making them episodic like tv shows is a big no-no.

Does one not go to a restaurant to enjoy a whole meal for 50$, With some dessert on the side for another 20$. Or do you go and pay 50$ for the meal then pay another 10$ each for the soup, salad, sides, and bread?

 

[gorcorps]

I guess that's something, but not very satisfying after waiting nearly 4 years. No talks of even a YEAR that it will be released? That means it definitely isn't going to be out this year, or even next year. Don't get me wrong, HL is probably my favorite game series, but I honestly don't know whether or not I'll give a rat's ass about what happens to Gordon Freeman by then.

Well you have 2 options: the Duke Nukem Forever route where you get tiny little blurbs every single year as it gets pushed back time after time, or the Valve way where you hear nothing other than the initial promise of the story not being done. Either way sucks, and you're still waiting but it's all in how you want to wait. I personally would rather not hear anything like it is now. I forget about it easily now, until some jackass makes another thread about it...

:awe:

 

[Dankk]

I'm pretty sure Gabe Newell stated that the whole episodic thing isn't really working out for them. If anything, the next Half Life title will be a full-blown HL3, and not HL2: Episode 3.

 

[Ross Ridge]

and decided to make a full half life 3 instead?

I think they have, i base this on absolutely nothing but it makes sense to me. What do you guys think?

The theory that makes the most sense to me is that the plan for Half Life 2: Episode 3 was to release it sometime in advance of Half Life 3 in order to help generate buzz for the new game. Half Life 3 is just taking a lot longer to develop then they expected.

 

[TheSlamma]

Duke Freeman Forever

 

[darkxshade]

Someone has to pick up the torch for Duke Nukem now that DNF might actually come out.

 

[darkewaffle]

So you're saying that demanding for a developer to release a whole game and not DLC every few months is a plaque? No sir, opinions like your own are killing gaming.

I'd rather enjoy a game in it's entirety than wait for the developer to 'finish it.' Videogames are a form of entertainment unlike anything else. Making them episodic like tv shows is a big no-no.

Does one not go to a restaurant to enjoy a whole meal for 50$, With some dessert on the side for another 20$. Or do you go and pay 50$ for the meal then pay another 10$ each for the soup, salad, sides, and bread?

What difference does it make whether you pay $30 for one expansion or $10 each for 3 DLCs?

Who's to say the games aren't finished? The episodes are a segue between HL2 and HL3, not full fledged sequels, expansions, or patches that were missing. They're important to the story but don't need more than a few hours to tell.

If you bought a full expansion and all you got was Episode 1 and Episode 2 people would flip shit because they paid for an expansion and that was all they got. Would you rather they skip it entirely? I wouldn't. Episode 1 was lackluster but Episode 2 is awesome, the quality was about right there with HL2, it just was shorter, and they priced it that way. I don't understand why people get so up in arms about paying for more content; if you've ever bought an expansion it really isn't all that different, just a smaller scale.

DLC gives the developers the ability to expand on a story or a scenario with ideas that might be good, just short. That's all it is to me, I can't fault them for having ideas after the fact.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

So you're saying that demanding for a developer to release a whole game and not DLC every few months is a plaque? No sir, opinions like your own are killing gaming.

I'd rather enjoy a game in it's entirety than wait for the developer to 'finish it.' Videogames are a form of entertainment unlike anything else. Making them episodic like tv shows is a big no-no.

Does one not go to a restaurant to enjoy a whole meal for 50$, With some dessert on the side for another 20$. Or do you go and pay 50$ for the meal then pay another 10$ each for the soup, salad, sides, and bread?

ur dum

 

[wuliheron]

Hey, if somebody refuses to buy a DLC or short episode that's their business.

But in my mind this isn't a movie you sit down and watch continuously for at least an hour and half. It's a game most people play for maybe 20 minutes at a stretch. If they can produce a long game then great. If they can produce short episodes, that's great too. The important thing is that they maintain the quality and overall bang-for-your-buck.

Valve has done that extremely well and to expect more from them is just asking too much. With all the companies out there putting out crappy DLCs, crappy sequels, and bad console ports I'll never have anything bad to say about the ones that consistently put out quality products.

 

[RobertPters77]

What difference does it make whether you pay $30 for one expansion or $10 each for 3 DLCs?

Expansion packs usually contain enough content to justify the price tag. DLC is usually shit that should've been in the game in the first place just cut out and sold later.

Example:
Call of Duty 1: 50$ for the core game + 30$ for UO expansion pack.

MW2: 60$ + 15$ Map pack x2.

Who's to say the games aren't finished? The episodes are a segue between HL2 and HL3, not full fledged sequels, expansions, or patches that were missing. They're important to the story but don't need more than a few hours to tell.

Hl2 was too damn short for 50$. It felt more like half a game. If valve made Hl2 longer by adding the episodic content in it I would've loved it.

DLC gives the developers the ability to expand on a story or a scenario with ideas that might be good, just short. That's all it is to me, I can't fault them for having ideas after the fact.

DLC is a good way for developers to justify screwing the customer. I'm not paying 10$ for another hour of playtime. I've spent nearly a grand on DLC for my PC, 360, and PS3. Most of it was not worth it the asking price.

The only good DLC I bought was Dead Money for New Vegas. The FO3 DLC is just terrible. Operation: Anchorage and Broken Steel should've been included in the core game. They felt deliberately cut out. Point Lookout was not worth the 15$, The Pitt was decent, and Mothership Zeta was okay.

I'm not against DLC. I'm against developers using DLC. Episodic Content and Expansion Packs as a way to charge the customer for the same game twice.