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[Vitor711]

it's amazing how irrelevant they are with games now
they aren't even involved with their games anymore, TF2 is basically running off of fan content and hardly anything else
the only thing they got going for them is Dota 2 which wasn't even an original idea in the first place

Still runs one of the biggest marketplaces in games = irrelevant? Just because they're not producing new games regularly doesn't make them have no impact.

Also, the idea that DOTA2 doesn't matter because it's 'not an original idea' is hilarious. League is the biggest game in the world. DOTA doesn't pull in the same numbers but is still the second largest MOBA. That's huge.

Valve is relevant. They just pivoted away from SP games and embraced the online route for every aspect of the business. And judging by the money they make? That was probably the smart decision from a business sense.

 

[Arkhanor]

Nowadays Valve is just a Research and Development company. They only make games as test beds for new technology. Lets see what will happen when they "finish" Source 2 and release Vive (SteamVR).

 

[Prophet Steve]

it's amazing how irrelevant they are with games now
they aren't even involved with their games anymore, TF2 is basically running off of fan content and hardly anything else
the only thing they got going for them is Dota 2 which wasn't even an original idea in the first place

Irrelevant huh?

TF2 is about the longest officially supported game ever. CS:GO went from having a lukewarm reception to becoming almost the most popular game on Steam. DOTA 2 is the most popular game on Steam.

You think these games just support themselves? They just happen to become popular? That all of the development just depends on the concept?

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

You only need to have played TF2. Then you could have watched Valve's descent in 4K 120 FPS...100 FPS... 60 FPS with sporadic drops when too many hats are onscreen.

 

[Crankshaft]

I don't think Valve has gone the "shitty" route. I think they have just gotten too big and they have so much on their plate that they can't tackle it all. I think they are doing too much with not enough people and resources.

 

[Kyonashi]

Steam could use a UI redesign, of course, and some focus on general responsiveness but I've never understood the complaints about bugs. I use the software every day and it's worked fine for years.

Have you ever used the mobile app? For people who are talented at coding, it's hella messy and slow.

 

[bede-x]

I usually have a wishlist of like 20 games that don't go below maybe 25% off. They are mostly smaller games or indies, things that might cost $20-$30 that I'm not SUPER eager to own, but would be happy to pay 5 or 10 bucks for, but they just sit there for like 17 dollars.

In what way do you see this as Valves fault?

 

[Priapus10101]

To be fair, Dota is ridiculously relevant. And Global Offensive is doing nearly as well.

It is interesting how some people are unaware how huge CS:GO has become and continues to grow. For those unaware, check out their steam stats page: http://store.steampowered.com/stats/

OP you made one error about Dota 2 replays (or perhaps worded it poorly?). You can watch replays in Dota 2 for games played on Reborn client (Source 2) but not the original client (Source 1).

 

[Gipsy Danger]

I never really experience these issues people are having with Steam. Occasionally it will go down for me when Dota has had a new patch or a big tournament is happening but it’s very rare, and even then it’s usually only Dota that’s affected. I’ve had no problems outside of that game.

As far as the games, it’s clear that people who claim Valve aren’t relevant in games anymore just mean to say “The games Valve makes aren’t relevant to me anymore”. I don't really like much of Bioware's output anymore but I don’t expect them to change to fit my needs. Valve are still in charge of two of the biggest games in the western hemisphere. You may not like Dota or CS:GO but those games are FAR from irrelevant.

As far as the sales go I think it’s just a case of people having bought a ton of games so they now perceive the sales as shit when they’re as good as they usually are. Games less than a year old getting discounted 50% is still a fantastic deal, no matter which way you spin it.

Valve obviously have a lot of problems but I don’t think games or even stability are relevant.

 

[Holundrian]

If by some people standards Valve is shitty I wonder how they view some of the other publishers. I mean sure they aren't without fault, but I must be so abused by everyone else that I still prefer how they handle things by quite a margin.
Valve and CDPR just seem way ahead to me when it comes to stuff like that.

 

[Skinpop]

I am being totally patient. And to be fair I hadn't even realised that replays were unavailable but it's disappointing that the client has take a (temporary) step back especially as they're moving forward with a more vibrant competitive scene which makes for great spectating, live or otherwise

I'm patient and because I know these things doesn't just take time but actually needs time to be done properly I don't feel disappointed at all, instead I feel optimistic because reborn shows great promise once most issues are resolved and I can't wait to see what custom game creators come up with in the future. i would feel disappointed if valve just left the client as is and didn't bother listening to the community or patching out the bugs, but that's not what's happening. you can literally read a thread on reddit about some obscure bug or wanted feature and within a couple of days the issue is resolved. how many other companies can you say the same thing about?

 

[CHC]

Valve doesn't set those discount s. The makers decide if their game goes on sale and by how much.

In what way do you see this as Valves fault?

Never said it was Valve's fault, I was just answering as to why people see the sales as "worse" year after year.

I don't like the way Valve is going but I'm not going to attribute the sale thing to them. I think the overall shift is that they are becoming a company focused on tech and infrastructure rather than games, which is disappointing as someone who just wants something fun to play, but I can see why they would change.

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

Irrelevant huh?

TF2 is about the longest officially supported game ever. CS:GO went from having a lukewarm reception to becoming almost the most popular game on Steam. DOTA 2 is the most popular game on Steam.

You think these games just support themselves? They just happen to become popular? That all of the development just depends on the concept?

TF2 is 8 years old. Not even close to the oldest officially supported game.

Ultima Online turned 18 last week. It's getting an expansion in the next few months.

 

[shoreu]

their staff economist has calculated roughly how much goodwill the half life 3 announcement will generate, so they are currently seeing how much money they can mine from f2p before the goodwill no longer redeems them.

.

Their going to do something stupid then half-life 3 announcement and all is forgiven.

 

[Ikuu]

Reborn has some issues but it's getting patched daily, sometimes several times a day and most of the issues aren't that big.

 

[Jonneh3003]

My sentiments exactly OP. Valve havn't been Valve for an extremely long time now. They run a service and little more. Also their customer service is awful, a few years back my account got hacked and it took them 10 days to do anything, hopefully that's improved.

 

[dave is ok]

Dota 2 has had replays for four years but they haven't worked for less than a month. VALVE SUCKS. DOES ANYBODY ELSE HATE VALVE?

 

[Prophet Steve]

TF2 is 8 years old. Not even close to the oldest officially supported game.

Ultima Online turned 18 last week. It's getting an expansion in the next few months.

Ah yes, I did forget about MMOs. From other genres there are pretty few games except for some inconsistent updates.

 

[Gipsy Danger]

My sentiments exactly OP. Valve havn't been Valve for an extremely long time now. They run a service and little more.

I swear I was just playing 2 constantly updated Valve games a few days ago. I must be mistaken.

 

[kewlbot]

Still runs one of the biggest marketplaces in games = irrelevant? Just because they're not producing new games regularly doesn't make them have no impact.

Also, the idea that DOTA2 doesn't matter because it's 'not an original idea' is hilarious. League is the biggest game in the world. DOTA doesn't pull in the same numbers but is still the second largest MOBA. That's huge.

Valve is relevant. They just pivoted away from SP games and embraced the online route for every aspect of the business. And judging by the money they make? That was probably the smart decision from a business sense.

what i mean is irrelevant in the sense that we don't exactly think of valve when e3 comes around or any big event even

I mean it's become a joke that Half Life 3 will ever come out, because it will most likely never come out

for most of their big games they rely mostly on the community for content, they feel almost uninvolved in the industry besides steam

but i guess this is just how i feel

 

[domlolz]

eh even with its recent missteps valve is still better than most game companies.

complaining about reborn seems a little futile as well of course it's got problems, has a game of that size ever done a 'live' transition to a new engine like that? seems like a pretty massive accomplishment/project that's pretty cool in my opinion

 

[gai_shain]

I think it's mostly because every sale it's "the usual suspsects" - ya know, Just Cause 2, the Bioshock series, some Bethesda stuff, XCOM, etc. Those are all great games, but I am personally disappointed because I usually have a wishlist of like 20 games that don't go below maybe 25% off. They are mostly smaller games or indies, things that might cost $20-$30 that I'm not SUPER eager to own, but would be happy to pay 5 or 10 bucks for, but they just sit there for like 17 dollars.

I know I sound cheap and all, but I think my issue really is that the sales like to dazzle you with the same old games on sale for like 75%-90% off, meanwhile there are a lot really interesting looking titles that they don't seem intent on advertising or discounting.

It's great for when you are just getting into PC gaming but after a few years of sales it would be nice to see a little more variety.

In the end the developers/pusblishers decide how much off a game is during a sale or not?

e/ saw you answering that question already.

Just wanted to say that the sales argument isnt really a good criticism to throw at valve

 

[Faustek]

Steam could use a UI redesign, of course, and some focus on general responsiveness but I've never understood the complaints about bugs. I use the software every day and it's worked fine for years.

Big picture made got one recently.
___________________________________

I must be lucky since I barely ever had these problems with connections. The few times I had was on my ISP's side though. Apparently someone didn't check the maps enough when deciding to do some Road construction. Other time they blamed the lightning had burned the box in the basement or other force majeure.


Anyway for sales, they are still the same as ever. Complaints about that against Valve is just stupid since if it isn't Valve's own games you're talking about they can't do jack shit. They don't set the prices folks. They only own a platform that everyone else puts their game on.

 

[derExperte]

It's great for when you are just getting into PC gaming but after a few years of sales it would be nice to see a little more variety.

This year's Summer Sale was the most varied ever with the most games on sale overall and some really obscure titles featured as Flash deals. They even completely avoided repeats and there was no voting, my biggest problems over the last couple of years. If someone didn't find something to buy this time around I don't think the issue was the sale.

for most of their big games they rely mostly on the community for content, they feel almost uninvolved in the industry besides steam

They are their own industry. Also lots of extremely relevant companies/games never show up at E3, that's only a limited part of gaming.

 

[shintoki]

Why does it feel like the majority of the complaints involve Valve not making Half Life 3?

 

[fresquito]

What other stores? The only stores I'm aware of having better deals are also key resellers.

Amazon.

why is it so hard for people to be a bit patient? reborn has been the main client for what, a couple of weeks. demanding that it's perfect out of the gates is unreasonable. we get almost daily patches with bug fixes and improvements. if reborn is stable and has feature parity with s1 dota within a month or two I think we all should be happy. after all this update is to ensure the long term success of dota 2. it's not about these few months of annoyances but rather about making the next 4-5 years the best possible.

Why should I be patient? I paid for a product that I can't make use of because one of the features that made Torunaments work is now gone and I can't make use of what I paid for.

Let alone, I have other problems with Steam related to my activity within their games. You simply can't sell Steamworks as the place to go for gamers and devs and then let your system drop the connection on a constant basis (and no, it's not just me, in Europe this drops are pretty common). The state of their servers is laughable. Try watching any DOTA 2 professional match that doesn't have problems with the players or the casters. Good luck with that.

 

[Nzyme32]

Valve don't set prices, pubs and devs do, so complaining about the sales is pretty pointless. As far as "old Valve / new Valve" I don't think there is a difference. They are spread too thin and continue to do so, for whatever reasons about their structure as a company.

"Bla bla where are the games - not the ones I don't like" is a continuing argument. I'm sure there will be more Valve games that some will love and others will hate. I'm sure there will continue to be a discrepancy in how some of their games progress on Steam vs other platforms as they push their own features and ideas. This seems to pretty much be the norm.

Expanding into hardware, VR and even expanding Steam beyond games, developing their new engine which is seemingly modular and pushes Steam itself - all seem to be things that have required a long incubation time, and for a 350 staff company, that is ridiculously large amount of work to take on. These things are all set to come out in the next few months - once they are out there and being iterated on, content returns to being the priority, which is hopefully where we will start to see some interesting things show up.

 

[Jonneh3003]

Why does it feel like the majority of the complaints involve Valve not making Half Life 3?

Because I like Valve for Half Life

 

[afternoon delight]

I mean... I'm 90% there for their eternal download licenses and ridiculous sales. As someone who buys maybe six or seven games a year, prices are exactly where I want them to be. Their sales meta-games seem to be whale jokes, and have managed to be more boring with each "event".

I love Half Life, Team Fortress, Portal, and Left 4 Dead, but their iterations are so sporadic I don't even bother waiting for news- it's easier that way, and hurts much less. If they had kept up with that they'd be god tier in my opinion, but it seems too hard a task compared to milking penny transaction fees for digital non-goods like emoticons and profile backgrounds.

If they want to branch into videos, software, and VR that's fine, it doesn't effect me since I'll never use it. Paid mods will burn a lot of good will with me though.

 

[Prophet Steve]

Amazon.


Why should I be patient? I paid for a product that I can't make use of because one of the features that made Torunaments work is now gone and I can't make use of what I paid for.

Let alone, I have other problems with Steam related to my activity within their games. You simply can't sell Steamworks as the place to go for gamers and devs and then let your system drop the connection on a constant basis (and no, it's not just me, in Europe this drops are pretty common). The state of their servers is laughable. Try watching any DOTA 2 professional match that doesn't have problems with the players or the casters. Good luck with that.

Amazon did not have better sales in latest summer sale. Since that guy (Tony?) that was active here and on CAG went to do something else thing became way worse.

Missing features of your tournament tickets is definitely a valid concern though if you really can't watch replays, but Reborn does have a replay feature. Although I'm not sure of how it works with tournaments.

And professional matches seem fine to me, I can see plenty of matches with no problems. There are some problems, but that was also the case for a whole lot of games in the old client.

 

[Canis lupus]

I miss the times Epic and Valve made games.

 

[Gipsy Danger]

I miss the times Epic and Valve made games I enjoy.

I think that's what you meant since Valve do still make games. They JUST pushed a huge update to Dota 2 both in the Reborn client and 6.85.

Epic is making a new Unreal Tournament which is fantastic even in its early stage so I don't know where that's coming from.

 

[fresquito]

Amazon did not have better sales in latest summer sale. Since that guy (Tony?) that was active here and on CAG went to do something else thing became way worse.

Missing features of your tournament tickets is definitely a valid concern though if you really can't watch replays, but Reborn does have a replay feature. Although I'm not sure of how it works with tournaments.

And professional matches seem fine to me, I can see plenty of matches with no problems. There are some problems, but that was also the case for a whole lot of games in the old client.

I'm not complaining about the new client, per se. I'm complaining about Valve rushing things and screwing people by doing so. The new client is obviously rushed and flawed, they couldn't make it in time for the Majors, but they still went for it and now customers have a rougher experience and don't have access to some features that prevent them from using what they paid for to its full extent. Besides, the state of their servers is pretty lame, at least in Europe.

The thing is: these are things you'd usually never expect Valve to do. But they did and, in fact, they've been doing for quite a while. That's the whole point. I couldn't care less about what games they do or they don't. People like recreating their own debates over and over and once you complain about Valve, HL3 appears. But my argument here is pretty simple: They have stopped putting their focus on the user experience. Once it was paramount to them, not anymore.

 

[Spirited]

As many has said before me, theyy're probably spread too thin and things take time, you'll probably see a left 4 dead 3 announcement within a year as we at least know that's the game they are working on at the moment.

 

[aerts1js]

Valve used to be my favorite gaming company..... now they are one of my least.

 

[PhaZZe]

People complains about sales? Im pretty sure you guys buys games and never complete. I have 100 games and still trying to end my backlog.

 

[Prophet Steve]

I'm not complaining about the new client, per se. I'm complaining about Valve rushing things and screwing people by doing so. The new client is obviously rushed and flawed, they couldn't make it in time for the Majors, but they still went for it and now customers have a rougher experience and don't have access to some features that prevent them from using what they paid for to its full extent. Besides, the state of their servers is pretty lame, at least in Europe.

The thing is: these are things you'd usually never expect Valve to do. But they did and, in fact, they've been doing for quite a while. That's the whole point. I couldn't care less about what games they do or they don't. People like recreating their own debates over and over and once you complain about Valve, HL3 appears. But my argument here is pretty simple: They have stopped putting their focus on the user experience. Once it was paramount to them, not anymore.

If you think this is not for the user experience, why exactly do you think they are doing this for? I missed the part where they get extra money from this.

They communicated that it would take some time to get everything up to snuff, it has only been required for almost three weeks now and fixes are very fast. They get way more useful feedback now that the entire community plays on it and the game plays perfectly well. Before the majors which will be in more than a month things might work very well and I assume they have plans for so badly wanting the new client to be ready for the new tournament.

Yes, the states of their servers is lame, as they have been for a long time. They've also said that there will be substantial improvements in the coming months.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

but i guess this is just how i feel

Yeah, they don't have much of a presence on consoles anymore, but they're far from irrelevant.

 

[Rhys Wilde]

God I miss old Valve so much. I remember when they used to be my favorite company of all time. I followed everything they did and played every single game they produced. Memorized all the wikis, learned modding for their games, got really invested in all of their communities, but sometime in the last few years they just became irrelevant to me. I can't remember the last time I was excited for something Valve was doing. Maybe with the launch of CS:GO?

I don't even know if the next Half-Life installment would bring me back to their side, and I really love Half-Life.

 

[Syf]

Valve used to be my favorite gaming company..... now they are one of my least.

This is the bottom line for me as well.

 

[benicillin]

I miss old Valve as well. Now it feels like they've gotten a bit long in the tooth and a bit cynical - there's not as much excitement for Steam releases and everything anymore, their storefront is nearly half shovelware nowadays whereas games releasing on Steam used to actually *mean* something and I still enjoy TF2 and CS:GO and everything but there hasn't been an exciting new Valve release in a long time.

 

[Rhys Wilde]

I remember back in the early 2000's when I was a lot younger I emailed Valve a whole bunch of questions about the story of the original Half-Life and actually got a nice, lengthy response. Little kid me was so excited to hear back from my favorite company, it just blew me out of the water that someone who worked there saw my email and took the time to reply to me.

I somehow doubt that something like that would happen today.

 

[Instro]

Amazon.

Disagree on that. Amazon has fallen behind Steam in recent times, at least as far as I have seen anyway.

 

[Nzyme32]

I remember back in the early 2000's when I was a lot younger I emailed Valve a whole bunch of questions about the story of the original Half-Life and actually got a nice, lengthy response. Little kid me was so excited to hear back from my favorite company, it just blew me out of the water that someone who worked there saw my email and took the time to reply to me.

I somehow doubt that something like that would happen today.

Depends on who you contact. Laidlaw for example is still quite open to emailing answers to questions if you email

 

[patapuf]

I miss old Valve as well. Now it feels like they've gotten a bit long in the tooth and a bit cynical - there's not as much excitement for Steam releases and everything anymore, their storefront is nearly half shovelware nowadays whereas games releasing on Steam used to actually *mean* something and I still enjoy TF2 and CS:GO and everything but there hasn't been an exciting new Valve release in a long time.

Opening up steam is one of the best things Valve has done for the PC dev community.

We wouldn't get the variety we get today if small devs still had to be unsure of whether they can get on steam or not.

 

[afternoon delight]

I guess a good way of thinking about it too is the first few times Valve ran an ARG, I was hooked for news. Now I'll just wait to see what people find out because it will more than likely be very disappointing.

 

[DeaviL]

I don't get the Valve dramatics every month though.
Sales aren't worse, you just own everything you want.
Dota 2 is still transitioning over to S2, so a little patience helps.
And Steam itself is filled with new features and is as far as i'm concerned just getting better.

My annoyance is the flood of bad indies, but i know what i want so looking through them isn't the end of the world.


Make a thread when they start demanding a monthly fee and i'll be there,
but this is monthly Valve drama.

Valve used to be my favorite gaming company..... now they are one of my least.

Why?

Spoiler

Half of this thread is nostalgia speaking

 

[Omega]

I miss the times Epic and Valve made games.

Epic just released a game 4 years ago. People complain when devs push out games on annual/bi annual schedule and then if you take time on your game people still cry.

Also developing an engine takes time. It's also expensive which is why a lot of games just use other engines.

 

[SigSig]

Is this the new NINTENDO IS D00MED?
Yeah, not doing so well there, Valve. What's that? You are innovating tech, actively developing and supporting a bunch of the most played games ever? Yet you still won't make HL3, worst company EVER.

 

[GoldandBlue]

Epic just released a game 4 years ago. People complain when devs push out games on annual/bi annual schedule and then if you take time on your game people still cry.

Also developing an engine takes time. It's also expensive which is why a lot of games just use other engines.

Yeah, I don't understand why people get so upset at Valve for being quite about what they're working on. Long development cycles aren't anything new for them, just look at TF2. There's no reason to talk about it if they're not ready to show it off. Just look at SE with FF15, we've seen the game so many times and that has done it no favors.