Facts about Gabe Newell

[DemonKing]

I don't get the Gabe hate (unless it's simply a case of sad nerds ripping on someone who is rich and successful). When he opens his mouth to criticise some aspect of the industry it's usually well-aimed and to the point, he's been the driving force behind some very good games and has championed and developed the game-industry equivalent of I-Tunes. I'd certainly stop and listen to him if he had a relevant opinion to give.

 

[Trojan_generic]

I don't get the Gabe hate (unless it's simply a case of sad nerds ripping on someone who is rich and successful).

The guy invents the needless type of spyware that follows nowadays about every single fucking game you buy, and you don't understand the hate?

 

[Tommy Wiseau]

I don't get the Gabe hate (unless it's simply a case of sad nerds ripping on someone who is rich and successful).

The guy invents the needless type of spyware that follows nowadays about every single fucking game you buy, and you don't understand the hate?

Spyware. That's a new one.

 

[Trojan_generic]

Spyware. That's a new one.

Nope, not talking about only Steam, but this type of malware in general. See Origin for example. I won't even go into how he desperately tries to prevent trading used games.

 

[Mrowak]

I don't get the Gabe hate (unless it's simply a case of sad nerds ripping on someone who is rich and successful).

The guy invents the needless type of spyware that follows nowadays about every single fucking game you buy, and you don't understand the hate?

And suddenly this "needless" spyware creates new market opportunities for Indie developers who could not in the former economic picture advertise their games effectively enpugh and protect them from being pirated. Additionally Steam raised awareness about piracy and made purchasing games more convenient, and cheaper than ever before, creating a new kind of demand.

I am first to bash DRM (I get most of my legal digital games from GOG), but there's some credit where credit is due. Steam singlehandedly really did revitalize the gaming industry.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

And to be honest trading used games was spotty at best on PC before Steam anyway due to CD keys. Not to say Steam doesn't restrict it more, but still.

 

[tuluse]

Steam and it's ilk mean I don't have to worry about losing a CD key. That alone is worth plenty of loss of freedom.

 

[Spectacle]

I don't get the Gabe hate (unless it's simply a case of sad nerds ripping on someone who is rich and successful).

The guy claims to be running a game company, and is sitting on untold piles of money, but the only games he ever publishes are made by external teams he's hired half way through development. It seems like he's put everyone else employed at Valve to work on making TF2 hats and the like.

 

[Morgoth]

Valve by now has hundreds of employees, and no, they're not all working on hats.

 

[Spectacle]

Then wtf are they doing?

 

[Destroid]

Enjoying the pleasures of their exotic management structure I guess.

 

[tuluse]

Valve by now has hundreds of employees, and no, they're not all working on hats.

They're much smaller than companies bringing in that amount of cash. They have less than 300 employees.

I would expect that a lot of time and effort is spend on managing Steam at this point. It's probably a much larger part of their company that making games.

Still, I keep expecting to hear Half-life 3 announced on brand new Source Engine 2.

 

[Morgoth]

Last I checked, they have 500 employees. They are working on a new game engine, have hardware in development, a couple of experimental projects that maybe were canceled, and eventually something Half-Life related. They are super busy, but they take their time because a) they can and b) because they wanna do it right.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/econ...nt-structure-fit-into-todays-corporate-world/
"Be that as it may, the current size of Valve (pushing 400 souls)"
So not quite 400 as of August 2012.

 

[Bony]

they're not all working on hats.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

When you are the public face of your company rather than a faceless anonymous investor and owner of a holding and parent company most people don't even know that exists, you are better off acting sympathetic to your customers, even while you treat them like bitches beyond their limited perception.

When you are the public face of your company rather than a faceless anonymous investor and owner of a holding and parent company most people don't even know that exists, you are better off acting sympathetic to your customers, even while you treat them like bitches beyond their limited perception.

Exactly this. He acts like a geeky Santa Claus in public and on PR pictures, while he allows terrible Steam support and blocks accounts and whole game libraries.

 

[Morgoth]

All Gabe haters need to get out of here now. Your lies are stinking this whole place up.

 

[Cassidy]

Steam and it's ilk mean I don't have to worry about losing a CD key. That alone is worth plenty of loss of freedom.

I lost a CD key thanks to its early broken launch. And there ended my enjoyment of the first Natural Selection.

Fanboys gonna fanboy. All this sycophancy over someone who doesn't even give anybody here paychecks. I'm not sure whether it is a lame troll, some pathetic consumerist sheeple idiots acting genuinely or a combination of both, but I bet on the latter.

All Gabe haters need to get out of here now. Your lies are stinking this whole place up.

Playing KOTOR 7 times is not much of a big deal to draw anyone's attention to such detail over Codexia.

Day-one purchase of shit games is.

Therefore I think another group, which I like to describe as quislings and race traitors for the lulz, should GTFO first.

 

[Metro]

Doesn't spyware have to... spy on you/your system/relevant private info to count as spyware?

 

[Cassidy]

How is what you are doing in a singleplayer game not supposed to be private info, even if not blatant Dox? It can tell a lot about a person for market researchers.

And the reason for many shit decisions related to the decline as well due to the "x% never played it more than 4 hours, so let's make the sequel 4-hours long only, most won't even notice it!" mindset.

 

[Konjad]

How is what you are doing in a singleplayer game not supposed to be private info, even if not blatant Dox? It can tell a lot about a person for market researchers.

Is turning Steam in offline mode such a hassle?

And the reason for many shit decisions related to the decline as well due to the "x% never played it more than 4 hours, so let's make the sequel 4-hours long only, most won't even notice it!" mindset.

Sources?

 

[tuluse]

And the reason for many shit decisions related to the decline as well due to the "x% never played it more than 4 hours, so let's make the sequel 4-hours long only, most won't even notice it!" mindset.

Sources?

Part of the given explanation about why you can only play a human in DA2 is that most people only play humans in DA:O.

 

[Metro]

How is what you are doing in a singleplayer game not supposed to be private info...

Because, it isn't? Or should I say if you're really concerned about protecting that kind of information you're either grossly paranoid or just being argumentative for the sake of it. Probably both in your case. That's about as 'private' as the fact that I -- and 99.99% of other men -- like internet porn.

The marketing research argument is a non-starter. People like shit games so shit games will continue to be made. You think if there were no Steam then old school RPG and strategy games would dominate the market?

 

[Konjad]

And the reason for many shit decisions related to the decline as well due to the "x% never played it more than 4 hours, so let's make the sequel 4-hours long only, most won't even notice it!" mindset.

Sources?

Part of the given explanation about why you can only play a human in DA2 is that most people only play humans in DA:O.

Modern Bioware is a pretty crappy company releasing terrible-to-mediocre games, why should we care about them and what they do in their games?

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

I like Gabe, he's a bro.

 

[Infinitron]

I still remember, back in E3 2004 when I still cared a lot about new installments in the Zelda franchise, they announced Twilight Princess and I was extremely excited. For those who remember, it was that trailer that got everyone in the audience screaming and then Miyamoto pops up at the end with sword and shield at hands. Anyway, it's just that the game was only released 2 years and some more months later, it might seem a small period but it was more than enough to make me lost next to all interest in the game. When it was released I couldn't care less about it. Funny thing is that many people also said they lost interest in the game after so much time without any significant info or similar stuff.

Now make that 5 years. Half Life just doesn't mean shit anymore for everyone except the most die hard Valve fans. Is there anyone seriously expecting the sequel and having any excitement about it? This waiting backfired hard on them.

Yes, because Steam reminds you of the existence of Half Life every time you launch it. Do you really doubt Valve's ability to generate brand awareness?

 

[Metro]

HL1 was fun. HL2 was okay but had more than a few tedious stretches of level design (the mines, driving section, boat section, etc.). I would buy HL3... at a 75% off discount.