Both Valve and Blizzard have unique work cultures that "normal" mortal companies simply can't afford to have. Each company has earned the right to their specific culture through proven excellence in their releases, but these cultures make being a fan of either studio's games extremely frustrating (10 years for a sequel to Starcraft??? 6 years without any closure to the HL2 story??). While it's hard to argue with success, one has to wonder if a happy medium can be reached in such cases. One where a more structured, and dare I say it, more professional work environment could be maintained, which would presumably lead to more timely updates and releases, ideally without comprising the aforementioned excellence. There's no universal law that I'm aware of that states creative greatness can only spring from groups devoid of any structure or focused leadership.
This comment was edited on Dec 3, 2011, 15:54.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
- Mahatma Gandhi