Wesp5 wrote on Nov 21, 2013, 16:50:
Beamer wrote on Nov 21, 2013, 16:07:
That only games created by original Valve employees are Valve games?
I don't think you want to understand me. In my eyes all these commercialized mods are just diversions from the HL series, which is what I really care about! I don't think Valve has time forever to finish HL3 and the time they spend on other things like DOTA2 is lost for the HL series. And of course all of this is much easier than actually creating a completely new game that blows everyone away!
Find me the link where Newell says that HL2 was delayed solely due to Steam.
Not solely, but a big part surely was that Newell concentrated on Steam. Google produced http://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-final-hours-of-half-life-2/1100-6112889/ in which it says: "But in early 2002 Newell let the rest of the team take the lead on the development of the game...Instead, he began working on other projects, like Steam..." I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happened to HL3: Newell is busy planning to take the living room with the Steamboxes, while the rest of Valve spends their time commercialising mods and working on HL3 on the side. By the time HL3 will be released gamers may either have forgotten it or have so high expectations, that they can't ever be satisfied. I want HL3 to be great, but I fear for the worst!
Gabe spending less time isn't a huge deal. He let the rest of the team take the lead. It isn't like he was still the decision maker and drawing out decisions.
As for your argument that few people care about HL3 anymore, you're mostly right, but that isn't because it's taken too long. People didn't stop caring about Duke Nukem Forever because it took too long. People stopped caring about Duke because he was a remnant from another time that hadn't aged well. The character hadn't aged well, the design hadn't aged well, and the game itself sucked.
Half Life hasn't particularly aged well, either. It's still fun, nostalgically, but it's a fairly shallow game. Popular first person games these days tend to have either RPG elements, team elements, or both. HL didn't have either.
Can you name a single first person game similar to Half Life that's done well recently?