F*** you, VALVe!! Now I'm pissed.

[diskoboy]

I paid $90 for the collectors edition of Half-Life 2 (the cash equivalent of the Gold Edition. The boxed retail CE is $79.99 after sales tax, it's around 90.), and now they're saying that if you bought any retail version you won't be getting Day of Defeat: Source for free unless you bought the silver or gold packages off steam.

Personally, I'm quite pissed. That's pretty fucked up saying you wont get the game unless you download it straight from us - no exceptions. I could understand that they would make you pay if you bought the normal retail edition..... But spending $80 on a cd, a joke of a strategy guide, and a t-shirt that barely fits, and asking us to pay $20 more just because we'd like a hard copy of the game? That's just wrong.

Actually - that's just extortion. Especially since DoD was a FREE download for HL1.

Sorry. I had to vent.

[Lothars]

I do agree, but I honestly think that valve really screwed up with Half-Life 2, I mean it's a great game, but alot of things they did like having to be online to install the game, stuff like that. but o well.

[hezeuschrist]

Well, someone had to be the pioneer in D2D game sales, it just happened to be valve. It'll be far more common in the future, but for now Valve is just going to continue to try to force people to buy the game online.

[-hellvin-]

Personally I hope Valve burns in hell. Unfortunetaly it is my fault for not learning about the difference in the packages, but I think it's bullshit that you can't download some of their source remakes just because you didn't buy the "x" package. Too damn annoying.

[unbroken]

The store versions of HL2 were duplicated, packaged and distributed by Vivendi who had the publication rights for HL2 and CS:S only. These rights did non include DoD:S which is why it is not availble with the retail version.

It makes sense now, its not really valves fault, still they should of made the game avaible free like they did the old dod and only make people pay who dont have hl2.

[devils advocate]

It's kind of weird isn't it?

Who do you get mad at?

1. Valve

2. Valve's attempt to prevent piracy.

3. Pirates..... Arrrghhh Matey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GarrettCRW]

It's kind of weird isn't it?

Who do you get mad at?

1. Valve

2. Valve's attempt to prevent piracy.

3. Pirates..... Arrrghhh Matey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll take Choice #2, sponsored by Leo Laporte, who has said time after time after time that piracy doesn't prevent pirates from doing their thing, but instead invites legit users to become pirates.

[CocoVG]

..and since the whole mess that is Half-Life 2, the variety of "Source" updates and the rest of the shebang is easily "warezed" and playable with a Steam emulator, it's easier than ever for those legit users to cross over to the dark side.

What strikes me as funny is that the man behind their Steam content distribution system is Bram Cohen - and you'd think with such a wildly successful system such as BitTorrent under his belt, he could do some great things for Steam - but apparently not!

The way that I feel is if you wanted to play Half-Life 2 for the single player experience, and couldn't give a fart in high wind for the online multiplayer - buying it retail was the way to go. If you do care about the online multiplayer experience, the gold package was the way to go. I went for the single-player experience, enjoyed it, and that was it. Life's too short to waste all of my time on one game. 8-)

[esquire]

..and since the whole mess that is Half-Life 2, the variety of "Source" updates and the rest of the shebang is easily "warezed" and playable with a Steam emulator, it's easier than ever for those legit users to cross over to the dark side.

What strikes me as funny is that the man behind their Steam content distribution system is Bram Cohen - and you'd think with such a wildly successful system such as BitTorrent under his belt, he could do some great things for Steam - but apparently not!

The way that I feel is if you wanted to play Half-Life 2 for the single player experience, and couldn't give a fart in high wind for the online multiplayer - buying it retail was the way to go. If you do care about the online multiplayer experience, the gold package was the way to go. I went for the single-player experience, enjoyed it, and that was it. Life's too short to waste all of my time on one game. 8-)

I'll admit that I bought the retail version without knowing about the version with Half-Life 1 Source. Damn if I was going to spend another $80-$90 just to play an update of a game I already owned. So I turned to the dark side and downloaded an iso for it just this week. It installed fine, and I will be playing it this weekend to relive the original Half-Life experience.

I am confused about all the different versions out there. Not sure if this one has been mentioned, but I saw a "Game of the Year" edition in a large DVD style case (like UT 2004), as opposed to the samll cardboard box, with not only HL2, CS Source but also HL1 Source for around $55 at Best Buy. This may be the first release by Valve after the settlement of the lawsuit with Vivendi Universal. Perhaps they are releasing their own retail versions now.

[rally9x]

This is why you should research before you buy...

This is why I had to spend a day downloading HL2 when I wanted to drive to Walmart so bad and buy it at midnight. You could tell by reading quite easily that dod:source and other bonuses were for certian online packages only. You should also get mad at capcom for selling a special edition resident evil package on their website how dair they screw you out of a soundtrack etc.

[njiska]

I'm gonna step up and say proudly that i whole heartedly support Valve, Steam and if you're getting all pissy over not getting DOD:Source for free well tough shit.

Valve is an amazing company that knows both sides of the market, quality and business.

Steam is the greatest content delivery system i have ever seen. It's got a nice smooth interface, download's content very quickly and easily and offers easy multiplayer match-making. On Demand is the wave of the future for everything and i'm going support it as best i can. That's why i bought gold.

DOD:Source isn't free for the same reason CS:Source isn't. It's a remake of DOD using the new source engine and that's why Valve has the right to charge for it. They invested a lot of time and money into the project and it's only right for them to make it back. If you didn't read the back of your box and see that it didn't include DOD:Source then it's your own fault. Don't blame Valve for your mistake (thankfully i see that many of you who bought retail do realize this :)). Not to mention that the Retail box has things we Steam-ers don't have, like disc's and manuals and so forth, so the direct cost to cost comparision isn't fair.

Valve is a good company, so don't bash them simply because you're mad you can't get DOD:Source for free.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I read that, and I couldn't help but think that was a typo, about only getting it if you bought it online.

Also, why are you bitching about all the contents of the collectors edition? Nobody forced you to buy it, you could have gotten the regular version and you wouldn't have gotten any less game-play out of it.

[Avenger]

This is how I got back at Valve...

Yea the only way to get all there old games and DoD etc etc is to buy it online...So i just didnt buy a thing, and my buddy came round, logged onto his account on my PC, and I downloaded all the stuff for free...So anytime hes not playing (which is always now) I can play CS:S or anything else i want..for free...I think its completely stupid that if you bought the COLLECTORS EDITION in stores, for 100 some bucks...you dont get everything...err, I've already vented about this enough in real life. SO who is the Collectors Edition intended for exactly? If you know your options ,and you are hardcore about Half Life, the only real choice is online.

[esquire]

I think the problem here is over-saturation of product, most of which stemmed over the dispute between Valve and Vivendi. Vivendi released the original retail versions, of which there are now 3 - Retail, Collector's and GOTYE. Valve has three versions as well available on Steam - Gold, Silver and Bronze. I am sure a good majority of people bought the retail version. DOD Source was never an option if you bought the game in store.

At least DOD Source is available separately for $19.95, 10% off if you preorder.

[roushimsx]

Valve rocks, Steam Rocks, and Vivendi sucks dick.

If you didn't do 5 minutes of research before you bought the game, hey, that's your fault. You may as well jump up and down screaming a hissy fit that you spent $100 on a game on ebay that you can readilly buy brand new for $50 on amazon.com

Yes, I was a little wary of Steam at first, but I decided that it was worth the risk since I could preload the entire game of Half Life 2 a few days before it came out (so that when it DID come out I didn't have to wait in line to pick it up, didn't have to swap cds during an install, didn't have to worry about losing/damaging cds, didn't have to worry about getting duplication issues, such as having 2 disc 1s and what not, etc) . The big question was, which version should I get?

Let's see.. Bronze was the same as the retail version but $5 cheaper. Silver was $5 more than the retail copy but came with HL Source and DOD Source whenever that game came out, and Gold was too fucking expensive and came with a lot of worthless crap. Hmm. Considering how much i loved Half Life and Day of Defeat up until ~b3.0, I decided to splurge on the Silver.

Little did I know that I'd also automatically be eligible to download Half Life, Opposing Force, Condition Zero, and easilly integrate my Half Life SP Mod collection over to Steam with very little trouble. Then came Counter Strike Source and HL2 Deathmatch. Then Blue Shift came out for free. Soon a Blue Shift update will come out. Now Day of Defeat Source. Soon Lost Coast will be out

and that doesn't even count all of the free crap out there right now (both for Half Life and Half Life 2)

Because of Vivendi, if you bought half life 2 at retail, your serial number told steam to check for the cd/dvd, so you couldn't even download the game and just use your serial number; you were still stuck having to leave your cd in. Vivendi delayed the release of the game by 2+ weeks because they wouldn't let Steam unlock it until a specific date. Hell, people got the retail copy a week early and couldn't do anything with the discs since the data was still encrypted.

Valve never released Day of Defeat for free, it was a free mod built by gamers. The team that made the game was hired and has since put out a commercial version of Day of Defeat before going full time on DoD Source.

So yea, too long didn't read version:
Vivendi sucks, Valve rocks, Steam rocks, and if you got burned because you just had to have a box then that's your fault. I literally spent 5 minutes researching it before I decided to take the plunge nearly a year ago on Steam, and it's been one of the best deals I've ever gotten.

p.s. Play the following Half Life mods while you wait for Day of Defeat Source to unlock:
Poke646
Azure Sheep
USS Darkstar
Heart of Evil
They Hunger
Redemption
The Long Night
Todesangst
Todesangst 2
and of course, Half Life Uplink

the creator of Todesangst is currently remaking I and II in the Source engine, last I heard. I can't fucking wait.


I think its completely stupid that if you bought the COLLECTORS EDITION in stores, for 100 some bucks...you dont get everything

That's Vivendi fucking you in the ass, my friend. You can't hate on the developer for that, it's the publisher's fault.

Steam is owned and controlled by the developer, and to show their gratitude for you supporting them via Steam (since when you buy on Steam, Valve gets ALL of that money), they'll hook you up in ways that the publisher never would.

Valve rocks.

[njiska]

Valve rocks, Steam Rocks, and Vivendi sucks dick.

I'd say that sums everything up quite nicely.

[Raedon]

Blizzard is kind of doing the same thing with World of Warcraft. There are several items, pets that you cannot have if you didn't pre-order games, tickets from them.

[EricRyan34]

wow that sucks :-/