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Well, Valve just dropped news about the Orange Box today. Half Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Portal, and TF2 for $50. 10% if you get it now, plus if you get it now, you can start playing the TF2 beta early.

Meanwhile, if you want to buy Episode 2, Portal, and TF2 seperately, it will cost you $70. Yeah, that's right, Portal and TF2 are no longer packaged with Episode 2, and to top it off, Episode 2 is $10 more than Episode 1!

Is there a discount for any of us who bought HL2 and Ep1? Nope, just a big fat fuck you from Valve. The only benefit you get is that you can give your copy of HL2 and EP1 to someone for free. It's small compensation for supporting Valve from the beginning.

Needless to say, I'm not happy about this. As awesome as TF2 looks, I'm feeling like iPhone users did before Steve Jobs announced the store credit.

Valve are a complete load of cunts. All they're doing is giving their long-term fans who have paid for every title on release a shafting. I'm not happy.

What do you expect from the people who invented STEAM?

Can you get this deal in any way except downloading the entire damn game and expansions ect... off steam? I dont have any of them and I'm getting a new uber computer, so getting all that for fifty bucks is great for me if i can get hard copies. I have DSL, so downloading the updates with take absurdly long enough as it is.

Yes, they are selling the Orange Box in stores. You'll still have to do the usual online registration bit, of course.

Nice. I can deal with taking a day to download a huge ass patch, I’m at school and work for twelve hours at a stretch anyway; I physically cannot expect to download whole games.

So if I just cared about Ep 2, I'd be paying $50 for 5 hours of gameplay. Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted to do, Valve! How did you know? And fuck any game where you have to internet activate a store bought copy or it won't work. I declare a boycott on any game that does that.

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:So if I just cared about Ep 2, I'd be paying $50 for 5 hours of gameplay. Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted to do, Valve! How did you know? And fuck any game where you have to internet activate a store bought copy or it won't work. I declare a boycott on any game that does that.

No, you'd pay $30 if you just wanted Ep2.

And good luck with the boycott, chuck.

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:And fuck any game where you have to internet activate a store bought copy or it won't work. I declare a boycott on any game that does that.

Why does this so offend you? If you lived in a hole without access to the internet then I suppose I would understand, but you obviously have access to the internet.

Hotfoot wrote:Is there a discount for any of us who bought HL2 and Ep1? Nope, just a big fat fuck you from Valve. The only benefit you get is that you can give your copy of HL2 and EP1 to someone for free. It's small compensation for supporting Valve from the beginning.

You know, I wouldn't expect to pay less than $40 bucks for the whole package(Ep2,Portal,TF2). I'm not enthralled by the prospect of paying a little extra cash so they can attach the previous iterations of the game onto it, but I'm really only paying 5 bucks more than I think is the game should cost by pre-ordering, so its not really a *huge* deal in my opinion.

Mmm, I'm not too sure of what to think, on one hand, $50 was as much as i was ready to pay for the 3 game pack (I don't find paying $50 for 3 AAA titles bad at all, specially with one of them having the potential of hundreds of hours of online playtime), so the price is OK with me.

About HL2 + Ep1, though, I don't know, seems more like a bonus than anything, I know they probably use it as an argument to boost the price a bit, but anybody who's been playing the previous games would probably have picked them up just the three pack at $50 anyway. You're basically getting a free license, which is weird, but i guess they figured everyone who was going to buy HL2 and Ep2 already has so they might as well give them away for free on the purchase of their new release to get people who haven't previously purchased the game to buy it (Like Lucas arts used to do, Grim Fandango came with Monkey Island 1 and 2). I mean, if you don't already own HL2 and Ep1 it's a hell of a deal for $50.

If they had put Ep2, TF2 and Portal on a separate package with a lower price along with the Orange Box I guarantee people would have gone "FUCKERS! I BOUGHT HL2 ALONE FOR $50!" so i don't really see how some would react badly to any particular proposition.

My only real concern is: Can you give away your extra HL2 and Ep1 license if you buy from Steam? That would rule.

Shogoki wrote:If they had put Ep2, TF2 and Portal on a separate package with a lower price along with the Orange Box I guarantee people would have gone "FUCKERS! I BOUGHT HL2 ALONE FOR $50!" so i don't really see how some would react badly to any particular proposition.

What the fuck are you even talking about? There were PLANS for a Black Box, which was just EP2, TF2, and Portal, at a cheaper price than the Orange Box. Now they've said "fuck that". Why? Because they couldn't get shelf space for it in retail stores.

By the way, go back and read my post. The only thing you can do is hand out your old copies to friends. Of course, if they are at ALL interested in HL2, they'll get the orange box, because it's the best deal there is for all at once...which means that Valve has basically created a bunch of "spawn copies" of HL2 and Ep1.

Why couldn't they just offer the 'black box' as an online-only package?

Uraniun235 wrote:Why couldn't they just offer the 'black box' as an online-only package?

The shit of it is, they sort of are. If you got a Black Box offer with some graphics card or another, they'll honor THAT deal, but other than that, you're fucked. They figured that their users that shelled out before would do it again, and PLUS they would get them to pass on their now "free" games to their friends, which would start the cycle over again.

It's a shrewd marketing move, but it's rather assholish.

InnocentBystander wrote:

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:And fuck any game where you have to internet activate a store bought copy or it won't work. I declare a boycott on any game that does that.

Why does this so offend you? If you lived in a hole without access to the internet then I suppose I would understand, but you obviously have access to the internet.

Perhaps because having to rely on buggy servers for the ability to play a game you've already paid for is a crock of shit, given that the game most likely requires you to have the CD in the drive while you play anyway?

Didn't you hear about what happened with Bioshock? Several thousand people couldn't start playing their game - you know, the one they had spent money to buy, money that they'd worked for - because the online authentication server went down. And that's not even counting the bullshit with the limited activations.

And are they offering Portal solo? That might be worth buying, the freeware game it's based on was fun.

Molyneux wrote:Perhaps because having to rely on buggy servers for the ability to play a game you've already paid for is a crock of shit, given that the game most likely requires you to have the CD in the drive while you play anyway?

Enjoy talking out of your ass much? Steam's authentication system has been around for a while now, so knowledge of how it works should be a known factor. You don't need the CD in the drive.

Didn't you hear about what happened with Bioshock? Several thousand people couldn't start playing their game - you know, the one they had spent money to buy, money that they'd worked for - because the online authentication server went down. And that's not even counting the bullshit with the limited activations.

...you really are an idiot. First off, ValveSteam doesn't do limited activations. Secondly, while Steam did initially stumble, all of the glitches have since been worked out on a large scale. They've done this before.

And are they offering Portal solo? That might be worth buying, the freeware game it's based on was fun.

Christ, did you even bother to read the first fucking post? How fucking stupid are you?

Why does this so offend you? If you lived in a hole without access to the internet then I suppose I would understand, but you obviously have access to the internet.

When people pay for a game they don't appreciate being treated like a criminal, I PAID for it and have the right to play it whenever the fuck I want, whether I have internet on that machine or not. The fact that some people think this shit is ok then rant about DRM prevents playback on certain devices is astounding.

Yeah, I love how this whole "episodic gaming" thing is going with HL2. You get to wait about the same as you would for a normal sequel, but you only get a few hours of gameplay and it costs more!

InnocentBystander wrote:

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:And fuck any game where you have to internet activate a store bought copy or it won't work. I declare a boycott on any game that does that.

Why does this so offend you? If you lived in a hole without access to the internet then I suppose I would understand, but you obviously have access to the internet.

Gee, I dunno. Maybe because I fucking paid for the game and might want to play it even if for whatever reason I'm without internet access?

Resinence wrote:When people pay for a game they don't appreciate being treated like a criminal, I PAID for it and have the right to play it whenever the fuck I want, whether I have internet on that machine or not. The fact that some people think this shit is ok then rant about DRM prevents playback on certain devices is astounding.

Oh for fuck's sake. Yeah, you paid for it, but guess what? If the fucking developers want to make sure you are the guy that legally bought it before they let you play it, they can. Meanwhile, Valve's system lets you make backups whenever you want, install copies onto as many machines as you want, and even download a new copy should your disc get lost/break/shoved up the gaping asshole you call a mouth, and you STILL don't need your disc in the tray to play.

So cry me a fucking river that you went and bought a game that says on the motherfucking box that it requires an internet connection. Once you install it, you never have to be online again with Steam. You can isolate your box from now until doomsday if you really wanted to.

More to the point, THAT'S NOT THE FUCKING ISSUE OF THE THREAD. Christ, is every discussion about Steam always going to come back to little bitches like you who don't even know what they're talking about bitching about the online activation? Fucking hell, this is perhaps the least obtrusive and most effective ways to crack down on piracy while still giving you full fair use freedom, and STILL you bitch. No, you can't be happy that someone found a happy medium between fair use and anti-piracy. No, because you, a little shit who is bitching on an internet forum is unhappy that a game developer uses the internet to make sure that the people who play the game they made ACTUALLY PAID FOR IT.

Never mind that the point of this thread is about the retarded pricing and bundling of the new games Valve has been hyping, which is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FUCKING ISSUE.

THE ONE THIS THREAD IS ABOUT.

Christ.

Flagg wrote:Yeah, I love how this whole "episodic gaming" thing is going with HL2. You get to wait about the same as you would for a normal sequel, but you only get a few hours of gameplay and it costs more!

If they don't up the gameplay hours in Ep2 along with the increased cost, I'm going to be very irritated at the entire effort Valve has made towards episodic gaming. They have already failed on release times, and they are heading into another realm of idiocy when it comes to pricing and packages. Sam & Max, at least, kept to their schedules and now has a full game of six episodes out. SiN, however, is the worst offender.

well I'm in no hurry, I'll just sample Portal/Ep2 from my room mate's account until Valve is feeling more reasonable.

As far as I'm concerned TF2 can blow me.

SiN was also complete rubbish, it's not really like anyone is missing out.

Hotfoot wrote:

Resinence wrote:When people pay for a game they don't appreciate being treated like a criminal, I PAID for it and have the right to play it whenever the fuck I want, whether I have internet on that machine or not. The fact that some people think this shit is ok then rant about DRM prevents playback on certain devices is astounding.

Oh for fuck's sake. Yeah, you paid for it, but guess what? If the fucking developers want to make sure you are the guy that legally bought it before they let you play it, they can. Meanwhile, Valve's system lets you make backups whenever you want, install copies onto as many machines as you want, and even download a new copy should your disc get lost/break/shoved up the gaping asshole you call a mouth, and you STILL don't need your disc in the tray to play.

So cry me a fucking river that you went and bought a game that says on the motherfucking box that it requires an internet connection. Once you install it, you never have to be online again with Steam. You can isolate your box from now until doomsday if you really wanted to.

What pissed me off about requiring a net connection was when I first moved up here and had to wait 2 weeks to get internet hooked up. I had gotten Episode 1 shortly before moving up here and was planning on playing it once I got moved in. I understand Valve wants to protect their games, but there has got to be some middle ground for situations like that.

Hotfoot wrote:

Flagg wrote:Yeah, I love how this whole "episodic gaming" thing is going with HL2. You get to wait about the same as you would for a normal sequel, but you only get a few hours of gameplay and it costs more!

If they don't up the gameplay hours in Ep2 along with the increased cost, I'm going to be very irritated at the entire effort Valve has made towards episodic gaming. They have already failed on release times, and they are heading into another realm of idiocy when it comes to pricing and packages. Sam & Max, at least, kept to their schedules and now has a full game of six episodes out. SiN, however, is the worst offender.

What's pissing me off is that they are essentially making HL3 using the HL2 engine and making us pay more for it.

Hotfoot wrote:

Didn't you hear about what happened with Bioshock? Several thousand people couldn't start playing their game - you know, the one they had spent money to buy, money that they'd worked for - because the online authentication server went down. And that's not even counting the bullshit with the limited activations.

...you really are an idiot. First off, ValveSteam doesn't do limited activations. Secondly, while Steam did initially stumble, all of the glitches have since been worked out on a large scale. They've done this before.

Yes, and that 'initial stumble' kept people from playing the game they'd paid for. You don't see a problem with that?

And are they offering Portal solo? That might be worth buying, the freeware game it's based on was fun.

Christ, did you even bother to read the first fucking post? How fucking stupid are you?

Well, let's see. Your initial post doesn't offer a link or reference of any kind...and a quick visit to the official Valve website only mentions Portal as being part of the Orange Box. A quick Google search turns up the Wikipedia entry, which only mentions Portal as being offered as part of the Orange Box...and a few rumors.

Yeah, I'm a real idiot for not taking an unsourced post at face value. Jackass.