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[Sad Affleck]

I refuse to believe for one second that with the kind of capital that Steam must rake in on a regular basis that they don't have the resources to do whatever the fuck they want in regards to game development, hiring more devs, releasing episode 3 as a comic if they couldn't do the former, licensing out the IP to another willing developer with strict supervision if they're so damned worried about quality, so throwing their original fans a fucking bone at some point before jettisoning literally the entire team responsible would've been nice. This whole lack of transparency to maintain artistic integrity bullshit is tired at this point.

They do have the resources to do whatever the fuck they want. Sadly, what they want is the current state of affairs.

 

[Frumix]

Can Valve sue Laidlaw for posting this, I mean, it's still their game? Just curious.

The Orange Box came out 10 years ago so presumably an NDA of some sort just expired.

 

[guybrushfreeman]

Apparently the NDA expired not too long ago

NDA

NDA expired, presumably.

Why did this guy wait so long to tell us the story ?

On Twitter he said he doesn't know about any NDA.

I didn't either.
There's no significance to the timing other than I got around to it.

https://mobile.twitter.com/marc_laidlaw/status/900980779802439680

 

[feel]

What was the point of all the secrecy and dodging the subject for all these years? Why keep fans hoping instead of being upfront about it? SCREW YOU GABE. 😡

 

[More_Badass]

It holds EVEN LESS water when we think of it "morally and artistically." Morally it's fucking heinous to insist that an artist be captive to their audience's demands, and artistically, it's a great way to ensure either shit art or great art that's entirely about how much the artist hates their audience.

Worked for Sherlock Holmes (the stories), Shenmue, and other liked series with a fan base that wanted to see the series continue

 

[Aangster]

Straddling XANDER's superb post, the notion that fans shouldn't expect release of or vocally proclaim disappointment at the absence of a conclusion for a marketed series is utterly absurd. I understand the complexities and artistic weight of investing in projects, but Half-Life as a series is iconic, one Valve marketed to a feverish, long standing fanbase as a three part episodic series, and completely, utterly failed to deliver on or engage in discourse related to an ending.

A creative team clearly struggled to invest fully in a third title after burnout, but there's no evidence energy or effort was put towards addressing this. Worse, Valve chose to consciously disengage from the very real and valid discussion of "Where is Episode 3?" to instead cynically sweep the absence under the rug. To this day Valve still acts like Half-Life either doesn't exist or Episode 3 does exist and may come out but you must wait and see winkyfaceemoticon

The whole experience over the last few years and PR approach has been a rich vein of utter bullshit. One now, with bittersweetness, has been resolved the only backhanded way it could be from arguably one of the last remaining professional bastions of the franchise.

Kitschy tongue-in-cheek comics and wacky press releases cannot obscure legitimate negligence towards their crowning series and legacy fanbase.

Agreed on all counts, Newell's appearances at events with '3' references in fake tattoo or hat form come across as insulting and more resemble deliberate mockery of fanbase expectations over the years.

 

[AJ_Wings]

This era has come to an end.

Finally, I can let go.

Once Valve inevitably kills TF2 by assigning less & less people, that'll be it for my relationship with them.

I can only imagine the disaster the Pyro update's gonna be if Meet Your Match is anything to go by. I mean... I'd love to be proven wrong! But at this point the TF2 team's track record is so terrible I can only expect the worst.

 

[TheSecondSpitter]

Can Valve sue Laidlaw for posting this, I mean, it's still their game? Just curious.

They can but they won't get very far. It's clearly labelled as fan fiction with a dash of not-so-thinly-veiled swipes at his former employer.

It's also well within the "fair use" doctrine. The only reason he changed the names of the characters is so he doesn't breach his NDA.

 

[HariKari]

Nice to see lots of people thanking him: https://twitter.com/marc_laidlaw/status/900902074954661888

 

[Acorn]

Can Valve sue Laidlaw for posting this, I mean, it's still their game? Just curious.

Would depend on a bunch of shit noone but Marc or Valve will be privvy to, so speculating is ultimately pointless.

 

[TheSecondSpitter]

The Orange Box came out 10 years ago so presumably an NDA of some sort just expired.

NDAs are timed from the time you leave the company, which was 18 months ago, not when the IP was created.

 

[Frumix]

NDAs are timed from the time you leave the company, which was 18 months ago not when the IP was created.

Well we don't know the circumstances and the main man denies everything so we can only guess I suppose.

 

[TheSecondSpitter]

Well we don't know the circumstances and the main man denies everything so we can only guess I suppose.

And I'm explaining to you how NDAs work. He wrote the story, but its Valve's story. He left the company 18 months ago.... there's even a meta reference to this in the blog post.

 

[guybrushfreeman]

Well we don't know the circumstances and the main man denies everything so we can only guess I suppose.

Honestly I think he just finally motivated himself to do it. It's just a random day in August for him like the rest of us

 

[Frumix]

And I'm explaining to you how NDAs work. He wrote the story, but its Valve's story. He left the company 18 months ago.... there's even a meta reference to this in the blog post.

So then there's possibly nothing stopping him from discussing this other than hopes and agreements that they were still making the game that clearly didn't see the light?

That's even sadder.

 

[Acidote]

Laidlaw was probably angry at the Artifact announcement too.

 

[SuperRaddy]

They'd be faithful to the gameplay and hell maybe Marc would come on for story. It wouldn't be Freedman's Uncharted.

It would be on PlayStation only thou presumably.. so unfaithful to the community it was born on.

 

[Keby]

"And here we are. I spoke of my return to this shore. It has been a circuitous path to lands I once knew, and surprising to see how much the terrain has changed. Enough time has passed that few remember me, or what I was saying when last I spoke, or what precisely we hoped to accomplish. At this point, the resistance will have failed or succeeded, no thanks to me. Old friends have been silenced, or fallen by the wayside. I no longer know or recognize most members of the research team, though I believe the spirit of rebellion still persists. I expect you know better than I the appropriate course of action, and I leave you to it. Except no further correspondence from me regarding these matters; this is my final episode."

Reading between the lines, this last paragraph is pretty harrowing for what happened on the development side.

 

[Lotto]

Straddling XANDER's superb post, the notion that fans shouldn't expect release of or vocally proclaim disappointment at the absence of a conclusion for a marketed series is utterly absurd. I understand the complexities and artistic weight of investing in projects, but Half-Life as a series is iconic, one Valve marketed to a feverish, long standing fanbase as a three part episodic series, and completely, utterly failed to deliver on or engage in discourse related to an ending.

A creative team clearly struggled to invest fully in a third title after burnout, but there's no evidence energy or effort was put towards addressing this. Worse, Valve chose to consciously disengage from the very real and valid discussion of "Where is Episode 3?" to instead cynically sweep the absence under the rug. To this day Valve still acts like Half-Life either doesn't exist or Episode 3 does exist and may come out but you must wait and see winkyfaceemoticon

The whole experience over the last few years and PR approach has been a rich vein of utter bullshit. One now, with bittersweetness, has been resolved the only backhanded way it could be from arguably one of the last remaining professional bastions of the franchise.

Kitschy tongue-in-cheek comics and wacky press releases cannot obscure legitimate negligence towards their crowning series and legacy fanbase.

I've never not agreed with you about anything Valve related, especially when it comes Half-life. Suffice it to say, I agree wholeheartedly. I'm sick of this shit.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

Agreed on all counts, Newell's appearances at events with '3' references in fake tattoo or hat form come across as insulting and more resemble deliberate mockery of fanbase expectations over the years.

I swear to god I'll have an aneurysm if I ever see anyone at Valve make anything coming close to a joke about HL3 again, Gabe especially.

 

[torre_avenue]

Someday, a games journalist is going to have the story of their career piecing together the real history of Half-Life 3 from all those that have left.

 

[Bluth54]

This era has come to an end.

Finally, I can let go.

Once Valve inevitably kills TF2 by assigning less & less people, that'll be it for my relationship with them.

But the TF2 team just got a new member:

Isn't Team Crabwalk Rocketjump Fortress such a cutie?

Well we don't know the circumstances and the main man denies everything so we can only guess I suppose.

From everything I've read Valve usually doesn't make people who visit them sign NDAs of any kind. I don't know if employees have to sign one but given the way they operate I doubt they have to sign NDAs.

 

[Frozenprince]

I swear to god I'll have an aneurysm if I ever see anyone at Valve make anything coming close to a joke about HL3 again, Gabe especially.

The last five years he's just been an out and put dick about it let's be fully honest.

 

[Auto-Reply]

This thread will be funny in a year from now when Half Life 3 is out!!!

 

[Iced_Eagle]

I feel a bit of closure now. Thanks Marc!

I feel like there's going to be less pressure on Valve to actually release HL3 after this though. I really hope Valve will prove me wrong one day. It would be a hell of a challenge since so many of the original members have left, and unless they were confident about hitting it out of the park it could almost be a bigger black eye for them to release a shitty HL3 than none at all.

 

[Doctor Ironic]

So for instance, GRMM shouldnt have to write the final books in the song of fire and ice series because fans should be happy with what they got?

Lol

Yes.

Is that so hard to understand?

 

[CecilRousso]

Thanks for this Mr. Laidlaw. It was long since I actually cared for the series, Valve killed of that interest, but I still wanted this adressed somehow. I hope that Valve are annoyed by this, so this works as a middle finger to them, for having abandoned the HL fanbase.

Don't care the slightest about "they owe you nothing!" megaphones. That argument is just silly, and completely misses so many points that it should be relegated to a lower division.

 

[Sage00]

NDAs are timed from the time you leave the company, which was 18 months ago, not when the IP was created.

Err.. no they're not? It completely depends on whatever contract he signed.

 

[Lotto]

But the TF2 team just got a new member:

Isn't Team Crabwalk Rocketjump Fortress such a cutie?



From everything I've read Valve usually doesn't make people who visit them sign NDAs of any kind. I don't know if employees have to sign one but given the way they operate I doubt they have to sign NDAs.

At least Robin Walker is still there. I don't know if he makes the blog posts but the TF2 team still makes me laugh.

 

[nomis]

this guy gets it

 

[Iced_Eagle]

Reading between the lines, this last paragraph is pretty harrowing for what happened on the development side.

Eh. I don't view it that way. All he's saying is Valve has changed so much, including the people, and he believes the original spirit of the company will be carried on through them hopefully. I thought it was a lovely personal metaphor.

 

[PhantomThief]

Yes.

Is that so hard to understand?

And you dont think people would have a right to be dissapointed?

Lol.

 

[derFeef]

And done reading. Thanks for that, I needed that.
I will think of it for a long time now. I might tear up a little not because I am sad, but because I am happy and have closure.

 

[Bluth54]

At least Robin Walker is still there. I don't know if he makes the blog posts but the TF2 team still makes me laugh.

I don't think Robin Walker works on TF2 anymore. He did work on DOTA2 for awhile but when Total Biscuit and Jim Sterling visited Valve about the changes to Steam they talked to him and Robin wrote this blog post about the changes to Steam itself so it seems like Robin is working on the Steam itself now.

 

[Rickenslacker]

At least Robin Walker is still there. I don't know if he makes the blog posts but the TF2 team still makes me laugh.

AFAIK Robin hasn't done anything TF2 in many years, having been sucked into the endless maw that is Dota.

 

[Im_So_Pringles]

It's truly a shame. Valve had such a talent for developing single player games. Totally unfortunate that we won't get brilliant games like Portal 2, Half-Life, or Left 4 Dead from them for at least a long time. Damn.

Portal 2 is still the ceiling for videogame story telling as far as I'm concerned. The game was a fucking playable Pixar film.

 

[paragonpro]

Well thats that, at least we can put it to rest

 

[legend166]

Valve's transition from video game developer to digital market place developer has been pretty depressing all things considered. They essentially let the economists take over the company. I mean I guess that's their prerogative (obviously) buy the way they've treated their oldest fans has been strangely and unnecessarily cruel. Like what's the point of them stringing people along for a decade?

 

[Lotto]

I don't think Robin Walker works on TF2 anymore. He did work on DOTA2 for awhile but when Total Biscuit and Jim Sterling visited Valve about the changes to Steam they talked to him and Robin wrote this blog post about the changes to Steam itself so it seems like Robin is working on the Steam itself now.

AFAIK Robin hasn't done anything TF2 in many years, having been sucked into the endless maw that is Dota.

I have gradually stopped keeping track on who's doing what at Valve since so many of the people I was following have left He's still there at least. My excitement for Valve related news has decreased significantly after Chet left.

 

[Brat-Sampson]

Wow, Valve 2017 fucking disgust me.

Creatively and artistically hollow, in favour of dollars and hats. and a fucking ccg.

 

[GrimDarkDarrel]

Why did Alyx leave Gordon to die on the borealis at the end? I thought she was a love interest. G-Man shows up, asks her to go with him and she just ditches him, that's pretty cold. Does G-Man have mind control powers or does Alyx just not give a shit about the player character?

I never played through episode 1 & 2 and I barely remember HL2, so I hope there is context that explains this. Can anyone enlighten me?

 

[DSeb]

We can finally get some closure now knowing the case is closed.

It's up to fans now to make Episode 3 happen! ( What if a number of years from now, someone, in some team, would try and make a game based on this posted synopsis? )

 

[Arion]

I would have loved to play this game.

 

[Bluth54]

I have gradually stopped keeping track on who's doing what at Valve since so many of the people I was following have left He's still there at least. My excitement for Valve related news has decreased significantly after Chet left.

Honestly it's usually hard to keep track of who is working on what at Valve, unless they're one of the developers who interact with the community in some way (posting on reddit/answering emails/etc) you usually have no idea what they're working on.

 

[derFeef]

Why did Alyx leave Gordon to die on the borealis at the end? I thought she was a love interest. G-Man shows up, asks her to go with him and she just ditches him, that's pretty cold. Does G-Man have mind control powers or just Alyx just not give a shit about the player character?

I never played through episode 1 & 2, so I hope there is context that explains this. Can anyone enlighten me?

Why does Gordon follow him blindly?
Yeah.

 

[Resilient]

I'm pretty sad man. This sounds like it would have been amazing

 

[torre_avenue]

Why did Alyx leave Gordon to die on the borealis at the end? I thought she was a love interest. G-Man shows up, asks her to go with him and she just ditches him, that's pretty cold. Does G-Man have mind control powers or just Alyx just not give a shit about the player character?

I never played through episode 1 & 2, so I hope there is context that explains this. Can anyone enlighten me?

That, specifically, is what Laidlaw isn't answering. Someone asked the same question and he responded saying "Nope. That is something Valve might still want to develop, flesh out and explain someday." and "Like most things in the HL series, answers are developed strictly as needed. So no, I had no fixed ideas about this. Just planting seeds."

 

[tesqui]

Well, at least I can look forward to the couple dozen fan mods of this. It'd be cool to see the Black Mesa team tackle it.

 

[Lotto]

Honestly it's usually hard to keep track of who is working on what at Valve, unless they're one of the developers who interact with the community in some way (posting on reddit/answering emails/etc) you usually have no idea what they're working on.

It seemed so much easier during the launch of one of their games. It's just been so long since they've done that. I don't know how they've become more distant than they already are but it's happened.

 

[Turin Turambar]

Pour one out for the Half-Life series, I guess

Seemed like it could have been a really interesting game. Oddly enough a lot of the Borealis stuff sounds like the time travel aspects of Titanfall 2, a campaign that many people said was a spiritual successor to Half-Life. I guess they didn't know how right they were...

I would even guess more, it's possible that people that worked previously in Valve worked on Titanfall 2 so maybe they took the idea from there. Devs move between similar companies if they have similar experience (AAA FPS) a lot.