PogChamp

Version with corrected names can be read here if the site still doesn't respond
https://github.com/Jackathan/MarcLaidlaw-Epistle3/
holy moly

https://files.gamebanana.com/preview/sounds/hitsound_379.mp3

well that's fucking depressing

so does it mean that Valve hasn't done anything (except the original team) for HL3 since 2007? holy sh

THEY ENDED THE STORY ARCH OF THE BEST FIRST PERSON SHOOTER WITH A FUCKN BLOG POST
I mean fucccckkkkkkkk is that it? they straight up just gave the middle finger to every fuckin gamer EVER
Jesus they don't give a fuckin shit, the world must be ending or we must be getting nuked or some crap
wtf so fucking savage, i mean i hope the game happens but damiit they straight up set up a coin toss

heads the game happens
tails it doesn't and they continue to progress on projects that make revenue and are fincially smart to make

DAMN

Valve Software: We don't make games anymore, we just make money.

it's going to come out eventually so stop complaining, they are short on staff at valve, with the recent projects they have been playing with can you not understand the lack of coders and programmers willing to spend time on this ancient game series. they are clearly trying to time it with the hype with the It release, it's a matter of timing and theme, I mean damn give them a break you think you are getting a new game and a good story with what's currently going on?!

jesus be realistic you little animals, goddamn they need that time if anything, they have only so many developers, programmers and coders like hell you think this shit is gunna happen in a day?

I sware sometimes people don't realize the work that goes into this stuff.

Marc Laidlaw left the company a while back, he was one of the the lead writers on all the HL games previously.
He probably wanted to get the story out cause even he realizes the game will never get made

https://i.gyazo.com/77c267197eddca979d7a049c637b2710.png

https://i.gyazo.com/985ce3e002bf50adae476f42061909e4.png

https://i.gyazo.com/afaba92ebf2435d75d5529bbba244d53.png

i think they've had ample time to work on half-life 3 or half-life 2: episode 3

http://www.teamfortress.tv/post/781696/tf2-blog-quot-team-fortress-turns-21-quot

sorry, i can't be bothered to read a damn word of what future posts

This reads to me like he's resigning from Valve because no one cares about the game any more.

edit: just realised he retired from valve a while back

Reading that left me with a very empty feeling. I think I would have preferred if the story was just lost in development hell like it has been.

Valve starved all their talented creative people and they've left the company to rot, making money is all valve does now, as soon as they figured out well enough how to create and curate digital economies using TF2 as the test bed they all but abandoned it, until the state it's in now, it's reflective of valve as a whole, really; a shambling fucking zombie of a company that used to be the biggest innovator in its industry, narratively, mechanically, even graphically even if you can still believe it. Now they maintain two servicable competitive multiplayer video games with digital casinos embedded in them, with another fucking cash cow collectible card game on the way. I feel sick.

why because the truth to hard for you to grasp? not having enough staff inferested in a 21 year old title that's self sustaining and still getting a major update is one thing, but me being shocked at how easily ex coworkers can "release" content on a title that has bigger balls then duke duckin nukem??

I get it you don't like me because you follow stupid trends but shit man it's ok to see the hell being summoned right in front of your damn feet

it's like watching something so beautiful and amazing hop into a car with no seafbelts and airbags ram into a brick wall

http://i.imgur.com/1Boez82.png

From what I understand the NDA is up and it's not like anyone actually believed valve were going to do something with the IP at this point, it seems like this is his way of giving some kind of closure to the fans and also I think making a jab at valve themselves. I could be wrong, it might just be my own bitterness colouring my perception of it but that whole last paragraph sounds a bit like he's talking about Valve.

The fate of Half Life is something to consider when you're tempted to think that something might be too valuable for Valve to drop, or that they act like a normal company and follow rational business logic.

at this point, ep3 will just end up like DNF

The Half Life Series ends and so does my life

Even as someone who didn't really get into PC games until I was in college, the Half Life games were almost single-handedly responsible for shaping my taste in games. Even as I played Ratchet and Clank and later Halo at home, I remember going to friend's houses as a little kid and watching them play the first Half Life. I remember being initially weirded out by how fast Gordon moved, but growing to love it, and the game, more than I ever did Halo. HL2 was the first FPS I ever owned on PC, and as I got more interested in playing a wider range of games, I came to see how unique it was. I don't know of any modern games that manage to be as simple as HL2 was while still being incredibly fun. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but it's about as close as I've ever seen a single player FPS get. Even the Doom game that came out last year had to come out with a minimap, just in case, a dumbass little upgrade system to pull you out of playin a fuckin game, and more unskippable cutscenes than HL2 ever had.

Honestly, I haven't read the ending yet, and I don't know if I want to. Half Life was never really about the story, it was about the neat little tricks Valve pulled to keep you invested in hitting buttons, and to keep you learning as you went. How could I have guessed back then that Valve would wind up fucking over the two games of theirs I loved the most?

Remember that Laidlaw confirmed over email that Half-Life could not be written as a novel. The story is not pre-written and then a game written around it, it's actually the opposite. The limitations and workarounds of the engine it was made on shaped and made the story what it was. I think the important question here is whether this was a story agreed upon by Laidlaw and Valve, deciding that what was put out would be possible by the development team, or if this is Laidlaw's interpretation of what the story WOULD HAVE been, considering allegedly his Half-Life NDA expired recently. Either way, I think this 'ending' brings more questions than it does answers, because

I think this IS the end of Half-Life's development, probably. But there is plenty of questions to still theory the answers to, and maybe one day be answered. Considering there is a story to Episode 3, it at least gives credence to a chance that development on the game itself might have been close to happening.

I genuinely can't decide if I want to read it, or just let it float in that perpetual state of mystery.

I still can't believe after everything that has happened recently with tf2 and now this that there are still people who defend valve and say they don't have enough time/programmers. They have made upwards of 4 billion dollars with a company of 360 people. They have the time, the money, and the people. They just don't want to for some reason.

Its mind blowing how they've trashed what was once a huge IP in the gaming industry.

and people say tf2 is a dead game

is this how it ends? not with a bang but with a whimper

Snivy linked this today and I found it a very interesting read about their internal structure which is very rarely talked about

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2017/01/11/searching-for-half-life-3.aspx

The tldr is that it doesn't matter how much money they make, it will never be relevant. The only thing that matters is that whatever social magic is necessary to get a big project supported by a lot of people internally takes place. That usually involves a big influencer like Gaben or other senior people pushing in that direction.

Making single player games or turning TF2 into an esport don't seem to be on many people's agendas.