So will the 1-player only version be super-cheap I'm hoping? Because if they are pulling this s**t, that's all I'm going to buy.

Suddenly HL2 is leaving a very bad taste in my mouth. It seems designed around exploiting the mod community to put more $$ in Valve's pockets. Basically what they will do is see what mods get popular, then BUY those mods from the makers and FORCE players to pay for the 'new betas' of them. Imagine if when CS and DoD went retail, you could no longer have downloaded them for free. That's the future of modding for Half-Life 2 as far as I can tell. Why should Valve make TF2 when they can have US make it, then sell it right back to us? It's all a scheme to let them milk HL2 for 5 years like they did HL1, all by exploiting (oh I mean 'supporting') the mod scene.

Better to get UT2k4 for multiplayer goodness. After all, they release lots of great bonus packs etc. and don't try to make you pay for the extra content. They just see it as supporting the product you already bought.

/me opens UnrealEd back up and gets to work

I don't see much wrong with this multiple SKU idea, although I'm a bit concerned about them buying up all the good mods and making us pay to download them... but if it's a modular system like HL is, it shouldn't be too difficult to download all the files and get them working anyway

The Steam subscription idea seems quite complex, but if it offers value for money I might give it a try. The way I see it, it'll only work if the games/add-ons you download have to be played/paid for for so long before they are 'unlocked', otherwise someone could subscribe for a single month and download everything, so we'll have to see if it's cheaper to buy the game and seperate mods or to subscribe... Of course, if Valve go around buying all the good mods they'll piss everyone who's not on Seam off, but hopefully they'll stick to releasing Valve-made content like TF2 and purposely-commercial mods like Gunman.

Commie. Considering you've been using their technology for years to make your own works, you might at least thank them.

"OH JESUS, THEY'RE MAKING US PAY FULL PRICE TO BUY A GAME, AND ALLOWING LOWER-SCALE RETAILERS TO OFFER IT FOR A SMALLER PRICE?! CAPITALIST PIGS!"

Think about it. Right now Valve is owned by Sierra, which is owned by Vivendi. And remember that Sierra is in serious danger of getting canned by their superiors. And what's Sierra's best game in development? Half-Life 2. And Valve may have control of some details of it's release, but they are not the publishers.

But time will tell. I would really prefer it if everyone stuck with HL1, in any case.

I'm sorry if I came off a bit harsh/negative about the whole thing. I'm still miffed about that crappy TF1.5 patch, and how Valve broke all the mods but their own that time. I just don't like how they've handled things. Or that they haven't themselves produced much of anything for 5 years. Feels like they've just been milking HL.

I guess we'll see how this HL2 SKU thing goes. It might well backfire on them, I wasn't expecting to see this much negativity here of all places lol. Wonder if I could get the subscription service for $10 for a month, play through HL2, then quit? That could actually be a good deal

cassius: capitalist pig!

Holy christ all of you are acting off of whims and "hints." The fact is that there is no confirmed paying monthly. The fact is Valve is taking steps to try to experiment in other forms of payment for THEIR PRODUCT, that THEY spent FIVE years developing. Now I agree IF they decide to charge monthly, thats lame. But since there are no statements saying so, I choose to NOT over react at them, rather the community who isn't standing behind them for any particular reasons but their self indulgence. Do you all think they spend their lives making games for free? No it is a paying job, that they enjoy, but none the less a paying job. Stop whining and complaining about what MIGHT happen and start embracing what they have already done for us. You guys are worse than when girlfriends disect our ever word.

? posted by Gwil

Overreacting? Look at blaspheming Billy over there...

i was tempted to point this out to (minus the billy part, /me no gets that reference), but figured i been at the center of to many misunderstandings in the past.. so far i am storm free in v4

you volunteering bud???  

besides, you sound as if i were pissed off free