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breakfastduck 14 hours ago

Valve aren't owned by private equity and other giant corporations so they make good decisions and do things fans like.

A lot of their entire platform is built on mods they've bought and turned into proper 1st class games (cs, dota, Garys mod etc)

mmanfrin 14 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Their entire company owes its history to mods.

HL's engine GoldDrc was originally a mod for Quake. Team Fortress Classic was based on a quake mod. Counterstrike was a HL mod they bought out. Portal was a student game they bought. Dota 2 was based on a WC3 map. Left 4 Dead was a mod made by Turtle Rock while working on CS:CZ (so, yet again a mod, although a mod based on their own engine this time and build in house). Underlords was based on a Dota 2 mod.

Deadlock is original, but based on characters and lore from the game they made from the WC3 map.

Deadlock and L4D are arguably the only true original creations.

Valve knows their bread is buttered by outside creation using tools and platforms they can provide and then fold in if it catches their attention.

Chance-Device 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> HL's engine GoldDrc was originally a mod for Quake.

GoldSrc is based on Quake 1 code with valves own modifications and a little Quake 2 added in, if I remember correctly. I wouldn’t call that a “mod”, they bought a commercial license for the engine and made a game with it.

You’re trying to use this to say that valve are unoriginal? I really don’t think that’s a criticism you can lob at the half life series.

sellmesoap 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think we'll see some more creativity with S&box soon as well!

justsomehnguy 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

You are confusing an engine and an idea.

GoldSrc is a continuation of Q1 engine but it's development is of separate lineage even from Q2 and it was a fully licensed agreement. Setting and ideas are all original for HL.

TFC is a re-imaging of TF from Q1 but it's codebase is separate from Q1 TF.

TF2 is a sequel developed in-house.

HL2 is a series of sequels developed in-house.

EDIT: Portal has the same core developers and the same game mechanics, but both the setting and script are Valve original.

Sure, Steam pivoted their path of a game developer studio to a game publishing house but that's doesn't mean they never did anything themselves.

idiotsecant 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I feel like every large public corporation inevitably turns into a rent seeking parasite. How do we build a system that has more calves and fewer blizzards? How do we incentivize that?

marcus_holmes 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Stop buying/playing AAA games.

Support indie devs, and indie publishers, with your money.

AngryData 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You gotta give capitalist first principles and ideals and policies the boot. When you can use money to buy anything and earn money without practical limits, gaining access to more and more capital at any and all costs, even at the cost of everybody else's life and freedom and rights, is the natural result.

nozzlegear 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Valve is very much a capitalist company though. Gabe Newell is a billionaire, he owns six yachts, and Valve practically invented the concept of the loot box. So if the question is "how do we get more Valves and fewer Blizzards," it doesn't seem clear to me how giving capitalism the boot helps.

Folcon 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Honestly I'm not sure, but I suspect it's because for Gabe, Valve is his iterated prisoners dilemma

He's got to take care of it or no more yachts

Though part of it just might be helpful knows and respects hit market, at least well enough to understand them, I vaguely recall he left Microsoft to start a game company after seeing how much people fell head over heels with games and thinking there was value there

AngryData an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

And what about when Gabe is gone? Because he is certainly the exception and not the standard for ultra wealthy capitalists.

wiseowise 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Valve is literally the capitalist utopia, they have pretty much unlimited money for their size and can spend it on anything they want.

parineum 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

That's why you'd never see a company like Valve in a capitalist system... wait...

mionhe 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[flagged]

card_zero 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

If this is rent-seeking, it presumably makes them less money than being thoughtful and well-liked would.

deaux 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

No more billionaires.

nozzlegear 5 hours ago | parent [-]

Gabe Newell is literally a billionaire.