Team Fortress 2

Mordiceius wrote:
Edwin wrote:
Mordiceius wrote:
hubbinsd wrote:

I'm still not sure which platform I'll buy this for. I've always played HL2 over Steam, but since I recently bought a 360 I find I have no desire to play games at my desk anymore...stupid question, but will 360 players and PC players be able to play together?

No they won't.

It's working in the Valve offices but then they would have to make it a Vista only title to get LIVE support.

Yeah, we'll see I guess.

OK thanks. I guess that means my platform comes down to which one the majority of the GWJ crew choose...it's sounding like PC.

From Game Informer:

Finally, whether you pre-order the game via Steam or at participating retail stores, you'll also recieve a 10% discount on either the PC version (MSRP $49.95) or Xbox 360 version (MSRP $59.95). For PC owners not interested in buying the entire contents of The Orange Box, you'll have the ability to purchase each piece seperately, however, the Orange Box is the best price. Team Fortress 2 and Episode Two will run you $29.95 each, and Portal will set you back $19.95.

Wow, its already the top seller, surpassing Bioshock, on Steam. Looks like there won't be a shrotage of people to play with. Maybe we should schedule an event on Steam Community...?

Podunk wrote:
Edwin wrote:

I'd rather them not include HL2 and Ep1 in the Orange box so that price can be lowered.

You did check out the pricing of the individual games in there, right? HL2 and Ep1 are freebies with the Orange Box. Subtracting them would not lower the price.

Where does it say that they're free and that not including them would have no effect on the price? Not on this page. This seems to contradict the Valve post someone included earlier.

Has there been any disclosure from Valve about the length of Episode 2? Episode 1 was great, but that amount of content for $29.95 just feels very steep to me.

McChuck wrote:

Where does it say that they're free and that not including them would have no effect on the price? Not on this page. This seems to contradict the Valve post someone included earlier.

I looked at the page and it's odd that they price HL2 at $30 when the game lists at $20 as a single download.

Deserter wrote:

Steam's been really good to me too lately Goo. Civ 4 + BoTS for $56 is pretty damn good, considering it'd set you back about $140 retail :)

Civ IV + Warlords (Gold Edition) 49.99 MSRP + BOTS 29.99 MSRP = $79.98. I was able to score everything at Circuit City for $60. It is still a good deal nonetheless b/c I had to wait for weekly deals to get my complete collection. If you aren't talking about US currency then scratch what I said.

Since I am one of the few who never played the original Team Fortress I will rent this first. I did waste many years of my life to the other big Half Life Mod, Counter-Strike, which I do not regret.

hubbinsd wrote:

Has there been any disclosure from Valve about the length of Episode 2? Episode 1 was great, but that amount of content for $29.95 just feels very steep to me.

They've said it will be longer, though not how much longer. Plus, this is in all new environments, with new enemies, so it's likely to feel newer minute-to-minute, as well.

McChuck wrote:

Where does it say that they're free and that not including them would have no effect on the price? Not on this page. This seems to contradict the Valve post someone included earlier.

That's not from the site, that's direct from Valve employees.

The reasoning is this:

* They barely make any money from HL2 and Ep1 these days.
* People who haven't played HL2 and Ep1 will shy away from purchasing an Ep2/TF2/Portal bundle because it would look like an expansion pack
* Throwing in HL2 and Ep1 for free costs Valve nothing and makes the box a greater value and more appealing to people who haven't already played HL2 and Ep1.

The pricing list on the Orange Box product page is stupid. Valve is simply not factoring the retail price of HL2 and Ep1 into the Orange Box pricing, no matter what the PR department says.

Everything made sense until I saw that Steam product page. Thanks for the clarification, Podunk.

Would it be a good idea to start a poll to get a headcount of who will be in the beta?

I've pre-ordered now to find a friend who doesn't already have HL2 and Ep1 to give them my copies... of course then they'll have to make the same choice regarding upgrading that I did. But since it's illegal to deal drugs I may as well deal Valve.

* They barely make any money from HL2 and Ep1 these days.

The sales in the mid-price region are actually still quite decent. No Top 10 material, but a nice amount over the course of months, with SKUs like the Christmas edition providing the occasional sales bump.

I already have HL2, but I don't have ep 1 or ep 2 so Orange Box still seems like a good deal.

I think this pre-order will seal the decision for me. I'll get it on PC at a lower price with plenty of people to play the PC version with, and get in the early beta. I may rent the 360 verison later to see how it plays but I'm highly unlikely to own both.

It'll be good to have a PC game that will let me play with my PC-primary friends; I already have plenty of multiplayer consoles games - another would probably get lost in the shuffle but being for PC ought to help it stand out.

Spunior wrote:
* They barely make any money from HL2 and Ep1 these days.

The sales in the mid-price region are actually still quite decent. No Top 10 material, but a nice amount over the course of months, with SKUs like the Christmas edition providing the occasional sales bump.

Well, okay, so "barely any money" is overstating it a bit, but still.

Pre-ordered and pre-loaded(TF2 that is).

I never bought HL2 or Ep1 so this is a killer deal for me.

Preloading TF2 as we speak.

AHH add me to the community! I gotz the TF2! well preloaded.. i of course did the futile date change but you never know it might work one of these days!!

WOOHOOO! WOOOHOOO!! i cant wait till monday (thats a first) I'm getting sick, cough cough cough ohh my liver!

You might want to tell your liver to hang in there until Tuesday. Knowing Valve, it won't be live until midday at the earliest, so you could play all night, and use tuesday to play more and recover a bit.

GRAHHH DAMN YOU PEGGLE YOU CRUEL MISTRESS!

Crouton wrote:

Meet the Engineer

Welcome to page 6

IMAGE(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/natedoggcata/PHAILED.jpg)

lol FAILED!

I must have missed that because the link text wasn't changed from a non-descriptive URL to something descriptive.

You know, this is actually very clever on Valve's part. The problem with sequels is that only X% of your old crowd will continue to buy new episodes, and there ends up being a formidable barrier to picking up new customers, because they figure they need to buy and read/play through all the old stuff for the new stuff to be interesting.

So, by INCLUDING all the old stuff for free, they get the occasional reprobate like Elliotx who missed HL2 (for shame, sir! for shame), and they also get a viral marketing campaign from the existing customers.

Those Valve guys appear to have functioning grey matter.

So after dumping an hour into peggle, I decided to buy it. And it's only $10 too!

I'm really split here. I want TF2 on the 360 and HL2: Ep2 and Portal on the PC. I wish they were selling TF2 as a standalone 360 game for $30 and I'd be good to go. Now it looks like I'll have to double dip to get both orange boxes. Damn you Valve.

Should we set up an event for all the beta people to throw down on Monday?

I broke down and just pre-ordered it for the PC. Whose going to volunteer to organize Monday's TF2 Beta night?

Just purchased over Steam.