*Note: This post has been updated after being made aware of some outdated information.

Normally here at The Xbox Domain, profanity is something that is seldom used if it can be avoided. Unfortunately, in cases like the following that loose rule is being thrown out.

Let me take you back to the fall of 2008 for those of us in the northern hemisphere. November swings around with the impending release of Valve’s next game, Left 4 Dead. A four player Co-op Zombie Apocalypse “simulator”, if you will (pretend I’m “bumblefoot” for a short while), that gives you various scenarios to play through in ever changing ways to test your survival skills against a zombie horde. Great, right?! Nope. Valve gives their customary spew about supporting their game post release just as they’ve made customary over time. Everyone is happy right? Nope. Why is that? Left 4 Dead is a fantastic game isn’t it? Need I ask anymore questions like this one that in and of itself is another question?

Jumping ahead, Valve release’s content that was sorely lacking from the initial release, something all players were waiting on. The addition of Survival mode was added as well. Left 4 Dead players should be happy now, right? Oops! There’s goes another question. How dare I ask yet another question. Shame on me. Jumping ahead again to E3 2009. Valve surprises nearly all with a teaser for what turned out to be Left 4 Dead 2. Yeah! More of what we love. Naturally it’s time for everyone to go wild by dancing in the streets in joy of Valve giving gamers more of what they already like. Surely Valve is doing exactly what all gamers cry for publishers to do. They’re giving you more of what you love.

More movies (campaigns), more enemy zombies, new enemy zombie behaviors, all new environments, and an improved A.I director are just some of what Left 4 Dead 2 is bringing. So what’s wrong with this picture? And of course, there I go asking more questions. Valve is asking you to pay for what’s essentially a new game. What! How dare they ask you to pay for a new game. What the fuck are they thinking? A company trying to make money! I say it again. What the fuck are they thinking? Companies don’t need money to keep the doors open and the lights on.

Chances are you may be ready to comment below in a furry to tell me off right this moment if you’ve even made it this far. Fuck this guy for defending a company! He must be working for “the man”. But of course that couldn’t be farther from the truth as all I’m doing is pointing out the hypocrisy of the entire situation that started to brew as soon as the unwashed masses could open there mouths after their brains had enough milliseconds to comprehend the following thought: “But it’s to soon”.

So then it started. Petitions galore (you won’t find me linking to it) we find ourselves all over again. Why can’t they just add this content as DLC to the first game you ask? Before I answer that ten thousandth question, think about this. DLC or not, lets say you would have been willing to pay for the next batch of content for Left 4 Dead. At that point, does it matter if it’s attached to Left 4 Dead or not? Would it splinter the player base, sure, but then I’ll make sure to say hi to Call of Duty 4 and WaW.

Valve writer Chet Faliszek answers that “why 2” recent question I asked with, “It was just like, OK, this is big enough that this isn’t DLC, we’re not going to be able to leak it out. It’s a cohesive, single thing. It’s Left 4 Dead 2.”

Swinging with the logic of the all knowing masses out there with their supreme technical know how of which puts the developers of their own game to shame, these guys can’t possibly know anything more than the fucking fans do. Left 4 Dead 2 obviously means Left 4 Dead is going to disappear into the ether. That ‘liar’ Gabe Newell knows not what he speaks.

“Doing a sequel in one year is new for Valve. But providing ongoing support for our titles after the initial launch isn’t – it has been part of our philosophy since Half-Life was released ten and half years ago,” said Valve president Gabe Newell.

“We see no reason to change that and will continue to support the over three million customers in the L4D community. Some in the community are concerned that the announcement of L4D2 implied a change in our plans for L4D1. We aren’t changing our plans for L4D1.”

Yep, Gabe Newell could only wish he was Jim Carey in Liar Liar. Now, on to this “Boycott” with its so called “key points”.

• Significant content for L4D1 was promised, and never delivered
• Valve put little faith in L4D1 since they almost certainly started working on L4D2 right after release
• The fact that L4D2 is nearly identical to L4D1 will decimate the community for both games
• The announced date is not nearly enough time to polish content or make significant gameplay changes
• The new character designs seem bland and unappealing so far
• L4D2 is too bright to fit in with L4D1’s visual aesthetic
• The fiddle-based horde music is extremely disliked, though the differently orchestrated music is otherwise welcome
• L4D2’s release will result in a drop in quality and frequency for L4D1 content, even compared to before
• The community has lost faith in Valve’s former reputation for commitment to their games post-release

*updated list

WE RECOGNIZE:

-Valve is a company with financial needs and cannot be expected to survive without the release of new games.

-Judgment cannot be passed on the quality of Left 4 Dead 2 until its release.

-Left 4 Dead was, and is, a quality game which deserves the praise of the entire gaming community.

WE ARE COMMITTED:

-To holding Valve to its promise of free, continual updates to Left 4 Dead in order to build and sustain the community.

-To keeping the Left 4 Dead community together in order to improve the quality of online gaming.

-To supporting the model of continual updates Valve has set forth with its staple products like Team Fortress 2.

WE BELIEVE:

-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 as a stand-alone sequel will split the communities and decrease the quality of multiplayer gaming.

-The announced content of Left 4 Dead 2 does not warrant a stand-alone, full-priced sequel and should instead become updates (free or otherwise) for Left 4 Dead.

-Left 4 Dead has not yet received the support and content which Valve has repeatedly stated will be delivered.

-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 will make Left 4 Dead an obsolete purchase and inferior piece of software after only one year since release.

WE REQUEST:

-That Valve honor its commitment to release ongoing periodic content for Left 4 Dead.

-That Left 4 Dead 2 not be released as a stand-alone, full-priced sequel but as either a free update to Left 4 Dead or an expansion with full compatibility with basic Left 4 Dead owners.

-That Left 4 Dead owners be given discounts for Left 4 Dead 2, should it be released as premium content.

Therefore, we – the members of this Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott – promise to abstain from the purchase of Left 4 Dead 2 until our requests are addressed.

I leave you with this ridiculous list of fortune and cut this short for two reasons. Outside of a Delorean turned time machine, how the hell does anyone know what is, did, or isn’t going to happen in the future? Little faith in your product will cause you to continue work on it, huh. Do I need to say I’ve heard it all now? And secondly, anyone can make up a phony list that’s based on nothing but conjecture. I do it everyday I tell myself Duke Nukem Forever is still coming out. Or is that Half Life 2: Episode 3. Damn Valve for putting out another game. How dare they!