If there really is no interest in testing work before pushing into production. The pushes could at least be done on a Tuesday, or Monday even if nothing is realized on the weekend. It also wouldn't be too difficult to throw up a 'closed' beta program with Steam anyways. Have a fixed set of testers to test for you, work through the game and find regressions. If/When 3/4 sign off saying everything is fine, push away to production. It just takes the least bit of effort to set this up. This is obviously just a suggestion for what could be done. Ideally the game should be tested in house, but we all know that this will not happen.
Communities/Mods are what keeps the game(s) alive. If Valve really insists on continuing to turn their back on the community, the games will not last. Take a nice long look at L4D today. TF2 is dead to everyone who I know, it's just idling/trading now. CS1.6 and CS:S are still the most played games on Steam. It's no wonder why this is... Kyle. On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 4:04 PM, bottige...@gmail.com <bottige...@gmail.com> wrote: > Not to defend Valve, but they are in the business of making money. > > Why do they let the community test patches instead of testing it out > themselves? Because they would have to hire testers which would > increase their costs. > http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/15/valve-makes-more-money-per-employee-than-google-or-apple/ > > Another point of view. Consider that they have mentioned many times > that they are experimenting with TF2. Does anyone really think that > letting people run servers is now in Valve's best interest? If they > knew how profitable the Mann Co store would be, my guess is that they > would've locked down the servers when TF2 was made. They would then be > able to sell reserved slots, custom names, etc... all without having > to worry about people hacking Valve hats for free like they do now. > > Going by steam stats http://store.steampowered.com/stats/ at 20,000 > simultaneous players max, it would cost Valve less than 20,000 / 24 * > 15 = 12.5k per month to run all the TF2 servers now, and that is just > being conservative. This is a drop in the bucket compared to $585,000+ > that Valve earned in the first 2 weeks. > http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1526851 > > Server owners are inconsequential to the Valve business plan. > > On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 3:40 PM, Luki <l...@luki.net.pl> wrote: >> Two questions: where are guys which have to test game/updates before >> release? And the beta... why you are adding to the game a thing, that is >> broken even in the beta? >> 16-05-2011 00:35 użytkownik "Vince Batchelor" <dogmo...@metasheep.com> >> napisał: >>> Would you rather they left the server crash in all weekend then? That >>> would have probably gotten complaints as well. This is a damned if >>> they do, damned if they don't situation. >>> >>> On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 3:27 PM, Saul Rennison <saul.renni...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >>>> Why Valve aren't listening to you is unreal. >>>> >>>> If I were you, I would forward this to Gabe immediately, because you >>>> bring up extremely valid points that, although I'm sure Valve are >>>> aware of, aren't being acted on. >>>> >>>> Sending this straight to the top, presuming Gabe reads this, will make >>>> sure strings are pulled and hopefully people fall into line because >>>> frankly, it's their job to test updates, not the customers. Also as >>>> you rightly said, bigger communities mean more revenue (see CSS for >>>> example), but with less servers, there's a smaller community. >>>> >>>> On Sunday, 15 May 2011, Kyle Sanderson <kyle.l...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>> Friday updates are just stupid. They work for no one, and when things >>>>> go wrong (ie 20% of the time for actual updates), they're not fixed >>>>> until Monday. They work on the West Coast in the States, it isn't an >>>>> acceptable time for anyone in North America. >>>>> >>>>> Apparently competitive TF2 is cared about by Valve, and they're >>>>> supposedly doing everything they can to preserve it. However with >>>>> these unthoughtful, ill-thought out update dates, they're just killing >>>>> communities. No one has an infinite amount of money to continue >>>>> supporting servers for these games while the system requirements to >>>>> run them continue to increase. As an Example, Sandy Bridge should >>>>> bring CSS back to what we were at with Episode 1. This is a year later >>>>> after the 'new' engine came out. Sure, you get the fanboys that say >>>>> "It's not like you're forced to run servers", you're right, we're not. >>>>> We do it for fun, because we enjoy the games, because we have friends >>>>> who enjoy the games. Eventually the money train and patience is going >>>>> to run out, then we're going to be where we are for L4D (Mind you it >>>>> was setup for failure). On a side note, my client is still completely >>>>> buggered from the April 14th update. I cannot seem to play for more >>>>> then 20minutes without crashing out with an invalid pointer. While >>>>> some may find this acceptable, for match play, it simply isn't. >>>>> >>>>> Dedicate some time for SRCDS. While focusing on clients brings in >>>>> revenue, without servers, you're just as hooped. Better server >>>>> software makes it easier for Communities to expand, and host larger >>>>> servers which is what players enjoy. It's a push and pull system, >>>>> without servers you wont get clients. If it's cheap to throw up >>>>> servers, more clients will buy your game. >>>>> Kyle. >>>>> >>>>> Tor / Sufjan Stevens - Star of Wonder / None Shall Pass (f. Aesop Rock) >> (remix) <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKXp17Udsjk&hd=1> >>>>> >>>>> On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 12:14 PM, Black V . <bla...@paradise.net.nz> >> wrote: >>>>>> Oh we'll get the tf2 team to mail you directly next time to see if it's >> a convenient time in your busy schedule for them to release a patch >>>>>> >>>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>>> From: alon.gub...@gmail.com >>>>>> Sent: Sunday, 15 May 2011 10:54 >>>>>> To: Half-Life dedicated Linux server mailing list >>>>>> Subject: Re: [hlds_linux] Team Fortress 2 Update Released >>>>>> >>>>>> +1. >>>>>> >>>>>> On Sat, May 14, 2011 at 4:46 AM, Ross Bemrose <rbemr...@vgmusic.com> >> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> If by "in time" you meant "during" I'd agree. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On 5/13/2011 9:43 PM, Eli Witt wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Right in time for our weekly community event! >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Thanks guys ;) >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Fri, May 13, 2011 at 9:18 PM, Jason Ruymen< >> jas...@valvesoftware.com >>>>>>>> >wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> A required update for Team Fortress 2 is now available. The >> specific >>>>>>>>> changes include: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> - Fixed a server crash caused by a mismatched items schema >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Jason >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>>> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list >> archives, >>>>>>>>> please visit: >>>>>>>>> http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>>> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list >> archives, >>>>>>>> please visit: >>>>>>>> http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>>> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, >>>>>>> please visit: >>>>>>> http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux >>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, >> please visit: >>>>>> http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, >> please visit: >>>>> http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux >>>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> - Saul >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, >> please visit: >>>> http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux >>>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, >> please visit: >>> http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux >> _______________________________________________ >> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, >> please visit: >> http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux >> > > _______________________________________________ > To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please > visit: > http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux > _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds_linux
