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 <[email protected]> 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" <[email protected]> > 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 <[email protected]> > 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 <[email protected]> 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 . <[email protected]> > 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: [email protected] >>>>> 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 <[email protected]> > 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< > [email protected] >>>>>>> >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
