My E-Mail to Gabe

[AJC]

Well, I was kinda disapointed with the l4d2 pre-demo thing so I sent this nice little e-mail to Mr. Newell-

(I must stress before you read this, I made this up at lunch in about 3 mins so the words will not be the best)

Ok well Mr.Newell I don't mean to address you personally but the way VALVe releases it's games is not to my satisfactory nor others as well. I myself have always been a big fan and never missed buying one of VALVe's games. I truly love what VALVe has to offer. It's just this one bug, this nasty little fly that always whispers in my ear about game manufacturers and when they release there games, as I said I'm not addressing only VALVe or you personally like others but it is a biggy on the selling points of games. I was just always very disappointed when the developer said it was going to be out one day or the next and then it came out the following year. I just want to say what maybe 14,000 others are trying to but don't have the respect to properly word it. All I want is just a true date of which the game/demo/beta will be released, even if it is a very long time from the present I love to hear truthful answers.

Thanks

~AJC

P.S. What is your favorite VALVe Orchestra song from anyone of your games?

 

[Tidus]

We'd all love to know when it's going to come out. Update the thread if he responds.

 

[AJC]

We'd all love to know when it's going to come out. Update the thread if he responds.

Don't worry I'm definitely updating it if he does.

 

[chapp]

Please don't take this offensively, but if you're sending a complaint letter to the head of a company and want to be taken seriously, you should have someone proof read your letter. There are quite a few grammatical errors and run-on sentences. It also does not have a very professional format. Your heart was in the right place though!

 

[AJC]

Please don't take this offensively, but if you're sending a complaint letter to the head of a company and want to be taken seriously, you should have someone proof read your letter. There are quite a few grammatical errors and run-on sentences. It also does not have a very professional format. Your heart was in the right place though!

Well I can't say I spent a lot of time on it, I wrote it at lunch and I only had 3 mins so I never re-read it for myself but I'm sure he gets way worse ones from 6 year olds and such

 

[D.T.S.]

Thought I was one of the few people miffed enough to write a letter, interesting. Here's the one I sent. Albeit, not to Gabe.

Dear Valve,

I would like to express my unhappiness with the handling of the Left 4 Dead 2 early release demo, and in doing so hope to provide a representation of the undercurrent of thought and emotion in your community, of which I am sure you are aware.

To state my feelings simply, I am angry. I am not angry because the demo was not released at the previously marketed time. I am an adult, and any adult possesses an intimate knowledge of just what Forrest Gump meant. Fecal matter occurs, and I'm not going to blame you for that, nor hold you responsible. That is part of being a mature, well balanced individual.

I am angry because I feel that I, and many of your fellow customers, have been disrespected. As I said, everyone knows that things go wrong and that no amount of planning or preparation can fully combat this. The other side of this coin is knowing how to handle these situations.

If I am told when something will occur, I have a reasonable expectation that things will occur at that time. If they do not, the person I am dealing with has a reasonable expectation that I will forgive the delay, provided they apologize and impart to me enough information to help me understand what happened. They will then attempt to ensure that our relationship has nut suffered unduly, and I attempt to assure them that it has not and that the delay is understandable and unfortunate.

However, with the early release of the Left 4 Dead 2 demo, you have not done this. Continual and last minute delays are irritating, but part of life and you have little control over this. Where you have dropped the ball is in the departments you do control, mainly making sure that your customer base is not blindly wandering in the dark.

I had to go out of my way to learn that the demo was delayed. It took hours before I finally heard anything remotely resembling an official announcement, which was simply a statement of what I already knew to be true, that the demo had been delayed.

As it was obvious enough that the game was delayed, this was hardly adequate. No, I do not need to know all the reasons behind the reasons for why this happened. If the servers aren't working, I simply want to know that the servers aren't working and the problem is being addressed. It doesn't matter if someone broke in and smashed them, or if there was a technical error, just let me know the tip of the iceberg issue.

To do otherwise, leaving your players, fans, and future potential customers in the dark is disrespectful, and a failure to uphold your end of the bargain. It's not a law, not a required industry standard, it is simply good customer service.

To ignore it so incredibly is to imply that it doesn't matter to you what I think, feel, or do once you have my money. Please correct this so I can go back to enjoying your games fully, and not associate the experience with poor customer service and complete lack of PR/communication skills.

Sincerely,

D.T.S.

Yeah, I know I won't get a response and I'm not expecting one. I don't want a personalized email back. I'm just doing my job as the consumer to express my unhappiness with a service, product, or situation.

 

[Major Payne]

Thought I was one of the few people miffed enough to write a letter, interesting. Here's the one I sent. Albeit, not to Gabe.



Yeah, I know I won't get a response and I'm not expecting one. I don't want a personalized email back. I'm just doing my job as the consumer to express my unhappiness with a service, product, or situation.

Absolutely beautiful Although I was completely in the dark about anything bad happening to L4D2, mainly because I don't have an interest in buying it, it seems like a serious issue and I hope some change happens.

 

[acefisher1]

Not to be mean or disrespect you, but honestly you really need to proofread your e-mails when they are going to people that are not personal friends. The grammar in that letter is nothing short of horrible, and honestly it really does detract a good deal of credibility from the message. If you aren't capable of fixing the grammatical errors yourself, post it here asking for help, or ask a friend that you can trust to correct it.

And really, I doubt they just outright lie to the masses about release dates and demo start dates. Creating a game is not a simple process and they experience set backs. Sometimes a dept. has an error or a mistake and it causes delays, which effect the release date or the date for a demo. I have trouble believing that they would try to lie to you purposely. They want the game to come out just as much, if not more, than you guys do. So just relax and don't give them grief about it. I would rather have them managing their company and the development of our games than reading e-mails or responding to a public-outcry of spoiled consumers.

 

[SoldierX77]

I don't think anyone actually cares if they spell something correctly or incorrectly.

 

[Louis VI]

The only thing I want is a reasonable answer for the delay, because 360 already got theirs

 

[Goretex]

wait, whaty happened with the demo

 

[Jarrod_38]

wait, whaty happened with the demo

The demo has been delayed so people are getting upset over nothing. Delays happen all the time.

 

[AJC]

Not to be mean or disrespect you, but honestly you really need to proofread your e-mails when they are going to people that are not personal friends. The grammar in that letter is nothing short of horrible, and honestly it really does detract a good deal of credibility from the message. If you aren't capable of fixing the grammatical errors yourself, post it here asking for help, or ask a friend that you can trust to correct it.

And really, I doubt they just outright lie to the masses about release dates and demo start dates. Creating a game is not a simple process and they experience set backs. Sometimes a dept. has an error or a mistake and it causes delays, which effect the release date or the date for a demo. I have trouble believing that they would try to lie to you purposely. They want the game to come out just as much, if not more, than you guys do. So just relax and don't give them grief about it. I would rather have them managing their company and the development of our games than reading e-mails or responding to a public-outcry of spoiled consumers.

and yes as I said before, I really didn't have time at all to proofread this. I made it up at lunch in about 3mins or less and also I think that constructive criticism really counts in our world today and it's very nice that they really do read and respond back to our e-mails.

 

[AJC]

The demo has been delayed so people are getting upset over nothing. Delays happen all the time.

Not 3 times in a row when we are paying for it! :facewall:

 

[Chase]

Last time i checked, all yall payed for was the pre-order.
This was just a bonus, lil something extra.

So you have no room to complain...

 

[AJC]

Last time i checked, all yall payed for was the pre-order.
This was just a bonus, lil something extra.

So you have no room to complain...

No the whole point of the "Pre-Order" was to get a demo faster. I mean it's not like your waiting in line for the thing at a store. You get it the day it comes out, the pre-order was part of the deal! It's like giving the community a piece of cake without a fork! Also don't think it's just me saying this, I mean just take a look at there forums.

 

[D.T.S.]

Let's not start disagreeing about whether or not it's ok to be upset or not. Some people get excited about things and others don't. It's just a matter of personal preference.

 

[Chase]

This isnt the first time this has happened.

Take the LBP (Little Big Planet) cancelation they had:
Basically if you bought the game within the first week, you were gonna get this spiffy in-game tshirt to show you were a "week 1" or like "there from the start" kinda thing.
It got delayed, and delayed, and then canceled altogether.

It may not be the exact same situation, but its damn near close.
Sometimes things dont go as planned, deal with it.

Honestly the only reason this urks me that people are upset, is that its A DEMO
The game isnt being delayed/cancelled/modified whatever, its just the demo, which is most likely just gonna ruin this game for you anyways.

Im fed up with people acting like thier owed something when thier not.

 

[Chase]

Just try to see my view on this:

A demo is for potential buyers who are still unsure about the game, and weither or not they want to spend thier money on it.
Its to give them a taste, most likely a slew of eyecandy to push them over the edge and get the to purchase the game.

If you've pre-ordered the game you've just said "IM BUYING THIS GAME".
So why on earth do you need a demo.

I mean, they did this with brutal legend. Pre-orders got demos.
Like whats the point!:facewall:

If you want people to buy your game, gain more interest in your game. You realase a public demo so people can try it out.

====
EXAMPLE

If your at a car dealership, and you've narrowed down your choices, typically the dealers will let you test drive a car.
To give you a feel for the car and how it handles, aswell as the features it includes.

If you went and signed the contract for the car stating your gonna buy it, would you or the dealer say "now lets go give it a test drive"?
It makes no sense.:cursing:

 

[AJC]

Let's not start disagreeing about whether or not it's ok to be upset or not. Some people get excited about things and others don't. It's just a matter of personal preference.

I agree, if an admin can close this thread that would be great, Thanks