Please Valve, make this a reality.

via [Kotaku]

*  Fixed campaign image not updating correctly when creating a lobby
*  Increased the reliability of the Steam Group server display
*  Made mm_dedicated_search_maxping available to allow users to set the maximum acceptable ping for a dedicated server. The default has also been lowered 150ms, down from 300ms
*  Fixed an issue where rescue closet doors could be opened in Crash Course in Versus mode

In a Game With Fame announcement to play Left 4 Dead with Paramore the article reads

If you’re an Xbox LIVE Gold Member (if not, upgrade now! ), and you want a chance to play the new Crash Course add-on for Left 4 Dead, send a friend request to the following Gamertag and be online half an hour before (5:30 P.M. Central Time) the Game with Fame session starts on Wednesday, September 23, at 6:00 P.M. CT.

Generally Game With Fame focuses on DLC that has already been released or will be released soon before. What makes this one oh so confusing though is “chance to play the new Crash Course” so whether or not its just the lucky people who get a friends request or if the DLC will be out by then.

The new campaign includes “new locations, new dialogue from the original cast, and an explosive finale!”. The campaign takes place after the events of No Mercy, and the helicopter pilot is actually an infected, Zoey has to kill him, and the plane goes plummeting down into zombie-infested level. Also, this campaign only consists of two maps, making it a little shorter than previous campaigns.

PC gamers will get the DLC for free, while 360 owners will have to fork over 560 MS points for it.

Valve has announced a new DLC for Left 4 Dead called Crash Course. Crash Course is a new single-player, multiplayer, and versus mode campaign for the Xbox 360 and PC. Crash Course ties together the No Mercy and Death Toll campaigns. After the helicopter rescue in No Mercy as the title of the DLC suggests you crash and make your way to the beginning of the Death Toll campaign. The core focus for Crash Course is to deliver “a complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes.” To do this they’ve added a recharge timer for infected teammates, and tweaked item spanning for a more balanced experience. Crash Course comes out this September with the console version costing 560 Microsoft Points and the PC version costing free.

Source

Valve announced that there will be new DLC coming to Left 4 Dead.  However, they said nothing about what it is or when it releases.  I was a little shocked when I saw this, because it doesn’t really make sense to release DLC for a game that is getting a sequel in a few months.  We also don’t know what the price will be.  Because of Valve’s history of free DLC, I would assume that it will be free-of-charge on the PC.  However as for the Xbox version, assholes Microsoft might force Valve to charge for the add-on.

Valve will be updating the game next week so that these levels are now easier to download and for users to play. Map creators will now be able to package all of their content into a single .VPK file, which will help in making the campaigns easier to download, install, and play for players of the game. Also, the matchmaking system in the game will be updated to accommodate for some of these custom-created levels. Valve says:

When creating or searching for a lobby, a new option named “Add-on campaign” will let you select from among the add-on campaigns that you have installed. You can then find games or lobbies as well as create a lobby for that campaign. You can invite your friends, too. If they do not have the campaign installed, they will automatically be offered and an option to download it.

Notes the creator:

This is not a skin, this is a completely new model for Zoey. She has some clothes on, but hardly enough to cover anything at all.

You will also notice that her “lovelies” bounce when she runs or walks and Francis, Louis and Bill can’t stop staring. Now get your tissues out, lock the door, download the mod and enjoy, you pervert.

Yeah…ha, we’re fucking pervert’s. Yeah, I forgot about that. Anyhow, yeah, if you own Left 4 Dead on the PC, go and download the mod, and get a tissue, and have lots of fun. I’ll be working on some naked zombie mods for you guys.

Link NSFW (Seriously)

Apparently, they’re hard to please.

Okay, seriously, after reading the list of complaints that were sent to Valve, and then hearing the response from Valve, then they boycott’s response to that, I’m kind of irritated with how displeased the people behind this are with what Valve is doing with the original Left 4 Dead game. To prove that, here’s a complaint from them:

“The new character designs seem bland and unappealing so far”

WHAT? Like Zoey, Francis, Bill, and Louis had such a fucking story behind them. Yes, their character designs were so fucking intricate and awesome huh? Bill yelling “PILLS HERE!” every 5 seconds just made the story now didn’t it?

The game’s not going to be polished enough

Well, I’m just going to put this out there, but apparently people have lost faith in Valve, one of the greatest developers in the market right now, and one of the best in creating sequels, and they think that they can’t do it anymore. As I may quote from the list of complaints:

The announced date is not nearly enough time to polish content or make significant gameplay changes

I just can’t see how faith can be lost in the announcement of a freaking game, for a developers ability to create a competent sequel to a game that has sold over 2.2 million copies. I’d say you can judge what Valve can do in a years worth of time until they actually take on something like this. So you’ll see when you see I guess.

“While we are excited about the idea of new content, we are still in the dark about it. What sort of content is it? For all we know, it could be a new main menu screen. Is it a new map, is it new monsters, is it new weapons, etc…? We’d like to know what is going to be in this new content.”

I don’t know how to respond to this. I mean, this was even AFTER Valve’s response to the boycott. This is what they wrote:

“In addition to the recently released Survival Pack, we are releasing authoring tools for Mod makers, community matchmaking, 4×4 matchmaking, and more new content during the coming months for L4D1,” Newell says. “We also agree with our customers that there needs to be an interoperability plan for players of L4D1 and L4D2, as multi-player games are driven by the cohesiveness of their community.”

Oh yeah, must of forgot about reading that in their response huh? I mean seriously though, you’re fucking thinking that Valve is going to put out a main menu screen for add-on content? Damn, if you guys think that, you’re retarded.

No-L4D2 is treating Left 4 Dead 2 like the change from Everquest to Everquest 2, instead of Call of Duty 4, to Call of Duty: World at War

I mean seriously, think about it. Every great game that is accepted as wildly by the people like what happened with Left 4 Dead has a sequel. It’s not like the change from Everquest to Everquest 2, or even the original Sims to the Sims 2. It’s more comparable to that of the NEW CALL OF DUTY THAT’S RELEASED EACH YEAR. I mean, I feel that if the game was announced at E3 next year there still would have been a fuss.

Comments

No, I mean actual comments on stories about this topic on various forums and sites across the interwebs, and what people are saying about the “controversy”:

So what does this mean? I would like to know too. I think that the fuss will die down once they release that they’re just looking like a bunch of whiny babies, and they will go out and buy Left 4 Dead 2, and probably enjoy the hell out of it while still bitching and blogging. That’s just my two cents about the subject though. Please feel free to express your opinions in the comments box below, but really, don’t say anything against me or I’ll eat your soul.