Thread: From the makers of PR

You're thinking of 'advanced' mode, Beery. Which is in the game. Easy, Normal, Advanced and Expert are the four difficulty levels.

And don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to see EVERY finale become a gauntlet, but a little variety is never a bad thing, and it would be nice to have an actual finale (not just a crescendo event like the scaffolding/lift thing near the petrol station in NM3) where the gameplay is a little more varied. There's room for both camping/holding out scenarios AND gauntlets - particularly if there are going to be five more campaigns.

Don't forget, the concept of L4D isn't going to be as new and exciting this time round - fans of the game have already spent nearly 8 months hiding in closets, so Valve do need to add something to the mix to keep things interesting and keep players coming back.

EDIT: oh, and Tony - it's only because we keep things interesting and refuse to hide in closets. (well... that and some swine seems to keep spraying Tank pheromones on me...)

New and interesting is only needed when the original is old, stale and dull. Many of us think L4D1's game mechanics are fine just the way they are, and we just want more of the same. Adding 'new and interesting' game mechanics is potentially unbalancing and in my opinion that's far too dangerous a proposition for a game that has proven itself to be super popular just the way it is.

Again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. L4D doesn't need fixing. It just needs more scenarios based around the same tried and tested mechanics. I feel very strongly that the developers are playing with fire when they mess with an incredibly beloved game. There are many great game franchises that have been killed off because the developers failed to leave well enough alone.

Two things there - firstly, you are -so far- the only person that has expressed concerns about the 'gauntlet' finales that I'm aware of. I'm sure there are more than just you, but I'm not sure it's 'many of us'.

Secondly, I don't really wish to drag up the boycott thread again, but wasn't one of the major complaints you had that L4D2 was almost the same as L4D, just with new levels? Now you're complaining that you don't want new features, you just want 'scenarios based around the same tried and tested mechanics.' - Now don't get me wrong, you're perfectly entitled to one of those opinions, but you can't have it both ways. Either you want new stuff or you don't.

Back on topic, and I think that far more beloved franchises have if not died out, become very stale simply because the developers refused to deviate from a set formula. See: the Tomb Raider series, Need For Speed series, Devil May Cry series... I could go on.
It's not a massive change, this - it's not like they're turning L4D into a top-down shooter or giving Francis cyborg arms and Zoey magical powers or anything like that - it's just a slight tweak to the structure of some of the finales.
Left 4 Dead as a franchise would be in far more danger if Valve DON'T make minor tweaks every now and then than if they do - you can't simply keep releasing the exact same game every couple of years (or year, in this case) and expect the fans to swallow that, because they will vote with their feet. Not in a boycott sense, they'll simply get bored and go and find a game that DOES innovate. Gamers have notoriously short attention spans.

Originally Posted by Target Practice

Two things there - firstly, you are -so far- the only person that has expressed concerns about the 'gauntlet' finales that I'm aware of. I'm sure there are more than just you, but I'm not sure it's 'many of us'.

In fact, I said "Many of us think L4D1's game mechanics are fine just the way they are". Quite a bit different from what you seem to want me to be saying.

It's not very ethical to completely misrepresent what I said. That's called a straw man. Since you appear unwilling or incapable of accurately representing what I'm saying, there's really no use in me treating your posts with any level of respect.

Unfortunately, since you somehow acquired moderator status, the forum mechanics don't allow me to place you on ignore, but I guess I can manage without that ability.

oooooo hark at 'im!

Yeah I don't camp in closets either, as I don't know where they are and i'm not good enough to get through the doors quick enough anyway!

I demand to see Francis with cyborg arms and Zoey to be able to blow fire our her ass or i'm gonna boycott. *shakes fist*

Hmmm, I have no idea why you seem to be so defensive. I stand corrected on the point regards your saying 'many of us think L4D is fine as it is' - you indeed did not state that this meant others were concerned about Gauntlets. However, your wording did seem to imply that, and to use that as a basis on which to say my posts do not deserve respect is quite insulting, to be frank.

I've got no desire to argue with you in public again - it appears you have issues with drawing the line between disagreeing with someone and discussing it and taking a disagreement personally, and I'd rather not go down that road, as it doesn't look good for either of us to be doing this.

Let's get back to talking about L4D2.

Originally Posted by Beery

Unfortunately, since you somehow acquired moderator status

I laughed at this out loud.