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The September Questions Answered! (Patreon)
Content
Aug 3
Hey Tyler, here are my two questions for this month1. Recently anytime you talk about games in development at Valve, you mention that some of the problems and delays are due to infighting in the development teams. What reasons do you have for this theory? are there rumors going on about it outside of your channel, or is it from your contacts? It makes some sense, but I'm wondering if you have any proof of it other then it making sense that it could happen
A. It stems from a few things, first being the Valve Glassdoor reviews (https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Valve-Corporation-Reviews-E24849.htm), which overall, paint the flat management strucure in a slightly different light then it is publically. Essentially what seems to happen is that structure forms organically with any project that is developed, and that structure if more of a popularity contest internally than anything based on management skill. The skillful people usually want to spend their time working on the project itself, where the less skilled, yet incredibly charismatic are placed in the “project management” role. The issue stems when cliches start to form, and dynamics between those cliches. The wants and ideas of those more up front and socially skilled may take priority of ideas by the quieter, regardless of quality of idea, or skill of employee. So, for example, if a group in a team would rather work on a specific engine then the other group, it could drag development to a halt due to no oversight picking the “correct” answer and allowing the team to develop instead of spearhead campaigns to get their ideas agreed with. 2. I know this question is probably a little annoying, but what is the current status of HL3 that you know of, and how do you know it was cancelled 3 times?
A. This “3 times” theory stems from the office politics theory just discussed, and the idea of “post leaks”. Post leaks have been talked about in videos before, but essentially, it’s the idea of a team at Valve purposefully placing references to code, features, or ideas in areas that the community would obviously find. The idea is the teams can place something in a currently updated game and stage it as a leak, resulting in major discussion in the community surrounding the leak itself. Why I refer to “Post Leaks” and not “Pre Leaks”, which are different, is because post leaks refer to features, code and ideas of projects in development hell or recently cancelled to allow the former team to gather data on various mechanics and ideas to see if they have a place in future projects and ideas. The Half-Life Franchise has had 2 major points where a “post leak” could be called, 2012 and 2015. Combine this with the obvious cancellation of Episode 3 in 2008~2009, and you have 3 possible cancellation spots. Obviously a video I will be working on, but that is the basics of the idea.
Aug 29
1. Anything on L4D3? ANYTHING AT ALL? My buddies and I have been waiting for this for awhile now and you video detailing the L4D3 content game us hope, but that hope is withering. Please. Anything.
A. Left 4 Dead 3 is most likely in development hell. Evidence of L4D3 has been around since 2012, so it must be far along in development. However there are two major events that seem to point towards some issues behind the scenes, the disappearance of leaks, and the departure of Chet Faliszek. As I’ve mentioned in a previous question, the idea of Pre-Leaks is common on my channel, and through late 2015 to mid 2016, leaks were all over the place. RPG.txt, lights.txt, the SteamVR TestBench Leak, Robot Repair, Destinations, & DOTA 2 Source 2 have all included possible references to a future Left 4 Dead title, and most recently, there has been nothing, with only a cheeky “we are working on somthing” reference from Gabe Newell in the AMA back in January. This points towards either heavy development where the team doesn’t feel like teasing, or nothing is currently in development. The former is possible, however unlikely, as this game has been in some development since 2012, and heavily so since 2013, and a silent Valve team usually shows a mid-dev game. If in mid-dev, then there was a major change in teams, engine's, ideas, or goals in the project itself, or the team cannot agree on any one of those things. If nothing is in dev right now, then things would have ended in the last year, and quickly, and that brings us to Faliszek, former Valve Writer responsible for Portal 2, and more importantly, L4D 1&2. Publically, Chet was the face of the L4D franchise back in 2007 & 2009, doing most interviews about the game, and traveling around to set up LANs for demos of the games. He left, out of nowhere, only a few months ago, and has already moved to another company to work on a “Co-Op action game with AI storytelling”. So something happened. I’ve heard a rumor that Chet went in a Steam Chat room and talked about his departure having to do with the difficulties of the L4D3 project.
Sep 1
Can you apply for a job as Valve's social media manager?
A. If I could, I wouldn’t. Being a social media manager wouldn’t work in the office format of Valve, as it wouldn’t really increase communication, and it would put a face to yell at if anything goes wrong. My dream position would be to work for Valve, period, and really figure out exactly why no one ever wants to publicly address the community, and why no one wants to possibly change a few things to increase productivity towards pro-community projects. It’s a total fever dream, and even if I was in that position, it would still likely be impossible, but I can dream.
Sep 6
I was wondering if you've got a big HL2 beta release in the works for sometime in the future?
A. Lever Softworks, my team, has three new beta related projects in development right now, and unlike Valve, these projects will complete and release. While I cannot tell you specifically what these three projects are, I can tell you there is some Half-Life in there.
Sep 2
What are your thoughts on the Half Life 3 game jam that's going on?
A. There is not a single Epistle 3 related thing that has happened or is going to happen that I do not openly want and support. I have a video in production talking about every major thing that happened in response to the legendary letter from Mr. Laidlaw.
Sep 1
What do you want the next Valve game to be? (Excluding anything Dota related.)
A. What do I want it to be? Something good, something groundbreaking, and something that seems to be made to be a good game first, and not something that could have an uncountable number of monetization options attached to it. My dream would be to see a true Portal 2, in the style of Portal 1, but with new story elements, the same Portal 1 tone, mood and atmosphere, but a completely new mechanic. F-Stop would have been amazing, and I lose sleep thinking about that getting canned.
Sep 1
First Question: I noticed that you seemed really bitter after YouTube torpedoed the HL3 video. In light of that, are you going to keep creating and uploading as before or do you foresee yourself cutting back to save on costs?
A. This question was written a while ago, and as you probably know, I disappeared for awhile. This has nothing to do with the flagging issue, as Patreon is really going well for me lately. I will say this and be as clear as possible, I am not stopping, I will not stop, I will alway be working on something, weather I’m making money on this or not. This is my passion, and I have been lucky enough to make some money and pay some bills through it. I’ve only been full time for 2ish years, and I’ve been doing this for 10, so I can go back. This being said, I would love to keep it full-time, so I will be fighting back in any way possible, and if things are not fixed in a good way, I will just be an incredibly squeaky wheel.
Second question: Do you think that Valve will release an official statement with regards to the leaked HL3 script, or do you think they'll just ignore it? If they ignore it, do you see that as evidence supporting the "decline" of Valve as a content creator?
A. They will ignore it, and they will ignore it for a long time. They will make a cringy joke about it when they finally do release a Half-Life related project, however at this point I can promise that it will be disappointing. The next Half-Life game will be something you don’t want, it will be something unexpected, and unfortunately, due to the wait, unexpected in a bad way. The idea of Valve being on the decline is something I can’t really explain without complaining about their recent behavior and moves, so I’ll have to think about it for awhile.
Third Question: I couldn't think of a particularly relevant third question, so here's this: What's your favorite dessert?
A. I love sweets so much I’m fat. Soft Cookies, Brownies w/o nuts, Cinnamon Rolls, Coffee Cake, and Soft Cookies.
Sep 1
I use YouTube Red so I don't get ads. Do flagged videos also not receive YouTube Red revenue? Is there analytics on this?
A. They do, but it seems at a lower rate then unflagged videos.
Sep 1
Give me some youtube channels you'd recommend, preferably smaller ones
A. Joseph Anderson - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyhnYIvIKK_--PiJXCMKxQQ
