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Valve – Handbook for New Employees (2012) [pdf]

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Re: Valve – Handbook for New Employees (2012) [pdf]

#161

Post by lmitchell »

kabuto202 wrote: post #154
cloakandswagger wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dota 2 and CS:GO are the only titles Valve has put out in some time, and I'd argue they're not the best examples. Valve has been throwing money and man-hours at Dota 2 relentlessly, but the game's playerbase is still tiny compared to LoL. I imagine they have only a couple more years to try to figure this out before the gaming zeitgeist moves away from traditional MOBAs completely. CS:GO has been in an alternating sta…

While I don't know much about CS:GO, you seem to be incredibly ignorant and/or misled on the state of DotA and TF2.

I disagree at least on one point - I've also played Dota a fair bit in the last few years, and as for Dota, I think parent might be pretty on the money when they say games are moving away from traditional MOBAs. The format is great, but in its 'traditional' form (three lanes, jungle, etc), there's only so much you can do with it. I think the market is pretty ripe for innovation on that format, and Dota won't be able to keep up when it happens.

I also agree with parent in that 'Blizzard just blew the doors off the market by revitalizing a game format that Valve invented' - I honestly think it's hard to argue that point. Overwatch is conceptually very, very similar to TF2, and must be doing some damage to its playerbase (though I haven't checked any stats on that at all so I might just be talking shit).

Re: Valve – Handbook for New Employees (2012) [pdf]

#162

Post by MegaDeKay »

uep wrote: post #143
Kurtz79 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His point is that probably just GTA5 has sold more copies in 5 years than all Valve games combined (a quick check of the most popular ones, HL 1/2, L4D 1/2, Portal 1/2 reaches about 30 mils), so that number of employees is justified. Also: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/gta-5s-online-mode-has-gene... There is no denying Valve does great with the number of people it has, but of all the badly managed companies they c…

Rockstar is certainly doing well profit-wise in the industry, but I think Valve still compares favorably productivity-wise. In the last few years, Valve has developed multiple new pieces of hardware with software support; the Steam Controller, Steam Link, and HTC Vive. They've also developed and supported a new platform, SteamOS, and rolled out hardware with manufacturing partners. Besides this, the Steam platform ha…

I only wish I could give you multiple upvotes. Valve has been huge for Linux gaming and if I understand correctly, were a major factor in the push for Vulkan. They can indeed Take My Money.

Re: Valve – Handbook for New Employees (2012) [pdf]

#163

Post by broodbucket »

aoeuasdf1 wrote: post #148
Det_Jacobian wrote: post #130

So Valve is definitely idealized by people outside (and inside) the game industry, but definitely much less so by people who have worked there. The flat structure is sort of a pipe dream that leaves nobody actually in charge of important decisions, while hiding a de facto power structure that certainly exists despite being non-explicit. The company has transitioned to being the company that owns Steam as a platform (…

Dota 2 isn't going anywhere. The current tournament has an $18+ million prize pool (and rising) - meaning Valve was paid about $72 million in compendium sales. This is for a tournament that runs every year and is growing in popularity and size.

CS:GO is in a similar situation, Valve may not be making new games any more but Dota2 and CS:GO aren't going anywhere and continue to give Gabe an even bigger pile of money to sleep on.

Re: Valve – Handbook for New Employees (2012) [pdf]

#164

Post by broodbucket »

cloakandswagger wrote: post #153
teen wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> not much else steam vr? dota 2? csgo? virtual economies? source 2? the steam workshop? the crowdfunded compendiums?

Dota 2 and CS:GO are the only titles Valve has put out in some time, and I'd argue they're not the best examples. Valve has been throwing money and man-hours at Dota 2 relentlessly, but the game's playerbase is still tiny compared to LoL. I imagine they have only a couple more years to try to figure this out before the gaming zeitgeist moves away from traditional MOBAs completely. CS:GO has been in an alternating sta…

You are hugely underestimating the size of Dota2. It is insanely profitable and benefits from having a more mature playerbase, which comes with disposable income.

Re: Valve – Handbook for New Employees (2012) [pdf]

#165

Post by debaserab2 »

aoeuasdf1 wrote: post #148
Det_Jacobian wrote: post #130

So Valve is definitely idealized by people outside (and inside) the game industry, but definitely much less so by people who have worked there. The flat structure is sort of a pipe dream that leaves nobody actually in charge of important decisions, while hiding a de facto power structure that certainly exists despite being non-explicit. The company has transitioned to being the company that owns Steam as a platform (…

Dota 2 isn't going anywhere. The current tournament has an $18+ million prize pool (and rising) - meaning Valve was paid about $72 million in compendium sales. This is for a tournament that runs every year and is growing in popularity and size.

I think you're right but I also can't help but think how the very existence of Dota 2 underscores Valve's lack of innovation in the past half decade or so. They literally took a game built on the back of their biggest competitor and basically recoded it on their own gaming engine (Yes, I know there's plenty of quality of life upgrades they brought to the series, but it was nothing that wasn't too obvious or already in place by another MOBA).

In a business sense, this was an innovative move only in that it made Valve tons more money, but from an industry perspective, they couldn't have done less to move the needle.

It's one of the most uninteresting safe bet moves I've seen a company make in the gaming industry since Madden.

Re: Valve – Handbook for New Employees (2012) [pdf]

#167

Post by robryan »

debaserab2 wrote: post #165
aoeuasdf1 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dota 2 isn't going anywhere. The current tournament has an $18+ million prize pool (and rising) - meaning Valve was paid about $72 million in compendium sales. This is for a tournament that runs every year and is growing in popularity and size.

I think you're right but I also can't help but think how the very existence of Dota 2 underscores Valve's lack of innovation in the past half decade or so. They literally took a game built on the back of their biggest competitor and basically recoded it on their own gaming engine (Yes, I know there's plenty of quality of life upgrades they brought to the series, but it was nothing that wasn't too obvious or already i…

The actual innovation in Dota 2 was on the esports side. From setting up the $1 million International before the game was even released spawned an industry of professional players, sponsors, casters, personalities and production companies. The competitive Dota scene before Dota 2 came out was tiny in comparison.

Twitch was central to this as well, bigger tournaments meant increased viewers, increased viewers meant that Twitch could in turn sponsor even more tournaments.

Re: Valve – Handbook for New Employees (2012) [pdf]

#168

Post by baby »

debaserab2 wrote: post #165
aoeuasdf1 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dota 2 isn't going anywhere. The current tournament has an $18+ million prize pool (and rising) - meaning Valve was paid about $72 million in compendium sales. This is for a tournament that runs every year and is growing in popularity and size.

I think you're right but I also can't help but think how the very existence of Dota 2 underscores Valve's lack of innovation in the past half decade or so. They literally took a game built on the back of their biggest competitor and basically recoded it on their own gaming engine (Yes, I know there's plenty of quality of life upgrades they brought to the series, but it was nothing that wasn't too obvious or already i…

So what? They bought Counter strike from Gooseman, they outsourced half life blue shift and opposing force, they bought the team behind team fortress, they bought the team behind left 4 dead, they bought the team behind dota, ...

I think everyone that plays dota is actually happy about that.

Re: Valve – Handbook for New Employees (2012) [pdf]

#169

Post by robryan »

lmitchell wrote: post #161
kabuto202 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I don't know much about CS:GO, you seem to be incredibly ignorant and/or misled on the state of DotA and TF2.

I disagree at least on one point - I've also played Dota a fair bit in the last few years, and as for Dota, I think parent might be pretty on the money when they say games are moving away from traditional MOBAs. The format is great, but in its 'traditional' form (three lanes, jungle, etc), there's only so much you can do with it. I think the market is pretty ripe for innovation on that format, and Dota won't be able…

Isn't that what Heroes of the Storm is though? It doesn't seem to have been very successful at pulling players away from Dota.

Re: Valve – Handbook for New Employees (2012) [pdf]

#170

Post by debaserab2 »

robryan wrote: post #167
debaserab2 wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're right but I also can't help but think how the very existence of Dota 2 underscores Valve's lack of innovation in the past half decade or so. They literally took a game built on the back of their biggest competitor and basically recoded it on their own gaming engine (Yes, I know there's plenty of quality of life upgrades they brought to the series, but it was nothing that wasn't too obvious or already i…

The actual innovation in Dota 2 was on the esports side. From setting up the $1 million International before the game was even released spawned an industry of professional players, sponsors, casters, personalities and production companies. The competitive Dota scene before Dota 2 came out was tiny in comparison. Twitch was central to this as well, bigger tournaments meant increased viewers, increased viewers meant th…

Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't league of legends more responsible for building the robust esports scene for moba's? It was already there when DotA2 came around, wasn't it?
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