WOW, what an interesting time we live in.

I’m not going to go into all the detail of the recent “paid Mods” event because I am sure you have been following it and probably know more about it than I do. However, I am going to talk about how it could affect me and this site.

If it is new for you, then I would suggest LambdaGenerations three excellent articles: 1, 2 & 3 and INtense!’s ModDB post as good summaries of different points of view.

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I’m a binge viewer. There, I said it. I love watching a whole sason of episodes from TV shows in one weekend.

It’s an interesting topic in itself, from a number of angles, but it got me thinking about how I would feel if a single player game were releases in chapters like a TV show.

Let me clarify a few points:
1. No, I’m not talking about episodes in the sense of Episode One and Two.
2. I’m not even thinking specifically of a Half-Life game.

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This morning, I posted a request on TWHL.info (the best GoldSource mapping community around) asking for people to let me know which maps and mods I should add to the site (expect the next few months to be GoldSource-rich with new content!)

Somebody suggested a map of theirs only to find out I had already added it. The reviews were not glowing but he accepted it with humility. Here is what he said “Unfortunately it was a rushed map( done in about a week), and most of the members there don’t know that so they judge accordingly. I don’t feel bad about that,such good criticism helps you discover your weaknesses.”

The fact it was made in such a short space of time, shouldn’t have anything to do with a review, but the reality is that it probably does. At least in my opinion.

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I think if I had asked this question immediately after the release of Episode 2 in 2007, the answer people would possible have given would be different.

Then in say 2011, it might be different again.

Now, I think we just want to know what happens. If Valve said they are not going to make a game but a comic instead, a little like Labrat whilst it would crash the Internet at least I would know what happens to the protagonists and Earth.

That’s kinda more important to me than anything at this point.

What about you?

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In case you missed it, and what Headcrab have you been hiding under?, Valve and HTC have announced a Virtual headset (sources: LG1, LG2, VT, Eg1 and EG2) and it seems most people are pretty excited about it.

Me? MEH! Why? Because I am poor. No matter how cool this thing is and I am sure it’s freaking awesome, I am not going to be able to go out and buy it. Therefore, I am doing my best to ignore it.

You, on the other hand, might be wetting you pants in excitement.

Far be it from me to tell the future (although I did predict the Steambox over 8 years ago), I can’t believe that HL3 won’t come with some features or elements that take advantage of the VR headset.

I’m not saying that it will be an exclusive release for VR or that it won’t be fun without it, just that those with it might get an even better experience.

What are your thoughts?

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As some may have seen from my Video Playthrough of the CityStreetsVille mod, I switched to GOD mode at the end of one of the maps. I mainly did it because I was livestreaming and it seemed unfair to force people to watch my attempts to beat the final Combine Gunship.

That said, at some point I might have switched but it would have been much longer. It’s a fine line between dying a lot of feeling that it is still possible. It got me thinking about how long readers wait until cheating.

I have asked a similar question before: Poll Question 120: How long do you spend on a puzzle before cheating?, but as you can see, it was just about puzzles.

I’m torn between feeling it should never happen, especially on EASY but I also know that some players (me included) just aren’t very good and that’s hard to design for.

What are your thoughts?

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Andrew just posted a review for a Half-Life 2 map and mentioned he hadn’t played HL2 in over a year and I just couldn’t imagine not playing for more than a few weeks and that’s when I am on holiday and away from my PC.

Of course, I am passionate or obsessed, depending on your point of view, but I feel most of my readers are as addicted as I am, if not more.

This seemed an interesting question and I considered expanding it to ALL games and mods but I’m more interested in just your HL habits.

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I’m shamelessly stealing this question from Reddit because it seems such an interesting choice.

The original choice was between the Super Gravity Gun and the Portal Gun

However, I have also added the choice of Lamarr. Having weapons seems fun but I wanted a less destructive option too.

To be honest, I’m not really sure which I would choose.

The general consensus on Reddit seems to be the Super Gravity Gun because of the limitation of using the Portal Gun. But what if the gravity gun worked on all solid surfaces, would that make a difference?

Anyway, what are your thoughts?

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