Left 4 Dead 2's Preorder-only Weapon Explained

Ill wait for them to announce L4D3 in a few weeks after the release and then buy it after the price drop.

I'd love to see the list of all the morons who signed the boycott petition a few months ago who bought the game on launch day. The first L4D is so amazing, i'm pre-ordering L4D2 next week and picking it up day of launch. I'm also eagerly awaiting the new DLC campaign for L4D.

Long time gamer here, think Atari 2600, Mario Bros. arcade, 80286, who spends more time trying to write a game than playing them and I have learned a few things about games and buying them:

1) All of us are so extremely privileged that things we buy like (most) games don't improve our quality of life and there for have no inherent value.

2) The more something is hyped as "MUST HAVE!" the more likely it has little to no real value. Think infomercial here. As such, just like infomercials there is always that "But wait, that’s not all" moment when the price of a game drops. Valve does this and profits from this, so don't feel sorry for them because the "bargain bin" is soon to be all but dead and a long with it your half-life 3 for $9.99. Instead you'll pay $20 on a weekend deal at a random time after release, but the difference is Valve will actually make money from that $20. A good deal all around, unless you buy a full price only to have a deal the next day. But that is your fault because you tricked yourself into thinking you “must have” it when you didn’t. Never buy something, especially full price if you aren’t 100% sure you want/need it, because if you can’t then you don’t.

3) No Demo, No Purchase! I live by this rule. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood had a cool demo that made me want to buy it for its uniqueness and trying new things. BUT, it only had single player and that isn’t a Demo that is a ploy, a marketing trick. So, I read the forums (My 2nd rule for buying something) and found Multiplayer had issues and there was no update and Ubisoft had abandoned the game. I emailed Shacknews to look into the support of the game but haven’t seen anything yet. Maybe they don’t want to get blacklisted by Ubisoft and loose adverts and pre-release copies…?

4) I just started to play Half-Life 2 again after a 5 year hiatus which never saw me reach "Water Hazard" in the first go around. I bought it as part of the "Valve Complete Pack" and I feel good about my purchase for a few reasons. While it is Half-Life it doesn't break much new ground with Gameplay. That is pretty well something I accept from this point out from nearly all FPSs. There have so far only been four "that's cool" moments. Crab zombies coming out of water, taking pier legs our from under combine soldiers and hearing them fall to their deaths, the death tone after killing a combine soldier, and the original music when putting on the suit.

5) Given Gameplay for FPS is pretty much "done" for most companies, all they have to bring to the table is environment and mood, and "that's cool" moments. Sequels, typically have fewer “that’s cool” moments and err to the side of “it worked in the last one.”

6) The American Baseball bat is likely strictly a gimmick and will kill like any other melee weapon. Unless you can somehow stun a zombie and then knock his head "out of the park" with the accompanied cheer of the crowd and a "take me out to the ball game" ditty (perhaps whistled by another players character to maintain immersion), then what is it adding to the experience? How is it different than any stick that you should be able to pick up along the way, and can’t! That is the problem with most "variety" in games. It is forced and you normally should be able to have/do that thing as a matter of course.

7) Things are sold as they are because people accept them. Things are as they are because people accept them. If you are thinking “hey that’s not true” then you are likely someone who accepts them. I recently heard a town hall argument about health care: “I have read the USS constitution…” followed by the argument against the new health care plan. Don’t read the USS constitution. Demo, Forums, 100%, only then buy and deal with it, because a junkie should never blames the drugs.

* Disclaimer: I realize I'm a minority in the way I think, based upon societal evidence. I also can admit that I may not have everything 100% right for everyone but I'm 99.305% right for me. This is a public service for those who seek to improve, or have been bitching about having the privilege of buying games (because we all need a slap in the face to remind us how good we have it.)

I pre-ordered the first one, for close to $70 because of the currency exchange at the time. And got completely ripped off. By Valve! Which is just mind boggling.

So no fucking way am I pre-ordering, no fucking way am I buying it even after the pre-order.

I'll buy it when it's $10, maybe $20 during some weekend deal that'll probably happen a month later after release.

They won't fool me again. Consider the trust left 4 dead Valve.

Holding out for the 50% off sale. Join me. It's better here.

Despite feeling a sense of great dislike (hate) towards Valve for making a sequel to Left 4 Dead so soon...I will probably buy it the moment it comes out. I can't stay angry forever, folks :(

yeah yeah we're buying the game don't worry.

Am I the only one who can't play L4D for prolonged periods of time because it scares the shit out of me?

Taboo question: anyone play the first one on 360? If so, how was it?

hey I used the baseball bat when I played at PAX. I ditched it for an axe once I found one. the axe is pretty awesome

I was already intending to get this during a Steam sale, and honestly, the pre-order deal cements this further. Not because of some petty way of revenge or whatever, but because of the way it's being done. If I pre-order I get the bat every time I play, and it becomes another weapon, losing its shine over time. Whereas, if I don't pre-order, when I find myself in a match with someone who did, the bat becomes special. At least that's how I see it.

So who are the mysterious retailers? Can I pre-order from steam and get this?

ZOMG

I was happy to hear L4D2 was coming and disagree with pretty much all the whine so far - of course they are going to make a sequel to a good seller fast, and I don't see there's anything wrong with that as long as it's good. No-one is forcing anyone to buy anything.

But this is in my opinion as well bullshit. I do NOT like having to figure out which "version" of a game I need to get, and I do not like being "twisted" to buy a game I haven't seen reviews for yet. I want the friggin baseball bat, but I don't do preorders. Hence, this is lame. First RAAAAGE towards Valvefrom my part of the internet.

What's the point anyway? It's going to sell just fine without such gimmicks, unless they plan on somehow magically fucking it up, which I doubt they could even if they tried.

Valve did something involving Left 4 Dead 2? RAAAGE

So what happened to all the people that said they weren't going to buy it? I guess you guys already caved :P.
They really did qwell the audience who didn't like the sequel with some carefully put words and pre-order BS. I'm still boycotting this game because they gave me the expectation that there would be more DLC and TBH thats the only reason I bought this. It's pretty skimpy on content for a $60 game thats for sure and YES thats how much I bought it for.

If they offered real weapons I might preorder it, im sick of them making the game more intense by simply offering unsuitable weapons for the job, IE frying pans, bats, m16's with no scopes,etc

Give me twin m60's and ill preoder :p

Wow whats with Shacknews going all sell out and stuff with these adds everywhere? They are auto popping up and malingering on images. Really really bad.

It was nice of them to preemptively avoid the major storm of feces that would have taken place by allowing everyone to have the bat when someone who preordered it has it.

Simon Pegg says: The Cricket bat is better.

The larger guy looks like the Uncle from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air :)

this is so retarded.

ill never preorder if im going to get it eventually.

and you shouldnt either.

I hate pre-order bonuses that are in-game content. It feels like you have to pre-order the game to get the "whole thing".

What's with the obsession retailers have over pre-orders anyway?

Honestly, I've put over a hundred hours into the first game. I feel like I got my money's worth. Bring it on!

Things like console- or retail- exclusivity are a result of a developer or market which is not consumer-centric. If you spend time developing fun content, why wouldn't you want all of your consumers to be able to experience it?

Oh, that's right. You make more money by penalizing paying, loyal customers and withholding content from them. The same effect can also be achieved with most forms of DRM.

Thanks a lot, Valve. You've now left the "cool developers who <3 their customers" list.

i see they made the characters look less boring

That would be hilarious if it's not available with Steam pre-orders.

I just want to know what each retailers are offering and most importantly what steam is offering as that is where I'll be ordering the game from more than likely since I like the feature of being able install off of steam and works nicely as I have multiple machines and sometimes I'm not home and don't have the game with me.

Silly question: What's the difference between an american baseball bat and a not-american baseball bat?

Well that's kind of weird, how they're doing it, that if one person in-game has pre ordered they all get it. But I'm assuming that's because of a limitation or a way of getting around annoying things like...

<Pre-ordered chap drops item>
<Person who didn't pre-order can't pick it up>

Things like that annoy people, wether you agree with it or not, I think this is probably a nice work around. That said, I'm pre-ordering because I spent more time playing L4D than any other game since er, probably Starcraft.

Sounds fine to me.