You really think that these guys were the reason that we got that stuff? I'm dumbfounded. Correlation does not equal causation.
If you were actually paying attention to things back then you'd realize it. Valve was done with L4D1 and we were pissed. There was a total void for L4D1 support for a few months, which is very weird for the new hotness from this company. Then they announce L4D2, and say jack shit about the original's plans. It was only weeks after the boycott got attention did they even start talking about plans for L4D1.
Plus have you even played Crash Course? That campaign is fucking garbage. It was quickly thrown together from leftover resources that didn't make it into launch. It has no theme like the others do, very little original voice samples (some of which have some crazy irregular volume levels), and a very awkward layout. That shit was nothing but an attempt to try and disprove the boycott.
Of course I was paying attention (look who you are talking to), and I've played Crash Course. Like just about everyone else I play with, I highly enjoy it. I just love the backlash Valve got, and continues to get. They stray a bit from their 'normal' way of doing things, provide a whole game's worth of content in a year, and boom, it's ARMAGEDDON!
I remember reading an interview with someone at Valve who was really excited that everything just 'clicked' in their process for a change. Let's be honest too, Valve doesn't exactly need a quick cash grab.
L4D remains my current favorite game, and I really can't wait till #2... at least it's not a simple roster update. More L4D is good L4D.
If this post seems disjointed, it's because I'm typing it on my phone.
The thing is, that Valve, like any company, requires some feedback from their customers, so that they can continue to please us. Things like the 'boycott' may seem silly or pointless, but Valve heard the complaints, and it hopefully altered their view on what we find acceptable. Clearly many people had issues with the lack of support for L4D1... it may not change the support for L4D1 (crash was kind of crappy, but it was better than nothing), but, hopefully it WILL change their ideas for support for L4D2.
I agree that calling it a boycott was silly, but clearly a message was sent, and thats a good thing! Of all gaming companies, Valve is one of the most gamer-focused companies. And it shows with people's loyalty's and shock when something isn't handled in the best way possible. We have high expectations of one of the industries leading companies. Nothing wrong with that!
- It's funny, I had never played L4D before, and so coming into the demo I first reset the key bindings (all you people who still use AWSD are fools :P I use WEDF) as I do with every game, and because of the way the menu is setup on the demo it looked like the single-player campaign was the first thing on there.
So, I just clicked the first option and ended up in an online quick-match! So, my first L4D experience was online, with people. We won. I didn't embarrass myself ;P Though I had no idea how to turn the flashlight off and mistook pushing zombies back for a melee attack :P
Yesterday I did a couple 'expert' level games with random people, 1 out of 3 attempts are successful. One thing I like quite a bit is that you don't seem to be horribly ammo starved. I've always hated that 'horror game' trope. And melee is stupidly powerful, and that's fun! During the tower alarm sequence, on expert, I've often just backed into a corner and swung the machete wild and survived wave after wave Game really could use a samurai sword though Sword > baseball bat.
Yeah, when I first got L4D I just played online games, and also also! In one of the reviewer demos one of the characters had a samurai sword, so assumably it's in one of the levels somewhere!
Also, I do like the ammo thing, it's the right level whereby you can't just be ridiculous but you don't just end up stuck relying on everyone else. And if all else fails you have the handgun which isn't terrible.
It's nice to see people speaking reasonably here about the boycott fiasco. Calling it a boycott unfortunately made then entire effort become a distraction and the message secondary, at least in the gaming community. I never intended to boycott L4D2, and didn't, so joining something called a "boycott" group would be disingenuous at best.
That said I supported their ideals, and I do believe it had an effect on Valve. Granted all we've gotten so far was a shitty campaign thrown together in a week, but I'm still crossing my fingers for integration between L4D and L4D2.
Game really could use a samurai sword though 
Sword > baseball bat.
