L4D Servers

[DontWannaName]

Are you going to price L4D the same as any source game or are you going to price it lower since it only goes to a max of 8 slots? Also, will it come with all the extras or can we go the 'alternative route' w/ no support. I know its not out yet but since im here, just wondering what you guys are thinking of. I know your going to say based on resources, since its new, srcds may take up less than usual or a lot more. Still have another month though.

[Edge100x]

My guess is that it will have to be priced higher than existing games on a per-slot basis due to the high amount of AI chewing up CPU cycles (which is probably one of the reasons they had to limit it to 8 players). I can't say for certain, though, as very few details have been released. I also do not know whether existing plugins and control panel features will work with it, if that's what you're getting at with the question about support.

[DontWannaName]

Will you offer a special offer to pre order L4D servers so they are up when its released or when srcds is released?

[Edge100x]

Preorders for game servers do not make sense, as the dedicated server can't be tested before release, making GSPs unable to tell if they are even able to run it. They also don't make sense because you'll be able to get a server as soon as we offer them anyhow, through our website. We have no danger of running out of stock, as a store would .

I remember one previous game that our competitors offered preorders for (I believe it may have been Crysis) and it worked out very poorly for them due to bugs in the dedicated server program. These bugs forced some workarounds and a wait on a patch, and in the meantime their preorder customers were understandably very annoyed by the multiple-day delay. In the end, I actually found the workarounds sooner and had test servers online before they were able to get their preordered ones up. If the dedicated server had turned out to be a total bust, their customers would have needed their money back, etc -- a customer service nightmare.

[DontWannaName]

How about a new game discount. I know Valve is going to release their demo after Halloween which will require servers and I know Valve will be releasing their new game server network for L4D servers.

[Edge100x]

We still don't know the amount of resources that a busy L4D server will require -- no GSP does, and the dev team still isn't even sure. So it does not make sense to talk about pricing yet.

If we can afford to do a new-game discount, as we did with TF2, we may do so. We may also just start with the lowest prices we can on the game and stay with them.

[DontWannaName]

Soooo.... about those resources. Any status update?

[Fumette]

I would love an update on L4D Full Version servers!

[Bostton1]

are the demo servers going to be updated when the game is released tonight?

[Edge100x]

Whether the demo servers will be upgraded depends on whether Valve continues the demo or not. If the demo is still available for play, we will treat the full version as a separate game and switching to it will require an upgrade. Otherwise, we will upgrade everyone automatically.

[DontWannaName]

The demo is suppose to be tossed on release last I heard.

[Bostton1]

Whether the demo servers will be upgraded depends on whether Valve continues the demo or not. If the demo is still available for play, we will treat the full version as a separate game and switching to it will require an upgrade. Otherwise, we will upgrade everyone automatically.

so will the new servers be available for upgrade tonight?

[Edge100x]

Yes.

[DontWannaName]

I sent in my server location change now so I wouldnt have to worry about it later.

[Bostton1]

we cant just order a 4 or 8 man server? what if we don't want versus mode?