Gearbox and Valve

[Polaris]

In forums about expansions I reding again and again verdicts like - Opposing Force or Blue Shift is property of Gearbox software not Valve. Valve cannot use ideas,enemies,characters from OpFor or BS in their games and expansions. It looks like Valve and Gearbox are rivals. I thik its a extendet superstition or some misunderstanding.
I realy want acount of this problem. Thanks

 

[^Ben]

I think valve commisoned gearbox to make the expansions so valve still owns all the characters.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

The whole thing plays as follows:

When people don't want to play as adrian shephard, Gearbox expansions and all associated characters and events, are property of Gearbox and can not be used by VALVe in any future expansions. This also regards Race X.
When people are trying to decide which Barney is Barney in HL2 and uses Barney Calhoun, or is arguing that Black Mesa was nuked, Opposing Force and Blue Shift were commisioned by VALVe and can henceforth be accepted as official storylines in the Half-life universe.

 

[Ravioli]

Opposing Force or Blue Shift is property of Gearbox software not Valve. Valve cannot use ideas,enemies,characters from OpFor or BS in their games and expansions.

Are you stupid? Barney are in Half-life2!

 

[Dr. Freeman]

i don't think its as simple as "Adrian Shepherd and Race X are Gearbox IP, therefore Valve can't use those"
somehow i think Valve thought things through before any expansions were made.. and Gearbox needed Valve's "okay" to go ahead with whatever was in the expansions.

if Valve wants to use any of the expansion IP's, i am sure they can..the question is, will they?

i hope so.

 

[dogboy73]

if Valve wants to use any of the expansion IP's, i am sure they can..the question is, will they?

A lot of people seem keen to play the role of Mr.Shephard again. But at the end of the day what difference does it make? It's the expansion thats important not the lead character. I don't care who you end up playing as long as the expansion is top draw. Valve could just as easily invent a new character for any expansion.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

I don't care who you end up playing as long as the expansion is top draw. Valve could just as easily invent a new character for any expansion.

they could, i don't doubt that, but why not give the fans what they want?
every expansion poll taken here has resulted in Adrian Shepherd being the winner in pple wanting to see him return.

anyway i think its useless speculating whether Shepherd and Race X are available to Valve or not because Valve would not tell u either way (i emailed Marc Laidlaw and he wouldn't comment on it).

 

[AJ Rimmer]

i don't think its as simple as "Adrian Shepherd and Race X are Gearbox IP, therefore Valve can't use those"
somehow i think Valve thought things through before any expansions were made.. and Gearbox needed Valve's "okay" to go ahead with whatever was in the expansions.

if Valve wants to use any of the expansion IP's, i am sure they can..the question is, will they?

i hope so.

Yes, that's the way it is.
For example, Gearbox wanted to nuke BMRF, but needed VALVe's OK to do it, just incase VALVe was gonna go back to it. And Marc Laidlaw was consulted for the story and added stuff, especially in Blue Shift.

 

[Polaris]

Are you stupid? Barney are in Half-life2!

I know ! Its not my argument, always when I write something like I want Shephard or Barney in expansion they told me this crap.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

I know ! Its not my argument, always when I write something like I want Shephard or Barney in expansion they told me this crap.

Read my first post! It's all subjective.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Yes, that's the way it is.
For example, Gearbox wanted to nuke BMRF, but needed VALVe's OK to do it, just incase VALVe was gonna go back to it. And Marc Laidlaw was consulted for the story and added stuff, especially in Blue Shift.

wait, what are u trying to say?
i am confused...

 

[AJ Rimmer]

wait, what are u trying to say?
i am confused...

Gearbox wanted to nuke BMRF, but couldn't do it unless VALVe ok'd it, incase VALVe wanted to use Black Mesa again.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Gearbox wanted to nuke BMRF, but couldn't do it unless VALVe ok'd it, incase VALVe wanted to use Black Mesa again.

oh...okay, so u are agreeing with me

i was thinking...even if Gearbox has rights to Adrian Shepherd the IP, they really couldn't do much with him because they wouldn't be able to use the HL universe and Shepherd being in a totally different storyline wouldn't fly with most of us fans of that character.

so even if Gearbox owned the rights to Adrian Shepherd, they are still better off selling those rights to Valve.
of course if Valve had to "okay" everything Gearbox did, perhaps Valve has the rights to everything in the first place?

anyway, useless ramblings really.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

oh...okay, so u are agreeing with me

Yes, we don't have to be enemies do we? :E

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Yes, we don't have to be enemies do we? :E

aww...why can't we?
life would be so interesting that way :E

 

[AJ Rimmer]

aww...why can't we?
life would be so interesting that way :E

Hey, wanna play business rivals? You be VALVe and I'll be Gearbox!

"Hey, we wanna re-use your beautifully created world, slightly improve it, add a completely new race to your old boring enemies which don't fit in the story, and then blow the whole place to smithereens...
Also, your mysterious, superhuman g-man now uses a cellphone like any poor schmuck."

 

[special-ed]

Valve had plenty of time to consider gearbox's expansions to be a part of the half-life saga. After five years of half-life valve made the final box set (half-life platinum collection) which says on the cover "includes 5 award-winning titles", with two as blue shift and opposing force. Also valve decided to make hl2 in 1999, before gearbox came in.. Oh and also the destruction of black mesa does fit in.. look what happend to c17!!!

 

[rpgprog]

They are part of the story because VALVe now sells them, but they are all loosely related. Nothing in them is GLARINGLY wrong but maybe they decided to change a few things.

 

[Greatgat]

I think that difference between HL1 Barney and HL2 Barney is that in HL1, they were just a bunch of clones running around not doing a whole hell of a lot. In HL2, Barney was a distinctive character with his own motivations and personality seperate from everyone else in the game.

On a related note, that's why I am a trifle sketch about the whole expansion thing. You could get away with it in HL1 because there were only three or four dinstictive people that were faceless enough that you could place yourself in their own personalities when you finally played as them. In HL2 however, the people are much more anthropomorphic in themselves, without you really needing to supply them any personality. So when you play as them, it becomes rather discordant between what you perceive in them as and how you play as them.

 

[Polaris]

Please tell me somebody why destruction of black mesa and Race-X doesnt fit. I think its in time of HL2 (Combine supermacy) unnecessary problem.