a little bit inspired by fellow poster "McGrandpa" and the
issue if valve is listening or not to its customers i had this
idea of making a request to valve, so i invite everyone that
will agree with the following to join me and together we can
either email this request to valve or post it on there own
official forum at steampowered.com
we could also do a petition but i think either an email or a
post in steam official forum would be better

i've been a critic of valve but i think it is time i make a
specific and formal proposal instead of criticizing what i
don't agree in steam

the idea is the following
i understand why as a business model steam is good for valve
but it is also true steam is not good to every customer that
buys pc games
yes i know steam is very popular among some pc gamers but
that is not the point, the point is reaching out for those
that don't use steam for some reason
i do believe the number of pc gamers in this situation are
at least many thousands all around the world so they are
totally worthy to be considered by valve

i fully understand valve is a business and does not make any
kind of charity but i truly believe the following proposition
is not charity and will be profitable to valve and it is a wise
strategy cause i do believe anything that includes as many as
possible pc gamers as valve customers is good
any corporation wants as many customers as possible so that's
why i feel the following proposition makes sense

first let me say that i think the following will benefit valve
but also will not damage at all the current customers that use
steam
that i think is very important
no current steam user can feel damaged with the following cause
they will maintain a privileged status among valve services

my proposition to valve is the following
it would be good to business to make a "special" half-life 2
edition this "special" half-life 2 edition would be a retail
only steam free meaning it would be just like any current pc
game in the retail market
but to not damage steam business model and not compete with
the already steam retail version present it would be a
"crippled" version, a limited "reduced" version
the target for this "special" half-life 2 edition would be the
budget customers, those pc gamers from poor countries either
with no internet access or limited internet access or very
expensive internet access
this "special" edition would have all the features of a
budget edition like:
. a low cost dvd type plastic case
. no printed manual or quick reference card
. in a single dvd disk
. sold exclusively via retail stores
. low profile cover possibly with no illustrations or images
. valve should choose a specialized budget distributor and
not use electronic arts so there would be a clear separation
between the full steam version and this "budget" limited
edition
now what would this "special" version be different from all
the other half-life 2 already released in the past
. it would not need any internet access either to install or
to play
. it would not need steam to run
. it would feature like any current pc game a normal install
wizard and after installation it would run out of the box
with no need for online or phone activations but with the need
to have dvd inserted and featuring the usual copy protections
present in most retail pc games
aside from all this which are typical of any retail pc game
it would have the following "limitations" in comparison with
the current steam half-life 2 versions:
. no other bundled pc game titles from valve back catalog would
be included but only one game, half-life 2
. no patches for this version would be available neither now
neither in the future
. no technical support would be available and the software
would be sold as it is with no warranty except for a limited
30 day warranty on the dvd media
. no possibility of running mods
. no support for auto-updates
. no support for future expansion packs like "aftermatch"??????
. no support for multi-player modes like deathmatch
. no access to extra content
. no support for hdr (high d:???????????
. no possibility of running add-on levels like "lost coast"???????
. required dvd inserted to play
. dvd disk with copy protection to prevent illegal duplication
. no possibility to "upgrade" to steam full half-life 2 version
. all these limitations would be printed in the cover in big bold
letters including a red warning in the front

anyone after buying and playing this version and wanted to
have the "full" steam half-life 2 version with all the
features would have inside the dvd a install file for the
steam client so anyone could have a starting point to access
steam and buy the steam full half-life 2 version
also a added bonus to bring buyers of this version buy also
the full steam version there would be a serial code sticker
in the case that used with steam would give a 10 dollar credit
for those wanting to buy the full steam half-life 2 version so
even not being able to upgrade they could buy it with a reduced
price
this would be a way to promote and make pc gamers use steam
cause i understand what moves valve is steam
so only buying via steam would customers be able to access
all the features present in the full half-life 2 version

with all these limitation this proposed "special" half-life 2
retail package would sell 10 dollars more expensive than the
steam version cause of the cost valve needed to spend to create
this version, which involves programers changing code and extra
testing
the price would be 45 dollars vs the 39.99 the steam version
currently costs
to make sure the retail channel would not make available this
version with a lower price than 45 dollars, limited prints
would be made so with reduced offer prices would never go
down
also there would be no guaranty additional prints would be made
if stock sold-out so pressure would be on the retail market to
not lower the price of this version so it would never reach a
lower price than the steam version
also this version would be available for a limited time only
all these limitations and reduced prints with a more expensive
price would be to protect the steam version and not let it
compete which each other to not damage valve business

so why would this be good for valve?
cause it would for sure make half-life 2 be bought and played by
even more pc gamers around the world and would be a sign valve
does care about pc gamers and listens to them
this version would give a image of friendliness to valve which
is always good for business

so isn't this a fair proposition to valve?
aren't there lots of concessions made to not damage valve?
and specially not damage steam?
isn't this a honest request and one that can be advantageous
to all parts, valve and those pc gamers that can't use
steam? and it doesn't damage at all current steam users cause
they will maintain a special status

anyone that is with me with this proposition and wants to
join me in this request please say so

if valve released this version i would buy it immediatly

i'm also open to suggestions and changes anyone would like
to make although i must add all the concessions i make in
this proposal should be present cause steam is key to valve
business so no way they will ever damage it and i feel
this proposal not only does not damage steam but it also
protects it and makes all the steam users feel steam is a
added value for them

i also thought about this version not featuring all levels
from half-life 2 but limiting the use of expansion packs
and mods and add-on levels i think is enough of a limitation

no steam user can't really say this damage them at all and
it would be good for all those pc gamers with no net access
to be able to play half-life 2 even in a "crippled" limited
edition

valve can say no to this proposal but i don't believe any
steam users can criticize this cause it really doesn't affect
them but only includes many more pc gamers into the half-life
2 universe
steam users can't be that selfish and want half-life 2 only
for them can they?

with this proposal i've gone as far as i can go... more than
all the concessions i make in this is really hard to imagine
probably the only thing that is left is me begging on my knees