This is probably my final post and I intend to take back whatever I said in the previous ones.

Surprised? Well it turn's out I didn't do enough research so I didn't get the facts straight.

I had been under the impression that the demo was going to be available on store shelves before the full version was out. Had this been the case, I would still stand by my older posts. As it turns out, I was wrong.

The purpose for sending manufacturers the demo now was so that it could be bundled with products not yet available to the public. Therefore, I think I, and everyone else who warezed the demo was wrong. I apologize to Valve Software, Sierra, and every loyal fan who didn't do what I did. I made a mistake and I'm sorry. From now on, I intend to turn in any sites that have the demo on them for download. So don't tell me, I don't want to know. And yes, my hard drive is about to lose 250 megs or so to oblivion.

bye

Hi again.

I was amazed at the feedback to this little article. I have received approximately 40 e-mails, all from people in the h-l community. Among them, Gabe Newell, and Zhyla of the Half-Life Haven. First of all, I would like to thank everyone for reading my article and taking the time to write. I would also like to post an update to the situation regarding a certain ftp site. This ftp site is no longer in operation. I know of no others, so please stop asking me. I wouldn't have told you anyway, but I wish you luck in whatever course of action you decide to take.
Of the 40+ emails I received, only a handful were not in support of my article. The few that were directed against illegally obtaining the OEM were very intelligent, articulate, and well thought out. It seems I have stirred up a sensitivive topic. Now everyone's out either to A Congratulate me for my big nuts and "oh yeah, will you tell me where to get it?" or B Show me that I'm wrong, and should be cast into the fiery depths of hell. Well, thanks to the emails from Gabe and other do-gooders (not an insult, I assure you), I can see both sides of the argument. Well, sorta. But I still stand by my original views, and, provided that Gabe deigns to respond to the short list of questions I gave him, we might get a few answers. Here's a small, free *cough* demo (OEM?) sample of what's to come:
Correspondence between myself and a certain Brian Smedley, who claims he is in cahoots with Valve Software. Anything in italics is something inserted by myself, and was not in the original email. Bold text is what Smedley had to say. Regular is what I responded with.

Salutations. You seem to be the only person who is affiliated with Valve or Sierra who emailed me. First of all, I'd like to thank you for your time. Now, I will try to describe my point of view on this matter a little more clearly. First, with respects to the OEM vs shareware debate: My guess is that Valve is in this for money. I respect that and certainly plan to shell out my $50 when Half-Life comes out in the stores. I would be proud to do this. If I had a scanner, I would post a copy of my receipt on my page. However, the method of release bothers me. Consider: Valve would undoubtedly make more by releasing a $10 CD containing H-L Day One than by releasing it exclusively with the Banshee cards. And they could simultaneously release it on the internet. I think people would be more interested in shelling out $10 than in waiting for 10 hours while the download creeps by.

Of course Valve Software is in this for the money, they are a business that is lead by two ex Microsoft employees. They are business men to the core and will do what is best for business. I also have faith in Valve to do the right thing. No one has said that they will not be releasing a demo to the World. However OEM does not equal demo, never has and never will. However, in the absence of a real demo, why couldn't the OEM be used? I also doubt that the Valve is being paid near that much for a copy of the OEM. OEMs by nature are dirt cheap, to allow everyone who buys that hardware to have a copy. This seems therefore like selling the CD for $10 would be an even better choice. If the OEM is dirt cheap, I'm sure the profit margin on a $10 CD would be huge Our flagship product here ACDSee has an OEM version that we sell to Hardware Manufactors at a hugely discounted rate, however they buy thousands at a time.

The way I see it, pirating it is not really taking money out of anyone's pocket either. It's not as though people are going to shell out $200 for a demo of Half-Life if there's no alternative but to wait. If the warez sites weren't there, the people would simply wait (in anger) until the full version is out. So the warez sites (as far as I can see) aren't actually damaging to valve.

I doubt they are doing any damage myself, however I think Valve is pretty darn tough. This is not about hurting Valve this is about the Law and Respect. You have downloaded something STOLEN from Valve Software.

The issue about the content heavy nature of the game is irrelevant. I say the customer is always right. If Valve released the compressed demo on the net (a little bird told me that a 65 volume .rar archive was somewhere between 80 and 100 megs) the people who really wanted it would download it anyway. Or they would go to a store and purchase the aforementioned $10 cd.

The customer is always right. I agree, and live by the addage while doing my job here. However someone who walks into your store, and walks out with some product without paying isnt really a customer is he, even if he comes back later to buy something. He's still a customer. But he's also a thief.

And your little simile about penny candies from a 7-11 is interesting. But I think a more accurate comparison is this: Consider a supermarket, where there are occasionally small tables set up to pass out little FREE samples of a new food product. Now say a table like this tried to start charging for the tiny samples. I would feel a lot more justified in stealing some of the samples then.

That is an issue of marketting not legality. Just cause someone doesnt offer you a free sample and you are used to it does not entitle you to take one. I still feel that my anger, if not my actions, were and are justified

Stealing is illegal, but the law isn't infallible, and can't adapt to every circumstance correctly.

It can not. However in this case, the product we are talking about was stolen from either Valve Software or Seirra and distributed to the World. I try to live my life by the intent of the law. If my downloading this software does not hurt Valve or Sierra, who does it hurt? If it hurts noone, what's the harm?

Finally, I would like to say that I have received overwhelming responses to my editorial. Almost all were in support. These people are hardcore fans, who feel they have been let down by valve. I don't blame them.

I understand this, Warezers will always be warezers. There is nothing us software developers can do about it. The fact that your product is being warezed is a good sign deep down. We always search the warez groups for copies of our software, and look for the comments with it. ACDSee is always there with comments that it is th best image viewer around.

Finally, I would like to say that Day One is FANTASTIC, and if your work on Worldcraft is comparable, congratulations. I still don't regret what I did, and I find it difficult to feel guilty about publicizing popular opinion, when a great company like Valve makes such a strange and poor decision. This damaged their PR more than anything I could possibly imagine.

I am confused of what decision that you are talking about? The one to sell an OEM version to some guys who make video cards so that someone who buys their brand new Banshee video card has something that will take advantage of it without having to go out there and shell out another $60 to have something that will support their $200 purchase. Yes The one to sell an OEM version to some guys who make video cards so that someone who buys their brand new Banshee video card has something that will take advantage of it without having to go out there and shell out another $60 to have something that will support their $200 purchase. It seems to me they could both bundle the OEM with the card and release it seperately, like I said before. That way, everyone's happy. I would still prefer the OEM to be free, but I would not be too opposed to shelling out a few dollars for it. That is what the OEM is, the choice about a demo is an entirely different matter, please realize this.

---

Brian "Somberfire" Smedley

Here's a little response to a few parts of "The Developer Made Me Do It" by Zhyla. Although I appreciate the takeoff on my editorial, I think that he takes what I had to say too literally in a couple of instances.

Valve's decision to give priority to the OEM and retail versions of Half-Life is completely beyond reproach. It's a simple philosophy known as "making a buck." The sad fact of life is you can make the whole gaming community happy with a wonderful shareware demo, but you're out of business if you can't deliver the full game. Valve is completely within their rights to sell what they have worked hard at. It's just the way the world works.

Yes, I couldn't agree more. However, instead of torturing dedicated fans, they could have made the public happier, as well as lining their pockets thicker, by simultaneously releasing the OEM on a seperate CD selling for $10. I know I would be more than happy to pay a few dollars for the OEM. I'm sure everyone else in the community would feel the same. If someone can give me a clue as to why they didn't do this, I'd be real appreciative.

Valve made you do it. My neighbor shouldn't have parked his car where I could see it in the first place. I don't really care what other people do concerning the OEM warez; that's their decision. Just don't say it's anything but plain old stealing. And I want a hat and a t-shirt :).

Oh yeah...someone sent an email in support of my article. They asked, who would buy a car if they couldn't test drive it. Mad props to whoever that was, I couldn't agree more.

Finally, Kudos to Valve and everyone involved for fabulous work. The weapons and monster models are outstanding, and the DSP sound takes gameplay to a whole new level (turn up the volume until it hurts).

There has recently been a lot of controversy regarding the popular status of Half-Life: Day One as a warez download. Although it may be morally and legally "wrong" to download this stuff for free, consider what Valve has done. By releasing what is traditionally shareware (doom, wolf3d, etc) and trying to make a buck from it by attaching it to a retail product, they have practically invited gamers to pirate the game. I personally feel cheated by this decision. There has for quite a while been hype about this game, and only months ago, it was basically a fact that a shareware version would be released a month or so before the game. Now, it turns out that Valve releases the shareware version but only bundled with the $200 Banshee card. Many gamers, used to receving a free demo before the release of the full version, are going to be very angry. Including myself. So essentially, we have 3 options: go without the demo (not a serious alternative), buy the Banshee card, or download the demo. It's not too hard to guess which option most people are going to choose. So if Valve wants to complain or give out some bullsh*t hats or something to warez busters, just remember, they brought this on themselves. I'm not saying warez are good or morally correct or anything--I plan to buy the full version with my own hard earned money. I'm just saying Valve should have thought about this decision and its possible consequences. Anyway, I have to go. I have a big download to finish.

-Durandal[UC]

If you have something constructive to tell me please email me. I'm really not interested in reading a bunch of "you suck" mail so please include some sort of content. I would have posted a warez url here except that I'm afraid of some do-gooders reporting the site and getting it shut down. Consequently, I won't be giving out the url to anyone. All I can say is good luck in whatever course of action you decide to take.