L4D2 boycott group hopes to be "largely successful"

Written by: Chris McKenna

Imagine this, but with zombies

Last week, we reported on the Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott group which sprung out of Valve’s latest announcement.

This week, I conducted an exclusive interview with Mr. Pancakes (not his real name, obviously), the PR representative for the boycott group which has now grown to over 30,000 members.

See what has thousands of gamers angry after the break.

The quick turnaround on the release of Left 4 Dead 2 might cause some to question the intentions of Valve, asking if they are merely looking out for their own financial interests.

The boycott group isn’t looking to scrutinize Valve’s motivations, however, saying that they “do believe that Valve does have good intentions with the release of Left 4 Dead 2 that are not purely financial.”

This short period between the release of the original Left 4 Dead and its sequel does raise some concerns within the group.

“People within our community are not confident that a game made so soon after the first installment will be of the quality that we expect from Valve,” Mr. Pancakes said.

However, this concern is only a small one.

“Even if the game were released a year or two later,” Mr. Pancakes said, “our community would still feel that Valve has not held up its promises made to the Left 4 Dead community with regard to their first release.”

The Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott group cites Team Fortress 2, with its ongoing content updates, as a precedent for Valve’s future releases.

Mr. Pancakes said that to set such a precedent for one game but not uphold it with another isn’t right.

“Valve has set the bar higher in what the community expects from them with the great work they’ve been doing on Team Fortress 2, and to not apply this model equally to their other releases would be a double standard,” the PR Rep told Copy+Paste.

This complaint, which is one many of the boycott community take “the most issue with,” is reflected heavily in the group’s manifesto.

Mr. Pancakes attributes the quickly-growing Steam group, which has almost doubled since it was last covered here, to a level of professionalism in the boycott’s management, as well as widespread disappointment among the Left 4 Dead  community regarding the game’s sequel.

“The fact that we’ve tried to listen to the community and echo those concerns to Valve is what we believe makes us an attractive group to many who are unhappy with the news of Left 4 Dead 2.”

Mr. Pancakes said he thinks that the group will be “largely successful” in achieving their goals, due to their aforementioned professionalism.

“Our desire to work with Valve in a rational manner is what moves our group in a productive direction, as opposed to a group that simply wants to rage about Left 4 Dead 2 without any direction.”

And still the boycott group is trying to improve.

“While the group is still far from perfect, we’re willing continue to work to present ourselves in a well organized manner to the community, Valve, and the greater gaming world.”

Official negotiations have yet to begin between the boycott group and Valve. The organization sent an email outlining their new manifesto last week, but as of the 17th, haven’t received a reply.