Blue Shift and Decay was canon to me. Opposing Force would be considered canon , unless if theres some Black-Mesa themed level in HL2 EP3 , which I doubt there is.
For those of us who have been here since '07, gone through several forum crashes and repeatedly discussed the the concept of canon, including repeated postings of the Laidlaw vault, where he directly answers the question, the constant and repeated threads of “despite what the writer of the story says, I really want things to be different,” are old and haggard, like a crack whore. If you like op4, or are a diehard shepfag, or somehow think that valve will revisit some blue shift secondary character, that’s all fine, but it’s not going to happen. End of discussion. Period. So stop crying when someone poopoos your already run into the ground before you posted it thread, because yes, people have nothing better to do with their time than lurking on a web forum about a remake of a game that was released almost a decade and a half ago.
lol. Easy boy. What did shepod ever do to you.
Not the character, the rabid fans. Just look at all the shep speculation when valve announced that a character from black mesa would make an appearance in episode 2. “OMG IZ GUNNA BE ARIAN SHEEP HERDER” Then they were sorely let down when an all new character was introduced.
'Erry day
Didn’t some bloke from Valve announce that everything in OPF and BS is canon unless it contradicts anything in Half-Life and Half-Life 2?
That they’re basically just comming up with a story as they go along, and nothing is written in stone unless it’s contradictory to the current story. That is, they retcon as they please, so canonicity is pretty difficult to pin down.
I however find both games to be canon. I didn’t like Race X, but I have no issues tolerating them as some third party that got involved by accident, I’ll buy that.
And regarding all the Shepherd fans and haters, I don’t see the big deal.
Same as Gordon Freeman. Shepherd is nothing but a regular guy put in a difficult situation, and gets through it. The military are always excluded from stories in any films or games, as if the average GI Joe serves no purpose other than being the bad guy or lying in a ditch covered in petrol on fire.
So it was nice stepping into the shoes of someone who had an entierly different agenda in Half Life, but had to go through the exact same crap as everyone else there.
Ultimately he’s a pointless character with no need for a separate storyline other than to show that there were in fact other people in the Black Mesa science facility that showed exceptional skill, and I think alot of people appreciate that you get to see a story being told that has no hero-value like Gordon Freemans.
Shepherd is just a regular bloke, and to include him in Half-Life 2 would most likely only serve as an easter egg. There’s really no story that can be told with Shepherd as the main character. He’s not a soldier anymore, he’s not a champion like Gordon Freeman, and he’s certainly not some secret weapon that G-man is going to use to take down Gordon Freeman.
I always imagined that if Shepherd makes an appearance in Half-Life 2, it would somehow be connected to the conclusion of G-man. Like losing control of all his time-displaced subjects, or finding out that he in fact stores them somewhere.
Or perhaps even a crazy version of Shepherd that somehow managed to escape the grip of G-man and is now just trying to survive on his own, but with no specific story connected to him.
Not giving Shepherd a story of his own, but rather concluding it and pointing at him and saying “There he is, he wasn’t forgotten about.”.
But it’s close to impossible to try to implement him in the main story of Half-Life 2 without causing some major inconsistencies. He’s not a rebel, he’s not a hero, he’s not a combine, he does in fact have no place in Half-Life 2.
But I can’t argue that he at the time was an interesting character because he was a nobody. Nothing special about him, nothing unique about him. He was just a pair of eyes through which you saw the world from a different perspective.
Well there is literally no source I’ve personally seen saying Valve have written off the expanded canon and have said that they will never go back to any of it. I’m still waiting on a source for that.
Just because you do have that source, does it really mean you feel the need to derail every thread on such topics? To me this seems like nothing more than a desperate need to spout commands at people as if your some authority on the matter, as if anyone who talks about what they want to personally see out of it in a purely fantasy scenario is an idiot?
Also, I’m not a ‘shepfag’. I think to have Shephard in any Half-Life game anywhere near Freeman, let alone being active during the times Freeman is, would be unbelievably detrimental to the series. I just think having a mini series as him would let Valve develop some new mechanics (mostly action) to the gameplay, whilst also solidifying pre HL2 canon that wether you do or not, PEOPLE WANT TO SEE.
Also, I’m not ‘crying’. I’m just addressing your complaint. So stop crying because I’ve actually called you out on it. I posted a thread in the Series section about canon. However you sad fucks can’t even let me have that without going off on one like this is your clubhouse or some shit. There are no rules regarding what I’ve done, so get over it. It’s not your job to shit on everyones ideas and tell them what they can talk about.
Christ, next time I’l just necro an old post if it’d make you feel better, or better yet, hang around one of your threads so I can find out what specific interests and memes I can and can’t talk about. Fuck knows I shouldn’t be talking about Half-Life.
Honestly I think you just need to get a fucking hobby. Or somewhere else you can go IRL to get your intellectual power trip on. Or just a fuck buddy.
@Mephage: That’s exactly what I found so interesting about it. You see the scenario from a guy just trying to survive. Not some guy trying to save the day. Which is a abit of an exageration, but in comparison their two perceptions are completely different. Which is why I wanted to take it away from Half-Life 2, and change the perception further. Have Shephard actually live through parts of the Xen infestation, 7 hour war, then the extinction itself.
He shoved a pistol in my face and showed me what it was like to be really extreme!
Or something.
Here Ya go chap. From the marc laidlaw vault, quoted in here more times than I can count to.
https://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?114535-Marc-Laidlaw-Vault
"hi, daniel, i won’t be able to clear up much. It was a deliberate decision to have gearbox never call him barney in blue shift, only calhoun. Raising the bar is not a game, so material is presented differently there; manifestations differ in every medium. Gearbox took our barney and did their own best version, but i’m not sure that barney is the same barney i’m picturing when i picture valve’s barney. In the time bs was created, there were many barneys. Only gradually have the redundant creature and character types slowly settled into iconic individuals…it’s an ongoing process. Gearbox did what was right for their games. Even though they had feedback and guidance from us, they didn’t always listen to it, and they steered by their own lights, etc., etc. I wasn’t very close to the creation of the expansion packs, and much more concerned with how to move the story forward and open up the universe; so i only take the games created by valve into consideration when i am working on the story…there are more than enough potential contradictions in our own designs without me worrying about contradictions in the inventions of other developers who were not part of our initial creative meetings. I know this is confusing to fans; it’s partly a byproduct of the way expansion packs were created, the way they were packaged and published, and also i was very new to this whole concept at the time. It never occurred to me that large chunks of the story would be taken out of our hands, changes made beyond our control, and then have the stuff handed back with some odd unexpected kinks in it. So try not to worry about it, and simply do my best with material directly in my control. However, as to your last question, there was pressure on us to set half-life 2 at black mesa, which a lot of us felt would be creative death; it was important to break new ground. Nuking black mesa was a good way to ensure that we had a way to avoid setting half-life 2 there. You might say i gave the g-man his orders. The whole issue of canon is something the fans came up with. I guess you will be able to identify as canon those story elements we continue to build on and develop and mention repeatedly as the story progresses. Others might fall by the wayside once they’ve served their purpose. Couldn’t you say the same of us all?
Marc laidlaw
Your anger and spite prevents you from actually reading the post. I actually contributed to the thread while insulting it, but not derailing it. One day you will be a bit of an oldfag in here and understand the frustration of the same questions with the same answers being asked by every noob who refuses to do a search.
There is no canon. The only people who stress/cry about canon are shepfags. Shep and BS Barney are gearbox. In the above quote, the writer of the Entire HL story said that they do/will not use gearbox source.
The quality of your response says you are. Also, see above response
Your are slowly learning the ways of the BMS forums. Way to go kiddo!!! :awesome:
Thanks for the offer but I don’t have sex with strangers I meet on the intertubes
You realise there wasn’t a single sentence in there that actually stated ‘We are never going back to any elements of the expansions’. You DO realise that?
They don’t factor in the expansions when progressing the story. How that amounts to ‘They’l never go back to any of it’ is beyond my ability to understand retards trying to read.
No I’d probably just not join in a discussion I don’t want to talk about because I have fuck all better to do. Then not tear people down with poorly sourced assumption. The fact you feel you NEED to do this because your FRUSTRATED at it is pathetic, and another sign you need to get out the fucking house.
So we don’t talk about half-life, we rip on ‘newfags’ trying to, and the rest is simply endless BS with no purpose what-so-ever whilst we waste our already insignificant lives?
I’m out. Laters all, cya when the mod is released. No doubt.
Also, you didn’t contribute to the thread. I had to ASK you for a source for your comments, and your still to give me a decent one. So no you didn’t contribute. Also, it might be best to leave out the poor psychology analysis, as your clearly not versed on how people work beyond the confines of this little kingdom you’ve built for yourself.
Forgive the belated response but I was enjoying a wonderful vacation.
I’m sorry it is beyond your ability to comprehend the above statement but it is true. He was trying to be nice to the rabid fans of shep, who are still Half Life Fans because he has to let them down, as there will be no revisiting of the gearbox story. He dislikes (possibly hates) the Gearbox story line. Also, bringing the reading ability of the MENTally challengED people into the argument is pointless.
If you don’t like the responses you get you could be a grownup and leave the forums, or you could get some wit, choose your battles and not take the Internet so seriously.
We talk about HL all the time, we just tend to get down on those new/shepfags who bring up well discussed stuff like gearbox cannon or Gordon’s helmet when they could have used the search function to find and then contribute to an existing thread.
I knew this one wouldn't last
You didn’t need to ask for a source, you could have searched. I stand buy my thread contribution that the only viable valve character (cuz they’re never goinging to revisit gearbox material) for an Opposing Force 2 is Barney because he was an actual metrocop.
I don’t care what people think and like. I use only facts. for marc lidlaw Nuking Black mesa is cannon and why wouldn’t be else? you say that parts may be considered cannon parts not? same will work on original HL then. this is topic is STILL useless and stupid as long as any of you is going to write book about HL.
especially about this part. this game has been published in 1998 yes? it must have been discussed over thousand times and there can be found 1000x better sources than members of this forum. so again this topic is retarded. no arrogance, only the POV of realism.
There isn’t anything in there that solidifies things either way. Just because you don’t wish this to be true you’ve simply taken what you can as evidence to back up what you wish to believe. That’s all this is.
Get some wit?
Are you kidding me? That’s what goes for wit around here? Ha, I’l stick with my assumption you don’t know how people work beyond this forum.
Not take the internet so seriously?
Like that you mean?
So you’d prefer me to necro old posts rather than just start up a new thread and potentially keep the forum actually going? So your saying my necroing wouldn’t be immediately pounced upon by people demanding I not? They’d not demand I either make a new thread or not talk about it at all? Yeah good one. I’ve been on this forum less than you have yet have a better understanding of how it works…
Or you know this and are just talking shit to save face. Take your pick.
Why? You sensed I had more important things to do with my time than defending a discussion I’m having with plenty of people, willing to contribute, from losers who feel they own the place and any thread they don’t like must be stopped because they have no outlet IRL to tell people what to do?
You honestly expect people to hunt on google for YOUR sources? Are you honestly that much of a tool? Your allowed to give out your opinion but THEN everyone must stop discussing because ‘it won’t happen’? Jesus I really do pity you.
Yet you still do.
If your unwilling to use the English language to a conversable degree I am unwilling to even attempt to decipher it and respond. The only part I can understand properly and thus respond properly is the first, which I can only reply with “then why the fuck should I give a shit what you think and like?” Lol. I wonder if your one of these who thinks like that then wonders why they have no friends?
So it’s been discussed by other people so I’m not allowed? Shall I go from thread to thread demanding people stop conversing about something because it’s been discussed before? The sources come THROUGH other people, and are directly from the creators themselves, so WTF are you even talking about?
The POV of a baked retard more like.
Laters all!
I am so sorry, for real. I thought the retarded kids reading comment was an insulting figure of speech. I had no idea you were talking about yourself. Lets see if i can explain in a way you will comprehend. When a writer, as in “a grownup who gets paid to write” says something like, “I don’t like that material that someone else wrote, so I won’t consider it when writing the story,” it is another way of saying “I won’t use the material.” In the case of something that has already been published, like OP4 or BS, if the head writer of the story says he will not even consider the material, he is definitely not going to go back to it in the story.
Do you understand now?
But hey, if they do resurrect some gearbox material, you can come in here and USE THE FORUM SEARCH FUNCTION to dig up this and all the other threads/posts where I pointed out that there will never be gearbox material in any future HL game and brag how you were right and I was wrong I will agree.
Yes.
Your assumptions are your own to keep. Ive got some great ones about you.
Wanna hear 'em?
Yes
I mean you. I thought that would be obvious by now
Yes, necro the old threads. that way, the mods don’t have to merge new threads and lines of discussion can be preserved so threads like this one don’t happen. The forumites here will only pounce if the new addition is poorly thought out (like by rehashing old info because you didn’t search) or if it is irrelevant.
Once again, you are wrong
The fact that you let me bait you into this argument means you don’t
This is the internet, I have no face. Also, you probably don’t even know I’m a dog 
No, because you posted again right below it. and now I’m responding to another post
Not google, the forum search function, between the “new posts” and “quick links” Link. You not knowing about the forum search function explains a whole lot.
I do, and so do you.
You seem to have trouble with the words typed from a published author on the direction his story will go. the problem with the above quote might be you. did you consider that?
He’s talking about what marc Laidlaw said about the gearbox canon. If you see it in a future story, it’s canon. the only gearbox anything in the later story is the nuking of black mesa.
and you would know
Like the last time?
I feel like there is a severe lack of “De” at the beginning of your username.
[quote=“JohnWorfin”]
For those of us who have been here since '07
[QUOTE]
but you joined in 2009
Edite: quote system y u no work!
2007 was 2 forum crashes ago