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From: Marc Laidlaw <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 2016 20:20:34 -0800
Message-ID: <CA+GALyPSJKhJgp+LDpne7QekukuZ2iH6Hhe4MbTNamwc=dFOxQ@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: Re: A question from the community
To: "53bload53 ." <[email protected]>
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Hi Teddy, I hope this will explain why I cannot answer your questions. Feel
free to share it with your group.

MY RETIREMENT


*Is the rumor true?*


Yes, it is true. I, Marc Laidlaw, have retired from Valve.


*Was there really a rumor to that effect?*


Not to my knowledge. I just thought that in case there was one, I might as
well start by confirming it. Most of my friends already know because I told
them directly.


*What do you mean you're retiring from Valve?*


I am no longer a full or part time Valve employee, no longer involved in
day to day decisions or operations, no longer a spokesman for the company,
no longer privy to most types of confidential information, no longer
working on Valve games in any capacity.


*Why are you retiring?*


There are many reasons, most of them personal. An outwardly obvious reason
is that I'm old, or anyway oldish. My nickname when I first started at
Valve in 1997 was "Old Man Laidlaw." The little baby level designer who
gave me that nickname is older now than I was then. Imagine how much older
I am! I had the unbelievable luck to fall in with the kids at Valve when
they could have just dismissed me as an old fogey who didn't know shit
about videogames. The only Zelda I=E2=80=99d ever heard of was F. Scott
Fitzgerald=E2=80=99s wife. They taught me everything. I had a good run but =
lately I
have been feeling a need for a break from the collaborative chaos of game
production, and a return to more self-directed writing projects.


*What does this mean for Half-Life?*


I don't and can't entirely know. Half-Life is fully owned by Valve. It came
into existence before my arrival. Where Valve may choose to take it in the
future is not in my hands. I have been a grateful co-creator, but my time
of working on the series is behind me. Since I no longer speak for Valve,
it would be inappropriate for me to answer questions or speculate openly on
the fate of the franchise. I can speak about games I worked on in the past,
to the extent this is public knowledge, but I have talked about those
subjects endlessly over the years and I don't think there's much to add.


*Will you have any kind of continuing relationship with Valve?*


Valve has been my second home, and home to a great many of my dreams and
ambitions, for over 18 years. I will always have a connection to the
company, the many friends I made there, the games I worked on, and
especially the characters I helped create. My friends know they can consult
me if questions come up that I can help them answer. I hope that for at
least a few years, if I come to the door, people will still recognize me
and let me in without calling security. I won't blame them if they hide the
silverware, however. I can be trusted with company secrets, but not with
spoons. Never with spoons.


*What are you going to do now?*


That is unclear. I will almost certainly get back to writing more stories
of my own; that's simply my default setting. Working on games has been an
amazing education, a vocation, an entire career I never expected to have. I
found a calling that didn't even exist when I was a sprout. But it feels
like the time is right to return to my roots and see where that takes me.
It might well take me back into games by other routes, but currently that=
=E2=80=99s
not part of the plan. I=E2=80=99ll be exploring for a while.


*Are you willing to do interviews or engage in further correspondence about
all this?*


Not at this time. For now, I am going to let this written statement stand
as my complete comment on the matter. If it seems like there is something
important I neglected to mention, or some world shattering new event that
demands to be trumpeted, such as the arrival of a new grey hair, then I
suppose I might update it. Those who write asking for further clarification
or expanded explanations will probably just receive another copy of this
message. I appreciate all the interest and enthusiasm from Half-Life fans
over the years; I loved working on the games and engaging with the
community, but I can no longer be considered a potential source of new
information. And please don't bombard Valve with questions either. There is
nothing anyone there can tell you about my personal decision to retire.


*How do we know this email is not a fake?*


Assuming the entire universe is not itself a hoax, this uncertainty arises
mainly thanks to a small, specialized cottage industry of trolls who have
been employed turning out fake emails in my name, in which I say things
about Valve that I would never say. What you are reading is the genuine
article, a hand-picked assortment of words selected and arranged in a
particular, convoluted order for one specific purpose: to demonstrate that
I and nobody else have or could have written this email. I expect that
after enough identical versions of this message have been shared in the
Steam forums, on Reddit, or wherever else gamers congregate, people will
come to accept its authenticity, especially when I don=E2=80=99t contradict=
 them.
So if you were planning to write to me directly asking whether it's real,
please accept one of these preemptive replies: (a) Yes, it=E2=80=99s real. =
(b)
Nope, it=E2=80=99s not a fake. (c) Nope, it=E2=80=99s real. (d) Yes, it=E2=
=80=99s not a fake.


*How do we know if your explanation of how we know this email is not a
fake, is not a fake?*


Did trolls create this universe, or are they merely its creatures?


Thank you for playing along.


- Marc Laidlaw

On Thu, Jan 7, 2016 at 6:03 PM, 53bload53 . <[email protected]> wrote=
:

> Hello Marc
>
> A whole group of people and I have been looking for the answer to a
> question that came to our minds but unfortunately couldn't find it, thus
> why I'm sending this email.
>
> Straight to the point:
>
> Why can't you just publicly announce that you (Valve) will never release
> the infamous Half-Life 3 and end this frustration to your community once
> and for all after 10+ years of silence and avoidance towards the subject?
>
>
> I'm not sure if you read the whole question or just closed the message
> after reading "Half-Life 3", but in case you're still reading this I just
> wanted to mention that the last Half-Life game was in 2007.
>
> It's already 2016 and I really think the final fate of the Half-Life
> series should be finally announced because people still haven't forgotten
> Half-Life and these rumors and silence is only damaging the interaction
> between customers and the company.
>
> Thank you so much in advance, Gordon Freeman is still not dead.
>

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><p style=3D"border:medium none">Hi Teddy, I hope this will=
 explain why I cannot answer your questions. Feel free to share it with you=
r group.<br></p><p style=3D"border:medium none">MY RETIREMENT</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none"><br></p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none"><i>Is the rumor true?</i></p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">Yes,
it is true. I, Marc Laidlaw, have retired from Valve. </p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none"><i>Was there really a rumor to that effect?=
</i></p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">Not
to my knowledge. I just thought that in case there was one, I might as well
start by confirming it. Most of my friends already know because I told them
directly.</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none"><i>What do you mean you&#39;re retiring fro=
m Valve?</i></p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">I
am no longer a full or part time Valve employee, no longer involved in day =
to
day decisions or operations, no longer a spokesman for the company, no long=
er
privy to most types of confidential information, no longer working on Valve
games in any capacity.</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none"><i>Why are you retiring?</i></p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">There
are many reasons, most of them personal. An outwardly obvious reason is tha=
t
I&#39;m old, or anyway oldish. My nickname when I first started at Valve in=
 1997
was &quot;Old Man Laidlaw.&quot; The little baby level designer who gave me
that nickname is older now than I was then. Imagine how much older I am! I =
had
the unbelievable luck to fall in with the kids at Valve when they could hav=
e
just dismissed me as an old fogey who didn&#39;t know shit about videogames=
. The
only Zelda I=E2=80=99d ever heard of was F. Scott Fitzgerald=E2=80=99s wife=
. They taught me
everything. I had a good run but lately I have been feeling a need for a br=
eak
from the collaborative chaos of game production, and a return to more
self-directed writing projects.</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none"><i>What does this mean for Half-Life?</i></=
p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">I
don&#39;t and can&#39;t entirely know. Half-Life is fully owned by Valve. I=
t came into
existence before my arrival. Where Valve may choose to take it in the futur=
e is
not in my hands. I have been a grateful co-creator, but my time of working =
on
the series is behind me. Since I no longer speak for Valve, it would be
inappropriate for me to answer questions or speculate openly on the fate of=
 the
franchise. I can speak about games I worked on in the past, to the extent t=
his
is public knowledge, but I have talked about those subjects endlessly over =
the
years and I don&#39;t think there&#39;s much to add.</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none"><i>Will you have any kind of continuing
relationship with Valve?</i></p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">Valve
has been my second home, and home to a great many of my dreams and ambition=
s,
for over 18 years. I will always have a connection to the company, the many
friends I made there, the games I worked on, and especially the characters =
I
helped create. My friends know they can consult me if questions come up tha=
t I
can help them answer. I hope that for at least a few years, if I come to th=
e
door, people will still recognize me and let me in without calling security=
. I
won&#39;t blame them if they hide the silverware, however. I can be trusted=
 with
company secrets, but not with spoons. Never with spoons.</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none"><i>What are you going to do now?</i></p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">That
is unclear. I will almost certainly get back to writing more stories of my =
own;
that&#39;s simply my default setting. Working on games has been an amazing
education, a vocation, an entire career I never expected to have. I found a
calling that didn&#39;t even exist when I was a sprout. But it feels like t=
he time
is right to return to my roots and see where that takes me. It might well t=
ake
me back into games by other routes, but currently that=E2=80=99s not part o=
f the plan.
I=E2=80=99ll be exploring for a while.</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none"><i>Are you willing to do interviews or enga=
ge
in further correspondence about all this?</i></p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">Not
at this time. For now, I am going to let this written statement stand as my
complete comment on the matter. If it seems like there is something importa=
nt I
neglected to mention, or some world shattering new event that demands to be
trumpeted, such as the arrival of a new grey hair, then I suppose I might u=
pdate
it. Those who write asking for further clarification or expanded explanatio=
ns
will probably just receive another copy of this message. I appreciate all t=
he
interest and enthusiasm from Half-Life fans over the years; I loved working=
 on
the games and engaging with the community, but I can no longer be considere=
d a
potential source of new information. And please don&#39;t bombard Valve wit=
h
questions either. There is nothing anyone there can tell you about my perso=
nal
decision to retire.</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none"><i>How do we know this email is not a fake?=
</i></p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">Assuming
the entire universe is not itself a hoax, this uncertainty arises mainly th=
anks
to a small, specialized cottage industry of trolls who have been employed
turning out fake emails in my name, in which I say things about Valve that =
I
would never say. What you are reading is the genuine article, a hand-picked
assortment of words selected and arranged in a particular, convoluted order=
 for
one specific purpose: to demonstrate that I and nobody else have or could h=
ave
written this email. I expect that after enough identical versions of this
message have been shared in the Steam forums, on Reddit, or wherever else
gamers congregate, people will come to accept its authenticity, especially =
when
I don=E2=80=99t contradict them. So if you were planning to write to me dir=
ectly asking
whether it&#39;s real, please accept one of these preemptive replies: (a) Y=
es, it=E2=80=99s
real. (b) Nope, it=E2=80=99s not a fake. (c) Nope, it=E2=80=99s real. (d) Y=
es, it=E2=80=99s not a fake.
</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none"><i>How do we know if your explanation of ho=
w we
know this email is not a fake, is not a fake?</i></p>

<p style=3D"border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">Did
trolls create this universe, or are they merely its creatures?</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">Thank
you for playing along.</p><span class=3D""><font color=3D"#888888"><p style=
=3D"margin-left:0.5in;border:medium none">=C2=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left:1in;border:medium none">-
Marc Laidlaw</p></font></span><div class=3D"gmail_extra"><br><div class=3D"=
gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 7, 2016 at 6:03 PM, 53bload53 . <span dir=3D"ltr">=
&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">teddywolf1=
[email protected]</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" st=
yle=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div =
dir=3D"ltr"><div>Hello Marc</div><div><br></div><div>A whole group of peopl=
e and I have been looking for the answer to a question that came to our min=
ds but unfortunately couldn&#39;t find it, thus why I&#39;m sending this em=
ail.</div><div><br></div>Straight to the point:<div><br></div><div>Why can&=
#39;t you just publicly announce that you (Valve) will never release the in=
famous Half-Life 3 and end this frustration to your community once and for =
all after 10+ years of silence and avoidance towards the subject?</div><div=
><br></div><div><br></div><div>I&#39;m not sure if you read the whole quest=
ion or just closed the message after reading &quot;Half-Life 3&quot;, but i=
n case you&#39;re still reading this I just wanted to mention that the last=
 Half-Life game was in 2007.=C2=A0</div><div><br></div><div>It&#39;s alread=
y 2016 and I really think the final fate of the Half-Life series should be =
finally announced because people still haven&#39;t forgotten Half-Life and =
these rumors and silence is only damaging the interaction between customers=
 and the company.</div><div><br></div><div>Thank you so much in advance, Go=
rdon Freeman is still not dead.</div></div>
</blockquote></div><br></div></div>

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