Left 4 Dead 2 Cut Down and Classified MA15+

Post by trog @ 11:33am 09/10/09 | 105 Comments

As rrrocket was the first to point out, Left 4 Dead 2 has been resubmitted for classification with some changes that has allowed the Classification Board to classify the game as MA15+, after first being refused classification.

The full report is available for download right here, but here's the interesting part:

The Board note that the game no longer contains depictions of decapitation, dismemberment, wound details or piles of dead bodies lying about in the environment.

Anyway. Here we are again without an R18+ rating. I won't be buying it.

left 4 dead 2 classification board

Latest Comments

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Carson
Posted 11:37am 09/10/09

Lame.

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TiT
Posted 11:38am 09/10/09

gay i wont be buying it

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darkjedi
Posted 11:41am 09/10/09

Yet L4D1 and Fallout 3's depictions of exploding bodies and corpses everywhere passed with flying colours.

/sigh

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ravn0s
Posted 11:42am 09/10/09

pfft i was first to point it out. i just posted it in a l4d2 thread instead of creating a 6th one.

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Freewheelin
Posted 11:45am 09/10/09

so theres another avenue in the fight for an R rating cut off

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Seven
Posted 11:48am 09/10/09

I won't be buying it either. What's the point when all the artistic effort put into the game is now invisible to Australians?

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trog
Posted 11:48am 09/10/09

surely a hack/patch/fix for Aussies will be released almost instantly anyway.

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casa
Posted 11:50am 09/10/09

I'll be getting one of my american buddies to buy it for me

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darkjedi
Posted 11:53am 09/10/09

Getting people in the US to Gift it to you on Steam should work, amrite?

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trog
Posted 12:00pm 09/10/09

Getting people in the US to Gift it to you on Steam should work, amrite?

I would have thought so?

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Crash
Posted 12:08pm 09/10/09

if the appeal goes through successfully then we wont be seeing this version of the game.

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Tremble
Posted 12:10pm 09/10/09

Getting people in the US to Gift it to you on Steam should work, amrite?

It worked for the german version of L4D, full uncensored version.
I've already got my pre-order gifted from the states.

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LOTUK
Posted 12:23pm 09/10/09

Due to laziness I'm just going to copy what a friend of a friend said on our forums as it's right on the money:

"Look at the gameplay of Killing Floor. You can actually walk up to a common "clot" zombie (amongst others), and take its head clean off with ;

Chainsaw
Axe
Katana
Knife
Something else

These rulings are f*****g stupid. I actually feel like composing a short video of me being able to beat hispanics to death with a baseball bat in GTA4, smash an old ladies face into my knee in Prototype, chainsawing off zombies heads in Killing Floor, killing the little sisters in Bioshock etc etc. It just makes no sense that these can get let through, yet L4D2 cant?"

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trog
Posted 12:24pm 09/10/09

Heh I can't find a classification for Killing Floor on the classification.gov.au website

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Dan
Posted 12:27pm 09/10/09

To my knowledge Killing Floor wasn't released to retail here, only online on Steam.

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LOTUK
Posted 12:32pm 09/10/09

lol, then strike that from the rant and stick to the multitudes of games that are still allowed through. Hell, L4D 1 had dismemberment and "piles of dead bodies lying about in the environment" and that made it through... *twitch* *twitch*

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Tremble
Posted 12:36pm 09/10/09

To my knowledge Killing Floor wasn't released to retail here, only online on Steam.

Then what is stopping valve from releasing the uncensored version on steam, and only releaseing the censored version in stores? I guess this is how they will get away with patching the steam version (hopefully)

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CHUB
Posted 12:37pm 09/10/09

Meh, I'll buy it anyway... it's not a long term game like TF2, but I got my USD$50 worth out of L4D1 easy.

If it can be patched, I'll patch it, if not I'm just looking foward to running the new campaigns for the first time.

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D34N0
Posted 12:40pm 09/10/09

I won't be buying a cut down version. Totally NOT interested.

Regarding the Killing Floor comment. I thought I'd read that games / sites which contained links or reference to unclassified material were going to be filtered by Conroy. I guess when that comes in Steam will be out.

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Steve Farrelly
Posted 12:44pm 09/10/09

Just because this one has been cleared does not mean the original, which is still in the appeal process, won't replace it before November 17 - let's not jump the gun

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Tremble
Posted 12:45pm 09/10/09

"Everything you see on the internet is governed by a code of practice, for a copy of the code, or to make a complaint, call or write to us at freeinternet.com.au"

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LOTUK
Posted 12:55pm 09/10/09

Steve, that's very true. What has most people worked up (other than the horrible reality of only having the censored version easily accessible) is the reasons for having to go through all of this.

Even if we get the uncensored version, I'm still going to be pissed off at the classifications board for the whole no 18+ thing and their stupidly inconsistent rating :(

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Tremble
Posted 12:57pm 09/10/09

It's not really the classification board's fault, they would have rated it 18+ if the rating existed.

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LOTUK
Posted 01:08pm 09/10/09

True. I don't hate the people, I hate what they do and those who make them do it :)

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Tremble
Posted 01:18pm 09/10/09

I wouldn't mind a position on the board myself. Sounds like you get to play games and watch porn all day.

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greazy
Posted 01:21pm 09/10/09

To the f*****s in the other thread who think I'm an idiot for saying the cuts won't affect gameplay: when you're being chased by a tank who hurls pieces of concrete at you, are you really going to notice that cut on his face, or the bodies to the left of him? No you're going to be shooting him in the head with your frying pan and that's all you are going to care about, shooting.

and Pinky: Get off your high horse, f*****.

last edited by greazy at 13:21:58 09/Oct/09

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Plasma
Posted 01:20pm 09/10/09

Gabe said he would just release a patch to put the gore back right?

In the end I hope stuff gets fixed for us, I trust Valve to get it right.

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Rohan
Posted 01:22pm 09/10/09

So.. why *don't* we have an R18+ classification for games here.
Just curious.

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Hogfather
Posted 01:24pm 09/10/09

In a nutshell: because the Attorneys General (well, one of them in particular) believe that kids will get a hold of the restricted games.

We need a unanimous agreement between the AGs to add or change a classification.

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Rohan
Posted 01:30pm 09/10/09

The only possible way they could is through their parents? Possibly online, too, but there'll obviously be parental controls to some degree.
So it ultimately comes down to irresponsible parents, right?

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CHUB
Posted 01:35pm 09/10/09

The only possible way they could is through their parents? Possibly online, too, but there'll obviously be parental controls to some degree.
So it ultimately comes down to irresponsible parents, right?

Like the 7 year old kid on mic during a late night TF2 game?

Parents fail.

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greazy
Posted 01:36pm 09/10/09

Yes. I can't remember what country it was (Canada?) but they had extremely strict laws regarding the sale of 18+ titles very similar to tobacco sales here in Australia. They would ask you for ID even if they had a single doubt about your age. Of course this is enforced by the government, with fines and laws etc etc. That's the kind of change we should really be having together with an 18+ rating.

If the attorney general was arguing his case this particular way, then I'm sure a large number of people would be supporting him right now. But sadly the guy hates video games/thinks they are for children.

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parabol
Posted 01:36pm 09/10/09

Like the 7 year old kid on mic during a late night TF2 game?

Which one?

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Rohan
Posted 02:09pm 09/10/09

Uh sorry guys, just wondering, what quote tag can I use for this forum?

and yeah, pretty much the whole parent issue. It starts off as the kid begging for the game, the parent sees the 15+ rating and thinks "lolz 15+ cnt be dat bad lolz", then buys the game for the kid. Parent then finds the graphic themes and visuals etc detailed in the game. Parent then has a fit "omfg fk cant believe they maek gamez lyk dis for childrun" This stirs sentiments from other idiotic parents which then surfaces in the media. Leading to the editing for content or entire banning of said game, setting precedent for other such games.
Rinse and repeat, the cycle continues.

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greazy
Posted 02:11pm 09/10/09

replace [] with <> in [quote][/quote]

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Tremble
Posted 02:12pm 09/10/09

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trog
Posted 02:21pm 09/10/09

To the f*****s in the other thread who think I'm an idiot for saying the cuts won't affect gameplay: when you're being chased by a tank who hurls pieces of concrete at you, are you really going to notice that cut on his face, or the bodies to the left of him? No you're going to be shooting him in the head with your frying pan and that's all you are going to care about, shooting.

That's not the point.

The point is we get a watered down lamo version of the game, and the reason is "won't somebody think of the children?"

Sooner or later they'll cut out something you might actually care about. Not to go all Godwin, but it's almost a classic case of first they came syndrome.

Also they're zombies; if people are desensitised to violent zombie death, we're going to be screwed when the inevitable zombie uprising happens.

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Plasma
Posted 02:31pm 09/10/09

To the f*****s in the other thread who think I'm an idiot for saying the cuts won't affect gameplay:

The atmosphere / immersion of the game will be reduced, which affects my enjoyment/gameplay I get out of the game.

No you're going to be shooting him in the head with your frying pan and that's all you are going to care about, shooting.

You may not, I do, I have an attention to detail.

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luden
Posted 02:49pm 09/10/09

I think it ultimately depends on Valve. If they're going to enforce it heavily so that no mods or overseas versions will work within the Australia region, then I will not purchase. However, if they turn a blind eye I will buy the first week.

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Crash
Posted 02:50pm 09/10/09

Sooner or later they'll cut out something you might actually care about.

You can inject yourself with adrenaline, I'm surprised that they let that through.

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Tremble
Posted 02:56pm 09/10/09

You can inject yourself with adrenaline, I'm surprised that they let that through.

Yeah, it seems they've left everything new in the game such as meelee weapons and adrenaline, and have only taken out things that were in the first game. Doesn't really make any sense. Probably has something to do with the first game being demonstrated to the board and the second one just handed over for them to go crazy with.

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greazy
Posted 03:46pm 09/10/09

That's not the point.

You are right, that isn't the point. But people in the other thread where whinging about gameplay being affect.

The atmosphere / immersion of the game will be reduced, which affects my enjoyment/gameplay I get out of the game.

You are right, atmosphere/enjoyment will be greatly affected, but I doubt shooting zombies in the head (ie gameplay) will be affected at all by this modification.

Sooner or later they'll cut out something you might actually care about. Not to go all Godwin, but it's almost a classic case of first they came syndrome.

Nah, don't misunderstand. In a very sadistic and odd way I am glade a game like L4D2 got affected by the lack of 18+ rating because in the end nothing will happen unless there is pressure from both gaming stores and the public about the f*****ory that is happening here (and yes I do, this time around, mean men having anal sex with each other because that's what it is).

last edited by greazy at 15:46:34 09/Oct/09

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Pinky
Posted 03:25pm 09/10/09

What's funny about your repetitive use of the word 'f*****' is that you come across like an uneducated, homophobic idiot - yet you continue to push your ideas like someone in here might be interested in ideas from an uneducated, homophobic idiot.

And thanks for the PM, gave me a good chuckle.

*digs heels in and rides high-horse into the sunset*

Nah, don't miss understand. In a very sadistic and odd way I am glade a game like L4D2 got affected by the lack of 18+ rating because in the end nothing will happen unless there is pressure from both gaming stores and the public

At least we agree on something.

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greazy
Posted 03:45pm 09/10/09

Haha Pinky, one would have thought you're getting offended by my liberal use of the word.

last edited by greazy at 15:45:38 09/Oct/09

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thermite
Posted 03:42pm 09/10/09

my liberal use of the world

>insert funny comment here later<

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greazy
Posted 03:45pm 09/10/09

I have no idea what you are talking about.

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ctd
Posted 03:49pm 09/10/09

Pinky you are a massive f*****.

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Jim
Posted 03:53pm 09/10/09

gameplay is the entire experience, not just part of the experience that you personally decide is the only part worthy of being defined by the term

so your original comment in the other thread and all your subsequent bs in this thread is sheer f*****ry

anyone who disagrees sucks c*** by choice

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Pinky
Posted 03:55pm 09/10/09

Yes, I am offended by the word 'f*****'.

I am also offended by the word 'rape' which I commonly hear in online gaming such as, "We f*****g raped them!"

Both I consider just rank usage. Rape means to f*** someone against their will. I have never understood why anyone would want to add that to their regular vocab.

I never react when I hear either word used generally, but when someone comes along and every other word is one of the above two then I react. Congrats for getting me there - you win nothing.

I'm human; I'm allowed to be offended.

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ctd
Posted 03:59pm 09/10/09

Well don't play me in FPS games online cause ill be absolutely rape you f*****. Scoreboard topper right here. wasd domninat0rrrrrrrrrrr

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thermite
Posted 04:17pm 09/10/09

Yeah I don't think people should say 'raped' in online games. It makes me cringe everytime I hear some little kid screaming that over voice comms. I know what it feels like to have been raped in the butt - I wasn't actually raped but I was really drunk and someone told me I had been raped - well the feeling in my gut was just horrible. I'd actually just fallen out of a shopping trolley on my arse. Nevertheless.

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tequila
Posted 04:20pm 09/10/09

will not be buying

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Jim
Posted 04:21pm 09/10/09

haha your stories are awesome thermite

sorry for the off topic but I nearly fell out of my chair laughing :(

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greazy
Posted 04:22pm 09/10/09

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahaha thermite.

This whole thread was worth it just for that single line.

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Lawlord
Posted 02:06am 10/10/09

Are you serious? I'm not buying this crap. The reason I want to buy the damn game in the first place is because of said dismemberment and melee action.

This is the appeal and adds to the realism in a game where you are dealing with actual zombies. Have you seen a zombie movie lately? I'm not sure who I'm angry at, but VALVE I'll be darned if you think I'm gonna buy a censored game.

Especially when the only draw to the game is killing zombies and they make you f*** that up.

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Mr.Bumpy
Posted 09:02am 10/10/09

... you are dealing with actual zombies.

Erm, you do realise zombies are not real, right?

Have you seen a zombie movie lately? I'm not sure who I'm angry at, but VALVE I'll be darned if you think I'm gonna buy a censored game.

You are right, you're angry at the wrong people. You shouldn't be angry with ValvE software at all! They're doing their best to release the unedited version of L4D2 into Australia on the release date. Have you not been reading news lately?

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asm005
Posted 01:38pm 10/10/09

You do realise that Valve will be releasing a free patch to PC users to remove this censors*** stuff, right? If you're playing on Xbox, then the patch will cost a small fee, but why are you playing L4D2 on a console anyway?

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Rohan
Posted 04:44pm 10/10/09

You do realise that Valve will be releasing a free patch to PC users to remove this censors*** stuff, right?

How can you be so sure?

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Tim Tibbetts
Posted 04:48pm 10/10/09

You do realise that Valve will be releasing a free patch to PC users to remove this censors*** stuff, right? If you're playing on Xbox, then the patch will cost a small fee, but why are you playing L4D2 on a console anyway?

Um, that will only happen if they release the censored version, and after the appeal the original version is accepted and they don't have enough time to change things over for the actual release. If the original version is still refused classification by the board, then they will not release a patch as that would be illegal.

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asm005
Posted 05:58pm 10/10/09

Oh, well that sucks. I'm def not buying the censored version :D

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d^
Posted 08:39pm 11/10/09

What bulls***.

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ProspeKtor
Posted 11:27pm 12/10/09

What some of us dont seem to realize is that the blood, gore, decapitations etc play a vital role within the game, not only affecting atmosphere, but also gameplay experience. Even though the mechanics are still the same "point and shoot", left for dead will not set its self apart from any other fps by being cencored. Those who say that the removal of gore makes no difference should go play something like Wolfenstein 3d or doom because it certianly wont make any difference for you if all you're after is a gore free fps. I'll admit that near the end of this message it starts to get a little hard to understand since its late and I have yet to sleep, but to sum it up, if you say that removing gore etc does not affect gameplay, then you are very very wrong. And if they dont fix this I will not be buying the game.

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Fn
Posted 12:17am 13/10/09

I only just started playing L4D and I LOVE IT :)

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Tim Tibbetts
Posted 07:49am 13/10/09

ProspeKtor I don't think anyone was saying that here, I think we all realise that.

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Pinky
Posted 09:49am 13/10/09

ProspeKtor I don't think anyone was saying that here, I think we all realise that.

greazy was trying to say that but was flamed down by the hoard.

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zenkipac
Posted 09:56am 13/10/09

I most definitely will be buying the game. What is the point of not buying it just because of an infantile desire to get something that you can't (which might change anyway)? It is not Valve's fault that we are stuck with this stupid issue of having an edited version, so why deprive Valve of the recognition and revenue of a game they have put so much effort into? In my opinion, it is certainly better than no version at all.

Buying the game (edited or otherwise) is supporting Valve and their desire that gamers everywhere get the best gaming experience that they can. If anything, if you want to fix this situation, certain people need to be voted out of office.

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Plasma
Posted 10:23am 13/10/09

It's become purchasable for me now, http://store.steampowered.com/app/550/

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Obes
Posted 11:08am 13/10/09

Once its passed, the missing content can be patched right back in as "online content" which doesn't get rated ? right ?

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Tremble
Posted 11:27am 13/10/09

One way or another, yeah.

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ravn0s
Posted 11:29am 13/10/09

Once its passed, the missing content can be patched right back in as "online content" which doesn't get rated ? right ?

yep but whether valve is game enough to do that is another matter.

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Plasma
Posted 01:56pm 13/10/09

Gabe said (cant find the quote atm) he would do just that, like right after release :)

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Mass
Posted 02:09pm 13/10/09

Everyone needs to relax. I've yet to see a game get sent for reclassification after a patch was released. I'm sure Valve will just patch it upto the correct version once the dust settles. Classifications are a joke in this country, you show me one feely available game mod or feature patch that has been classified in Aus.

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koopz
Posted 02:57pm 13/10/09

I most definitely will be buying the game. What is the point of not buying it just because of an infantile desire to get something that you can't (which might change anyway)? It is not Valve's fault that we are stuck with this stupid issue of having an edited version, so why deprive Valve of the recognition and revenue of a game they have put so much effort into? In my opinion, it is certainly better than no version at all.

+1

though I do still believe it should have been DLC for LFD1. It would've solved a s***load of drama.

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ravn0s
Posted 03:11pm 13/10/09

though I do still believe it should have been DLC for LFD1. It would've solved a s***load of drama.

the game looks way to f*****g big to be dlc for l4d1.

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skythra
Posted 03:18pm 13/10/09

also it would have cost 6000xbox points

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infi
Posted 03:18pm 13/10/09

if i was OFLC and a game publisher tried to backdoor banned content through a subsequent patch, I would want to do all kinds of nasty stuff to that publisher.

It's not like L4D2 will sell less copies because there are fewer limbs flying around anyways.

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skythra
Posted 03:25pm 13/10/09

It's not like L4D2 will sell less copies because there are fewer limbs flying around anyways.

Yes it will, it encourages piracy.

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infi
Posted 03:34pm 13/10/09

so you liked L4D and you are keen to line up for another dose of multiplayer zombie slaughter, but when you find out some of the violence is toned down you instead decide not to buy it?

as for piracy, how can you pirate a multiplayer steam game game. oh that's right - you can't.

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koopz
Posted 05:34pm 13/10/09

the game looks way to f*****g big to be dlc for l4d1.

only if you're running it on a console.

L4D1 is 6gigs. my addons folder has 2.5 gigs of maps and other content that I've downloaded in there now.

I doubt all the new content in L4D2 would be much more than 2-4 gig. it's not as if the game runs on the HL3 engine or anything.

as for piracy, how can you pirate a multiplayer steam game game. oh that's right - you can't.

sadly you can :(

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FraktuRe
Posted 06:02pm 13/10/09

you show me one feely available game mod or feature patch that has been classified in Aus.

hot coffee.

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hollowgr4m
Posted 01:10pm 15/10/09

"I doubt all the new content in L4D2 would be much more than 2-4 gig. it's not as if the game runs on the HL3 engine or anything."

That's so funny i want to fall over, but i'm sitting down

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greazy
Posted 01:57pm 15/10/09

sadly you can :(

Yeah but like anything else, the real thing is always better. This is especially true with games like TF2

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trog
Posted 02:40pm 15/10/09

you show me one feely available game mod or feature patch that has been classified in Aus.
hot coffee.

wat? where?

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Khel
Posted 03:41pm 15/10/09

I can understand why they made it a separate game, they've changed the AI director, added new gameplay features, added new infected, etc. Which pretty much means, the original maps in L4D would now be broken and would need to be revisted, rebalanced, perhaps to a degree even remade, which would just be even more work. Much easier to make it its own game so you've got L4D maps which work with L4D gameplay, and L4D2 maps which work with L4D2 gameplay, without having to try and make everything work with everything.

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DM
Posted 03:54pm 15/10/09

I pre-ordered yesterday along with borderlands. Gimped version or not, patch to fix the gimping or not I was always gonna buy #2. No other game has lasted 227 hours that isn't an MMO.

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Pinky
Posted 03:56pm 15/10/09

you show me one feely available game mod or feature patch that has been classified in Aus.
hot coffee.
wat? where?

I couldn't find 'Hot Coffee' in the Classifications Board database. I know it was controversial and all that - what happened in the end with that?

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TiT
Posted 04:03pm 15/10/09

yeh im pre-ordering the 4 pack as its alot cheaper :)

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Romper
Posted 11:22pm 16/10/09

add me to the list of people that won't be buying an 'originally designed' game.

thanks to some moron who thinks their point of view should overrule my ability to make a decision.

I hope someone takes away your ability to make a your own choice and see if you like it.

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Midda
Posted 11:16am 17/10/09

I'm not pre-ordering it until the appeal decision comes through. If it's all good, I'll get it, if not, I'll try getting a mate overseas to gift me the non-gimped version.

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niklaos
Posted 11:40am 17/10/09

midda, you might be caught out only being able to play on overseas servers

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 11:44am 17/10/09

I'll only get this if I can play non-gimped version on Australian Servers. Otherwise I wont bother. It'll be a pain to get the non-gimped version as it is.

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ravn0s
Posted 11:53am 17/10/09

midda, you might be caught out only being able to play on overseas servers

i have the eu version of l4d and i can play on aussie servers just fine. cant see it being any different with l4d2.

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Plasma
Posted 01:09pm 17/10/09

Just to be clear, the censored and non-censored versions of these games are compatible with one another, you can both be playing on any server together, they are not separate.

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Pinky
Posted 01:40pm 19/10/09

The review is tomorrow.

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Plasma
Posted 02:24pm 19/10/09

Really? I thought it was the 22nd.

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Pinky
Posted 02:31pm 19/10/09

Let's just pretend I meant this week... *cough*

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Plasma
Posted 02:34pm 19/10/09

You got my hopes up :)

I've been holding off pre-ordering until a decision comes through. Even if they reject the uncensored version, I will pre-order anyway - I just didn't want to accidentally buy a censored pre-order version!

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ravn0s
Posted 02:35pm 19/10/09

hopefully we will get some good news on thursday.

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zenkipac
Posted 04:48pm 19/10/09

@ Plasma

Since you will buy the censored version, you might as well get it now anyway as they will be releasing a patch to uncensor the censored version should the decision to allow the uncensored version come through.

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boba
Posted 04:54pm 19/10/09

passing on l4d2 and getting borderlands instead. stuff paying for something that should have been a free or low cost dlc

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FraktuRe
Posted 04:55pm 19/10/09

YOU STAY THE F*** AWAY FROM GAMES BOBA.

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