Left 4 Dead 2 boycott group nearing 15,000 members

Left 4 Dead box art hand

E3 brought us good news, great trailers, and new games to look forward to over the next year or so.  One game that was received with less than stellar reception is the sequel to Left 4 Dead appropriately named Left 4 Dead 2.

The announcement of this release was viewed so negatively by some that a large Steam group is forming.  Created on June 1, 2009 the group L4D2 Boycott has nearly 15,000 members just 6 days later.  The truly ironic part being, of course, that Steam is a service of Valve; the developers of L4D and L4D2.

The group's main argument lies within its 9 points,

• Significant content for L4D1 was promised, and never delivered
• Valve put little faith in L4D1 since they almost certainly started working on L4D2 right after release
• The fact that L4D2 is nearly identical to L4D1 will decimate the community for both games
• The announced date is not nearly enough time to polish content or make significant gameplay changes
• The new character designs seem bland and unappealing so far
• L4D2 is too bright to fit in with L4D1's visual aesthetic
• The fiddle-based horde music is extremely disliked, though the differently orchestrated music is otherwise welcome
• L4D2's release will result in a drop in quality and frequency for L4D1 content, even compared to before
• The community has lost faith in Valve's former reputation for commitment to their games post-release

Take a look at Valve's side of the story in these interviews.  In an interview posted just days after the sequels announcement Chet Faliszek and Doug Lombardi talk with Shacknews about why the game will be full price, what's in the sequel, and why it's a sequel not just DLC.  Rock Paper Shotgun's interview with Valve's Vice President of Marketing Doug Lombardi shows the company's attempt at damage control urging players to, "Trust us a little bit."  You can also watch an interview from G4TV if you're into watching an interview.

You can see a progression of the member count climbing through these articles:
Voodoo Extreme covers 3,000 members
L4DMods covers 5,000 members
Kotaku covers 10,000 members