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Compare with this "Valve CEO: 'We're comfortable with the idea that VR will turn out to be a complete failure'" as it was titled on reddit which is much less cl

Compare with this "Valve CEO: 'We're comfortable with the idea that VR will turn out to be a complete failure'" as it was titled on reddit which is much less clickbaity but still cuts off important part of the full quote...

ghaff 10y ago
It's not so much that either cuts off the quote. It's a quotable soundbite within the context of a longer discussion about how many VR predictions are overhyped, especially in the short term. Headlines are always "clickbaity" whether they're online or in a dead tree newspaper. They exist to grab your attention and make you read. If I were writing a headline based on this topic, I'd choose something along the same lines. It's not nuanced but it's not misleading either.
- andrepd 10y ago
  It is misleading, and just because it's the norm doesn't mean it's right. I'll take descriptive over clickbaity every day.
- randyrand 10y ago
  You're describing the problem.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    I guess I don't see the problem. Articles are not scientific papers. Opinions can differ but "Gabe Newell gives his views on VR" as a headline will be rewritten by approximately every editor on the planet.
    - FeatureRush 10y ago
      Maybe it's because I'm not a native speaker, but for me the quote was all about Valve and was not giving bleak predictions about whole market as the headline implies. Here, for comparison, the way I parse the quote: A) "We're optimistic. We think VR is going great" - overall assessment of the situation, WE think = Valve perspective B) "It's going in a way that's consistent with our expectations," - OUR expectations were realistic and not overhyped, it's going as planned C) "we're also pretty comfortable with the idea that it will turn out to be a complete failure." - because A and B we expect VR to do well, but as a company Valve is ready to face the risk of VR being failure D) "Some people have got attention by going out and saying there'll be millions of [VR unit sales] and we're like, wow, I don't think so," - slow initial growth is within Valve's expectation Later some issues with current state of the technology as well lack of killer app are mentioned, but [B] Valve expected VR to be not perfect at the start and [A] it's doing well by their criteria. [C] is for me only about Valve the company being OK if VR fails not about VR actually failing.
heroprotagonist 10y ago
Yeah, the title is pretty bad. Here's the quote for people who read comments first: "We're optimistic. We think VR is going great. It's going in a way that's consistent with our expectations," says Newell. That said, "we're also pretty comfortable with the idea that it will turn out to be a complete failure. "Some people have got attention by going out and saying there'll be millions of [VR unit sales] and we're like, wow, I don't think so," Newell continued.
overgard 10y ago
The thing about valve, and I don't mean this as a criticism, but I have to imagine Steam is basically their business now. The games and the VR stuff are fun side projects that hopefully turn out well, but they're pretty much just printing money by being the publisher of almost every game.
- Negitivefrags 10y ago
  The reason SteamVR exists is because if VR is successful, then it could have been a point where customers could have jumped to another storefront. By establishing SteamVR, and attempting to make SteamVR work with any headset, valve has basically ensured that if VR does turn out to be successsful, Steam will still be the shop you use to buy the games for it. They managed to cut off a possible existential threat to their steam business model that could have come in the future.

ghaff 10y ago

It's not so much that either cuts off the quote. It's a quotable soundbite within the context of a longer discussion about how many VR predictions are overhyped, especially in the short term. Headlines are always "clickbaity" whether they're online or in a dead tree newspaper. They exist to grab your attention and make you read. If I were writing a headline based on this topic, I'd choose something along the same lines. It's not nuanced but it's not misleading either.

andrepd 10y ago
It is misleading, and just because it's the norm doesn't mean it's right. I'll take descriptive over clickbaity every day.
randyrand 10y ago
You're describing the problem.
- ghaff 10y ago
  I guess I don't see the problem. Articles are not scientific papers. Opinions can differ but "Gabe Newell gives his views on VR" as a headline will be rewritten by approximately every editor on the planet.
  - FeatureRush 10y ago
    Maybe it's because I'm not a native speaker, but for me the quote was all about Valve and was not giving bleak predictions about whole market as the headline implies. Here, for comparison, the way I parse the quote: A) "We're optimistic. We think VR is going great" - overall assessment of the situation, WE think = Valve perspective B) "It's going in a way that's consistent with our expectations," - OUR expectations were realistic and not overhyped, it's going as planned C) "we're also pretty comfortable with the idea that it will turn out to be a complete failure." - because A and B we expect VR to do well, but as a company Valve is ready to face the risk of VR being failure D) "Some people have got attention by going out and saying there'll be millions of [VR unit sales] and we're like, wow, I don't think so," - slow initial growth is within Valve's expectation Later some issues with current state of the technology as well lack of killer app are mentioned, but [B] Valve expected VR to be not perfect at the start and [A] it's doing well by their criteria. [C] is for me only about Valve the company being OK if VR fails not about VR actually failing.

heroprotagonist 10y ago

Yeah, the title is pretty bad. Here's the quote for people who read comments first: "We're optimistic. We think VR is going great. It's going in a way that's consistent with our expectations," says Newell. That said, "we're also pretty comfortable with the idea that it will turn out to be a complete failure. "Some people have got attention by going out and saying there'll be millions of [VR unit sales] and we're like, wow, I don't think so," Newell continued.

overgard 10y ago

The thing about valve, and I don't mean this as a criticism, but I have to imagine Steam is basically their business now. The games and the VR stuff are fun side projects that hopefully turn out well, but they're pretty much just printing money by being the publisher of almost every game.

Negitivefrags 10y ago
The reason SteamVR exists is because if VR is successful, then it could have been a point where customers could have jumped to another storefront. By establishing SteamVR, and attempting to make SteamVR work with any headset, valve has basically ensured that if VR does turn out to be successsful, Steam will still be the shop you use to buy the games for it. They managed to cut off a possible existential threat to their steam business model that could have come in the future.