After many years of being completely unobtainable, the Achievement 'Good Guy Nick' was finally made free again in September of 2020 to celebrate the huge Last Stand Update. This was the first time this achievement had been unlockable since 2014, if my research is correct.

Sadly, I started playing Left 4 Dead 2 in May of 2021, and I don't think I've ever gotten into a game as quick, nor have I ever dropped so many hours in such a small period of time (almost 400 hours). As of the other day, I have now officially completed every in-game achievement with the exception of 'Good Guy Nick'.

I'm sure this proposition has been brought up in Petition form many times before, but I figured I'd shoot my shot with it. With Back 4 Blood having been released in October 2021, many people who didn't know about Left 4 Dead 2 have since discovered and gotten into the game, and I'm sure there are a decent amount of these players (like me) who have since found out about the impossibility of the 'Good Guy Nick' achievement and are kicking themselves for not getting into the game just that little bit sooner. While I do completely understand not wanting to take away from Left 4 Dead 2's successor especially so quickly after its release, I must add that the playerbase has clearly made their choice, with stats to back it up. Looking at the community hub for each respective game, there is anywhere from 12-15 times more people playing Left 4 Dead 2 at any given time than there are playing Back 4 Blood.

Perhaps this means that the fanbase (myself included) tried Back 4 Blood, but ultimately had to return to the timeless classic that is Left 4 Dead 2, and perhaps this means that some people who found out about L4D2 through Back 4 Blood bought both and ultimately stuck with Left 4 Dead 2. Needless to say, regardless of how new Back 4 Blood is, Left 4 Dead 2 is clearly the more popular title.

This leads me to my main point, and that is: 'Good Guy Nick' should be made available again, and there should be a free weekend. Now, I understand that it may seem like a lot to ask to get Valve to lose 2-3 days' worth of profit on a game that still sells a decent amount of copies on a monthly basis, however, I feel there are a couple of reasons for why now is actually the perfect time to do so. Firstly, as I mentioned, many of Left 4 Dead 2's newest players have discovered the game through Back 4 Blood, and I feel that a free weekend would be the perfect way to thank and welcome the new players who have decided to try out L4D2. It's also worth pointing out that prior to the six-year gap from 2014 to 2020 without any free weekends, during which 'Good Guy Nick' became completely impossible (and was even marked as broken on AStats), they used to have free weekends fairly often (at least 1 or 2 a year), so while it's true that they are no longer a staple like they used to be, this wouldn't be the first time that there wasn't a huge gap in between free weekends. Lastly, seeing as it is now (or nearly) Spring Break for many students around the world, the remainder of March would be an optimal time to implement a free weekend, considering the current peak of Steam users online. A free weekend, in addition to perhaps a 30-50% discount would surely not only bring some fresh faces to the game, but would also be a very convincing incentive to all of these new players to stick with the game and buy it to keep.

I am hoping to get a decent amount of signatures on this petition. I'm going to post it around the Forums and maybe a few additional places in hopes of getting it recognized. Feel free to do the same if you support the cause. I'll be writing an email to the Valve suggestions team sometime in the next few days with this petition linked.

It's also worth noting that if this were to go through, it wouldn't be the first time that the voice of an achievement hunter was heard, albeit under slightly different circumstances (and much more realistic). A few years back in March 2018, an achievement hunter with the 100Pals Group by the name of Mercury got in contact with Garry Newman, and was able to get an event together and convince Garry to log onto Garry's Mod for the first time in years to assist those aching for 100% completion with the "Yes, I am the real garry" achievement. I was fortunate enough to have caught wind of this event, and now I live to tell the story. Godspeed friends! Share this anywhere you can.