Valve: The Anti-EA

Valve is awesome. Let's just face it. I rarely develop love and devotion to companies (that aren't Wegmans) but Valve has a tendency to make me want to hug them. So, to the rest of the companies out there, here is how to make me love you:
1) Make a good product. Valve's games are consistently known for being well-done. I will admit I haven't played as much of their stuff as I'd like, but what I've seen I'm typically impressed by. The visuals are effective and interesting without being needlessly flashy. The gameplay is well-done and engaging, and the stories sneak up on you and pull you in like that zombie right behind you.
2) Advertise smartly. Valve has long been praised for their viral advertising campaigns, especially on the Portal series (for more details see Llife, who has a much better grip on it than I do), but even their regular advert videos are a joy to watch. And this is coming from someone who generally hates advertising. I found this one earlier today (yes, I know, it's old, I'm behind the times, shut up), and it was one of the most clever things I've seen since the ad it was based on nearly 30 years ago (yes, Mac used to have good advertising, before that obnoxious stuff with the kid from Accepted). They also make smart marketing moves, like including a free download of Portal with a pre-order of Portal 2. Already have Portal? Great! You can give the new copy to a friend, thereby increasing their fanbase and making you more popular. Things like this show that Valve knows what they're doing. They actually stop and think. They realize their audience is smart. Which leads to step 3.
3) Be nice to your customer. This would seem obvious, but how many times this past year have you felt bullied, ripped off, or otherwise mistreated by a company, especially a tech company? From their policies, I get the feeling Valve isn't like that. Take for example their online game vendor Steam. Think iTunes for games, only less evil. Usually I'm a little hesitant to buy an online product without a hard copy, but Valve makes it okay. When you buy a Valve game on Steam, Valve gives you the ability to install the game on as many machines as you see fit. Want to show your friend the awesomeness that is Portal? Go ahead and install it. The catch: Your purchased copy of the game is attached to an account, and your account can only be logged in to one computer at a time. So once you sign in on your own machine, your account is signed off on your friend's, and he can't access it any more. Much like if the game was on a disc and you were passing it around. This allows you complete freedom over where you want to play the content you paid for, while still protecting Valve from being ripped off. Also, if something happens to your computer, you're free to reinstall as needed without any fuss whatsoever, which completely saved me a few weeks ago. So yes. I love Valve. Especially since they may be releasing Portal 2 sooner than expected. There will be cake.