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STEAM | April 2014 - Insert witty title here.

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N

Nzyme32

Member
jshackles said:
Actually, quite the opposite. I asked them straight up if they were planning on or had anyone currently working on a redesign, and the answer was "no". I asked if they had heard of the people's complaints about the home page and/or seen the TotalBiscuit video about the new release section. Blank stares.
And a "who is TotalBiscuit?"

So unless they were just being SUPER tight lipped about it, I don't think a homepage redesign is being worked on or planned at this time.
Click to expand...

Damn. I'd hoped that before the end of 2014 they would do an overhaul of the client and store page structure and format. I figured from their claims of selling controllers via Steam and their talk of user generated stores on top of the somewhat crammed additional features to the store, that an overhaul was a dead certainty.
 
S

Saty

Member
It boggles my mind a company that prides itself on communication, listening to feedback, quick iterations have done nothing or saidnothing in response to all the requests for simple tweaks and features.

Hey, Valve, remember your blogs? Why not to a weekly update blogs regarding Steam and what features you are working on and take questions and suggestions from readers? What may work for you developing games doesn't work for maintaining and advancing Steam.
 
S

spindoctor

Member
trailmix16 said:
does anyone know what the criteria is for the "Avg Game Completion Rate" on your steam profile? 100% achievement, finishing the game...?
Click to expand...

I would guess the number of achievements you have divided by the total number of achievements possible from all steamworks games on your account. A meaningless stat.
 
jshackles

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Nzyme32 said:
Damn. I'd hoped that before the end of 2014 they would do an overhaul of the client and store page structure and format. I figured from their claims of selling controllers via Steam and their talk of user generated stores on top of the somewhat crammed additional features to the store, that an overhaul was a dead certainty.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I was actually a little relieved when they said they weren't working on it. An overhaul of the website would mean a huge amount of work rewriting a lot of Enhanced Steam's features, thus the reason I asked.

Also, if they are going to redesign the homepage, I'd really like to be involved with that / working there when it happens. But then again, that's just me. I can't deny that it needs to be done sooner rather than later.

Saty said:
It boggles my mind a company that prides itself on communication, listening to feedback, quick iterations have done nothing or saidnothing in response to all the requests for simple tweaks and features.

Hey, Valve, remember your blogs? Why not to a weekly update blogs regarding Steam and what features you are working on and take questions and suggestions from readers? What may work for you developing games doesn't work for maintaining and advancing Steam.
Click to expand...

Several of the times I've pitched myself to Valve, I've told them that I envision myself as a bit of a "community ambassador": taking suggestions from users and fixing frustrations they have with the platform. Out of the 5 times that I've applied, they still haven't hired me. My only conclusion might be that they're simply not interested in having someone like me do what I do.

Copons said:
Worth noting that, because of the fixed width layout structure, many background images are "tailored" to that, leaving a good old-school huge black area in the middle (even tho, in my tiny experience, this affect more game page backgrounds than profile ones).
Click to expand...

Good point, but it's still better than having a character's face cut off or whatever.
 
H

HoosTrax

Member
spindoctor said:
I would guess the number of achievements you have divided by the total number of achievements possible from all steamworks games on your account. A meaningless stat.
Click to expand...
No it's not, because the number is completely different from the percentage shown by Astat and AchievementStats.com.

The percentage shown on Steam is higher, and is probably the average of the percentages for the games you've gotten at least one achievement in, based on my observation. So if you have 800 games on your Steam account, and have tried out two of them and gotten 50% of the achievements in one and 100% of the achievements in another, it'll show 75%. At least, that's how I think it works. I've started up a game, for example, tried it, hated it but got one achievement unlock, and found my percentage to actually go down, and not up.
 
P

Pakkidis

Member
jshackles said:
Actually, quite the opposite. I asked them straight up if they were planning on or had anyone currently working on a redesign, and the answer was "no". I asked if they had heard of the people's complaints about the home page and/or seen the TotalBiscuit video about the new release section. Blank stares.
And a "who is TotalBiscuit?"

So unless they were just being SUPER tight lipped about it, I don't think a homepage redesign is being worked on or planned at this time.
Click to expand...

Still baffled that Valve has this approach.
 
jshackles

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
JaseC said:
<11 months.
Click to expand...

It's also possible that they're forgoing a redesign in lieu of having other people make their own custom storefronts - thus nobody at Valve is working on a redesign.

Of course, it's also entirely possible that they just didn't want me to know about an upcoming redesign and didn't "spill the beans" on it. And for all I know, it could launch later today.
 
M

Maxwood

Oh rock of ages, do not crumble, love is breathing still. Oh lady moon shine down, a little people magic if you will.
Totally forgot about Child Of Light, I blame Dark Souls II.
Spent way too much time playing that game the last couple of day's. Incredibly fun. :)
The hitboxes are a bit off at times, which is my only complaint and a rather large one at that. But besides that; I think this is going to be my favorite Souls game. Delicious exploration.

Majuula is even better then The Nexus. Great hub, feels like home.
 
D

Dr Dogg

Member
Stumpokapow said:
*snip*
Click to expand...

I totally agree with a lot of your points and there is a visibility problem in any marketplace environment be it games, movies, music, books etc. Though I do feel while the onus doesn't solely rest with Valve, their system is quite flawed. It's become cluttered to a state that items I know are available are harder to find than they should be let alone ones that I'm not aware of but would be interested.

I think the real issue is there is an overwhelming choice of content proportional to the audience. While I could mention movies, music and literature and how you could never watch, listen or read every significant work in each field there are significantly more people interested in those forms of entertainment than games. Even if you tried to play the games you'd have a passing interest in, having the spare time is close to impossible.
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Member
SteamGAF i'm finally on my way back home. It's going to be a long trip like a month +. But i'm glad that it's so close now. I'll still be able to pop into the SteamGAF thread but it won't be as often as I would like. Just giving you all the heads up in case Capcom announces that Dino Crisis reboot and i'm nowhere to be found.
 
A

Anteater

Member
Jawmuncher said:
SteamGAF i'm finally on my way back home. It's going to be a long trip like a month +. But i'm glad that it's so close now. I'll still be able to pop into the SteamGAF thread but it won't be as often as I would like. Just giving you all the heads up in case Capcom announces that Dino Crisis reboot and i'm nowhere to be found.
Click to expand...

well e3 won't be until june i think

that's probably where they will announce dmc5 and dino crisis 3
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
I'm greatly looking forward to Child of Light, but I'm beginning to wonder if I'll be able to pull myself away from Anno 1404 long enough to make time for it.

jshackles said:
It's also possible that they're forgoing a redesign in lieu of having other people make their own custom storefronts - thus nobody at Valve is working on a redesign.

Of course, it's also entirely possible that they just didn't want me to know about an upcoming redesign and didn't "spill the beans" on it. And for all I know, it could launch later today.
Click to expand...

Yeah, call me optimistic but it's been four years since Steam's last big makeover and considering the small visual flourishes that have crept into the client over the past several months to align it with the default aesthetic of SteamOS, I think Valve is planning another overhaul to coincide with v1.0/the launch of the first Steam Machines. Time will tell.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
Jawmuncher said:
SteamGAF i'm finally on my way back home. It's going to be a long trip like a month +. But i'm glad that it's so close now. I'll still be able to pop into the SteamGAF thread but it won't be as often as I would like. Just giving you all the heads up in case Capcom announces that Dino Crisis reboot and i'm nowhere to be found.
Click to expand...

Yes!
 
H

_hekk05

Banned
Jawmuncher said:
SteamGAF i'm finally on my way back home. It's going to be a long trip like a month +. But i'm glad that it's so close now. I'll still be able to pop into the SteamGAF thread but it won't be as often as I would like. Just giving you all the heads up in case Capcom announces that Dino Crisis reboot and i'm nowhere to be found.
Click to expand...

Have a great trip!!
Must ... resist ...
 
M

Mavromatis

Member
2014-04-28_20-02-28_zps3a055469.png

I think we are out of luck on this one to be cheaper on another retailer for Steam.
 
M

Mavromatis

Member
I think this picture sums up my and many others Steam Store wanderings:
2014-04-28_20-05-08_zpsf7832178.png


That black line right there is the line that separate we plebs from the patricians like JaseC.
So we need these:
2014-04-28_20-11-05_zpsbb18035c.png

to prove us that he is still a human, patrician or not.
 
D

Dr Dogg

Member
Mavromatis said:
I think this picture sums up my and many others Steam Store wanderings:
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l197/MavromatisLozay/2014-04-28_20-05-08_zpsf7832178.png[IMG]

That black line right there is the line that separate we plebs from the patricians like JaseC.
So we need these:
[IMG]http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l197/MavromatisLozay/2014-04-28_20-11-05_zpsbb18035c.png[IMG]
to prove us that he is still a human, patrician or not.[/QUOTE]

Just wait to you get someone with a press account on your friends list. They own everything*!


*Well no they don't but it shows up that they do own every release after the sub is applied to their account.
Click to expand...
 
R

RionaaM

Unconfirmed Member
ashecitism said:
http://ggtriple.wordpress.com/2014/...game-dumping-pushing-indies-off-the-homepage/
Click to expand...
Curated store? But... I thought the only reason Valve created Greenlight was because many publishers complained that not enough games could make it into Steam. Now the problem is that too many games are making it into Steam, and so they should close the gates again?

I know they aren't necessarily the same devs who complained before and are complainig now, but still... Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Stallion Free said:
Maybe he should try to do a little more internet marketing for his game instead of expecting Valve to do 100% of that for him.
Click to expand...
Can't agree more. Valve is not your publisher, why should you expect them to market the game for you?
 
B

BinaryPork2737

Unconfirmed Member
Seems that the Weeklong Deals are glitched again, for me at least, but hey Day One:Garry's Incident is 90% off.

SteamWorld Dig is 50% off, too.

I'm not the only one with the problem, it seems.

It's fixed as of 1:23 PM EDT.

The Last Express Gold Edition is $2.79. I've wanted to try that game for a while now. Might have to bite on that deal.
 
B

Baha

Member
Metal Slug 3 is actually 75% off if you were a beta tester (beta testers get an extra 25% off). 1 copy is $1.99, 2 pack is $3.24.

[edit]beaten.
 
M

Mavromatis

Member
2014-04-28_20-23-13_zps466740b5.png

Is this a bug? Does anybody remember if this was the same at the last sale? I remember checking it but this time it looks cheaper, yet I have no idea if it actually is. I might have more money to make it look cheaper.
 
S

Saty

Member
jshackles said:
It's also possible that they're forgoing a redesign in lieu of having other people make their own custom storefronts - thus nobody at Valve is working on a redesign.
Click to expand...

But as you said, for some of the features i listed, only the people at Valve can implement them. So as much as i respect the philosophy of letting users and modders take control of operations, there are still elements that are in Valve's responsibility to do.
 
R

RionaaM

Unconfirmed Member
Stumpokapow said:
RE: Secrets of Raetekon, I expressed this in a different thread, but honestly the problem is that there are too many games. Period. And this is true in a lot of genres on a lot of platforms. No one out there has enough time (or enough money in some cases) to play through everything excellent. So when you launch, say, Bodycount by Codemasters, you're also competing against some of the best FPSes ever, all of which are cheaper and have more awareness. If someone is in the mood for an FPS, and they haven't played Battlefield or whatever other game you might pick, they're going to choose those over Bodycount. The same is true here; there are probably 250-500 indie games with excellent reputations and word of mouth out there.

Secrets of Raetekon is a third game by a dev who previously made a Wii U exclusive that got pretty middling reception, and then a number of years ago a WiiWare/PC game that personally I didn't like. Admittedly, this game looks better to me. I've got it on my wishlist. But I'm not likely to spend $9.99 on a new release that mildly piques my interest when there are hundreds of games I own but haven't played, including some of the best games ever made, and hundreds more games at or below this pricepoint that also interest me. This is a real issue for puzzle games especially; you could make a really polished match-3 puzzle game, or even a new type of puzzle, but mostly you're competing against every other puzzler ever made and most people will satisfy their craving for puzzle games before they get to yours. Why do you think Popcap doesn't released 6+ games a year anymore? Because so many others are releasing games in that genre now, because distribution services make those kinds of games accessible.

Even if I limited my scope to new releases, there are dozens of new games coming out a week. A lot of them are bad, but it doesn't take a very high hit to miss ratio to have some pretty significant games coming out. Child of Light is about to come out, and I hazard a guess that's going to make a splash. Goat Simulator has been out for less than a month. Rust and DayZ are still sucking up a lot of oxygen. FTL just got a free expansion. The last Blackwell game came out. FRACT OST was just published by Indie Fund, that's a surefire sign based on their previous games that we're dealing with an interesting original product. It's not just about quality, it's just... it's not like people out there are starving for stuff to play, desperately saying "where is the PC game that I want to play?" and having not heard of SoR because of the deluge of shit on the front page. People are playing stuff. There's too much to play. And with games-as-a-service, often times people are playing as much time as ever, but concentrating it more on fewer games. That's a valid approach, but it also means games get left behind.

But this is not a problem that's going to be solved unless fewer games get released. So who is the person who is currently trying to make it as a professional game dev who is going to give up their dream and go back to database programming for some mid-level corporate outfit? I don't think there's going to be a rush of people nominating themselves to do this.

It's the double edged sword. Fewer restrictions on who can make games--and I'm not just talking Steam releases here, but just generally the rise of middleware, fewer contractual restrictions, the existence of digital distribution--means that more people will enter the market. The number of actors entering the market is rising at a rate faster than the amount of money entering the market or the amount of person-hours entering the market on the player side. This is going to result in a lower median number of sales and less visibility for the median game. Even if the total number of sales is growing, even if it's a bigger pie, it's still being cut into too many slices.

If you had a town with 500 people, and 100 of those people were hairdressers... even if they were all really talented hairdressers, the best case scenario is that some of them would go bankrupt and the worst case scenario is that all of them would go bankrupt. Because 500 people can't sustain 100 hairdressers. And I think we're running into some of the same problem here.

I'll probably pick up Secrets of Raetekon in a bundle. Or on sale for 75%+ off. I don't see how anyone could blame me for making that decision. Even if I specifically wanted to support this dev, I couldn't possibly specifically support every dev I want to. Someone's going to get left out. If that can't sustain this dev, I'm really really sad for him--just as I'd be sad for anyone who can't pursue their dream. And if I bought his game, I'd probably be skipping someone else's game, or if I increased my spending on games I'd have less to spend on other things, or if I increased my overall spending I'd have less saving and thus less spending later. And same goes with my time--spending time on his game means time not spent on another game, or more time spent on games but less on something else, or more time spent on everything and less time sleeping. In both money and time, it's not zero-sum, but it's not an infinite commodity either.

I think discoverability is very important. I think arranging space so that people can more easily express their preferences and better match their preferences to what's available is key. It would suck if someone wanted to play this game but couldn't find it. But at this point I feel like a lot of the discoverability problems are basically solved for even moderate-information consumers. Steam's got browse by category, it's got new releases and top sellers, it's got the tagging system, it's got stuff your friends bought, it has greenlight, it has the front page carousel, it has recently updated, it has browse by review, it has browse by price, it has sales and specials, it has featured blocks for featured sales, it has sales events, it has keys sold elsewhere, it has content sharing for in-built viral marketing. Are there really not enough ways on Steam to find some stuff you want to play if you bother to look? I doubt it.

And once you've solved discoverability problems, what you're left with is demand problems. Those can't really be solved.
Click to expand...
This is a great post and deserves to be quoted. Too many games, not enough time.

Jawmuncher said:
SteamGAF i'm finally on my way back home. It's going to be a long trip like a month +. But i'm glad that it's so close now. I'll still be able to pop into the SteamGAF thread but it won't be as often as I would like. Just giving you all the heads up in case Capcom announces that Dino Crisis reboot and i'm nowhere to be found.
Click to expand...
Welcome home :)
 
C

Copons

Member
But anyway, what "custom storefront" even means?

Is this a way to create a sort of selected titles every user show somewhere?
And in this case, couldn't I just open a website with a list of cool stuff linked to the relative Steam page?

If someone buys through my store, would I get a piece of the cake?
And in this case, how could I offer a greater deal than anyone else, or Steam itself?
And if there are ways to obtain keys at lower price (thus allowing me to be competitive against other people), what would be the difference with Amazon or Humble or whatever?


I mean, right now the only thing I can imagine is some kind of Amazon Affiliates program, where you put a widget of an Amazon product on your site, and if someone buys it through you (or, IIRC, buys something else a couple of clicks away from your "gateway"), you get some Amazon wallet cash.
It would be cool for VIPs storefront, like a GiantBomb one for example, but for the common user?

Dunno, dunno.
 
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