Dear Valve: Please Fix Steam in 2017
- Thread starter ffronw
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Fuck flash sales, having to check steam every 4 hours was a pain. Also the deals become boring because you own it all already and the only stuff that is left is rather recent games that at most are just 50% off.
Not to mention the implementation of the refund system pretty much made it pointless. And the biggest joke is. Sales have actually gotten better since. Before publishers would have a crappy 30% discouunt so they could flash or daily itr to 60% or 70%. Now. They just kinda leave it at 60%. The current sales model, while not exceiting, is actually more consumer friendly and respectful of the customer's time.. As well as being better for publisher who are no longer in a race to the bottome.josemlopes said:
As for The surge in games. LOok. The people who have thios problems are games journalists and people looking for something popular to play. That's about it. Everyone else justs waits for something to float up and catch our attention. We won't die if we don't spend money on a game this week and we won't lose our jobs if our articles don't happen to mention the next biug thing. FOr normal people. Steam is just fine in that regard.
Seriously. I know Games JHournbalists are more and more feeling out-moded but hey. Thems the breaks. THe joke is. STeam does allow people to pick curators to shortlist gamesa for them but talk to some and they don't like it becauyse the curators 'might miss something.'
As for where are the games coming from. Who cares. SOme are old games re-released, some are new games, some are games that were never released west of china. Some are indies. So yeah, more hgames, that's not a problem for normal people. Just the OCDs, the Journalists and the Social Gamers (you know know the guy that really just buys the games so he can be in on the conversations).
All valid points and all as likely to be addressed by Valve this year as Half Life 3 getting released. Valve doesn't need to do anything and they turn over billions and still get people defending their decision because "it's better than Origin" (which I'm no longer convinced is true). It's a big name business in the game industry; they'll ignore people's problems as long as the profits keep rolling in.
They could also start displaying some other currencies. Seriously, if I'm visiting gog.com, gamersgate.com or origin.com I get to see the price in proper Swedish Krona as I should, whereas if I visit steam I'll have to make do with seeing the price in Euros.
Of course, displaying the price in Krona makes the price not end in ~9.99, but that doesn't stop gog or gamersgate from remaining operational.
Of course, displaying the price in Krona makes the price not end in ~9.99, but that doesn't stop gog or gamersgate from remaining operational.
This. I mainly buy games during the weekend or midweek sales that happen during the rest of the year, because I've long since figured out that the annual sales aren't likely to go any lower than that. Also, the number of AAA games that are actually worth owning at any price has tapered off dramatically in the past few years. Seriously, what's come out at all this "generation" that's any good? There's Doom... and I'm stuck. All the good games anymore are indie games that people buy at launch for full price because they feel guilty being cheapskates about indie creators.josemlopes said:
The biggest problem with steam is that theyre a monopoly. As a PC gamer you almost have to own steam. I was holding out on steam but it gets to the point where I continue to hold out or I give in and play games I like such as civ.
This means they do not need to change or innovate and can push on with unpopular things like paid mods. I do not see steam as something good for gaming, although many gamers seem to think valve can do no wrong.
This means they do not need to change or innovate and can push on with unpopular things like paid mods. I do not see steam as something good for gaming, although many gamers seem to think valve can do no wrong.
> Please explain, I'm no getting it
If the games industry is selling even "rather recent games" at 50% off, that's a pretty good indication that the PC games industry is about to collapse as the money it's making from sales is probably not sustaining the development costs. Why develop for PC if your product becomes almost worthless a few months down the road?
A race to the bottom feels good for the consumer in the short run, but usually ends up with people reminiscing about the "good old days" when there were actually books worth reading/music worth listening to/games worth playing (while they forget they paid prices they'd go ballistic about now).
The console market may end up being the only market left that can keep prices high enough that quality games can still be produced. It'll be "free-to-play" for the rest of us.
If the games industry is selling even "rather recent games" at 50% off, that's a pretty good indication that the PC games industry is about to collapse as the money it's making from sales is probably not sustaining the development costs. Why develop for PC if your product becomes almost worthless a few months down the road?
A race to the bottom feels good for the consumer in the short run, but usually ends up with people reminiscing about the "good old days" when there were actually books worth reading/music worth listening to/games worth playing (while they forget they paid prices they'd go ballistic about now).
The console market may end up being the only market left that can keep prices high enough that quality games can still be produced. It'll be "free-to-play" for the rest of us.
I'm quoting you since at least I appreciate getting the message "someone is responding to your posts".josemlopes said:
Ah, okay. My question then is why do you think the console games industry is exempt from the same thing happening? The two markets are similar enough that what happens in one is likely to happen in the other.TomWest said:
Unless you think it isn't exempt, and we just haven't been given enough signs to indicate that such is the case.
Although TomWest already gave a pretty good answer, my intention for my post was as follows;josemlopes said:
I'm going out on a limb here, but from your post I assumed that you don't often buy recent games at full or near full price, seeing as you labelled a sale with recent games that were "just 50% off" as boring. So by comparison, even if ever so slightly, to developers you make the console market, a place where sales as steep as Steam's are a scarcity, more appealing than the Pc market. However, do keep in mind that this is all just conjecture based on assumptions.
And, by the way, there is no ill intent in my post.
These are all valid points where Valve could improve. Early access games still seem to me like Kickstarters for half-built games and I have only bought into one or two of them. And yes, some shovelware pops up from time to time on my "Recommended for You" list.
But, I still see Steam as a great platform for developers to get their game to a wider market. I have purchased dozens of indie games that I never would have found without Steam. And not because I sought them out, but because Steam presented them to me as something I might like.
Thank you Steam for being a great game cloud! Now try a bit harder to stay great.
But, I still see Steam as a great platform for developers to get their game to a wider market. I have purchased dozens of indie games that I never would have found without Steam. And not because I sought them out, but because Steam presented them to me as something I might like.
Thank you Steam for being a great game cloud! Now try a bit harder to stay great.
The biggest failure in Steam sales is that they just don't seem to be all that good anymore, The only game I really wanted to buy on sale was Total Warhammer. Between the poor discount on the base game and with NO discount on DLC, I just couldn't justify the purchase.
Maybe it's just me, but recent AAA games are less worth getting, and it's hard to get excited about a ~10% discount on some mediocre game from a publisher that already burned you with a shitty previous release that they didn't bother fixing before shoving the sequel out the door.
Maybe it's just me, but recent AAA games are less worth getting, and it's hard to get excited about a ~10% discount on some mediocre game from a publisher that already burned you with a shitty previous release that they didn't bother fixing before shoving the sequel out the door.
Holiday sales are more worthless since they introduced the personal bundle discounts.
Even the events used to be more fun, 2014 Team Red represents! \m/_
Even the events used to be more fun, 2014 Team Red represents! \m/_
Interesting. I keep hearing how the console market is great and even better than the PC one for consumers, since it's so easy to get second hand games and at a bigger discount than what Steam would offer even sooner than Steam would even offer it. People tell tales of how they can get some new games second hand for as much as 80% off within a month of release. And yet, it's Steam that is doing in its own market, the console one is absolutely fine with that? Strange.TomWest said:
