Poll: The Steam Ranking System

[Mebulous]

First of all I am a big fan of steam; after being disabled in a fire I am an even bigger fan.
I do all of my gaming on a pc, because I enjoy free stuff and user consoles. I know only what my friends have told me about how the ranking system works for xbox live and from what I hear it seems more sensible than what is currently in place on steam.

Ok, so xboxl has achievements, analogous to steam. Unlike steam xboxl achievements are worth points that contribute to your gaming rank. On steam only the time played per two week interval contributes to your steam-score. It seems the only thing gratifying about a steam achievement is knowing that you are part of the .5% of gamers that have unlocked some particularly difficult achievement.

Game ranks and achievements don't necessarily make any one gamer want to play a game. Certainly the challenge of it and competitiveness of most gamers contributes regardless, as we have been competing for high scores since the advent of games/gaming/sports/life etc.

So I as for myself I'm not very serious about what my steam score is, yet I am bothered that my brother-in-law has a steam rank that's very low because he works full time and is a father. So despite having joined steam one year before me in 2004 and certainly gaming many more hours total than I have he is less of a gamer than me, at least according to steam.

so lets have a vote...

 

[Sp3ratus]

So I as for myself I'm not very serious about what my steam score is, yet I am bothered that my brother-in-law has a steam rank that's very low because he works full time and is a father. So despite having joined steam one year before me in 2004 and certainly gaming many more hours total than I have he is less of a gamer than me, at least according to steam.

...wat?

Seriously, do you measure how much of a gamer you are, by means of Steam ranking? Really? And not only that, the whole notion of being this much [-----] of a gamer or this much [---] of a gamer is rather silly.

If he plays games regularly as a hobby and identifies himself as a gamer, what's the problem? And furthermore, does he even care about this or is this a personal issue of yours? Why does it matter how "much" of a gamer he is?

Steam ranking, just like Steam achievements are merely there for fun. Achievements on PS3 and Xbox have some purpose, because they count towards something, instead of just unlocking, like Steam ones does. That's not saying I don't like Steam achievements, because I do. I think they're a fun way of doing things in a game, that you wouldn't normally think of doing. And the added bonus of seeing how many percent of the community has unlocked the same achievement is quite fun and something Sony and Microsoft should take note of. But achievements, just like the ranking, an added extra bit of fun, nothing to really take seriously.

 

[Mebulous]

sure, i agree for the most part. but picture this, what if xbox changed their ranking system so that it no longer mattered what you have actually achieved in game, and only counted how many hours you were in-game. you could load a level and just keep your xbox on and connected to 'rank-up'.

this is what a steam score is, and i don't feel like it is an extra bit of fun. we, as humans and as gamers, rank ourselves. that's just how it is, and it is a good thing to.

remember arcade games? remember breaking the top-ten? how it made spending all that money from your allowance worth it? I do, it was really fun. What if instead of your skill and how many levels you beat it only mattered how much time you spent playing? would it have been as fun?
because games are no longer just the arcade variety we now have achievements, ranks etc. this is good, it drives us as gamers to be more skillful; perhaps adds enjoyment to. when we see somebody's score, just like at the old arcade booths, it gives us something to aspire towards.

overall, it would not matter to me if I was ranked or not, or if achievements were in games or not. But they are and they reflect something about us as gamers, like it or not. I am just saying that I would rather the steam-score reflect your achievements, not how much time you have invested in the past two weeks.

 

[Mebulous]

im relaxed,im sorry if how i write seems intense. im not trying to be that way.

 

[Mebulous]

just trying to point out that you don't actually have to play a game to get a 10/past two weeks on steam, it just has to be loaded and running. no playing needs to be involved. sure its pointless and just for fun, but since they must use a rating system, why not make it without such obvious loop-holes. if xbox live did this the xbox community would probably go ape-shit.

as i said, it doesnt really matter to me, as as far as im concerned this is mostly about the logic of it. the rank should at least be meaningful in some way, and not so easily exploitable.
point being, why is it even there? if it is just about how many hours you have played why not just give you that information and leave it at that?

 

[DazZ.]

Absolutely no one gives a shit what your Steam rating is, leaving a game running to "rank it up" is the epitome of wasted energy.

We are not the Xbox community, we're not going to go ape shit over a meaningless ranking system.

It's likely there as a placeholder for something that never got implemented, and no point in taking it out if a few people like seeing it.

 

[Mebulous]

not saying the steam community would go ape-shit, im saying the xbox community might... because they would actually have something to get mad over: their "gamer score" being reset so it only matters how much you have played a game, and everything they had achieved would be nullified, as far as their score is concerned. would they be any less of a gamer? no. that's not my point.

you don't give a shit, I don't give a shit and yet because I'm human I look at my brother-in-laws score and it affects me and I say to myself *it shouldn't be so low* and somehow I give a shit at that moment.

I'm glad you see how pointless it is. I am still not clear why I am the only one so far that feels affected by such an arbitrary ranking system, because it is a ranking system... it is your score. I feel like it shouldn't be.

 

[Mebulous]

If it is going to be there I feel like it should represent more than "nothing". Especially because it affects more people than "none". They should revamp it or get rid of it.

 

[Gennadios]

If it is going to be there I feel like it should represent more than "nothing". Especially because it affects more people than "none". They should revamp it or get rid of it.

So why no "get rid of it" option? Personally I think an overall, meta gamer ranking is pure bullox. What does it mean when a dedicated MMOer and an equally dedicated FPS player have the same score? It certainly doesn't translate into them being on equal footing when the RPGer hops into a BF3 match or the other makes use of a 10 day trial in an MMO.

The only rankings that really matter are the ones embedded into the games you play.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

It kind of silly and meaningless atm tbh.

It just goes by how long you are logged in and playing a game afaik.

 

[Ickorus]

I think i'd like if they revamped the system to be a bit more like the Xbox, that system seems nicer and whilst it's completely pointless it does give you something to work towards if you so choose.

Then again, i'd hate to see people in games telling me they're better than me because they spend more time grinding achievements. (Go take a look at WoW if you think that doesn't happen)

 

[Mebulous]

I should have thought the choices through a little better, but at the same time revamp would be to redo or revise...cause some change, and getting rid of it is definite change. So a revision might be getting rid of 1/10 and only updating you about how much you had been gaming bi-weekly.

but the point is taken, and only by debating this did i come to that conclusion, thank you Gennadios

 

[mikecoulter]

I guess that would be a good way of showing the history of someones gaming. I'd prefer it.

 

[teqrevisited]

I don't really get why it's there. I'd bet that if I started a conversation about it with my friends who use Steam all the time they'd have no idea what it was and wouldn't care when they found out either.