Blogs Should we be concerned about the state of Steam?

They really do need to step up to the plate and start looking at a just what is being published through their systems to customers.

GOG have a vetting process hence why you don't get any shovelware on there. Steam though is allowing anything to get through without any vetting at all. Didn't they start charging for putting up a game on Greenlight to try and stop things like Earth 2066 from happening.

I do like seeing some of the old classics on there must admit, more so if it is done by someone like Night Dive Studios as they do the relevant work to make sure their games work from start to finish on modern systems, a few of the other titles that are landing on there are getting the basics done to make it run and out the door.

 

And therein lies the biggest problem, they have next to no competition and all the power over their customers and the market...Power corrupts, absolute power...blah, blah blah.

 

Well, this is the first I heard about Towns closing. I am glad I didn't impulse buy it when it was on sale. I remember looking at the forum and finding people complaining about game-breaking bugs, like stupidly setting a harvest point in the middle of some mobs and being unable to unset the point.

For me, the best indie model is probably the Don't Starve model. Reasonable basic game, then free DLC every 3(?) weeks. And an eventual pay-for-expansion. The game was complete and even when it was pre-released prior to steam, it was in near-finished beta.

Will Valve step up? They might be too busy making a shedton of money from TF2 and Dota2 cosmetics.

 

The only things I like about steam are the sale prices and the fact my games are cloud based, so I can install them across O/S installs without issue.

Other than that its an incredibly poorly laid out, laggy mess. You want QC? Why not start at the client and work up from there.

 

Personally, I love Steam as it is a nice single library for all my games. I've never really had a problem with it that I can remember.

However I'm getting a weary of all these new 'indie' and 'early release' games that are popping up all over the place. As mentioned, they get in the way of games I'd actually be interested in.

 

i think people just need to change their expectations that anything on steam is fine - god forbid they ask on the forums or read some reviews themselves instead of relying on a number and a few snippets. i personally distrust early access/kickstarters as you are paying to support development, not to be guaranteed a fully complete and working game that delivers all it's promises perfectly - steam checkout should put a disclaimer up to this effect as it's not their game.

i do however completely agree that the steam store and client both need a substantial overhaul - it's very hard to browse for games or categories, offline mode is a pain, we really should be able to throttle or schedule downloads/patches so games can be played online and it could be far more helpful with suggested games.

 

From what I can see of it, one of the problems steam have is 'underage developers'.. Now that's nothing personal against young programmers (I was one) - but its all to easy just to start these things up - without being legally responsible for your actions.

If you look into this case, its quite obvious that its a 15-16 year old and his mates are behind it. (Earth:Year 2066)- Bit of fun.. get to have a game on steam and be called a 'developer' - but as soon as money is passed over.. then its a different ball-game. People want what they've paid for - and these lads just dont have the experience and skills to deliver... or really care about delivering on promises. (go read the comments on the steam page)

From what I've seen of it, probably slapped together with about an hours programming with Blitz3d or some other basic engine. Air Control being another.. put together with assets from various sources (some which are copyrighted!) - and held together with off-the-counter scripts. If they want to develop - and take money of it - then the whole project should be thoroughly checkout out first, and thats a job valve should undertake!

 

I'd much rather that Steam's policies stay as lenient as possible. I haven't bought a bad game in many years because I always dedicate about 15 minutes of research before I spend my money. A combination of Metacritic, actually reading(!) some of the reviews on Metacritic, and checking out either the Steam or publisher forum is more than enough to learn as much as I could want to know. It isn't hard to filter out the fanboy/hate/troll/liar posts if you've spent much time on gaming forums.

If Steam hires more staff to start checking their catalogue, that cost will be passed off on their customers anyway.