Steam - Updates to the User Review System

[HiddenX]

Steam updates the user review system:

[...]

Changes To The Review Score


As a result of this, we are making some changes to how review scores are calculated. As of today, the recent and overall review scores we show at the top of a product page will no longer include reviews written by customers that activated the game through a Steam product key.

Customers that received the game from a source outside of Steam (e.g. via a giveaway site, purchased from another digital or retail store, or received for testing purposes from the developer) will still be able to write a review of the game on Steam to share their experience. These reviews will still be visible on the store page, but they will no longer contribute to the score.

This does mean that the review score category shown for about 14% of games will change; some up and some down. Most changes in the review score category are a result of games being on the edge of review score cut-offs such as 69% positive or 70% positive. A change of 1% in these cases can mean the difference between a review score category of "Mixed" and "Positive". About 200 titles that only had one or two reviews will no longer have a score at all until a review is written by a customer that purchased that item via Steam. In all of these cases, the written reviews still exist and can easily be found in the review section on that store page.
[...]

More information.

 

[Archangel]

So they are trying to fix the manipulation of Steam review score. Good.

 

[TomRon]

Still…I never buy games through Steam unless on a sale, since their price policy is ridiculous. I can buy the same game through GMG and still get it on Steam. And what about Kickstarters, the actual backers don't have a say?

Trying to prevent tampering is fine, but the solution seems dubious.

 

[wolfsrain]

And they basically deny to the people that bought the game from retail and authorized resellers (i am talking about Humble, Bundle stars, Gamersgate, Amazon and any other authorized channels by the publishers themselves) the right to rate a product...Yeah, definitely a "great" decision, in the vein of the on tehy've taken the past two years (the destruction of the steam trades, the cross-regions gifting and many others).

The Steam gives me the impression of an organism ready to implode. And there will be hell when that will happen. The publishers relied too much on Steam, customers, too. All ignored that Steam is a rental service and when it will go away, you won't probably have the amount of space necessary to back-up your games and you definitely won't have the possibility to play them without the client, unless they are DRM-free and do not use a copy protection...

But what do i know...

 

[Avantre]

I wonder what it'll do to games that have frontloaded a lot of its fanbase numbers via kickstarter/other funding, where the vast majority of the early players won't be able to score the game because they got their keys direct from the game makers.

 

[Archangel]

And they basically deny to the people that bought the game from retail and authorized resellers (i am talking about Humble, Bundle stars, Gamersgate, Amazon and any other authorized channels by the publishers themselves) the right to rate a product…Yeah, definitely a "great" decision, in the vein of the on tehy've taken the past two years (the destruction of the steam trades, the cross-regions gifting and many others).

The Steam gives me the impression of an organism ready to implode. And there will be hell when that will happen. The publishers relied too much on Steam, customers, too. All ignored that Steam is a rental service and when it will go away, you won't probably have the amount of space necessary to back-up your games and you definitely won't have the possibility to play them without the client, unless they are DRM-free and do not use a copy protection…

But what do i know…

Don't worry, all games have their back-up by pirates all over the world

 

[Silver]

These guys want unlisted Steam pages for early access. I think its a good idea and promotes the early users who are keen on helping the developer over those who are there for a good deal.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...ld_Trading_Companys_Early_Access_campaign.php.

Would help the product if it only launched once (by being unlisted) and prevent gaming of the user reviews by developers.

 

[henriquejr]

So they think legitimate buyers (by legitimate I consider each and everyone who bought legally from legitimate retailers all over the world) no more have rights to rate a game up or down?
What's the next step? To abolish negative reviews altogether?

 

[Silver]

So they think legitimate buyers (by legitimate I consider each and everyone who bought legally from legitimate retailers all over the world) no more have rights to rate a game up or down?
What's the next step? To abolish negative reviews altogether?

To be fair to Steam it is called Steam reviews for a reason meaning reviews for Steam purchasers only. No kickstarter or third party retailer keys counting does kind of suck through doesn't it but alot of developers were abusing it by issuing free keys to people who would scam the review system.

 

[TomRon]

To be fair to Steam it is called Steam reviews for a reason meaning reviews for Steam purchasers only. No kickstarter or third party retailer keys counting does kind of suck through doesn't it but alot of developers were abusing it by issuing free keys to people who would scam the review system.

I acknowledge the problem, but I don't like the solution. If Steam didn't straight up convert $ to € it would be be better, but today the same game on Steam costs more than buying a steam key from GMG to me.

 

[Silver]

I acknowledge the problem, but I don't like the solution. If Steam didn't straight up convert $ to € it would be be better, but today the same game on Steam costs more than buying a steam key from GMG to me.

Agreed. Steam prices aren't competitive, those prices are publisher controlled through so the complaint should go to them.

 

[HiddenX]

Opinion from Kieron Kelly (Larian):

The new Steam Review policy will hurt. As a kickstarter dev, your most passionate fans are now silenced.

 

[mbpopolano24]

Not a good move for consumers. Certainly not fair for people who got their games from other sources. This is what happens when people support a monopoly. They can do what the "tuti frutti" they want.

 

[Deleted member 18181]

another shit move, whats new

 

[Ripper]

A hugely dominant and peremptory DRM platform that can do as it pleases, and your only recourse if you don't agree to their arbitrary policies is to walk away and surrender access to all the games you "bought". What could possibly go wrong?

 

[lackblogger]

Lol@Steam users.

 

[joxer]

It's not lol. It's a middlefinger from Valve.

 

[forgottenlor]

Its obviously not an ideal solution, but I greet it anyways. The reason is I buy a lot of small indie games, and these are often first rated by people who have been gifted the keys by the developer. Thus the initial reviews are almost always positive. I do find it to bad about Kickstarter backers or others who buy the game through a legitimate shop. I think its the easy solution for Steam to implement. Including other shops and Kickstarter would have been difficult to implement properly.

 

[joxer]

There is no ideal solution and even this rubbish excuse of rating changes is possible to abuse if a publisher buys numerous copies of it's own game on Steam then gifts them. Only the percentage of $ in this case stays on Steam, but as a marketing cost it'll be easily accepted at least by big shots.

The same Valve could have changed the system so it tracks for each thumb up how many hours a player spent with a game and how many chievements they got (because if no achievements, then the game was just left running).

But when it comes to Valve and $, the house always wins. Screw everything else.
And I'm disgusted.

 

[Percevan]

For a start, they could just prevent any idiot with 0.2 hours of gameplay to actually be able to post a "review". but... no, they don't.