Steam - Changes Coming to the Storefront

Silver

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@Techraptor Valve has told developers about upcoming changes to the Steam store. Expect these changes to arrive in the next few weeks.

"When we launched the Steam Discovery Update, we introduced a new and smarter Steam store built around personalization and recommendations. In the time since the Discovery Update, we've iterated on the features and made improvements to support the goal of helping each customer find the titles they are most likely to enjoy playing. We think our progress in this direction has been really valuable in supporting a broader variety of gaming experiences big and small, while better serving individual customer tastes. "

In the coming update, we can expect:


  • Home Page Visual Refresh: Mixing up how the front page appears, removing some visual clutter.
  • Additional Left Column Navigation: The left navigational column will be getting new direct links to main features of the Steam Store, such as New Releases, Top Sellars, Upcoming Titles, etc.
  • Friends Activity: A new section to the right of the front page will be dedicated to showing what your friends have been playing lately.
  • Top Selling New Releases: A brand new section will be added for when a new release becomes a top selling game.
  • Global Customer Preferences: A new feature that will allow customers to customize their Steam Store experience. Allowing them to opt to exclude certain products from being displayed, such as Videos, Early Access titles, Software, VR, etc.
  • Targeted Visibility For New Releases: New changes will be made to how new releases will be targeted to the appropriate customers. The goal is to show the specific customer new releases that will most likely appeal to them.
  • Targeted Visibility For Game Updates: Changes to how Update rounds will be made to be more direct to the customers who would want to see them. Customers who own the game or have it on their wishlist will be prioritized in showing the update.
  • New Steam Curator Options: Noticing that people are using Steam Curator to give information on a title, without necessarily recommending it, there will be new tools that will allow a curator to make a distinction about whether or not they are recommending, not recommending or just giving information about a title. This will also allow Valve to better understand what curated posts should be highlighted on the front page.
  • Curators In Main Capsule: The Main Capsule banner will be updated to include curators that the customer personally follows.
  • Improved Steam Curator Presence: There will be a new section on the Steam Home Page that is dedicated to recommendations from curators. This space will be for recommending more anything from popular releases to more "niche" titles. Additionally, there will be a new landing page to display many recommended titles from a curator.
More information.
 
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Had a feeling you'd be all over that. You've already done a bang-up job.
 
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Yes, thank you again Hidden X for the incredible job you have done for us here at the Watch, and for RPG lovers in general. Looking forward to the new changes.
 
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Global Customer Preferences: A new feature that will allow customers to customize their Steam Store experience. Allowing them to opt to exclude certain products from being displayed, such as Videos, Early Access titles, Software, VR, etc.

OMG…. please, please, please let me turn off free2play games and MMOs so I never have to see them again.
 
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I'm just reflecting on how vital Steam has become to my gaming and how I have gradually come to appreciate it.

I remember back when it was first getting started, I was one of the "have to have the box in my hand!" type of gamers. Slowly but surely, though, digital delivery won me over.

I like the convenience. Whenever I go to a new or different computer, all I have to do is just download the game(s) I'm involved with again and restore the savegames (which I back up to a usb drive). There is also peace-of-mind that you are getting the most patched, up-to-date version of the game.

The other thing is, you know you're getting the game the *second* it comes out. No more waiting for EB-Games (to overnight it).

Don't get me wrong … I also like GOG because I can have a copy of the game locally which I can re-install without having to log in anywhere. This was my original argument for having the physical game -- in addition to some aestheic reasons. It's handy when you can get set up somewhere without any type of internet and still function. ( Note: I still put Steam in off-line mode whenever possible)

Still though, there is something to be said about having all that game data ( and games are getting bigger and bigger) somewhere else and then you can choose what you want locally. And as I have gotten older, I appreciate not having to have the clutter of extra media.

Steam is going to become Valve's legacy I think. I mean is another Half-life coming out or what? Or any other game from them for that matter?

Anyway, I know this seemed kind of rambling but I wanted to get these thoughts down somewhere.

Thank you, for the newsbit Silver and I'll have to check into this curation thing I see people talking about here. :)
 
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Let's see what the new curator options have to offer.

HiddenX, I think the new curator options will help putting us in the Top 10 list more quickly :)
 
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OMG…. please, please, please let me turn off free2play games and MMOs so I never have to see them again.

I'll surely turn off Software and VR games :)
 
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Additional Left Column Navigation: The left navigational column will be getting new direct links to main features of the Steam Store, such as New Releases, Top Sellars, Upcoming Titles, etc.

That would be a good change instead of having to scroll halfway down the page to see those tabs as you do now.

Now if they would just fix that issue where there is a week's latency when you click on the support link…
 
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I'm just reflecting on how vital Steam has become to my gaming and how I have gradually come to appreciate it.

I remember back when it was first getting started, I was one of the "have to have the box in my hand!" type of gamers. Slowly but surely, though, digital delivery won me over.

I like the convenience. Whenever I go to a new or different computer, all I have to do is just download the game(s) I'm involved with again and restore the savegames (which I back up to a usb drive). There is also peace-of-mind that you are getting the most patched, up-to-date version of the game.

The other thing is, you know you're getting the game the *second* it comes out. No more waiting for EB-Games (to overnight it).

Don't get me wrong … I also like GOG because I can have a copy of the game locally which I can re-install without having to log in anywhere. This was my original argument for having the physical game -- in addition to some aestheic reasons. It's handy when you can get set up somewhere without any type of internet and still function. ( Note: I still put Steam in off-line mode whenever possible)

Still though, there is something to be said about having all that game data ( and games are getting bigger and bigger) somewhere else and then you can choose what you want locally. And as I have gotten older, I appreciate not having to have the clutter of extra media.

Steam is going to become Valve's legacy I think. I mean is another Half-life coming out or what? Or any other game from them for that matter?

Anyway, I know this seemed kind of rambling but I wanted to get these thoughts down somewhere.

Thank you, for the newsbit Silver and I'll have to check into this curation thing I see people talking about here. :)

I agree. There are a few situations where I like having a GOG copy, but in general I prefer Steam for games because of the workshop, patching system, game data, and ease of making screenshots.
 
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I look forward to this. Functionally Steam is quite capable. But I always thought its presentation was pretty lousy, boring, and confused.
 
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I look forward to this. Functionally Steam is quite capable. But I always thought its presentation was pretty lousy, boring, and confused.
I think you're being WAY too generous. Steam's interface is a complete shitshow, too many menus, too many things and too many simple but important things you either can't do or need to take five steps to do.
This is a nice list of features but what they should really do is start over and try to lay out something that makes sense to new eyes.
 
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This is a nice list of features but what they should really do is start over and try to lay out something that makes sense to new eyes.

Completely agree. When you're a new Steam user, the UI is not only unhelpful, but seems to work hard at making things hard that shouldn't be.
 
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