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The Valve and Steam Platform Discussion Thread

Gerrard

Arcane
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
11,927
>Civ 6 still in top sellers
:negative:
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Last week's top sellers (by revenues, not counting microtransactions) are a bit more fabulous, not the #1 of course:

#10 - Kingdoms and Castles
#9 - H1Z1: King of the Kill
#8 - Grand Theft Auto V
#7 - PGL 2017 Krakow CS:GO Major Championship Mega Bundle
#6 - DOOM
#5 - Total War: WARHAMMER II
#4 - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
#3 - Dark and Light
#2 - Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
#1 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS

Last week's top sellers (by revenues, not counting microtransactions) are on fire, not the #1 of course:

#10 - Pyre
#9 - Grand Theft Auto V
#8 - Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
#7 - DOOM
#6 - Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
#5 - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
#4 - Citadel: Forged with Fire
#3 - Dark and Light
#2 - PGL 2017 Krakow CS:GO Major Championship Mega Bundle
#1 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Group invites changes to prevent invite spams: http://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/1446071197008661976

TL;DR: "you can now only be invited into a group by your friends"

Updates And Additions to Group Invites

When we first created the Steam Community groups, the community itself was a smaller and simpler place. We wanted to give players on Steam an easy way to find other people with the same interests, coordinate their activities, and share their creative output. To that end, we made the tools and systems for joining and managing groups as simple as we could. When there were few great tools for discovering user groups, sending direct invites offered a way to spread awareness and build communities. But as the Steam Community has grown this approach to invites has not kept up with the needs of players. There are now many more ways to discover new and interesting groups and the invite system has been abused by more and more organized spammers.

So today we are changing the invite-and-join process for private groups, and taking steps to address spam.


Joining a group
In the past, you could create a group that is either publicly joinable by anyone, or private and accessible only by invitation. Private groups are used for a variety of purposes, some of which make sense to restrict only to invites. For example, if you just want a group for your close friends to hang out and chat, then an invite-only group makes sense. But there are many more scenarios where private groups have some form of stated criteria to join, such as “Steam Level 1,000 Club” or “Mod Makers Club”. Invites directly into these kinds of groups still make sense, but getting an invitation for qualified people is more complicated and messy than it needed to be.

So, we’re adding a new group type that will allow users to request to join the group. Requests are then put into a list for one of the group moderators to approve or deny. There are now three types of community groups:
  • Public group – Users can join on their own or via an invite from a friend.
  • Restricted group – Users can join by requesting membership. They can also receive an invite from a user that has permission to add members.
  • Closed group – This is the most restricted group. Users can only join via invites by members who have permission to send invites. Users cannot request to join these groups.
To join a restricted group, you can now request entry into the group. This will put you into a list for the group admins to review and decide whether to approve or deny your request.


Group admin tools
Any group that was previously a “Private group” will be converted to a “Restricted group”, which will allow users to request to join your group. This can be changed any time by the group owner. If your group is currently set to “Restricted” and you change the type to “Closed”, we’ll go ahead and decline any pending requests to join your group. Subsequently, if you change your group from "Restricted" to "Public" we'll approve all pending requests.

By default, only the group owner is able to approve/deny requests to join a restricted group. Group owners can allow officers or moderators to invite and approve/deny membership requests to a group via a new section under “Group Permissions”.

9fa6dcccc87d891e152a8edaf4cbfa81c5e22379.png


To manage pending group requests, group owners (or officers/moderators if given permission) can find the new Manage Group Requests page from their admin tools section on the right-hand side of the group page:

9b23def2747becc6f8d447057cd77ecb562e269c.png


If you are invited to a restricted or closed group, you will skip the membership queue and become a member once you accept the invite. If you have been denied entry into a group, the only way for you to join in the future is to get an invite from a member who has invite permissions.


Limits to group invites
Over time, we have seen the use of group invites shift from helpful to spammy - to the point where they can become annoying and disruptive to players. As we looked close at what these invites are being used for, we found some interesting and troubling trends.

First off, we see that more and more organized spammers are using bots to create groups on a huge scale. At some times, the number of new groups created explicitly for spamming outweigh the legitimate groups. Once a spammer has created a bunch of new groups, they then use bots to invite random players into the group. Even if only a small percentage of players that were invited end up joining any one of these groups, the spammer still can end up with a significant audience. The spammers then use these groups to advertise various websites or offers by posting frequent announcements to the members.

Players are understandably annoyed by these spam invites from random users.

To address this, you can now only be invited into a group by your friends. This still maintains the common uses of forming a closed group to hang out with your friends, or creating a restricted group for people of similar interests or achievements.


Next Steps
These new features and improvements should make it easier to join groups that you are interested in while eliminating the spam group invites that show up in your Steam inbox. Over the next few weeks, we'll also be working on identifying and banning networks of groups that have been mass-created and exist for the sole purpose of spamming.

We're also working on improvements to the way that friend invites work to make it easier to connect with the people you know and give you more control over invites.

-The Steam Team
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Last week's top sellers (by revenues, not counting microtransactions) are on fire, not the #1 of course:

#10 - Pyre
#9 - Grand Theft Auto V
#8 - Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
#7 - DOOM
#6 - Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
#5 - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
#4 - Citadel: Forged with Fire
#3 - Dark and Light
#2 - PGL 2017 Krakow CS:GO Major Championship Mega Bundle
#1 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS

Last week's top sellers (by revenues, not counting microtransactions) are all about repetitive play, especially #1:

#10 - Citadel: Forged with Fire
#9 - H1Z1: King of the Kill
#8 - The Long Dark
#7 - Total War: WARHAMMER II
#6 - Grand Theft Auto V
#5 - Foxhole
#4 - Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
#3 - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
#2 - Dark and Light
#1 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS

No, no Grimoire.
 

Boleskine

Arcane
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Messages
4,045
http://www.pcgamer.com/steam-has-launched-over-1000-games-in-7-weeks-following-direct-introduction/

Steam has launched over 1,000 games in 7 weeks following Direct introduction
By Joe Donnelly 2 hours ago

215 games were released last week alone.

q24vUGchoaM98eiwfJUH8U-650-80.jpg

In June, Valve shuttered its community vote-driven Greenlight initiative after five years of service. In its place came Direct—a system that allows developers the chance to get their games on Steam for a $100 fee.

At the time, Valve said this: "With this transition to Steam Direct, we'll be keeping an eye on new submissions and making adjustments as necessary. We aren't quite sure whether there will be a lot more new submissions, just a bit more, or even fewer."

In the seven weeks since Direct came into play, over 1,000 games have landed on Steam. In the last four weeks, 730 have arrived—and around 215 games have launched on the platform in the last week.

That's according to Ico Partners' Thomas Bidaux, who tweeted a graph that details the rise in numbers since Direct's debut. The figures are of course far from conclusive, however the marked rise in weekly additions in the weeks that have followed June 19.

FBoehrXG8AibnaYGX5mwCa-650-80.png

Bidaux's subsequent tweets show how these figures have changed in the past year, even prior to this most recent spike.



These numbers could of course level out at this frequency, however that remains to be seen. In the meantime, spare a thought for the videogames writers who're clearly now drowning in new releases.

Thanks, GamesIndustry.biz.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
I think Valve said they expected more games at first, but that the number would drop afterwards. We'll see if that happens.
 

torpid

Liturgist
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
Messages
1,099
Location
Isma's Grove
Valve isn't a company like other companies! Our fat nerd boss is willing to go full meme to show you how different we are--not just another corporation here, guys. Though I guess old-hippie-but-actually-super-rich is a fitting West Coast look.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Last week's top sellers (by revenues, not counting microtransactions) are all about repetitive play, especially #1:

#10 - Citadel: Forged with Fire
#9 - H1Z1: King of the Kill
#8 - The Long Dark
#7 - Total War: WARHAMMER II
#6 - Grand Theft Auto V
#5 - Foxhole
#4 - Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
#3 - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
#2 - Dark and Light
#1 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS

No, no Grimoire.

Last week's top sellers (by revenues, not counting microtransactions), featuring some new and returning entries, not #1 of course:

#10 - Foxhole
#9 - H1Z1: King of the Kill
#8 - theHunter: Call of the Wild
#7 - Grand Theft Auto V
#6 - No Man's Sky
#5 - LawBreakers
#4 - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
#3 - Total War: WARHAMMER II
#2 - Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
#1 - PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
Valve beat Blizzard to DOTA but Blizzard beat them to casual card games. Trying to cut into the Hearthstone market at this point?
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...key_requests_to_combat_Steam_skulduggery_.php

Valve says it's cracking down on big key requests to combat Steam skulduggery

A Valve representative followed up with Gamasutra today to confirm that yes, the company is more closely scrutinizing devs' outsized requests for Steam keys in an effort to combat people using them as "a way to manipulate Steam systems."

This helps explain a recent warning from Valve staffer Sean Jenkin that the company may be declining devs' requests for Steam keys if the request significantly outmatches the game's sales on Steam.

It's a bit of fresh light on what may be a time-worn practice (Valve has reportedly declined to fulfill odd key requests in the past), and a follow-up comment from Valve lays out why it's coming up now: the company is trying to stop people from putting games on Steam for any reason other than to be played.

"Over the last few years, new features and additions to Steam have changed the way Steam keys were being used, for instance as a means for game-shaped objects to monetize on Steam through methods other than actually selling fun games to customers. Most notably, this meant farming Steam Trading Cards," wrote the representative, alluding to the company's recent nerf of the Steam Trading Cards system.

"While our changes did impact the economics of trading card farming for new products coming to Steam, there are still a lot of games and game-shaped objects using Steam keys as a way to manipulate Steam systems. As a result, we're trying to look more closely at extreme examples of products on Steam that don't seem to be providing actual value as playable games-for instance, when a game has sold 100 units, has mostly negative reviews, but requests 500,000 Steam keys. We're not interested in supporting trading card farming or bot networks at the expense of being able to provide value and service for players.

It's completely OK for partners to sell their games on other sites via Steam keys, and run discounts or bundles on other stores, and we'll continue granting free keys to help partners do those things. But it's not OK to negatively impact our customers by manipulating our store and features."

The concern expressed about the volume of games and "game-shaped objects" on the platform is well in line with recent release figures for Steam; over 200 games launched on Steam in the first week of August alone, even as Valve has done away with Steam Greenlight in favor of charging devs $100 a pop to get their games onto the platform via Steam Direct.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Should post what that's a follow-up to: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...rictions_to_highvolume_Steam_key_requests.php

Valve engineer comments on restrictions to high-volume Steam key requests

As a developer, next time you request Steam keys for your game, remember that Valve is checking in on whether or not you really need those keys.

A recent comment from Valve engineer Sean Jenkin has placed a spotlight on an internal measure that dictates whether Valve grants or denies developer requests for Steam keys. The comment also exhibits how, to some extent, Valve is paying attention to the third-party bundle and key-reselling markets.

“If we are denying keys for normal size batches it’s likely because your Steam sales don’t reflect a need for as many keys as you’re distributing,” said Jenkin in the private Steamworks developer portal.

“You’re probably asking for more keys because you’re offering cheaper options off Steam and yet we are bearing the costs," he said. "So at some point we start deciding that the value you’re bringing Steam isn’t worth the cost to us.”

He added that if there is a substantial disparity between the amount of games you've sold on Steam, and the of number keys you've requested and activated, Valve is "going to take a deeper look at your games, your sales, your costs, etc."

While Jenkin's comment is noteworthy, he doesn’t discern if this is a recent change, a longstanding but previously unspoken rule, or a specific change in Steam developer policy. Valve has reportedly been turning down large-quantity key requests prior to Jenkin's remark, so this may be an older but lesser-known tack.

It's also unclear if such a move is specifically to edge-out or combat game sales that are made outside of Steam, but it's easy to speculate.

"Some folks are speculating that Valve will be trying to cut other stores out of Steam keys entirely and I sincerely doubt that," opined Lars Doucet, a game developer who pays close attention to the business of Steam.

We’ve reached out to Valve for further comment and clarification on Jenkin's post and will update this article following a response.

eLDE2QM.png


Update: A Valve representative gave the following response to Gamasutra:

"Steam keys have always been available for free to our partners to help them sell PC games at physical retail and on other digital stores. In return, we've asked that partners offer Steam customers a fair deal, similar to what they're offering on other stores. None of that is changing.

But over the last few years, new features and additions to Steam have changed the way Steam keys were being used, for instance as a means for game-shaped objects to monetize on Steam through methods other than actually selling fun games to customers. Most notably, this meant farming Steam Trading Cards. We shared a lot of info about that issue, and our response to it, here.

While our changes did impact the economics of trading card farming for new products coming to Steam, there are still a lot of games and game-shaped objects using Steam keys as a way to manipulate Steam systems. As a result, we're trying to look more closely at extreme examples of products on Steam that don't seem to be providing actual value as playable games-for instance, when a game has sold 100 units, has mostly negative reviews, but requests 500,000 Steam keys. We're not interested in supporting trading card farming or bot networks at the expense of being able to provide value and service for players.

It's completely OK for partners to sell their games on other sites via Steam keys, and run discounts or bundles on other stores, and we'll continue granting free keys to help partners do those things. But it's not OK to negatively impact our customers by manipulating our store and features."
 

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