8 ms·

> Steam works But does it still provide a great experience for gamers and creators? I'd wager so say they can do a lot better, but they're letting their succes

by eswat 10y ago

> Steam works But does it still provide a great experience for gamers and creators? I'd wager so say they can do a lot better, but they're letting their success stagnate them. Buggy mobile apps, questionable revenue share on Workshop items, no strong answer to the discovery of good games ever since Greenlight came out, IMHO Valve isn't doing enough with their platform on their own. I'd welcome competition to get them to perk up their step a bit.

mevile 10y ago
There already is competition. GoG's Galaxy. It's great. Nobody I know uses it. Not a single streamer on twitch I've ever watch uses it. I'm fine with competition too, but not from Facebook. They've already fucked up with the Oculus store and I don't trust them anyway. Facebook is an unscrupulous advertisement company that turns intimate personal information into pay per click ad dollars. I'd even go so far as to say Valve not caring is a good thing. They don't try to interfere too much and when they do and it blows up they walk it back.
- serge2k 10y ago
  > I'd even go so far as to say Valve not caring is a good thing. Ridiculous statement. Waiting weeks for a support request is not a good thing. Waiting weeks then getting response in russian is not a good thing. The app being a generally slow clunky experience is not a good thing. Piss poor preview games is not a good thing. CS Go gambling is not a good thing. DotA2 is not a good thing. :p A lot of things were even worse before Origin arrived and Valve started at least a half-assed attempt to make things better.
  - n0w 10y ago
    What's wrong with DotA2??
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - grogenaut 10y ago
      For this person it's likely that it's not League or HOTS... or to make the standard joke... it's actually challenging and for adults instead of an ez mode toy for kids.
    - serge2k 10y ago
      It's a MOBA. Obviously.
- chaostheory 10y ago
  People who don't play multiplayer or don't have a good enough internet connection tend to go with GOG since most if not all games on GOG is DRM free.
nilkn 10y ago
I think Steam's a great experience. It seems leaps and bounds ahead of competition. The coolest thing about it to me is how it keeps expanding in innovative ways. I picked up a Steam Link and Steam Controller last year, and it's really nice to be able to play a PC game in the living room whenever I feel like it. SteamVR is also great. I guess the mobile app is kind of crappy. I've never really cared as I don't see any reason to use it.
- maccard 10y ago
  It's pretty a Awful. I set it up as o was getting nagged about setting up the app as an authenticator, and the next update wouldn't boot. Not a great first experience, considering it's a webview app.
  - ycombinatorMan 10y ago
    Maybe the app isnt great, but the platform is.
  - Freak_NL 10y ago
    Steam's approach to authentication is annoying. You either get their authenticator app for two-factor authentication, or get demoted to a second-class Steam citizen. Without the authenticator you get nagged frequently to get it, and you cannot buy and sell things on the marketplace normally (every action has to be confirmed via email, and any item you want to sell is placed in escrow for two weeks). I appreciate Valve pushing for better security, but with the authenticator app the only option this really sucks if you don't have a smartphone, or do have a smartphone, just not with Android, IOS, or Windows Phone on it. Now I understand this for the interim (people were losing their digital items due to poor security), but it is damn near impossible to contact Steam with suggestions or comments (on the Steam forums your voice is drowned in a sea of despair, and I can't seem to get a hold of anyone with a technical background at Steam's help-desk). Perhaps if someone at Valve is reading HN: please consider using Fido U2F as an alternative to a smartphone app!
    - touristtam 10y ago
serge2k 10y ago
I'd welcome competition, steam can get a lot better (it's one of the worse apps I use) but I'm not going to use a facebook game thing. Already have steam, gog galaxy, origin, and uplay for various things. I use only the former 2 as much as I can.
fellellor 10y ago
I think of platforms like Steam as an OS. I don't really want to spend a lot of time there. It is just there to help manage my library, keep the software updated and all that, and just get out of my way. I hear about the games I want to play from other channels, so their substandard discovery doesn't bother me so much. I do miss the days when I'd find a cool game to play on the front page, though.

by eswat 10y ago

mevile 10y ago

There already is competition. GoG's Galaxy. It's great. Nobody I know uses it. Not a single streamer on twitch I've ever watch uses it. I'm fine with competition too, but not from Facebook. They've already fucked up with the Oculus store and I don't trust them anyway. Facebook is an unscrupulous advertisement company that turns intimate personal information into pay per click ad dollars. I'd even go so far as to say Valve not caring is a good thing. They don't try to interfere too much and when they do and it blows up they walk it back.

serge2k 10y ago
> I'd even go so far as to say Valve not caring is a good thing. Ridiculous statement. Waiting weeks for a support request is not a good thing. Waiting weeks then getting response in russian is not a good thing. The app being a generally slow clunky experience is not a good thing. Piss poor preview games is not a good thing. CS Go gambling is not a good thing. DotA2 is not a good thing. :p A lot of things were even worse before Origin arrived and Valve started at least a half-assed attempt to make things better.
- n0w 10y ago
  What's wrong with DotA2??
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - grogenaut 10y ago
    For this person it's likely that it's not League or HOTS... or to make the standard joke... it's actually challenging and for adults instead of an ez mode toy for kids.
  - serge2k 10y ago
    It's a MOBA. Obviously.
chaostheory 10y ago
People who don't play multiplayer or don't have a good enough internet connection tend to go with GOG since most if not all games on GOG is DRM free.

nilkn 10y ago

I think Steam's a great experience. It seems leaps and bounds ahead of competition. The coolest thing about it to me is how it keeps expanding in innovative ways. I picked up a Steam Link and Steam Controller last year, and it's really nice to be able to play a PC game in the living room whenever I feel like it. SteamVR is also great. I guess the mobile app is kind of crappy. I've never really cared as I don't see any reason to use it.

maccard 10y ago
It's pretty a Awful. I set it up as o was getting nagged about setting up the app as an authenticator, and the next update wouldn't boot. Not a great first experience, considering it's a webview app.
- ycombinatorMan 10y ago
  Maybe the app isnt great, but the platform is.
- Freak_NL 10y ago
  Steam's approach to authentication is annoying. You either get their authenticator app for two-factor authentication, or get demoted to a second-class Steam citizen. Without the authenticator you get nagged frequently to get it, and you cannot buy and sell things on the marketplace normally (every action has to be confirmed via email, and any item you want to sell is placed in escrow for two weeks). I appreciate Valve pushing for better security, but with the authenticator app the only option this really sucks if you don't have a smartphone, or do have a smartphone, just not with Android, IOS, or Windows Phone on it. Now I understand this for the interim (people were losing their digital items due to poor security), but it is damn near impossible to contact Steam with suggestions or comments (on the Steam forums your voice is drowned in a sea of despair, and I can't seem to get a hold of anyone with a technical background at Steam's help-desk). Perhaps if someone at Valve is reading HN: please consider using Fido U2F as an alternative to a smartphone app!
  - touristtam 10y ago

serge2k 10y ago

I'd welcome competition, steam can get a lot better (it's one of the worse apps I use) but I'm not going to use a facebook game thing. Already have steam, gog galaxy, origin, and uplay for various things. I use only the former 2 as much as I can.

fellellor 10y ago

I think of platforms like Steam as an OS. I don't really want to spend a lot of time there. It is just there to help manage my library, keep the software updated and all that, and just get out of my way. I hear about the games I want to play from other channels, so their substandard discovery doesn't bother me so much. I do miss the days when I'd find a cool game to play on the front page, though.