Discussion games cantina

Curated stores are practical. And a curated "front page" of selected games works fine too.

But we aren't talking about that here. We're discussing Misty's original suggestion that Steam institute "quality control" to eliminate bad games from the general submissions list.
That's what I mean by curated store though. Up until recently, Steam only sold what they deemed high quality enough. Consoles still work that way. Are you saying that's a bad model, or am I misunderstanding something?
 

chance

predictably random
Forum Staff
Moderator
That's what I mean by curated store though. Up until recently, Steam only sold what they deemed high quality enough. Consoles still work that way. Are you saying that's a bad model, or am I misunderstanding something?
I think that's a practical model. And it works. But as I said, that's not the subject of this topic.

I'm only disagreeing with the original suggestion that "bad" games from the general population should be rejected.

That said, Misty's concern is valid. Even Steam itself acknowledged problems with the discovery process, after they opened their doors to everyone. Plenty of good games get swamped by the flood of mediocre games.

But ultimately, I feel that ranking by player ratings is the most practical approach.
 
@chance: Ah, okay. We're basically in agreement then, though I think Steam needs either much better discoverability/filters or curation again. Browsing the store as it is is an awful experience, at least to me.
 

Lumenflower

Yellow Dog
I think that's a practical model. And it works. But as I said, that's not the subject of this topic.
I'm a little unclear on the difference between 'curating' and 'rejecting bad games'. I had been under the impression they were more-or-less the same thing. Is curating where you pick only the best games, and reject even the middling ones?
 

chance

predictably random
Forum Staff
Moderator
I'm a little unclear on the difference between 'curating' and 'rejecting bad games'. I had been under the impression they were more-or-less the same thing. Is curating where you pick only the best games, and reject even the middling ones?
I think one normally refers to a "curated store" or a "curated front page" as one where games are pre-approved by the staff before they are accepted. Authors can apply, but acceptance depends on the staff's decision.

Whereas "rejecting bad games" implies that anyone can post their games. But periodically the staff removes games they deem too poor. I believe this latter quality control is what Misty (and perhaps others) proposed.

EDIT: just realized I said this already...
It's understandable why this might seem desirable. Opening a site to all games makes it difficult to find the good ones. Steam itself has acknowledged problems with the discovery process, since they opened the gates to everyone.
 
Last edited:
M

Misty

Guest
I think one normally refers to a "curated store" or a "curated front page" as one where games are pre-approved by the staff before they are accepted. Authors can apply, but acceptance depends on the staff's decision.

Whereas "rejecting bad games" implies that anyone can post their games. But periodically the staff removes games they deem too poor. I believe this latter quality control is what Misty (and perhaps others) proposed.

EDIT: just realized I said this already...
It's understandable why this might seem desirable. Opening a site to all games makes it difficult to find the good ones. Steam itself has acknowledged problems with the discovery process, since they opened the gates to everyone.
Yep I agree. I am against gatekeeping and moral censorship. Troll games should be allowed if those games are of decent quality.

What I am against is, shameless asset flips and spam games. What I mean by an asset flip is a game that is thrown together in 3 days. I am NOT saying there is anything wrong with using premade assets in games. If you can use premade assets in a coherent way, there is nothing wrong with it. But games that are about the quality of big-rigs, with random assets just thrown around incoherently, should not be allowed on the store.

I think there are a lot of mediocre games on Steam. But sadly, I think these games should be allowed, I don't let my personal tastes dictate policy, even if said tastes are superior to the general population's. When I complain about mediocre games its mostly just a complaint against society, not so much a call to ban games on steam. The games on steam I want gone are the one's I mentioned in the paragraph above this one.
 
E

ethian

Guest
All those bad games are NSFL after all as they make you angry and being angry is even bad for your health.
 
E

ethian

Guest
it causes me to feel depressed and occassionally even suicidal
@Misty If the fact there's more bad games on Steam that quality games as Steam a perfect home for Indie games makes you be depressed and even wanting to commit suicide sometimes, better don't worry on that topic, as you will get less awkward.

Better get worried on other awesome stuff, like what makes me go nuts, that includes awesome stuff (Specially for me, everyone else is just some people), like the furry fandom, their art is awesome but, what i avoid worrying at is the fact some or most fans from that fandom are foul-mouthed (Foul Language is what makes me depressed after, same as you with that fact of more bad games...)

I don't get worried on the other fandoms as their have something worrisome and i don't want to worry at that anymore: copyright infringement.

Or better get worried on my school acquaintance called "Royal Art" (You can found them on Reddit as "Simply Lay Lay" and on Tumblr as "Loyal Royal Art".) their art is awesome, being worried on it more than the copyright infringement they commit.

You need to stop worrying on the topic, as you are not depending on it, you can't transform it, you can't solve the problem by yourself, it's better to get away and forget about the topic.

Well, if you like gaming, i know that gaming consists on live challenges meeting the best of the human culture (But what is also the best is the art the non-copyright infringement fandoms do), but that case is in the most popular games like Mario, Crash Bandicoot or Pokemon... the case of this thread is what you're worried about and that is about part of what the humanity do and other humans consider unfunny blah blah blah... but, i know that those parts of humanity is also part of humanity (I guess it doesn't help but the most important part of this is : If you would like to be less depressed, better forget about the topic of the bad games, try to do something different that could end goodly at the end like admire me and imitate me...)
 
A

Andy

Guest
Some of my favorite games growing up turned out to be GM example edits using default resources *remembers Splatter Joe*.
Lots of people don’t even know what development tools like GM or Unity are. To us asset flips seem like repetitive trash because we expose ourselves to lots of games and development tools. We know stock graphics and what game is using a baked in movement system. Many players will never notice any of that.
I am against gatekeeping and moral censorship
Banning spam is gate-keeping moral censorship.
Almost every judgment someone makes is influenced by their personal moral system. How you feel about spam comes from morals, it's your system of good, bad, value, feeling, etc...
Being against censorship is also a moral stance based on emotion and personal feelings.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Lukasmah

Member
If you can't afford to pay an artist, you can't afford to have one.
Sabrina: Gamedev is prohibitively expensive if you're not making everything yourself
Ninety: Ah, but you see, if you can't afford things, you can't afford things
 

Roa

Member
I know that there are heaps of cheap trash buried in Stream and across the web, though I haven't run in to them much. Typically I find issue with the expensive trash - AAA titles like Battlefront, Fallout 76, and so on. Those are completely different beasts.

Simply stop looking for it. The market will itself push this stuff further down the list where it belongs.

I get that you're passionate about this but you need to chill. A lot of what you've written is uncivil and bordering on offensive.
I bet you are fun at parties
 

Ninety

Member
Sabrina: Gamedev is prohibitively expensive if you're not making everything yourself
Ninety: Ah, but you see, if you can't afford things, you can't afford things
Sabrina: why people charge so much??
Me: people gotta eat
Sabrina: me too
Me: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Lukas, three months later: Excuse Me Sir. Your Post Is Illogical, And Your Argument Therefore Invalid
 

curato

Member
It is way too easy to get crap up toward the top if you have a budget and way too hard to get quality noticed if you don't have a huge marketing budget.
 
A

Andy

Guest
It is way too easy to get crap up toward the top if you have a budget and way too hard to get quality noticed if you don't have a huge marketing budget.
Definity. People nowadays can easily pay to game algorithms, use digital astroturfing, etc...
In any unregulated system the best things don’t always rise to the top, the things best at rising to the top do. And there is a difference between the two.
 
Top