Steam "game" standards and qualifications/moderation?

[WabbaCat]

I think the title pretty much gets across what I want to say, and im sure its a topic brought up before many times.
But,... does steam even have any standards? Is greenlighting or reviewing products before accepting them on steam even a thing anymore? Or is it the case that once you have one thing on steam, you can just upload whatever junk you want?

I recently got suggested
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1304140/Each_Sale_I_Drink_a_Glass_of_Water__The_Game/
from my store page... and at first it was just a giggle. But the author genuinely believes he is selling laughter and its all good, or at least says so. Compares it to selling candy even.... which from my perspective comes off as a mental disorder on his part if he does believe that.

Does it matter if the base of something someone is selling is a game or not? Even software sold on steam was at least game related from what I have seen. To that point, he does package a crappy game as a 'free' bonus... but does that qualify when its not the basis of what you are selling, as well as being something that is essentially freeware and obtainable within seconds where its normally hosted?

And,... does Steam even care?(probably no...)

To clarify, I am not looking for rather you agree or disagree with my opinion of the title but you sure are welcome to offer it if commenting. What I am looking for are answers to the questions I asked. I apologize if the example given is found to be a poor one by some.

[Tolkien Book Fan]

Pain Elemental R6S님이 먼저 게시:

Lemme get back on topic.
Steam will NOT allow any game that:

- Is clearly an asset flip
- Is clearly a copyright flip
- Is a fangame being sold for money(come on stuff like G̷̮̳̍̍â̵̱͚̓ḿ̸̙̠̰e̵̡̲͔̒̿̏j̸͍̩̖̽̒o̴̯̦̍͘͝l̸͖̀t̸͍̑ exists for that)(only like 99% of the time, some exceptions are allowed)
- Not what it says (lets say you advertise an open world game with good graphics but the game is actually an mspaint point and click)
- Clear troll(such as a game thats just a pic of their cat or something idk)
- something else idrk

If you want to see how (un)successful Valve is in actually enforcing these rules, check out the Sentinels of the Store Curator. Valve's lack of curation means that products that shouldn't be on Steam regularly are, until customers point out the violations.

[Sazzouu]

mabbakittyu님이 먼저 게시:

right... but the existance of those games just serve as further examples to the point.
What a platform steam has become....

You do not like his content > Feel free to ignore his games / developers page
You do not like this plattform > Feel free to leave

Easy as that. Valve has stated their policy and said policy allows such games. So the only thing the existance of such games serves is the fact that Valve strictly sticks to their word they give out to the community.

And the only thing your post serves is that YOU do not like this game or this plattform which is something of your business - by any means of respect

[Tito Shivan]

TL-DR Version of Valve Stance on curating/gatekeeping:
1- The reviewing process creates a bottleneck for all developers looking to get into Steam.
2- Since you can't foresee what's going to be 'the next big thing' you're bound to have it happening NOT on Steam (And then people complains WHY it wasn't on Steam)

(PS: Yes, 'the next big thing' can also be a meme game of 'low quality' Bad Rats made a lot of money being a meme game being gifted for a laugh for years.)

So following that philosophy, releasing on Steam is now mostly a frictionless action and games float or sink at the checkout line.

DiceDsx님이 먼저 게시:

Can't wait for this guy's next project: "Each Time This Game Appears In A Forum I Eat A Jelly Bean: The Game" /s

I keep wondering how people discovers these games. I've always found them through this kind of threads.
I knew there was a time where certain youtubers went scrapping the bottom of the barrel to warn about 'scam games' on the store. But even those realised their actions were more of free advertising and visibility for such games than a warning or a PSA.

[DiceDsx]

Tito Shivan님이 먼저 게시:

I keep wondering how people discovers these games. I've always found them through this kind of threads.

Same: it's either one of these or those weirdly overpriced games.

[WabbaCat]

BeatZ #GrandPrix2.0Please님이 먼저 게시:

mabbakittyu님이 먼저 게시:

right... but the existance of those games just serve as further examples to the point.
What a platform steam has become....

You do not like his content > Feel free to ignore his games / developers page
You do not like this plattform > Feel free to leave

Easy as that. Valve has stated their policy and said policy allows such games. So the only thing the existance of such games serves is the fact that Valve strictly sticks to their word they give out to the community.

And the only thing your post serves is that YOU do not like this game or this plattform which is something of your business - by any means of respect

since there has been a repeat of this kind of point I feel I have to address it now.

Basically what you are attempting here is a discussion killer logic. I forget the exact term for it. Shoo'ing away people because you dont like what they said is not conclusive to an intelligent discussion on the matter.
This isn't about what I like and conforming steam to that idea, its about what steam does and allows and basing my continued patronage on what I learn here from this. No, I dont just shut up and leave just to make people like you happy. I will discuss it and the merits of the current situation(remember poo videos... they are coming man!).
One can say I intend to do exactly as you say and walk away from it all(not just that title) but using that very possibility as a reason something should be the way it is,... is just plain stupid.
Do you think I am the only one that would question the existance of drinking water 'videos' on whats suppose to be a 'gaming' platform? Rather or not I like it is irrelevant to the main point of the discussion even.
Don't be a troll.

[WabbaCat]

Tito Shivan님이 먼저 게시:

TL-DR Version of Valve Stance on curating/gatekeeping:
1- The reviewing process creates a bottleneck for all developers looking to get into Steam.
2- Since you can't foresee what's going to be 'the next big thing' you're bound to have it happening NOT on Steam (And then people complains WHY it wasn't on Steam)

(PS: Yes, 'the next big thing' can also be a meme game of 'low quality' Bad Rats made a lot of money being a meme game being gifted for a laugh for years.)

So following that philosophy, releasing on Steam is now mostly a frictionless action and games float or sink at the checkout line.

DiceDsx님이 먼저 게시:

Can't wait for this guy's next project: "Each Time This Game Appears In A Forum I Eat A Jelly Bean: The Game" /s

I keep wondering how people discovers these games. I've always found them through this kind of threads.
I knew there was a time where certain youtubers went scrapping the bottom of the barrel to warn about 'scam games' on the store. But even those realised their actions were more of free advertising and visibility for such games than a warning or a PSA.

And

ElfSeeker님이 먼저 게시:

Pain Elemental R6S님이 먼저 게시:

Lemme get back on topic.
Steam will NOT allow any game that:

- Is clearly an asset flip
- Is clearly a copyright flip
- Is a fangame being sold for money(come on stuff like G̷̮̳̍̍â̵̱͚̓ḿ̸̙̠̰e̵̡̲͔̒̿̏j̸͍̩̖̽̒o̴̯̦̍͘͝l̸͖̀t̸͍̑ exists for that)(only like 99% of the time, some exceptions are allowed)
- Not what it says (lets say you advertise an open world game with good graphics but the game is actually an mspaint point and click)
- Clear troll(such as a game thats just a pic of their cat or something idk)
- something else idrk

If you want to see how (un)successful Valve is in actually enforcing these rules, check out the Sentinels of the Store Curator. Valve's lack of curation means that products that shouldn't be on Steam regularly are, until customers point out the violations.

Thank you both... on topic and very enlightening to the bigger picture on this.

[DiceDsx]

Remember that you can use the "Ignore" button if you don't want to see these games. You can also ignore publishers entirely, if they have a Steam page, so you won't see these games unless they get on the front page somehow.

[crunchyfrog]

mabbakittyu님이 먼저 게시:

I feel like Crazy Tiger has given me the most useful info and answered the questions more adequately, and fast at that....

But KOOLLAYDTAC.... he.... he has the best answer/reply.
I see no difference between what he suggested and my OP's linked game. Which in its own way does answer the question.
And also puts in question this idea of no curation being a strong point.

While I absolutely despise charlatans like BMC Studios, here's the thing to remember.

Online storefronts aren't like physical stores. You don't need stock - you only need ONE item which you sell times and time again. You also haven't got shelf space, so you don't have to worry about what to stock out front. Because the space is UNLIMITED.

And because of these basic logical facts, you can see why including AS MUCH AS possible is a thing. Their inclusion does NOT detract from anything else. It is not taking up the space something else more valid could have.

The ONLY valid complaint is that it can mess up the store with so many ♥♥♥♥♥♥ games being displayed, however it shouldn't last for long, as the store quickly tailors to your tastes once you've used it a few times.

For example, I've been away from Steam for about 5 years. I retired, closed my business and completely moved away from touching PCs from all that period. I just used consoles and tablets for all I needed.

So, when I returned in March this year, my experience on the store was shed loads of ♥♥♥♥ like this. But within a couple of weeks of looking through what I determined I wanted means I can easily navigate the store without seeing ANY of this stuff.

So in other words, you don't like them, don't look at them.

[WabbaCat]

Tito Shivan님이 먼저 게시:

DiceDsx님이 먼저 게시:

Can't wait for this guy's next project: "Each Time This Game Appears In A Forum I Eat A Jelly Bean: The Game" /s

I keep wondering how people discovers these games. I've always found them through this kind of threads.

I kinda want to revisit that actually... but it is a bit off topic. Still, im kinda curious also if how I came across it is normal...
I did mention it in my OP
But Steam itself recommended that game to me on my store front page. It was my curiousity of how such a thing ever even got recommended to me that caused me to check it out in the first place.
Like, I know any algorithm for keeping track of a persons preferences is going to have flaws,... and that steam is going to want to 'spice things up' and see if im interested outside of stuff in my normal interests.... but it was still rather strange to me so I wanted to see if I could grasp any connection at all.
Which of course, I couldn't... its simply not a game, lmao.

But it did leave many questions.
One I still dont grasp is,... in this example the "game" is just a video. Do video's meet steams minimal requirements for being uploaded to sell? Everything I have heard people say kind of skirt around this... and it seems like it is just allowed by default and design of how things currently work.


@crunchyfrog
what you say should be the case, in theory anyhow... yet.... I have used steam everyday for the past... I forget... must be nearing a decade I think? It was that very train of thought that led me to all these questions mind you.

[crunchyfrog]

Make no mistake here - I wasn't agreeing with what Valve do, just explaining it. It is demonstrably correct.

And yes, asking the questions is the right way to go. I never see these agmes at all and would never have found out about them if it weren't for the likes of people like Jim Sterling and SidAlpha.

I find such games as immense sources of hilarity, not because the games are funny, because they're not, but because the developers truly often sniffs they're own farts and think they're real artists.

The schadenfreude in me would miss all that if they were gone.

[WabbaCat]

crunchyfrog님이 먼저 게시:

I find such games as immense sources of hilarity, not because the games are funny, because they're not, but because the developers truly often sniffs they're own farts and think they're real artists.

In the provided example the developer compares his selling video of drinking water on steam to be no different than selling candy. Yet admits his game has no purpose in the same breath. He takes more issue with it being called scummy but embraces the idea of it not being a game and having no point.
Kind of gave me an impression of him like what you describe.

[crunchyfrog]

mabbakittyu님이 먼저 게시:

crunchyfrog님이 먼저 게시:

I find such games as immense sources of hilarity, not because the games are funny, because they're not, but because the developers truly often sniffs they're own farts and think they're real artists.

In the provided example the developer compares his selling video of drinking water on steam to be no different than selling candy.
Kind of gave me an impression of him like what you describe.

Yeah, I'm well aware of BMC Studios - edgy kids that started out thinking they could bung up anything on Steam when the floodgates opened. Nowadaya I think they actually believe their lazy crap is actually art, and it's hilarious to see their many whines about it.

THAT'S the kind of comedy I like.

[Crazy Tiger]

mabbakittyu님이 먼저 게시:

Like, I know any algorithm for keeping track of a persons preferences is going to have flaws,... and that steam is going to want to 'spice things up' and see if im interested outside of stuff in my normal interests.... but it was still rather strange to me so I wanted to see if I could grasp any connection at all.

Very likely the tags. Just look at them:
Indie
Simulation
Strategy
Adventure
Action
Early Access

They used 5 of the widest tags that one can use, they missed RPG. This means that it'll be linked to most games you played, as it'll likely have 2-3 similar tags.

[WabbaCat]

errhhmmm....
I just assumed it had no tags and did not even check...
thanks for pointing that out.

What tag should a video receive anyhow? O.o

Also,... did he choose that? I thought the customers assigned the tags.

[Crazy Tiger]

mabbakittyu님이 먼저 게시:

errhhmmm....
I just assumed it had no tags and did not even check...
thanks for pointing that out.

What tag should a video receive anyhow? O.o

Also,... did he choose that? I thought the customers assigned the tags.

Both can: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/tags#1

Keep in mind that all Steamworks documentation is public. I usually do a Google search for them. I searched for "steamworks tags" to find this page.