Suggested Alterations to Discovery Queue and Reviews.

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

1) This needs to be given as a choice because a lot of people will like it and some people won't. On Discovery Queues I'd like the option to rate how much I'm interested in a game out of ten rather than wishlist, follow, ignore. Back in the days when there were three discovery queues a day during sales I went through a lot of games very quickly. Also there should be a button for "bought or got elsewhere". The advantage for Steam is that the new system will allow you to build up a very precise picture of what games users want or don't want. In fact it could get accuracy levels very high indeed. For me if you know my interests more accurately you will be more likely to show me the games that I like. Also if a lot of people are saying they really want a game but haven't bought it then it may indicate more sales will be available at a lower price point. This also means tat games you are rating 8 - 10 will be likely to reappear in your discovery queue.


2) Again you'll have to do this as an option because some people will not want it. Give people the option of rating games out of five - five very good, four good, three average, two bad, one very bad. This will allow more nuanced review scores for the members of the community who find a binary system too didactic. Regrettably I think we will have to say a score of three or lower isn't a recommendation. Allowing people to select reviews by review score (like TripAdvisor) will also be a helpful development.

S.x.

[J4MESOX4D]

A rating system would just add algorithmic stress. Either you are interested in a game or not. The system is designed to weed out what games you don't want to see and possibility filter out unpopular genres. If you are heavily interested in a game, you wouldn't want that popping up all over the place at the expense of another title - that would just raise more complaints.

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder:

Also there should be a button for "bought or got elsewhere".

Already there. Click the little arrow next to the Ignore button and you see the option for "Played on Another Platform

Originally posted by Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder:

Give people the option of rating games out of five - five very good, four good, three average, two bad, one very bad.

Disagree on that. What is Average for you, could mean Bad for someone else and Good for again someone else.

Personally I'd rather see no rating at all, just text reviews. It's about substance, not rating.

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

Originally posted by J4MESOX4D:

A rating system would just add algorithmic stress. Either you are interested in a game or not. The system is designed to weed out what games you don't want to see and possibility filter out unpopular genres. If you are heavily interested in a game, you wouldn't want that popping up all over the place at the expense of another title - that would just raise more complaints.

They are just numbers. Compared to the output of Steam's servers in downloading games and playing multiplayer ones the additional computing power would be utterly minimal.

However that does give me an idea for a modification. Allow each user to give a number for no returns - so any game scored 5 or lower would never repeat for example.

S.x.

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Originally posted by Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder:

Also there should be a button for "bought or got elsewhere".

Already there. Click the little arrow next to the Ignore button and you see the option for "Played on Another Platform

Originally posted by Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder:

Give people the option of rating games out of five - five very good, four good, three average, two bad, one very bad.

Disagree on that. What is Average for you, could mean Bad for someone else and Good for again someone else.

Personally I'd rather see no rating at all, just text reviews. It's about substance, not rating.

There are tens of thousands of reviews on some games. There has to be some way of extracting the data into an instantly accessible form.

Personally I never JUST go by review scores although a game usually has to do better than "mixed" for me to even check it out to buy.

S.x.

[J4MESOX4D]

Originally posted by Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder:

Originally posted by J4MESOX4D:

A rating system would just add algorithmic stress. Either you are interested in a game or not. The system is designed to weed out what games you don't want to see and possibility filter out unpopular genres. If you are heavily interested in a game, you wouldn't want that popping up all over the place at the expense of another title - that would just raise more complaints.

They are just numbers. Compared to the output of Steam's servers in downloading games and playing multiplayer ones the additional computing power would be utterly minimal

That's not what algorithmic stress is. There is just too many variables when it comes to a rating system. The base formula of the discovery queue is a simple y/n - bringing in numbers opens up so many other factors that are ultimately unnecessary.

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder:

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Already there. Click the little arrow next to the Ignore button and you see the option for "Played on Another Platform


Disagree on that. What is Average for you, could mean Bad for someone else and Good for again someone else.

Personally I'd rather see no rating at all, just text reviews. It's about substance, not rating.

There are tens of thousands of reviews on some games. There has to be some way of extracting the data into an instantly accessible form.

Personally I never JUST go by review scores although a game usually has to do better than "mixed" for me to even check it out to buy.

S.x.

I just sort them by recent and go through them. Though I do have to say I usually only check out the negative ones. Don't need to hear the pros, usually I know them already.

Rating has little value for me. Many games with "Mixed" are actually good games from indie devs who dare to take a chance on something (usually a gameplay mechanic or a different type of story/background or something like that) that is hit and miss with the audience. I prefer that to a "Very Positive" game that is nothing but a rehash of similar games in the genre.

Each to their own, of course. In my experience people often focus too much on the rating.

[Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder]

Nothing I am suggesting is designed to replace cognitive function. I've given negative reviews to iconic games and very positive reviews to small indie games.

The point is that: -

1) This method of review scoring is the standard in psychological testing and is used by Amazon and Tripadvisor. A lot of reviewers complain that the present review system is far too binary and they would prefer a more nuanced review.
2) Steam's massive super computers would number crunch the data incredibly easily and swiftly. My two alterations would provide huge amounts of useful material for their marketing data miners.

S.x.

[Judgmental Amaterasu]

Originally posted by Gallifrey - CSSC Gaming Founder:

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Already there. Click the little arrow next to the Ignore button and you see the option for "Played on Another Platform


Disagree on that. What is Average for you, could mean Bad for someone else and Good for again someone else.

Personally I'd rather see no rating at all, just text reviews. It's about substance, not rating.

There are tens of thousands of reviews on some games. There has to be some way of extracting the data into an instantly accessible form.

Personally I never JUST go by review scores although a game usually has to do better than "mixed" for me to even check it out to buy.

S.x.

The reviews that actually had some thought put into them already use their own "charts" for good/bad/ugly type deals. The vast majority of reviews are barely worth looking at in the first place.