A Problem Regarding Reviews of Demos

[Active Hoper]

Whenever I've reviewed a game's demo, I've noticed that my reviews are treated as though they're discussing something that was not gotten directly from Steam and, thus, don't count toward their ratings. Why is this, and how can it be fixed?

[rawWwRrr]

Originally posted by Active Hoper:

Why is this, and how can it be fixed?

Because the demo is not the game, and there is no fix as it is by design.

[Active Hoper]

Originally posted by rawWwRrr:

Originally posted by Active Hoper:

Why is this, and how can it be fixed?

Because the demo is not the game, and there is no fix as it is by design.

But demos do have their own pages, as is the case with Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders's demo.

[xarvn]

One important purpose of reviews is to give information to potential purchasers of games so that they can make a better buying decision. Demos are generally free and therefore do not require reviews per se. In fact, a demo in and of itself might been seen as a type or review, albeit a biased one from the publisher, which conveys information to influence potential customers of the full game. Now you might argue that demos serve poorly as reviews, but then I would argue the opposite since they convey first-hand experience of what the game is likely to be like, whereas some random person's written opinions are second-hand at best. That the demos, as you suggest, should have reviews, shows in fact that they are a more honest source of info than someone else's opinion.

[Active Hoper]

Originally posted by xarvn:

One important purpose of reviews is to give information to potential purchasers of games so that they can make a better buying decision. Demos are generally free and therefore do not require reviews per se. In fact, a demo in and of itself might been seen as a type or review, albeit a biased one from the publisher, which conveys information to influence potential customers of the full game. Now you might argue that demos serve poorly as reviews, but then I would argue the opposite since they convey first-hand experience of what the game is likely to be like, whereas some random person's written opinions are second-hand at best. That the demos, as you suggest, should have reviews, shows in fact that they are a more honest source of info than someone else's opinion.

I'm not suggesting that they should have reviews; they already do. I'm asking why my review of a demo that does does not count toward its page's overall score, even though I downloaded it from Steam directly.

[xarvn]

Originally posted by Active Hoper:

...I'm asking why my reviews of the demos that do do not count toward their page's overall score, even though I downloaded them from Steam directly.

Sorry about my misunderstanding. I believe that only reviews from those who purchased the game count in the score. I don't seem to see a separate page for the demo of Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders. The page is shared with the actual game as far as I can see:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2545360/Lonely_Mountains_Snow_Riders/

[Active Hoper]

Originally posted by xarvn:

Originally posted by Active Hoper:

...I'm asking why my reviews of the demos that do do not count toward their page's overall score, even though I downloaded them from Steam directly.

Sorry about my misunderstanding. I believe that only reviews from those who purchased the game count in the score. I don't seem to see a separate page for the demo of Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders. The page is shared with the actual game as far as I can see:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2545360/Lonely_Mountains_Snow_Riders/

No worries. I've definitely seen a separate page for its demo, but maybe it's only viewable to those who've downloaded or written about it. If so, that may cause Steam to be unable to properly split the demo's page from the full game's page.

[xarvn]

As far as I can remember, Steam has always only counted reviews of those who purchased the game. In fact since 2016, the review won't count in the score if you did not purchase the game directly from Steam. So gifted games and games obtained through key sellers don't count:
https://store.steampowered.com/oldnews/24155

[Active Hoper]

Originally posted by xarvn:

As far as I can remember, Steam has always only count the reviews of those who purchased the game. In fact since 2016, the review won't count in the score if you did not purchase the game directly from Steam. So gifted games and games obtained through key sellers don't count:
https://store.steampowered.com/oldnews/24155

The demo could be coded to be recognized as one of those two things.

[xarvn]

It could indeed. However, they have decided not to do so. You can make a suggestion for this to be changed in the "Suggestions/Ideas" forum. I am not sure what Steam's policy is for games that are completely free and have no way to purchase DLC or other paid unlocks.

[Active Hoper]

Originally posted by xarvn:

It could indeed. However, they have decided not to do so. You can make a suggestion for this to be changed in the "Suggestions/Ideas" forum. I am not sure what Steam's policy is for games that are completely free and have no way to purchase DLC or other paid unlocks.

I meant that it could, meaning currently potentially, not potentially in the future, be coded to be recognized as such. That said, if that is the case, it should be coded to instead be viewed as a direct-from-Steam copy on the proper page.

I think that my confusion has been sorted out. Thank you for your help.

[xarvn]

Whether they count in the score or not, someone may still find reviews helpful. Good luck!

[RPG Gamer Man]

Originally posted by Active Hoper:

Originally posted by xarvn:

As far as I can remember, Steam has always only count the reviews of those who purchased the game. In fact since 2016, the review won't count in the score if you did not purchase the game directly from Steam. So gifted games and games obtained through key sellers don't count:
https://store.steampowered.com/oldnews/24155

The demo could be coded to be recognized as one of those two things.

If they somehow did like they do for free games and mark the review for the DEMO version of the game that would be fine, or a selection if a person can mark it as the demo version, like how people do for free games given to them. This method would work. I suggest you put this idea on the suggestion forum.

Post it here about your idea:

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/

[T|-|R0\/\/ER]

One important purpose of reviews is to give information to potential purchasers of games so that they can make a better buying decision. Demos are generally free and therefore do not require reviews per se. In fact, a demo in and of itself might been seen as a type or review, albeit a biased one from the publisher, which conveys information to influence potential customers of the full game. Now you might argue that demos serve poorly as reviews, but then I would argue the opposite since they convey first-hand experience of what the game is likely to be like, whereas some random person's written opinions are second-hand at best. That the demos, as you suggest, should have reviews, shows in fact that they are a more honest source of info than someone else's opinion

[Active Hoper]

Originally posted by FACE$M/\$H:

One important purpose of reviews is to give information to potential purchasers of games so that they can make a better buying decision. Demos are generally free and therefore do not require reviews per se. In fact, a demo in and of itself might been seen as a type or review, albeit a biased one from the publisher, which conveys information to influence potential customers of the full game. Now you might argue that demos serve poorly as reviews, but then I would argue the opposite since they convey first-hand experience of what the game is likely to be like, whereas some random person's written opinions are second-hand at best. That the demos, as you suggest, should have reviews, shows in fact that they are a more honest source of info than someone else's opinion

Why are you just copying someone else's message?