Adding some real rewards to steam points

[AlexThePup]

Right now, Steam Points are just for cosmetics. Why couldn't they be used for actual rewards? Like, even GameStop has a program where you can use your points for in-store credit. I'm not saying a lot, but for every couple hundred thousand points, a five dollar gift card (for Steam, ofc).

I love Steam as my main place to get games, but I'd really love for Steam Points to actually be useful. Like, a tonne of places have rewards systems like this. Most grocery stores have it, GameStop has it, hell, even Bing has a rewards system to get gift cards.

I'm just saying, it's not unreasonable. It would be good for user retention, after all, if you can get free gift cards, why not stay. It creatives a positive rewards system, and it creates good PR with your customers - only reason I use Bing is for the gift cards, lol.

[Crazy Tiger]

They did it in sales events in the past, it might return in sales events in the future. Whether it'll come as an option outside of those is questionable at the moment.

Originally posted by Coderboy14:

It would be good for user retention

What makes you think user retention isn't already good?

[AlexThePup]

Originally posted by Coderboy14:

It would be good for user retention

What makes you think user retention isn't already good? [/quote]

I didn't say it wasn't already good. Just it's an extra boost. Like I said, there are some platforms me and friends stay on, merely for the rewards.
I was just trying to list some reasons why it could be a good idea to implement it. Hell, I've gone to GameStop over Steam (my preferred shopping place), merely because GameStop gives me rewards.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/3118150513194573207/

This makes today's 2nd thread.

[AlexThePup]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

This makes today's 2nd thread.

Sorry, I did try looking, but that's a poor title, so I likely skipped over it. I do agree that steam should add rewards, I don't think it's unreasonable. I'm not saying they should be throwing things at us, but at least having some useful way to redeem the points would be appreciated.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by Coderboy14:

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

This makes today's 2nd thread.

Sorry, I did try looking, but that's a poor title, so I likely skipped over it. I do agree that steam should add rewards, I don't think it's unreasonable. I'm not saying they should be throwing things at us, but at least having some useful way to redeem the points would be appreciated.

You'd be surprised how easy meme content is awarded with hundreds of awards.

There have been a few threads complaining about it the last few months.

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/2974023911550170856/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/7/2976275080116322939/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/0/3004430047200976027/

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/2953755177909010958/

Literally farming points with junk.

You want to reward that behavior to get all their games free?

[Leonardo Da Pinchi]

I wonder how many times we've seen this thread. Just people feeling entitled to more than they deserve. You buy the games for the games, the fact there is a points shop as a bonus is generous enough.

[Satoru]

The nano-second 'real' rewards come from points, hijacking of accounts will go through the roof

There's no way steam is gonna risk that.

1) hijack account
2) send 'awards' to your scammer account. scammers dont mind the conversion loss because points are effectively 'free' and functionally untraceable
3) use points to buy 'real' things

There will be a literal 10000x increase in spam posts, scammers in chats, and discord spams that will make the 70k accounts hijacked per month back in 2015 seem like some kind of paradise to fall back on.

[Irene ❤]

If rewards have money value, I don't think people will give rewards. If they have to spend it, they will spend it on their alt accounts. You will see lots of gaming girl profiles trying to seduce you.

[Satoru]

Originally posted by Irene💕:

If rewards have money value, I don't think people will give rewards. If they have to spend it, they will spend it on their alt accounts. You will see lots of gaming girl profiles trying to seduce you. :erune:

Hijackers/scammers will give rewards to their alts or 'buyers' in order to transfer the points to other accounts. The hijackers dont care about the conversion rate of rewards on the target profile because points are 'free' to them on any hijacked account.

points might have a conversion of 100 = $1 but on the black scammer market its likely to be worth much less. To the sammer the points are 'free' so youll see an inherent downward push of the black market price. Just like how credit card numbers are basically sold now in lots of like 10,000 for almost nothing on the darknet.

[Supafly]

Essentially you want a reward for earning a reward. Essentially the same as threads where users want rewards for gaining achievements. Only difference is you want a financial reward. Besides the scam issues already mentioned Valve had coupons you could get using points in the past. They have since Split the points system from buying a coupon for money off during sales. You can now earn points all year round not just in specific sales.

Nothing stopping Valve providing a way to get a coupon during sales. They could always just have a spend x and get x of automatically. No need to even use the points.

[B l u e b e r r y P o p t a r t]

No thanks. I like having the Steam points as a small thank you type of system that has little nicknacks you can get that has no valve and you can spend on making your profile more unique or give them away to something else (still wish points were taken off from giving an award).

[Pigeon Pecking Keyboard]

I am cynical about any cashback reward systems. This earn-as-you-go is a relatively modern consumerism concept. Something good for companies but not for consumers like you and me.

Ultimately, they are billed back to the customer as Cost of Goods (COG). Example: If COG has $100 as marketing expenses, I would have to include that into the price I want to sell goods on. And the end-effect is that you are stuck with the company because "you have banked points".

Rewards based on cosmetics are minimal and provide a bit of fun, I can only think of dev's expenses in terms of the art assets which may also be recycled from game material and some animation work.