Steam Friends message alert for downtime/maintenance

[John Destiny]

Me and my group of friends use steam group chat daily. We use the group voice chat for pretty much every single game we play on steam and off. Lately though Im really find it harder and harder to recommend people using the chat and voice comms of the friend system. The friends servers seem to go down at the WORST possible times and stay down just long enough to be extremely irritating.

I have held back creating a discussion because I figured that I might be in the minority here. Most people use Skype, teamspeak or mumble. I understand that maintenance happens and that's not what I am upset about. I think it would be extremely helpful that if there is going to be maintenance, or even if there is going to be expected downtime, to send out an alert message similar to a chat message from another user announcing the downtime.

I understand some people would find this irritating, so perhaps implement an option to disable these alerts so that you no longer see them. I remember reading a few months ago that a pinned thread was created that gets updated every time friends goes down. The problem is I rarely check forums so I feel this isn't the best way to let people know.

[Black Blade]

You may want to follow these:
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=784745&page=1000
and maybe also follow support on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Steam_Support

Links taken from:
http://www.issteamdown.com/

[John Destiny]

Why comment if you are not going to read the post.

[Black Blade]

Publicado originalmente por Slab BulkHead:

Why comment if you are not going to read the post.

Why you think i did not read it?
The main thing i see you saying is that you like Steam to say when they are going down.. that is what i post abut.. were they announced the downtime

[Posivated]

What is your aversion to using a voice program like mumble, teamspeak, vent, or skype?

[John Destiny]

I have no aversion to using those. Infact i use mumble quite frequently with a different group of people i play with. All my friends back home however DO have an aversion to using those programs. I dont think that my suggestion is unreasonable, yet i get one reply telling me about a maintenance thread (which i mentioned in my original post that i dont frequent the forums all to often) and another reply saying "why not just use teamspeak?".

I guess i was correct and that i am indeed in the minority of people who actually prefer to use steam chat.

[Posivated]

Ofcourse you are the minority, people generally don't choose something sub-par when there is a better option.

[John Destiny]

Thats the point, my suggestion was an effort to make steam chat and the friends system in general better.

[Τhe Rolling Cheese Wheel]

Valve could just implement this entire webpage somewhere on to the steam interface.

http://steamstat.us/

[Black Blade]

Publicado originalmente por Slab BulkHead:

which i mentioned in my original post that i dont frequent the forums all to often) and another reply saying "why not just use teamspeak?".

Well i just point out they did announced it... there not going to do a wide message i think any how, and that is the best you got...

Any how i use Steam voice chat all the time never really had much problem with most of who i talk to even that most of them like more to talk in Skype or something else