One of my favorite reviewers recently did a review of Bleed, a 2D side-scrolling shooter/platformer. I bought it after watching that review and it's pretty fun. Controls are pretty fluid with M+KB and it's got nice visuals and sound. It's also up on greenlight and I think it deserves some recognition. I thought it was well worth the $5 price tag. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=92919970 Protag is kind of cute too
Goodbye Greenlight, you were a failed experiment. It is no longer linked from the store page. It is empty if you go there from the community page.
No change. Still empty, regardless of wether I go there through the steam client or webpage on my browser.
I'm getting a message that I've reviewed everything. Cool. Job well done. Now when do I get paid? (j/k) There was a message saying that they've just incorporated some requested changes, so that indicates to me that greenlight is only dead in the technical sense (in that they broke it). If it were dead in the more literal sense, I'd expect something else (even killing it quietly, but not this).
Well... It *WAS* working when I posted that. At least for me. Now however it is not. It shows there to be no items whatsoever. As Haldurson suggests, I think this is very temporary, I have seen times that the *Store* side of Steam was gone for a hour or two. I really doubt they are as concerned about the Greenlight side of things, but they collect fees to Greenlight games and applications, so they have a contractual obligation to get the problem worked out as soon as they can. Greenlight is far from gone. *Edit* Some parts are still working even now. If you have items in your favorites, they still show. But not in the general categories they fit in, only in favorites. Yes, that image was taken and snipped right now.
They are admitting that it's not quite working as well as he'd like it to. But I'm not sure what he means when he says that the store should become user-generated content. Does he mean putting user content from the game pages on the store page? (Such as screen shots, videos, guides, etc.)? Because that could easily backfire (you know how crotchety some gamers can be).
Some thoughts on this: If Steam stopped curating content, how would that change their legal status concerning said content? Imagine if WarZ wasn't pulled, but continued to sell happily without promised features, or imagine some microtransaction scheme run through a game on Steam. I'd imagine they could be held responsible in court somehow, or at least be involved in a major battle. Because, you know, they chose that content! Even more relevant: EU rulings concerning the return of digital goods and selling used digital goods. If Steam is only an API and doesn't sell you the games directly, they aren't responsible for any refunds or the sales of used games! This is what comes to my mind when I hear that, what could Steam gain as an API?
Yeah, that is indeed something which Steam wants to avoid at all costs, and what is better than simply giving away the responsibility to do so? Give the devs the API and simply enjoy the cash, without any of the work or responsibility.
Many years ago, It actually was relatively easy to get refunds on software (at least from most vendors). I actually remember buying a game from a big name vendor at a local mall (I dont' think Gamestop existed then, but the storefront did eventually become a Gamestop). The store manager or salesperson who whatever he was actually asked me how I had liked a game I had purchased there, and I admitted point blank that I didn't like it, and he said I could just bring it in for a refund or exchange. At some point, after the store changed names, that policy disappeared to the point where they'd only give refunds for unopened games, and eventually sometimes not even for that (you could sometimes still get a refund through the publisher of those games though). I remember once going to a Gamestop(?) and I brought in the full box showing them that the game contained the wrong disks (it was one of these multi-disk games, and it contained like 2 disk 3s instead of a 3 and 4). Frequently, you'd also get games with damaged disks (that took going through even more hoops sometimes to get a refund, and sometimes even then, they'd require you to go through the manufacturer). So the policy of some companies in the U.S. borders on criminal, imho. There are exceptions though, and believe it or not Steam is one of the better companies to deal with. Steam Really did give refunds for Sword of the Stars 2, for example, and at least a few other games that come to mind -- in fact when there's enough of an uproar about a crappy game, there's always been a small window after the games release where you can get a refund for a game that you preordered. But it probably has to be more than 'I don't like it'. So yes, Steam, unlike many other companies does give refunds, but the criteria for those refunds are pretty narrow, as you might expect.
Refunds for games is hard - because for games without DRM (or with DRM, but with a method of circumvention known) you could 'buy' the game, copy it elsewhere, then get a 'refund' and laugh and laugh and laugh. Or you could play a 5 hour title into the ground, then refund it. Or...
I totally understand why that is, but as I said, even when I could not even install the game because it contained the wrong disks or damaged disks, I felt like I was being treated like a criminal for wanting a refund (replacement wasn't always an option as these store fronts rarely had more than a couple of copies of the types of obscure games that I preferred).
Steam only give refunds when there's outroar over a game in order to save face. It's absolutely nothing to do with customer service, it's about distancing themselves from the issue. Like WarZ or whatever it's called? Steam issued refunds. They have NOT apologised for allowing it onto the store in the first place. It is *their* duty as a retailer to ensure that these details are correct, and it is the publisher's duty to ensure the details they give are correct.
According to Newells statement, though, they are saying, essentially, that they have been overwhelmed with new products, which is why they want to change the storefront. How they could guarantee that a game is ready when it's released, I'm truly unsure of. They'd have to have teams of beta testers, assuming the game publishers even have a beta they want to share with Steam (remember, if a game publisher knows what its doing, it isn't going to want to share that information of a half-baked product, with anyone, let alone with Steam).
