Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style
It's been a little over a week since Steam updated its storefront with fresh features and a new interface. I've already gotten used to it -- and by "gotten used to it" I mean that I've started using Steam's front page as little as possible. I used to flick around looking at the new releases, sales and features whenever I logged in, but these days I don't even bother skimming. I know that I'll only be inundated with information I either already know or am not actually interested in.
What makes it so much more frustrating is that they're so close to something good. With a few little changes, Steam's new front page could be so much more than just dead weight. For example...
Make it Easier to See All New Releases
It's a bit mind-boggling that the list of new games and not just featured or popular new games is as buried in Steam as it is. This is done by design to hide a lot of the "junk" that's finding its way onto Steam. The flow of that "junk" will only increase if/when Valve decides to phase Greenlight out, so burying it and making sure that all the average person sees is the cream that's already risen to the top kind of makes sense. Except... That will just feed a cycle where the games that start out on top stay on top, leaving little room for hidden gems without hype or marketing muscle behind them to be seen in the same way.
This wouldn't be so bad if other systems were in place to bring more interesting underdogs in front of customer eyes... And they are. Sort of. It's just that in their current state, they fall dramatically short.
Don't Recommend Games I've Already Seen (Or That Aren't Available)
In its current state, Steam probably still seems like an absolute wonderland for new or occasional users. On the other hand, for those of us who pop in weekly (if not daily) it can feel like looking through your favorite book; you know just about every page, you recognize the good parts and the bad parts at a glance, and there are plenty of pages you've dog-eared to reread again at some point. That's why what Steam's been recommending to me over the past week hasn't been even close to helpful. The majority of the games it's suggesting are either titles that are already on my wishlist, or titles that I'm well aware of and haven't bought or wishlisted for a reason. As I wrote last week, "if it wasn't just a poorly programmed algorithm I'd mistake it for the sales guy at a local game store who likes to condescendingly recommend games that I've 'probably never heard of'."
Better Yet, Let Me Define How Those Recommendations are Chosen
There's another big problem with these recommendations. If you look at a game page for a second, even a game you're not interested in -- a game you think is dumb and tasteless, a page your friend thought was poorly written and laughable -- you'll start getting recommendations based on that moment of morbid curiosity. Take the hint, Steam: If I looked at a game's page and didn't buy it (or even at it to my wishlist) I probably didn't like what I saw.
Then again, maybe I was looking for a game in a certain style and didn't find quite what I was looking for. Fair enough, and in that case hints could be helpful. But that's not a position I personally find myself in often, so why not just let me turn that function off? Let me remove games I've viewed before or added to my wishlist from those recommendations. Let me note my preference for new games, or independently published games, or games with female protagonists, or any number of Steam tags that align with my interests as a player. Give me literally any control over these recommendations, because they just aren't useful without it.
Recommend Relevant Curators Based on the Same Criteria
In case I havent made this clear already, I have limited interest in being recommended things with established popularity. They're not news, and they're rarely ever surprising. The same is true of curators. If I'm a fan of a successful game personality, I probably already know the games they'll want to share.
So surprise me, Steam. You sure has hell know what games I've bought and what games I've put embarassing amounts of time into, so use that information to find and recommend active curators whose tastes align with mine, because based on the current curation system I'm unlikely to ever find them on my own. Find me a curator who's put as many hours into Action RPG X as Dating Sim Y and tell me what they're into, because they're the kind of curator I'm most interested in following. They're a lot more likely to take me by surprise than a Youtuber with a penchant for survivalcraft.
Those are my thoughts, but what about yours? How would you improve Steam's new look? As always, share your thoughts in the comments below.
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