Valve Discusses Charging Customers Based on Popularity
198 replies, posted
Every "valve discusses" thread i've read anymore sends them further and further down the shitter.
Eliminating single player (and thus proper story, atmosphere) is the dumbest thing they've ever done and I don't know if they can recover.
Must [i]every[/i] Valve thread these days be nothing but overreactions?
I think this post from the "Valve games and mods" section sums things up a little more rationally:
[QUOTE=ChristopherB;29856548]When Gabe Newell talks about positive and negative players he [b][u]isn't[/u][/b] referring to people being polite or rude; he is talking about people that setup communities, generate popular content, or break the game by cheating or generally ruining the experience for everyone. He isn't implying that players who are respectful of others will get a discount, nor does he intend to charge griefers $100 for a basic feature like voice-chat.
[b]Valuable players:[/b]
*Setup active communities that build interest in titles
*Create new content (hats, mods, remakes, etc) that increase the value of titles
Examples: the guys that setup the Portal 2 ARG solving website or made the "I hate mountains" custom campaign
[b]Disruptive players:[/b]
*Create hacks thus ruining the experience for other players
This has nothing to do with voting, player popularity, bans, or players screaming obscenities.[/QUOTE]
In other words: "Help us grow the game's player base and or the game itself and we will give you free stuff."
Sounds like a great thing to me
Somewhat reminds me of when they tried adjusting CSS gun prices based on the popularity of guns that were bought.
[QUOTE=Political Gamer;29858572]Must [i]every[/i] Valve thread these days be nothing but overreactions?
I think this post from the "Valve games and mods" section sums things up a little more rationally:
In other words: "Help us grow the game's player base and or the game itself and we will give you free stuff."
Sounds like a great thing to me[/QUOTE]
I'm not trying to be a negative nancy, but where did Chris get this info from? That's not at all what Gabe was quoted as saying.
Is there another article out there somewhere where Gabe can be quoted clarifying all of this, or is it speculation?
[QUOTE=MrFish;29858099][url]http://www.develop-online.net/features/1192/Gabe-Newell-on-Valve[/url]
I think this is the same article that talks about Source not getting a major update.[/QUOTE]
So pretty much Half-Life Episode Three is coming out never. If there's no more big five year projects Episode three will either be a shorter than normal Episode or just straight up none at all.
[QUOTE=animephreak135;29858753]I'm not trying to be a negative nancy, but where did Chris get this info from? That's not at all what Gabe was quoted as saying.
Is there another article out there somewhere where Gabe can be quoted clarifying all of this, or is it speculation?[/QUOTE]
It's based on rational inferencing.
There is no feasible, meaningful way for Valve to track a player's popularity or politeness but what they can see is that 'x' number of players are using this custom map, or perhaps 'y' people are going to this community to get their gaming info/advice. Gabe's point was that a small selection of the player base greatly enhances the appeal (and thus success) of a title and that sort of behavior should be rewarded.
Issues like players griefing or just being rude in general are immaterial in the context of game pricing. You solve those issues through game balancing, fixing exploits, and giving server owners ways to deal with unruly players.
The users in this thread are acting irrationally by insinuating that Valve is going to start raising the price of games for those that throw around curse words or lowering them for players with an excessively long friend-list. That simply isn't realistic.
[QUOTE=ChristopherB;29858886]It's based on rational inferencing.
There is no feasible, meaningful way for Valve to track a player's popularity or politeness but what they can see is that 'x' number of players are using this custom map, or perhaps 'y' people are going to this community to get their gaming info/advice. Gabe's point was that a small selection of the player base greatly enhances the appeal (and thus success) of a title and that sort of behavior should be rewarded.
Issues like players griefing or just being rude in general are immaterial in the context of game pricing. You solve those issues through game balancing, fixing exploits, and giving server owners ways to deal with unruly players.
The users in this thread are acting irrationally by insinuating that Valve is going to start raising the price of games for those that throw around curse words or lowering them for players with an excessively long friend-list. That simply isn't realistic.[/QUOTE]
You're being just as irrational. We won't, and can't know anything until they actually implement this system. The only thing we can solidly go off of at this point is Gabe's interview, and he wasn't exactly vague about these changes. Don't rush to be a Valve hater, and don't rush to be a Valve apologist.
Also, your idea of "feasible" is entirely off. A system that can track a user's popularity is just as feasible as a system that can keep track of individual maps that a user has made, and the number of people using that map.
[QUOTE=animephreak135;29858995]You're being just as irrational. We won't, and can't know anything until they actually implement this system. The only thing we can solidly go off of at this point is Gabe's interview, and he wasn't exactly vague about these changes. Don't rush to be a Valve hater, and don't rush to be a Valve apologist.
Also, your idea of "feasible" is entirely off. A system that can track a user's popularity is just as feasible as a system that can keep track of individual maps that a user has made, and the number of people using that map.[/QUOTE]
You should listen to the interview in which he spoke about this. He used the same tone as he did with his discussion on using biometrics to measure the players' response to events occurring in the game; The tone is one of cautious curiosity. The examples he presented weren't intended to be taken literally.
EDIT: The full interview is [url=http://www.develop-online.net/features/1192/Gabe-Newell-on-Valve]here[/url] but I can't seem to find the audio. I could have sworn I've heard him discussing this before. In any case, you still should not take it literally.
I think it is quite feasible to track what maps/mods are being hosted and played on a consistent basis. A casual glance at the server browser can reveal most of the information you need, and I imagine it wouldn't be difficult to write a script to collect and organize the data for you. Tracking a player's popularity or politeness, on the other hand, seems to be a futile effort; how would you measure it?
I don't consider myself to be a "Valve apologist". I like some of their titles (the Portal series primarily) and I use the Steam distribution system for most of my PC title purchases, but I have little vested interest in defending them from criticism. There are many aspects of their more recent accomplishments that I am not fond of, namely this whole "hats" business and their implementation of micro transactions.
[QUOTE=mastermaul;29858510]Every "valve discusses" thread i've read anymore sends them further and further down the shitter.
Eliminating single player (and thus proper story, atmosphere) is the dumbest thing they've ever done and I don't know if they can recover.[/QUOTE]
They're not eliminating single player. Go read that article again, and this time: don't skim it and make baseless assumptions.
The fact that so many of you are actually taking this seriously is fucking sad.
Why does the source link to [url]http://source/[/url] ?
[editline]16th May 2011[/editline]
[url]http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110056-Valve-Discusses-Charging-Customers-Based-on-Popularity[/url]
Actual link.
What if a swarm of people decided all to report someone for being a jerk and now that person has to pay extra for no real reason?
[editline]16th May 2011[/editline]
Wow there's a lot more posts than when I originally read the thread, I may be late.
[editline]16th May 2011[/editline]
Yeah fuck ignore me.
Context, this was taken out of it.
He's basically saying people you have more fun with make more people enjoy the game which makes the gameplay more enjoyable for more, so they are making valve money by not being douches. While douchebag players will annoy you and make you not want to play and you'll have a negative opinion on it.
[QUOTE=Shadaez;29859808]Context, this was taken out of it.
He's basically saying people you have more fun with make more people enjoy the game which makes the gameplay more enjoyable for more, so they are making valve money by not being douches. While douchebag players will annoy you and make you not want to play and you'll have a negative opinion on it.[/QUOTE]
Way too simplistic of a post.
[editline]16th May 2011[/editline]
Sad to say but I'm going to be watching this skeptically. There's been way too much creepy shit coming out of there lately for me to fully support it, and I think the age where I used to love Valve as a father that started circa 2002 for me is over. I'll stay cautiously optimistic, though.
I like the idea of charging less to the good people but charging the dicks for features that should come with the game? That's just dumb.
[QUOTE=Lust;29858190]I can imagine this idea put into practice
"Oh I got reported by a bunch of griefers... 100 dollars? Well I'll just go use D2D"
*Valve loses millions of customers*[/QUOTE]
D2D generally already undercut Steam in terms of euros, as Valve seem to be refusing to translate the price (and making people pay the most ridiculous difference) most of my eurobros tend to roll D2D.
[QUOTE=FuckaNinja;29858018]Even if they DID implement this, the amount of protesters and people boycotting valve games would be so huge they would have go to back to normal or be ruined.[/QUOTE]
you mean like the l4d2 boycott? lol yeah that one was [i]really effective[/i]
idiot
This can be terribly abused
[editline]16th May 2011[/editline]
Also the dicks ALREADY get charged more, they buy hats :v:
This is the worst idea ever.
Also, if they do some kind of rating system, someone could easily get their friends to raise their popularity, and you'd get dicks purposely rating badly on purpose.
I just don't see the point in this all. £30-40 a game is quite expensive, but I'd much, much rather that than companies do this.
It's an ok idea, it stops underage kids from playing games like counterstrike or tf2 and then being a total noob which would then make people leave.
[QUOTE=smidge146;29860976]It's an ok idea, it stops underage kids from playing games like counterstrike or tf2 and then being a total noob which would then make people leave.[/QUOTE]
No it wouldn't they'd just get it some elsewhere and the fact that you used noob makes me think you're a kid that thinks you're better than everyone else in your age group.
So real popularity gets you chicks, internet popularity gets you free games.
Do they really expect me to buy a game and then pay additional 100$ for voice? Well this is not how you please your community, valve. I usually don't pirate games, but when I do, it's for reasons like this.
Yeah right.
Everytime I play TF2 I use my words as a weapon, as well as my weapons, to bring down the enemy. Fight till death, motherfuckers type deal, anyway it's fun. And if that make's me an asshole, thus making Valve's games cost more for me, even though I consider myself one of their truest fans, then fuck Valve.
Also, I wouldn't expect to be "popular" among the TF2 community, because truth to be told, I don't give a shit about the community. All I care for is victory for my RED team.
so dis means im gonna get charged money to stab ppl in CSS and diss them w/ my mic?? lolll
what if i never played said game to get any popularity?
[QUOTE=rampageturke 2;29861485]what if i never played said game to get any popularity?[/QUOTE]
it would probably cost what it would normally cost.
then you start playing, and you build your bullshit community career to boost your popularity among the stupid ass community. Then you get a game for free, and.. I don't know. I won't let you off without a struggle in-game, remember that!
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;29861472]Yeah right.
Everytime I play TF2 I use my words as a weapon, as well as my weapons, to bring down the enemy. Fight till death, motherfuckers type deal, anyway it's fun. And if that make's me an asshole, thus making Valve's games cost more for me, even though I consider myself one of their truest fans, then fuck Valve.
Also, I wouldn't expect to be "popular" among the TF2 community, because truth to be told, I don't give a shit about the community. All I care for is victory for my RED team.[/QUOTE]
Better dead than red :v:
The only explanation for this idiocy would be april fools day but it's may.
Also I bet dota 2 will have an ingame store bigger than mannconomy
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;29861515]it would probably cost what it would normally cost.
then you start playing, and you build your bullshit community career to boost your popularity among the stupid ass community. Then you get a game for free, and.. I don't know. I won't let you off without a struggle in-game, remember that![/QUOTE]
but if i was never a dick to anyone, why should someone else who played it and wasnt a dick get a lower priced game
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