Steam to get plugin support and start selling movies and music, beta code suggests - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Reshy;45654315]Honestly, I think they should hire the Pixelvision guy. [t]http://i.imgur.com/exd9D.jpg[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/RsOYMsG.jpg[/t] It just looks so much better to me.[/QUOTE] That really looks snazzy. Would be pretty cool to have as a default skin.

[QUOTE=Rocko's;45654355]That really looks snazzy. Would be pretty cool to have as a default skin.[/QUOTE] The picture doesn't really give the skin justice too, the jpeg compression is eating away a lot of the detail. It's really good.

It's a very good skin, it's a crying shame valve hasn't hired him to do the UI work for their client.

[QUOTE=Reshy;45654315]Honestly, I think they should hire the Pixelvision guy. [t]http://i.imgur.com/exd9D.jpg[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/RsOYMsG.jpg[/t] It just looks so much better to me.[/QUOTE] Steam should have a skin workshop that allows auto-updates. It'd keep users up to date and it'd get people off Valve's back to make Steam look different/newer. I'm sick of having to download different versions manually. Don't get me wrong, Steam is built on a foundation that just isn't efficient enough but I think given a proper framework, people could do some really great things.

TBH: I'm all for the movies, but they shouldnt touch music.

[QUOTE=Reshy;45654315]Honestly, I think they should hire the Pixelvision guy. [t]http://i.imgur.com/exd9D.jpg[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/RsOYMsG.jpg[/t] It just looks so much better to me.[/QUOTE] the problem is that he's not a UX guy at all. Steam has poor UX and UI.

[QUOTE=Korova;45653805]I wish Steam would focus on refining the features they already have rather than adding more. I've been using Steam for ten years now and the community still goes down once an hour it seems like. The UI is ugly (Valve is a billion dollar company and they can't acquire one of the designers from Microsoft/Google/Apple? Come on), it's difficult to navigate and it relies on embedded web-browsers too much. Also the overlay crashes all the time.[/QUOTE] I actually like the UI just because it's not trying to be flashy or aiming for anything. It's just Steam and it's awesome.

[QUOTE=Foda;45654444]the problem is that he's not a UX guy at all. Steam has poor UX and UI.[/QUOTE] To be fair, he's making the most out of what he was given. You can only do so much with a skin.

Imagine how much worse their tech support is going to get when they start piling even more services onto it. "Hey Valve I can't watch movies!" 3 weeks later, [i]"UNINSTALL AVAST IDK LOL"[/i]

There's already movies and music soo...

[QUOTE=Zeke129;45654461]Imagine how much worse their tech support is going to get when they start piling even more services onto it. "Hey Valve I can't watch movies!" 3 weeks later, [i]"UNINSTALL AVAST IDK LOL"[/i][/QUOTE] That's another point that needs to be made, Valve is a billion dollar company and they'll be in direct competition with other billion dollar companies. If people are going to use their service, they better get similar customer support quality/policies.

Watch steam just release every movie ever. TF2 movie drops.

[QUOTE=Korova;45654489]That's another point that needs to be made, Valve is a billion dollar company and they'll be in direct competition with other billion dollar companies. If people are going to use their service, they better get similar customer support quality/policies.[/QUOTE] Ever since valve started getting rich as fuck they've progressively become lazier and lazier. "Adding games is hard let's make people vote for games they want on steam" "Customer support is boring, let's not bother having a decent one, people will keep buying our shit anyway" "Hey you know what's boring ? Making content. Let's not make our own content for our games anymore and let the community make their own stuff but let's still take most of the money that comes out of that" "Lol who cares about product quality control let's allow self-titled publishers to release whatever the fuck they want for whatever price they want" "Hey is the platform still unstable and shitty ? Who cares release big picture add some blue gradient on it and call it a day people will keep using that shit cause they can't use anything else"

[QUOTE=Noss;45653727]they should just call it Stream[/QUOTE] [i]All aboard, the [b]Steam Stream![/b][/i]

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;45654527]Ever since valve started getting rich as fuck they've progressively become lazier and lazier. "Adding games is hard let's make people vote for games they want on steam" "Customer support is boring, let's not bother having a decent one, people will keep buying our shit anyway" "Hey you know what's boring ? Making content. Let's not make our own content for our games anymore and let the community make their own stuff but let's still take most of the money that comes out of that" "Lol who cares about product quality control let's allow self-titled publishers to release whatever the fuck they want for whatever price they want" "Hey is the platform still unstable and shitty ? Who cares release big picture add some blue gradient on it and call it a day people will keep using that shit cause they can't use anything else"[/QUOTE] "lets keep half-life source at 10 dollars yet its bundled with episode 1 which costs 8 dollars." "lets keep css at 20 bucks while we keep csgo at 15 dollars" "updating games means actually keeping them in working order? pfft" "its by design" "hey someone ported the gearbox hd pack to source, lets put that in our game without removing any of the custom textures include even though someone also provided a zip file with all of the files to restore them back to the original textures." [sp]i atleast think hl1s is bundled with ep1, i know by fact hldms is[/sp]

[QUOTE=Korova;45653805]I wish Steam would focus on refining the features they already have rather than adding more. I've been using Steam for ten years now and the community still goes down once an hour it seems like. The UI is ugly (Valve is a billion dollar company and they can't acquire one of the designers from Microsoft/Google/Apple? Come on), it's difficult to navigate and it relies on embedded web-browsers too much. Also the overlay crashes all the time.[/QUOTE] Drag and drop for games in my library so I can organize them better, thats all I ask, although the music player is great, as long as they make it compatible with the media control keys on keyboards

My guess is steam built in streaming from games to viewers

[QUOTE=uaredead2020;45654554]"lets keep half-life source at 10 dollars yet its bundled with episode 1 which costs 8 dollars." "lets keep css at 20 bucks while we keep csgo at 15 dollars" "updating games means actually keeping them in working order? pfft" "its by design" "hey someone ported the gearbox hd pack to source, lets put that in our game without removing any of the custom textures include even though someone also provided a zip file with all of the files to restore them back to the original textures." [sp]i atleast think hl1s is bundled with ep1, i know by fact hldms is[/sp][/QUOTE] Probably the worst offender of nonsensical price tagging is Lost Coast, only available in the valve complete pack for a measly 100 bucks.

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;45654663]Probably the worst offender of nonsensical price tagging is Lost Coast, only available in the valve complete pack for a measly 100 bucks.[/QUOTE] It's just a tech demo, while I agree they shouldn't charge for it, the demand should be small? I have it, never bought a complete pack.

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;45654663]Probably the worst offender of nonsensical price tagging is Lost Coast, only available in the valve complete pack for a measly 100 bucks.[/QUOTE] Wait, what the fuck? I got it for free back in 2005 for owning HL2

I got it from buying The Orange Box.

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;45654527]Ever since valve started getting rich as fuck they've progressively become lazier and lazier. "Adding games is hard let's make people vote for games they want on steam" "Customer support is boring, let's not bother having a decent one, people will keep buying our shit anyway" "Hey you know what's boring ? Making content. Let's not make our own content for our games anymore and let the community make their own stuff but let's still take most of the money that comes out of that" "Lol who cares about product quality control let's allow self-titled publishers to release whatever the fuck they want for whatever price they want" "Hey is the platform still unstable and shitty ? Who cares release big picture add some blue gradient on it and call it a day people will keep using that shit cause they can't use anything else"[/QUOTE] and this is exactly why we need competition like GoG, Origin, etc.

[QUOTE=cani;45654692]It's just a tech demo, while I agree they shouldn't charge for it, the demand should be small? I have it, never bought a complete pack.[/QUOTE] Some gmod maps require Lost Coast content and these maps are basically lost in limbo because very little people can use them now. Lost Coast used to be free and was just a showcase for Episode 1, sure, but it should have remained free rather than become some weird Complete Pack exclusive.

[QUOTE=Korova;45653805]... acquire one of the designers from [B]Microsoft/Google/Apple[/B]? Come on) ... [/QUOTE] So wait... although I understand what you're saying, and I get where you're coming from, your solution to a personally bad UI is to... make it look the exact same as everything else? Side-note: When did flat and square become the "in" thing? Don't get me wrong, it's miles better then "hilarious 3D pop-up buttons out-the-ass" from the early days of the net, but do we really want everything trying to be a minimalist painting that's ~to deep for u~? ...or however that saying goes. [QUOTE=Korova;45653805] Also the overlay crashes all the time. [/QUOTE] You say you've been with Steam for 10 some years, and I'm guessing this overlay issue is a long-term one that you've suffered with, but on my end, I believe I just received my "8 year" badge, and in those 8 some years, I can't recall a crash that wasn't my own doing. But that's the unfortunate beauty of the unfathomable variations that is the PC. Steam apparently favors my magic hard/software mix, and apparently shits itself with yours. I always read people complaining that steam is slow, or buggy, or crashes everyday ever, or all of the above, and all I think is "What you people even going on about?". I'm not saying that it doesn't happen to anyone, but hopefully you all get my point. :p [QUOTE=viperfan7;45654634]... make it compatible with the media control keys on keyboards[/QUOTE] Well, I've got a steelseries APEX and it works with my side control keys, so I'd guess that's a yes. (Or at best, mostly yes)

[QUOTE=MaxOfS2D;45654708]and this is exactly why we need competition like GoG, Origin, etc.[/QUOTE] Yeah it's a shame gog has a terrible download system for the few more recent games they have (having to download game installers in several parts is annoying as fuck when your connection isn't too good). Origin is an excellent piece of software but it only has games from two publishers at the moment.

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;45654527]Ever since valve started getting rich as fuck they've progressively become lazier and lazier. "Adding games is hard let's make people vote for games they want on steam" "Customer support is boring, let's not bother having a decent one, people will keep buying our shit anyway" "Hey you know what's boring ? Making content. Let's not make our own content for our games anymore and let the community make their own stuff but let's still take most of the money that comes out of that" "Lol who cares about product quality control let's allow self-titled publishers to release whatever the fuck they want for whatever price they want" "Hey is the platform still unstable and shitty ? Who cares release big picture add some blue gradient on it and call it a day people will keep using that shit cause they can't use anything else"[/QUOTE] I can't tell if the consistent drop in quality is them being lazy or struggling under their own weight, but honestly, out of the three main services (that I'm aware of), Origin, Steam, and GoG, GoG seems to be reigning supreme and Origin, no matter how much people talk shit about it, seems to be much tighter than Steam is. I worry that Steam will fall out of use some day as people get fed up with the constant shittiness. I'd like to see Steam get better, and more importantly, I'd like the service all my games are on to stay afloat (What happens to our games when Steam goes away anyways?). In any case, it seems to me people are rapidly becoming more and more annoyed with steam and constant sales don't seem like they're going to wow people and keep steam afloat forever.

[QUOTE=Ganerumo;45654734]Yeah it's a shame gog has a terrible download system for the few more recent games they have (having to download game installers in several parts is annoying as fuck when your connection isn't too good). Origin is an excellent piece of software but it only has games from two publishers at the moment.[/QUOTE] GOG Galaxy is coming and it's going to be great. [editline]11th August 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=ubersoldier;45654720]So wait... although I understand what you're saying, and I get where you're coming from, your solution to a personally bad UI is to... make it look the exact same as everything else? Side-note: When did flat and square become the "in" thing? Don't get me wrong, it's miles better then "hilarious 3D pop-up buttons out-the-ass" from the early days of the net, but do we really want everything trying to be a minimalist painting that's ~to deep for u~? ...or however that saying goes. You say you've been with Steam for 10 some years, and I'm guessing this overlay issue is a long-term one that you've suffered with, but on my end, I believe I just received my "8 year" badge, and in those 8 some years, I can't recall a crash that wasn't my own doing. But that's the unfortunate beauty of the unfathomable variations that is the PC. Steam apparently favors my magic hard/software mix, and apparently shits itself with yours. I always read people complaining that steam is slow, or buggy, or crashes everyday ever, or all of the above, and all I think is "What you people even going on about?". I'm not saying that it doesn't happen to anyone, but hopefully you all get my point. :p[/QUOTE] iOS7/Windows 8/Android all look completely different and I think there's room for Steam to have its own style and substantially improve from what it is right now. Say whatever you want about Microsoft/Apple/Google but they hire great designers. Steam looks and feels like it was designed by programmers and that would be acceptable if Steam wasn't a service controlled by a company worth billions just like Google/Microsoft/Apple. They can afford it. That goes for everything. Valve needs to start spending more to maintain their services. It costs money to make money and Steam is really showing its age right about now. Return policies are ridiculous, customer support is shit to say the least, Family Sharing is nothing more than a way to share your account without sharing your password (which families were already doing), quality control is almost non-existent once a game is Greenlit [sp]Air Control[/sp], the client is nothing more than a web-browser, the mobile client hasn't been updated since 2012 Yeah, it has been one long issue. The community goes down for maintenance all the time and the overlay is always crashing on high-end modern hardware (Intel i7 4770K and the Nvidia 680GTX on Windows 8 right now). [editline]11th August 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Mister Sandman;45654735]I can't tell if the consistent drop in quality is them being lazy or struggling under their own weight, but honestly, out of the three main services (that I'm aware of), Origin, Steam, and GoG, GoG seems to be reigning supreme and Origin, no matter how much people talk shit about it, seems to be much tighter than Steam is. I worry that Steam will fall out of use some day as people get fed up with the constant shittiness. I'd like to see Steam get better, and more importantly, I'd like the service all my games are on to stay afloat (What happens to our games when Steam goes away anyways?). In any case, it seems to me people are rapidly becoming more and more annoyed with steam and constant sales don't seem like they're going to wow people and keep steam afloat forever.[/QUOTE] If that day comes, they have nobody to blame but themselves. There is a constant stream of feedback coming in, they have billions in the bank, everyone in the industry wants to work there and because of that, they have virtually unlimited resources in order to make things better. A lot of people blame Valve for having too much on their plate at once. This isn't some small game company anymore. This is a company that is in the same tier as Google/Apple/Microsoft and look at what they're able to manage. The fact that a company this big only has under 400 employees is ridiculous. Keep in mind that they have their own engine and games in development so the number working on and maintaining Steam is significantly less.

[QUOTE=Korova;45654768]GOG Galaxy is coming and it's going to be great. [editline]11th August 2014[/editline] iOS7/Windows 8/Android all look completely different and I think there's room for Steam to have its own style and substantially improve from what it is right now. Say whatever you want about Microsoft/Apple/Google but they hire great designers. Steam looks and feels like it was designed by programmers and that would be acceptable if Steam wasn't a service controlled by a company worth billions just like Google/Microsoft/Apple. They can afford it. That goes for everything. Valve needs to start spending more to maintain their services. It costs money to make money and Steam is really showing its age right about now. Return policies are ridiculous, customer support is shit to say the least, Family Sharing is nothing more than a way to share your account without sharing your password (which families were already doing), quality control is almost non-existent once a game is Greenlit [sp]Air Control[/sp], the client is nothing more than a web-browser, the mobile client hasn't been updated since 2012 Yeah, it has been one long issue. The community goes down for maintenance all the time and the overlay is always crashing on high-end modern hardware (Intel i7 4770K and the Nvidia 680GTX on Windows 8 right now). [editline]11th August 2014[/editline] If that day comes, they have nobody to blame but themselves. There is a constant stream of feedback coming in, they have billions in the bank, everyone in the industry wants to work there and because of that, they have virtually unlimited resources in order to make things better. A lot of people blame Valve for having too much on their plate at once. This isn't some small game company anymore. This is a company that is in the same tier as Google/Apple/Microsoft and look at what they're able to manage. The fact that a company this big only has under 400 employees is ridiculous. Keep in mind that they have their own engine and games in development so the number working on and maintaining Steam is significantly less.[/QUOTE] The fuck? Where is all the money going that they can't get a few more employees? I know Valve is an ~exclusive group~ and shit like that but around 330 employees? What in the shit, no wonder they can barely maintain steam. For comparison, EA has 9000 employees, and CD Projekt who run a smaller, but better service and develop games too have [url=http://www.gog.com/forum/general/how_many_employees_does_cd_projekt_have/post10]around 300 as well[/url]. Maybe Valve should actually hire some people 'cause I find it highly unlikely that they can develop games, develop new content for existing games, develop a console, a big picture mode, [I]and[/I] maintain steam at the same time.

I installed the Steam Metro UI and haven't looked back. I've been saying this whole thing for awhile now and get dumbed. It's also why I don't trust SteamOS. They can't even fix their original platform. How can I trust them with a Linux distro? [editline]11th August 2014[/editline] Also just shy of 400 with all this shit is fucking retarded. Pile on their anarchic style of management which sucks for anything larger than a game mode or small game and you have an uncontrollable fuck up waiting to happen.

[QUOTE=Swilly;45655161]I installed the Steam Metro UI and haven't looked back. I've been saying this whole thing for awhile now and get dumbed. It's also why I don't trust SteamOS. They can't even fix their original platform. How can I trust them with a Linux distro? [editline]11th August 2014[/editline] Also just shy of 400 with all this shit is fucking retarded. Pile on their anarchic style of management which sucks for anything larger than a game mode or small game and you have an uncontrollable fuck up waiting to happen.[/QUOTE] Unless they hire another division for software development, there's no way in hell I'll ever use SteamOS. I'm really happy with Windows 8 and Windows 9 looks like a big improvement that fixes my complaints and adds a few of my personal suggestions.