Steam users call on Valve to change point system on discussion pages
A growing problem on Steam is users „farming” points by creating minimal effort posts on discussion forums. Users are taking to Reddit to rally for change.
A popular post on the Steam subreddit is calling attention to a growing problem in the Steam discussion pages: Steam Points. For those unfamiliar, Steam Points are a currency exclusive to the Valve game store, but can only be used to purchase profile cosmetics, emotes, awards, and other tradeable community items. They don’t have any real value outside of Steam, and they cannot be used in exchange for buying games, like the Nintendo eShop’s Gold Points. Steam users earn 100 points for every dollar spent. Valve has been in good graces with players in recent weeks, giving players access to the Team Fortress 2 source code, warning players if an Early Access game might be abandoned, and banning games that require players to watch ads, among other useful changes. But this problem with discussion pages is only growing.
Users call out Steam to make changes to the discussion page reward and points system
A Reddit user, dafuccdoyoumean, posted with the title: “Valve has killed the Steam “Community” and lets bring it to their attention – Remove Steam points from Discussions page.” The post goes on to explain the ongoing problem with the discussion pages of Steam ever since the introduction of these points five years ago. Because users can earn rewards from posts in the Discussions section of Steam, it’s causing users to “farm” rewards with minimal effort posts. The post explains: “This system kills genuine conversation and engagement. It’s time to bring back the focus to meaningful interaction.” This is a call for Valve to take notice of this problem and do something about it.
Aside from jokes making fun of the common trends on Steam discussion posts such as the top comment: “<gives Jester award to OP>,” the community seems to be in full support of this movement. One user commented “remove rewards overall or make awards not give Steam points. It has completely ruined that aspect of Steam...” The Jester award referenced in the top comment is of particular importance, as it is used to essentially accuse someone of being a clown, posting something silly, ridiculous, or flat out wrong to the discussion page. But the Jester reward still gives the poster Steam points, so this makes it easy for users to gain points by simply posting something worthy of the Jester.
One user even suggested “Bare minimum there should be negative rewards that take Steam points away. See how many people still post nonsense if their clout points go down.” While this might end up being just as abuseable as the current system, maybe to a point of actual targeted attacks on users, it at least demonstrates the state of discussions and the lengths users might be willing to go to.
The Reddit post, at the time of writing, has nearly two thousand upvotes. Valve has not currently responded to the fan outcry, but it is still early, as the post was only shared early this morning. This may not be enough to get a response from Valve in the immediate future, but if the movement gains enough traction, it could be the start of some big changes to Steam’s discussion pages. For now, we will have to wait and see if the community rallies and if Valve responds.
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