I'm sure you've all seen some of the more playful user reviews on Steam, but they're not exactly helpful for figuring out if you want to buy a game and so Valve have a new "Helpfulness System" they're testing.
Valve said in the announcement of the new Beta that this new system will not impact the actual review scores, just change the ordering of what reviews are actually shown. As Valve explained:
User reviews that are identified as being unhelpful for potential customers, such as one-word reviews, reviews comprised of ASCII art, or reviews that are primarily playful memes and in-jokes, will be sorted behind other reviews on the game’s store page. That doesn't mean players won't ever see these humorous, but unhelpful posts, but it hopefully means that they’ll see them less frequently when trying to learn about a game. If you enjoy seeing these sorts of reviews when browsing the store, there's an option on the store page to include them when browsing.
How do Valve determine which to show? They said they use a mixture of techniques, including user reports and the Steam moderation team looking directly at reviews, along with some "machine learning algorithms". They found that a lot of the unhelpful reviews were easy enough to spot but it's all a work in progress. And of course, considering the amount of user reviews on Steam, this could take a while to get through.
For example, looking at Persona 3 Reload without (first picture) and with the new system activated (second picture) and yeah…the results of this new system are pretty clear:
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34 Likes, Who?
neon_soaked_chryssalid Aug 15
I'm glad they're trying to do something about all of that garbage on the review page. The sad thing is that there was already a system in place to take care of it, the helpful/not helpful button, and most Steam users won't use it correctly. Hopefully the new system works a bit better!
7 Likes, Who?
I'm glad they're trying to do something about all of that garbage on the review page. The sad thing is that there was already a system in place to take care of it, the helpful/not helpful button, and most Steam users won't use it correctly. Hopefully the new system works a bit better!
To be fair, if you look in the screenshots in the article then you see that the top review without the new system has 14 helpful tags and the one with the system has 65. So just sorting it would have been better.
1 Likes, Who?
Massive difference. I've eschewed looking at Steam reviews for years due to how many of them are just awful. I'm glad they put that toggle there just so I can remind myself how dreadful the review section was before this change.
Now all the "no one will see this so I'll just say I'm gay" award baiting reviews will actually not be seen by anyone.
Now all the "no one will see this so I'll just say I'm gay" award baiting reviews will actually not be seen by anyone.
2 Likes, Who?
i wouldn't mind if valve would allow better rating (1-5, where 3 is neutral). I often would like to live a comment / review but I'm forced to select either good or bad (so even bad / neutral / good would be better)
2 Likes, Who?
neon_soaked_chryssalid Aug 15
To be fair, if you look in the screenshots in the article then you see that the top review without the new system has 14 helpful tags and the one with the system has 65. So just sorting it would have been better.I'm assuming it has something to do with their algorithm, but you are correct. I've also seen those junk reviews with hundreds or even thousands of helpful tags as well though, so it may still not be able to filter all of them out.
It's tough for me to say what the best option is, but I'm just glad they're trying something! I've looked at a few games since I read the article, and the new system has definitely brought up the more thoughtful and informative reviews, at least for the moment.
1 Likes, Who?
PublicNuisance Aug 15
I find most Steam reviews, and user reviews in general, to be just worthless. I tend to find people who can actually do a good job describing why they liked or hated a game and follow them so their reviews pop up on my feed. I'd rather read 1000 words on why a person hated a game I loved than read "it's awesome !".
1 Likes, Who?
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⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⡇⠀⠀⠈⠑⢦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Are you winning son?
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⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⡇⠀⠀⠈⠑⢦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Are you winning son?
⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠖⠒⠒⠒⢤⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⢦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡌⠀⠈⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⢸
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⢸⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⠀⠀⠀⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠷
8 Likes, Who?
I'm way more frustrated by troll/shitpost steam guides than reviews tbh, might have grown too old for the internet already
4 Likes, Who?
Got a cat here.You read my mind because I was going to say something about the cat ASCII art
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2 Likes, Who?
Linux_Rocks Aug 15
⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠟⠛⠉⠉⠉⠉⠋⠉⠉⠙⠛⠛⠻⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
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7 Likes, Who?
YES!
Put an end to those steam point farmers, tired of all the "If this gets 400 likes and 40 community awards my friend will buy me a 4090 and a sack of lemons" or "I will eat a spoon of hot sauce for every 5 likes this review gets".
Now just make jesters give you no points to stop incentivizing toxicity
Put an end to those steam point farmers, tired of all the "If this gets 400 likes and 40 community awards my friend will buy me a 4090 and a sack of lemons" or "I will eat a spoon of hot sauce for every 5 likes this review gets".
Now just make jesters give you no points to stop incentivizing toxicity
6 Likes, Who?
YES!Those types of reviews are the worse and I'll be glad when we don't have to see them ever again.
Put an end to those steam point farmers, tired of all the "If this gets 400 likes and 40 community awards my friend will buy me a 4090 and a sack of lemons" or "I will eat a spoon of hot sauce for every 5 likes this review gets".
Now just make jesters give you no points to stop incentivizing toxicity
4 Likes, Who?
Mountain Man Aug 15
This is great news. Can't stand the joke reviews.
3 Likes, Who?
you guys are no fun
5 Likes, Who?
Mountain Man Aug 15
Now just make jesters give you no points to stop incentivizing toxicityI approve this message.
3 Likes, Who?
Now just make jesters give you no points to stop incentivizing toxicityYes. The introduction of the jester award with points seems to encourage a lot of spam.
4 Likes, Who?
I'm way more frustrated by troll/shitpost steam guides than reviews tbh, might have grown too old for the internet alreadyThose are kinda hidden. The reviews on the other hand show right away when you go to a store page, which was unprofessional from a Valve perspective.
2 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje Aug 15
I just wish there were a way to get the steam store to ignore sound tracks... anyone else remember when you bought a game on CD, that the vast majority of them were just CD Audio tracks you could rip/convert! Imagine a world when you didn't have to pay 10 dollars extra just to listen to the video game music?
Bah, maybe I'm just old, get off my lawn!
Bah, maybe I'm just old, get off my lawn!
1 Likes, Who?
Linux_Rocks Aug 15
I just wish there were a way to get the steam store to ignore sound tracks... anyone else remember when you bought a game on CD, that the vast majority of them were just CD Audio tracks you could rip/convert! Imagine a world when you didn't have to pay 10 dollars extra just to listen to the video game music?I like soundtracks on Steam. 👀
Bah, maybe I'm just old, get off my lawn!
What I hate is when the older ones aren't recategorized as such and still act like they're game DLC. Cause it makes getting all of your music easier when they're actually treated as soundtracks.
1 Likes, Who?
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