Game "devs" defrauding Valve?

[Elixer]

I had no idea this was even a thing, apparently, the way the scam works is, they make a "game" on steam, and it is poor by anyone's standard.
The "dev" then asks for a crapton of keys.
They then have bots that farm the trading cards.
When sold off, the "dev" gets some $ from that transaction, and they can make thousands by doing this over & over.

Sheesh.

"Steam keys have always been available for free to our partners to help them sell PC games at physical retail and on other digital stores. In return, we've asked that partners offer Steam customers a fair deal, similar to what they're offering on other stores. None of that is changing.

But over the last few years, new features and additions to Steam have changed the way Steam keys were being used, for instance as a means for game-shaped objects to monetize on Steam through methods other than actually selling fun games to customers. Most notably, this meant farming Steam Trading Cards. We shared a lot of info about that issue, and our response to it, here.

While our changes did impact the economics of trading card farming for new products coming to Steam, there are still a lot of games and game-shaped objects using Steam keys as a way to manipulate Steam systems. As a result, we're trying to look more closely at extreme examples of products on Steam that don't seem to be providing actual value as playable games-for instance, when a game has sold 100 units, has mostly negative reviews, but requests 500,000 Steam keys. We're not interested in supporting trading card farming or bot networks at the expense of being able to provide value and service for players.

It's completely OK for partners to sell their games on other sites via Steam keys, and run discounts or bundles on other stores, and we'll continue granting free keys to help partners do those things. But it's not OK to negatively impact our customers by manipulating our store and features.

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/3040...rictions_to_highvolume_Steam_key_requests.php

 

[Stg-Flame]

Cards generally sell for less than $.10 and cards for unknown games rarely sell for more than $.05. I doubt they are making thousands unless they've found a way for the bots to trick the client into thinking they are buying and selling cards.

Either way, people will always find a way to defraud one another.

 

[ImpulsE69]

That's part of why they changed the way cards are done. Also part of why greenlight is going away.

 

[EXCellR8]

I never really understood the card thing to begin with... and I don't like the online marketplace in general.

Killing off GL was one of the best things they could've done because there was beyond an acceptable amount of absolute trash being put on there. I was on Steam from day numero uno, and to see it evolve into this international bazaar for everything half-assed was really quite disheartening. Whenever there is a large user base, millions of dollars, 3rd party development and fabricated monetary systems there is going to be abuse of terms. I think Steam is great as a gaming marketplace and hub but Valve should have set something else up for people to submit their shovelware--something where you need to build a reputation and make users happy before you make a dime.

 

[Vivendi]

I've been using Steam since whenever it was when it became necessary to play Counterstrike. I've never bothered with any trading cards or badges or the skins on CS:GO. I'd rather Steam was focused on just selling games but I understand they're looking to milk as money as possible from all the microtransactions that occur.

 

[Stg-Flame]

If you're motivated, you can make a few bucks off the trading card system during the big sales. I remember buying two indie games during one of the winter sales just from what I made off trading cards. I don't ever buy cards, but prices spike really high when a game first goes on sale due to the large influx of new players. There's also the fact I don't mind making a quick buck off the gullible kids who feel its necessary to craft some pointless badge the moment they buy a game. I made close to $13 the first day of the sale and another $10 during the following days.

It's one of those things that if you play enough games, you'll gather hundreds of cards, and if you throw them up on the market for about $.06 each, you could easily make $5 after a while which is enough to get a free game.

 

[Artorias]

The Valve/Steam market place has become one big money laundering mechanism. Kind of nuts.

 

[paperfist]

I kinda feel like this buying some of these early access games devoid of any features beyond what I could get on a cell phone game.

 

[Red Storm]

Greenlight and Early Access are cool concepts, but they absolutely should not be integrated in the same marketplace as full release games. I lost count of how many times I saw what looked like a cool/interesting game and then after clicking on it I see it's some early access crap.

 

[Aikouka]

Killing off GL was one of the best things they could've done because there was beyond an acceptable amount of absolute trash being put on there.

What's rather crazy is that even Microsoft and Sony are joining in on the trash fest. Jim Sterling had a video on Sony's shenanigans as of late, but what make Sony worse is that while Valve and Sony both allowed the games on their respective service, Sony actually produced promotional videos on their official PlayStation channel for the garbage games. At least Valve can claim ignorance, but Sony must be aware... or completely blind.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Greenlight and Early Access are cool concepts, but they absolutely should not be integrated in the same marketplace as full release games. I lost count of how many times I saw what looked like a cool/interesting game and then after clicking on it I see it's some early access crap.

That's what the wishlist is for. If it looks really cool (many of them did), then Steam will tell you when it's released fully to the market.

 

[Red Storm]

I wishlist games I know a lot about. It doesn't change getting disappointed to see featured items are just early access garbage.

 

[pontifex]

YOUR QUEUE ACTIVITY
VIEWED
4,858
Titles Viewed In Queue

WISHLIST
101
Titles On Your Wishlist

FOLLOWING
3
Titles You Are Following

NOT INTERESTED
7,483
Titles You Marked As 'Not Interested'


So much garbage on steam, its really terrible. A lot of the stuff on my wishlist i'll probably never buy. it's just games that I think i might like, not necessarily games I actually want to play right now. if thye go down to the right price, i may buy them.

 

[dud]

This could help explain the (recent) deluge of really crappy games on Steam. By crappy, I mean really bad ...

 

[paperfist]

YOUR QUEUE ACTIVITY
VIEWED
4,858
Titles Viewed In Queue

WISHLIST
101
Titles On Your Wishlist

FOLLOWING
3
Titles You Are Following

NOT INTERESTED
7,483
Titles You Marked As 'Not Interested'


So much garbage on steam, its really terrible. A lot of the stuff on my wishlist i'll probably never buy. it's just games that I think i might like, not necessarily games I actually want to play right now. if thye go down to the right price, i may buy them.

Dang that's a lot of games your not interested in!

I don't even bother marking mine, just follow the interesting ones.

 

[pontifex]

Dang that's a lot of games your not interested in!

I don't even bother marking mine, just follow the interesting ones.

99% are like crappy indie games, rpgmaker games,e tc

 

[Stg-Flame]

Considering how many you've marked, it seems the system doesn't work as it's intended. I haven't marked a single one and my discovery queue shows me plenty of games that look interesting, though there's rarely a time when it shows me something interesting enough to go in my wishlist.