Diamon Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 So steam finally launched their update with their new discovery system. http://store.steampowered.com/about/newstore It seems like it might impact the VNs that get published on steam as it seems to be much more easier to discover new games with the recommendation system. (hell, Steam even suggested me various Otome that were on the store that I had never heard off just because I only visited the hatoful boyfriend page). The follow system that gets you news about the game / company / studio on your homepage newsfeed is imo a very good thing as well, since it makes it much easier to form some sort of community with this, and to get information travels easier between the developers and the players. Hell, if ever Key by the intermediary of Sekai Project ever wanted to make some contests and offer goodies, they would just have to post an announcement on the game(s) page(s), and all the people that followed would receive the news in their newsfeed, which is much more likely to get you participant. And it's only an example among many others! For the curators system, I'm not too sure though... Not considering the current abuses happening atm (those will get solved by Steam's moderation eventually), I'm not too sure about if it would really impact VN positively? And I'm not sure either about giving so much recognition to some individuals like that, I mean, it could quickly derail from the primary purpose (if a curator has a lot of followers, probably some developers would try to pay them in order to get a good word or a post about them...) What do you guys think about all of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decay Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Well, this could be totally coincidental but Doddler said that sales for Cho Dengeki Stryker picked up yesterday after the previous day (launch day) was a disappointing slow start. Maybe the update helped them, but the game has only been out for just over two days now so it's impossible to tell. One thing I noticed is that Cho Dengeki Stryker was on the list of "popular new releases". I don't know how they determine what gets filtered out for that list, but it's probably a good thing for CDS as it gets a bit more time in the spotlight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ff80c38 Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Now I have a hard time finding my way around the Steam store... I don't know if I welcome the features that look like facebook or twitter but there are a lot of more filter and search options for games, if they would work correctly. I cant say if it's good for VNs but a personalized store front can also filter every trace of existence of the VN genre out of your news feed. I just hope that games with good stories trigger a recommendation towards VNs so that people can come in conatct with VNs without having to click per chance on such a game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklord Rooke Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Personally? Well I only use Steam when I have no other choice and I go there with great reluctance to get games I can’t (legally) get elsewhere. Alas these new features will matter little to me, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy them while blinded by tears of frustration and overwhelmed with powerful feelings of shame. But it seems like a decent upgrade I suppose… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asterisk Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Never been the biggest Steam user myself but it has some interesting potential. Particularly with VNs that go viral like Hatoful Boyfriend it can help spread the word but Steam needs more of a VN selection before much will come from that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decay Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Personally? Well I only use Steam when I have no other choice and I go there with great reluctance to get games I can’t (legally) get elsewhere. Alas these new features will matter little to me, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy them while blinded by tears of frustration and overwhelmed with powerful feelings of shame. But it seems like a decent upgrade I suppose… As someone with hundreds of games on Steam, none of the new features actually matter to me either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netravelr Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I think it's great for people who are already VN fans, but the new changes will make it harder to bring in new people into the fold. I haven't looked too much into the curated stuff though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Well, about the curator thing, our onee-sama Meru created a Visual Novel Fans group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenophilious Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I think it's great for people who are already VN fans, but the new changes will make it harder to bring in new people into the fold. I haven't looked too much into the curated stuff though. That sounds about right. I mean, unless they have a game that's similar to a VN in some way or a VN becomes ridiculously popular on Steam I doubt most people will ever have one suggested to them. It's a cool feature, though. netravelr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ff80c38 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I don't know if it was possible before the discovery update, but you can now see which VN sells the best on Steam (link). As the majority of VNs are also tagged as Anime or Story Rich, you also can compare a few of them to a (bit) larger pool of games. For example, I don't know how I should feel that Hatoful sells better than FF VII. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklord Rooke Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 For example, I don't know how I should feel that Hatoful sells better than FF VII. Early 3d graphics which are incredibly ugly is probably playing a factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I don't know if it was possible before the discovery update, but you can now see which VN sells the best on Steam (link). As the majority of VNs are also tagged as Anime or Story Rich, you also can compare a few of them to a (bit) larger pool of games. For example, I don't know how I should feel that Hatoful sells better than FF VII. Are you sure they're actually ranked by sells only? I somehow doubt Cho Dengeki Stryker already sold more than Planetarian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ff80c38 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Early 3d graphics which are incredibly ugly is probably playing a factor. I wouldn't want to replay FF VII without that ugly graphics, I really grow fond of all the knob polygons. Screw FF VII remake, we don't need one! Are you sure they're actually ranked by sells only? I somehow doubt Cho Dengeki Stryker already sold more than Planetarian. It should be ranked like the Top 100 before the discovery update. I would guess a sort algorithm like "which game sold the most in the last x hours". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklord Rooke Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Long Live the Queen is the top-ranked VN on Steam. Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InvertMouse Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Well, about the curator thing, our onee-sama Meru created a Visual Novel Fans group. I have joined the group ~ Anyone from Fuwanovel is welcome to friend me up, by the way . I find this update to be quite nice. It is doing a good job of recommending me games that I might be interested in. Yet, I am still able to to see everything that has come out recently, etc. Very convenient, I think . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidbatman Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I saw it today. Steam will no longer get my money. I am strongly anti DRM anything and this front page amounts to censorship. I despise it and will post about it on Myspace. Zakamutt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decay Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Realtalk: there was a lot of absolute trash that popped up on the new releases list every week so having to click a button to see all of the trash isn't necessarily a bad thing. Steam has been getting closer and closer to the total hellhole that was XBox Live Indie Games every month and this is almost like a step backwards from that progress by having at least some form of control over what is immediately displayed on the front page. And at least the VN that was released at around the same time as this update was kept on the "popular new releases" list, so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ff80c38 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I saw it today. Steam will no longer get my money. I am strongly anti DRM anything and this front page amounts to censorship. I despise it and will post about it on Myspace. I hope I don't miss any sarcasm... Steam != DRM. It's up to the developers if they want to use third party DRM, CEG or Steamworks; don't condemn Steam for the use of such technologies just because many (AAA) publisher want them. It's also not really censorship as Steam will mix titles 'not compatible' to your gamer taste in the news feed so you can discover other genres. I think people will see VNs in their news feed at some point, at least they will definitely if they use the Discovery Queue. I got some Bus Simulator recommended and that's definitely not something I have ever triggered to be on that list nor will ever play. All in all small indie gems or games with a higher user-review ratio will get more spotlight on the Steam store. And as VNs have a small but loyal fanbase, they usually have also higher user-review ratios. I think that MoaCube wrote some interesting thoughts about the new Steam update (link). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decay Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 That's true, something many people don't know is that you are not actually obligated to require steam on a game that releases through steam. Well, you need it to download the game, but there are some DRM-free games on the platform that are able to be run completely outside of Steam. Of course, almost all Japanese VN companies demand that their games come with DRM and it's a really big deal for them for whatever reason. That's why most JAST and MangaGamer releases come with really intrusive DRM, not because they wanted it like that but because their Japanese partners demanded it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flutterz Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Steam != DRM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidbatman Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 My post was sarcasm for the record Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flutterz Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 My post was sarcasm for the record The "MySpace" gave it away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ff80c38 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Technically speaking Steam is DRM. If Valve suddenly disappears off the face of the planet all of your games will be completely gone. That isn't true. All my downloaded games, which don't use Steam to run, will still be working after Steam disappears. Conversely all my games from GOG, which I hadn't downloaded in time, will be completely gone after GOG disappears. It's an issue of distributing, not DRM. The only restriction you have more is having the client installed to download games and I don't want to discuss whether this is DRM or not.I thought it could have been sarcasm... Well, to get back on topic: Pyrite Heart was recently released and is now on the Popular New Releases list. It seems that VNs do get their spotlight on the front page. But I can't say how much influence the same art style as SS has in this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decay Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Well, it's for a totally different audience. Also while I'm not familiar with it, it seems the game used to be free and they now decided to suddenly start charging for it and took the free version down from its website. One would hope they added something of substance to justify this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ff80c38 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Oh yeah, it's an otome game, I forgot. Pyrite Heart had two versions. A free unvoiced one and a low priced voiced one. They coexisted for quite a time on their website IIRC. But it seems the website is now redesigned and you can't even download/purchase either version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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