It's unlikely for Valve Staff to come here to acknowledge the suggestions being made.

Why? because "We're masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out."

Valve knows once someone from the company says something, it becomes gospel and people's hype starts going bananas.

So if someone from Valve came here to say 'great idea', people would automatically believe they're going to work on it. Get hyped up. Then get angry when times goes by and nothing happens.

They most probably don't want to have around people saying 'I gave Valve the Idea for X!' either.

Lots of actual suggestions have turned into actual Steam features over the years. So they're not wasted posted here. But feedback of these suggestions is almost guaranteed to be zero.

PS: Please no more rewards. Last thing the forums need now are people generating more noise fishing for another award.

Feedback is called implementation.

Oprindeligt skrevet af Tito Shivan:

It's unlikely for Valve Staff to come here to acknowledge the suggestions being made.

Why? because "We're masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out."

Valve knows once someone from the company says something, it becomes gospel and people's hype starts going bananas.

So if someone from Valve came here to say 'great idea', people would automatically believe they're going to work on it. Get hyped up. Then get angry when times goes by and nothing happens.

They most probably don't want to have around people saying 'I gave Valve the Idea for X!' either.

Lots of actual suggestions have turned into actual Steam features over the years. So they're not wasted posted here. But feedback of these suggestions is almost guaranteed to be zero.

PS: Please no more rewards. Last thing the forums need now are people generating more noise fishing for another award.

I might be wrong on this but if I recall it right you have worked before as a moderator on the Steam forums before Valve moved all that business indoors, appreciate all your efforts! And your response does make some solid points.

However, it doesn't need to be a straight response to every topic. In line with Valve's way of operation it could be something like a response to a certain topic, after the suggestion has been implemented. Something as simple as "We have now implemented this.".

I don't see people bragging with 'I gave a good suggestion and Valve picked it up' as a bad thing. Any good company would listen to its customers.

I do agree on the reward farming, the clown award being a prime example of that. But like I said, just some feedback months down the line on a certain topic, with a combination of closing that topic and saying they implented a solution could be a viable solution.

Oprindeligt skrevet af ⚡ Fl1tS ⚡:

However, it doesn't need to be a straight response to every topic. In line with Valve's way of operation it could be something like a response to a certain topic, after the suggestion has been implemented. Something as simple as "We have now implemented this.".

The problem with that is you can have the same suggestion posted in hundreds of threads, so now you have to keep track of that or you start getting people annoyed because they implemented a suggestion and thanked user X, but didn't thank user Y who suggested in 2 years ago.,

It just creates drama and problems and doesn't really have any benefits.

Oprindeligt skrevet af cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Feedback is called implementation.

:nkCool:

Sure but there are some steps in between Valve could take.

They could acknowledge the issue and maybe look deeper into it apart from the poster. They could create a timeframe or plan if they are actually working on it. And they could follow up on it, not just by implementing it but also by closing those topics alinged to the subject and acknowleding it with a simple message such as 'We just implemented this in our latest update' or somehing as such.

Oprindeligt skrevet af Brian9824:

Oprindeligt skrevet af ⚡ Fl1tS ⚡:

However, it doesn't need to be a straight response to every topic. In line with Valve's way of operation it could be something like a response to a certain topic, after the suggestion has been implemented. Something as simple as "We have now implemented this.".

The problem with that is you can have the same suggestion posted in hundreds of threads, so now you have to keep track of that or you start getting people annoyed because they implemented a suggestion and thanked user X, but didn't thank user Y who suggested in 2 years ago.,

It just creates drama and problems and doesn't really have any benefits.

Well I hope they are keeping track of the suggestion forum regardless... Isn't that the point? Like any company would document, identify, sort, thank the customer, etc.

Oprindeligt skrevet af ⚡ Fl1tS ⚡:

Oprindeligt skrevet af Brian9824:

The problem with that is you can have the same suggestion posted in hundreds of threads, so now you have to keep track of that or you start getting people annoyed because they implemented a suggestion and thanked user X, but didn't thank user Y who suggested in 2 years ago.,

It just creates drama and problems and doesn't really have any benefits.

Well I hope they are keeping track of the suggestion forum regardless... Isn't that the point? Like any company would document, identify, sort, thank the customer, etc.

I'm sure they keep track of suggestions, but do you think they are tracking every thread and every post a suggestion has ever been made in? Like they implemented one of my suggestions a while ago. The ability to block people directly from the forums via the drop down arrow next to rewards.

No idea if they searched 20 years of posts and if anyone had made it before to thank every possible person who might have suggested the idea

Oprindeligt skrevet af Brian9824:

Oprindeligt skrevet af ⚡ Fl1tS ⚡:

Well I hope they are keeping track of the suggestion forum regardless... Isn't that the point? Like any company would document, identify, sort, thank the customer, etc.

I'm sure they keep track of suggestions, but do you think they are tracking every thread and every post a suggestion has ever been made in?

Sorry, but how else do you track a forum with active complaints? Doesn't that mean you need to go through every topic and categorize them? Doesn't that help improve operations by knowing if certain things are already being dealt with or are completly new to the company?

Like I said I hope they have an active list of points to deal with based on this forum, but we have no clue.

Oprindeligt skrevet af ⚡ Fl1tS ⚡:

Oprindeligt skrevet af Brian9824:

I'm sure they keep track of suggestions, but do you think they are tracking every thread and every post a suggestion has ever been made in?

Sorry, but how else do you track a forum with active compaints? Doesn't that mean you need to go through every topic and categorize them? Doesn't that help improve operations by knowing if certain things are already being dealt with or are completly new to the company?

Like I said I hope they have an active list of points to deal with based on this forum, but we have no clue.

No, you just keep a list of the suggestions itself if its something your going to do or consider. If you like suggestion X you just have a list with the suggestion on it, you don't have a list tracking the suggestion and every thread and every post it was suggested in.

There is a MASSIVE difference between the two. What you suggest requires them to not only track the suggestion, but to track every time, thread, and post the suggestion was ever made. Then it will create animosity if they implement a suggestion and thank some people but not others when they all suggested it.

Oprindeligt skrevet af ⚡ Fl1tS ⚡:

But like I said, just some feedback months down the line on a certain topic, with a combination of closing that topic and saying they implented a solution could be a viable solution.

That is the issue, suggestions can be made in hundreds of topics or threads. So trying to thank everyone who made it is impossible, only thanking some will annoy those who aren't thanked, thus the simplest solution is to not thank anyone.

Not to mention even if someone suggested something its entirely possible it was already being worked on or thought of internally, so people might be further alienated thinking Valve stole their suggestion and never thanked them, when they actually thought of it first.

There are just so many issues with trying to do what you want, it becomes a logistical nightmare, and it becomes nothing but trouble to try to acknowledge stuff like that as you end up annoying people and accomplish the opposite of what you intended.

I've had Valve implement my suggestions before, i do not desire a thank you, i'm just glad they did for a nice QOL improvement.

Oprindeligt skrevet af Brian9824:

Oprindeligt skrevet af ⚡ Fl1tS ⚡:

Sorry, but how else do you track a forum with active compaints? Doesn't that mean you need to go through every topic and categorize them? Doesn't that help improve operations by knowing if certain things are already being dealt with or are completly new to the company?

Like I said I hope they have an active list of points to deal with based on this forum, but we have no clue.

No, you just keep a list of the suggestions itself if its something your going to do or consider. If you like suggestion X you just have a list with the suggestion on it, you don't have a list tracking the suggestion and every thread and every post it was suggested in.

There is a MASSIVE difference between the two. What you suggest requires them to not only track the suggestion, but to track every time, thread, and post the suggestion was ever made. Then it will create animosity if they implement a suggestion and thank some people but not others when they all suggested it.

Fair enough, but that comes down to moderation of the forum. As simple as a moderator stating "This has been suggested before, we are looking into it/this isn't something we are going to deal with at this time", would be enough to close any topic with similar problems, aswell as prevent the suggestions forums flooding with uncessary threads. Is it not sensible to prevent users from posting about an issue if the company is already aware or even dealing with that issue?

Oprindeligt skrevet af cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Feedback is called implementation.

:nkCool:

Things that were going to be implemented anyhow. Someone just gets lucky and guesses what it is ahead of time.

Oprindeligt skrevet af Brian9824:

Oprindeligt skrevet af ⚡ Fl1tS ⚡:

But like I said, just some feedback months down the line on a certain topic, with a combination of closing that topic and saying they implented a solution could be a viable solution.

That is the issue, suggestions can be made in hundreds of topics or threads. So trying to thank everyone who made it is impossible, only thanking some will annoy those who aren't thanked, thus the simplest solution is to not thank anyone.

Not to mention even if someone suggested something its entirely possible it was already being worked on or thought of internally, so people might be further alienated thinking Valve stole their suggestion and never thanked them, when they actually thought of it first.

There are just so many issues with trying to do what you want, it becomes a logistical nightmare, and it becomes nothing but trouble to try to acknowledge stuff like that as you end up annoying people and accomplish the opposite of what you intended.

I've had Valve implement my suggestions before, i do not desire a thank you, i'm just glad they did for a nice QOL improvement.

Okay, lets be clear, I am not focussing on thanking a single user. I think this is where we might be not aligned. I don't care who gets thanked, I would just like to see feedback on the suggestion forum regardless of whoever made the suggestion. It would just be nice to see Valve acknowleding the users that are actively trying to improve their platform. And I think if there was a chance any competetion would be looking actively at these suggestions.

So a user came up with an idea, which was internally worked on but took longer to implement and that is some how an issue? You can put a spot light on both people with both sides never knowing about it, like we know anything about what goes on at Valve. cmon

It's not about desiring a thank you. I think this is where you might mistake my intentions. I just want Valve to acknowledge good suggestions and work on it.

Oprindeligt skrevet af ⚡ Fl1tS ⚡:

As simple as a moderator stating "This has been suggested before, we are looking into it/this isn't something we are going to deal with at this time",

The problem is and this is coming from someone who has managed a forum for a company before is the SECOND you say something people hold you accountable for what you said. If you post and say you like an idea or are working on it and something happens that you can't do it then you've alienated people and accomplished nothing.

NOTHING good ever comes from reactions like that, its better to keep quiet and not say anything so your words can't be used against you as Tito mentions.

Oprindeligt skrevet af Brian9824:

Oprindeligt skrevet af ⚡ Fl1tS ⚡:

As simple as a moderator stating "This has been suggested before, we are looking into it/this isn't something we are going to deal with at this time",

The problem is and this is coming from someone who has managed a forum for a company before is the SECOND you say something people hold you accountable for what you said. If you post and say you like an idea or are working on it and something happens that you can't do it then you've alienated people and accomplished nothing.

NOTHING good ever comes from reactions like that, its better to keep quiet and not say anything so your words can't be used against you as Tito mentions.

Yes, if it's something you are working on or haven't implemented yet.

What issue is there if you respond to a topic, after you have implemented the desired solution, according to the input of the user?

Would you just not respond to a customer email complaint?