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BraveCaperCat 11 月 26 日 下午 1:36
The Steam Awards, why I hate them and how they could potentially be fixed
The steam awards, if you haven't heard of them before, are an annual event that takes place towards the end of the year. They're going on right now, you might want to begin nominating some games once you're done reading this post. The steam awards have a nomination period where non-limited users (I'm pretty sure it's those who have spent a certain amount of money through steam, but I forgot the exact conditions) can nominate at most 1 game each for 11 different categories. They are "Game of the Year", "VR Game of the Year", "Labor of Love", (which btw is spelt incorrectly) "Best Game on Steam Deck", "Better With Friends", "Outstanding Visual Style", "Most Innovative Gameplay", "Best Game You Suck At", "Best Soundtrack", "Outstanding Story-Rich Game" and "Sit Back and Relax". (all followed by "Award" on the nomination page) And here we run into our first problem. I can't vote any of my favourite games for the "Game of the Year" award. Well, really, it depends on which games are your favourites, but we'll assume that none of them are eligible. You see, only games which were released after last year's autumn sale are eligible for any awards... other than the "Labor of Love" award, which only games which were released before last year's autumn sale are eligible for. (this would otherwise make me ask what about games released during last year's autumn sale, but there are more important things to discuss this time) You see, all of my favourite games are really "old" games like Factorio and No Man's Sky. (there's also Minecraft up there, but that isn't a steam game) Ones which have been worked on for years. I'm sure most of your favourite games are pretty old as well. However, they can only be nominated for 1 award and you can only nominate 1 game for each category every year... Additionally, an existing winner of that specific award cannot be renominated for another one at a later date... Like... Why? I don't see any particular reason why that should be the case. If a game is better than all the other old games one year and it's still better than all the other old games the next year, then it should deserve a second award... And it appears to be set up for all games to fail. The old games all have to compete for a single position every year - there's so many that it's very unlikely you own - let alone like - any winner (past or present) of the "Labor of Love" award. (I certainly don't own or particularly like any previous winners) The new games, however, only get one chance at any of the 10 other awards, then have to compete with lots and lots of other games for just 1 the next year. I guess it's sort of like a lottery, just with an award as a prize instead of money. 11 winners are guaranteed, but it's very unlikely any particular game is one of them. I mean, I guess it is slightly more skill based (since you have to make a good game for people to nominate or vote for it) than a lottery, but the community is so diverse that it's pretty much random. Additionally, not everyone plays or even owns a VR headset or Steam Deck, so the two awards dependent on that ("VR Game of the Year" and "Best Game on Steam Deck") don't fully make sense. (of course, these awards are about games and not the devices themselves, but I don't feel it would be right to lie about a game being "good" on a device I don't own) There's still the skip option, but it feels too much like cheating if I'm using it to try and get the badge levelled up.

Now onto how this horrible system (which is restrictive to both games and nominators) could potentially be fixed. For one, the VR and Steam Deck awards need to be removed or changed in some way so that people who don't own a VR headset or Steam Deck can still (fully) participate. The "Labor of Love" award should have correct spelling. (though this is significantly less important than everything else) All the awards which only new games can be nominated for, I think should also accept old games. And perhaps a new award that only new games can be nominated for, so that new games get a chance to compete amongst themselves without as much competition of any of the other awards. And games should be able to get multiple of the same award. (except the one for only new games, but that's a necessary side effect)
Of course, the 2025 Steam Awards' nomination period has already begun, so the earliest this could apply is with the 2026 Steam Awards. Well, I think I can manage having to wait a year before the Steam Awards are actually good.
最后由 BraveCaperCat 编辑于; 11 月 26 日 下午 1:38
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正在显示第 1 - 15 条，共 16 条留言
datCookie 11 月 26 日 下午 1:55 
Most of the awards are for games released in the last 12 months. I do not agree that those awards should be made available for games older than that.

Perhaps a new category could be given for "classic games" or some such for games that are still rocking strong.

I don't care much for the details of it, but I'm sure you understand the premise there.
#1
William Shakesman 11 月 26 日 下午 2:01 
Voting is limited to paying users of Steam, and a careful eye on what games routinely reach the top selling status and how long they stay there ought to disabuse you of any optimism about what such an electorate is likely to vote for
#2
Ben Lubar 11 月 26 日 下午 2:41 
You can create your own awards show and give awards to whatever games you want without voting and nobody can stop you.

More people should do that. You don't need to be Geoff Keighley to announce that you think a game is good.
#3
Tito Shivan 11 月 27 日 上午 12:54 
First, for the love of God, format that wall of text or nobody will bother reading any of that.

It's an annual event. You're basically complaining you cannot nominate Titanic to this year's Oscar Awards for best motion picture.
#4
rawWwRrr 11 月 27 日 上午 2:18 
#Learn2Paragraph

These awards are popularity contests, nothing more. If the committee is the community, that's all you can expect.
#5
imaginecatchynamehere 11 月 27 日 上午 4:08 
I don’t really see an issue with most categories focusing on games released in the last year. They could expand it if they wanted of course and I'd have no issue's with that either. Something like rotating categories like ‘Best Game of X Decade’ or even genre specific awards once they’ve cycled through the decades. Since at least part (arguably a big part) of the Steam Awards is marketing, adding some categories for older titles wouldn’t hurt anything.

Either way, it’s best not to take the awards too seriously. They’re really just lighthearted community engagement compared to some other awards that take themselves very seriously.
#6
BraveCaperCat 11 月 28 日 上午 2:33 
引用自 datCookie：
Most of the awards are for games released in the last 12 months. I do not agree that those awards should be made available for games older than that.
Fine, you can have that opinion.
I have a different opinion.
引用自 datCookie：
Perhaps a new category could be given for "classic games" or some such for games that are still rocking strong.
We already have one. The fact that every single old game has to fight for a single award makes the awards hard on old games. And it's hard on new games because they only get 1 shot at all the other awards.
引用自 datCookie：
I don't care much for the details of it, but I'm sure you understand the premise there.
Of course I do, I literally spent hours of my time writing the post...
引用自 William Shakesman：
Voting is limited to paying users of Steam
Yes, voting is limited to the paying users of steam... I mentioned this in my post...
Specifically limited to people who have spent at least $5 on the steam store. (or the equivalent in their country)
引用自 William Shakesman：
and a careful eye on what games routinely reach the top selling status and how long they stay there ought to disabuse you of any optimism about what such an electorate is likely to vote for
I'm not sure what you're talking about. Yes, popular games are going to tend to get steam awards more than others. Isn't that the point?
引用自 Ben Lubar：
You can create your own awards show and give awards to whatever games you want without voting and nobody can stop you.

More people should do that. You don't need to be Geoff Keighley to announce that you think a game is good.
Yes, but pretty much no one will care because very few game developers have heard of me. On the other hand, almost every game developer has heard of valve and/or steam.
Additionally, the steam awards aren't biased by valve, only games that people actually think are good are given steam awards. What I don't think is ok is that new games only get 1 shot at the 10 awards they're allowed for and that old games have to all compete for a single award.
引用自 Tito Shivan：
First, for the love of God, format that wall of text or nobody will bother reading any of that.
I did format that post. There's some itallic.
Not everyone needs to or does use newlines. There was only 1 good place to put newlines in the entire content of the post and I put 2 there.
引用自 Tito Shivan：
It's an annual event. You're basically complaining you cannot nominate Titanic to this year's Oscar Awards for best motion picture.
I've never heard of "Titanic" before (or don't remember hearing about it, at least) and the oscars are different. It's not possible for a movie to be nominated for an award after it has already received that award, (well, other than the actor awards and "Best Original Song") but it's possible for that award to be given any year after the movie's release, as long as it was in a commercial theater in Los Angeles for 7 consecutive days during the previous year. However, this (well, not the commercial theater part) is only true in the steam awards for the "Labor of Love" award and not any of the others. What I'm (mostly) complaining about isn't that I can't nominate Titanic for this year's oscar award for best motion picture, but that I can't nominate a movie released more than a year ago (take your pick of an example) that hasn't recieved an award in some category I want to nominate it in. Which just isn't (always) true for the oscars.
引用自 rawWwRrr：
These awards are popularity contests, nothing more. If the committee is the community, that's all you can expect.
I am not expecting the community to vote for any particular game, I'm not even wanting the community to do that. What I'm wanting is for valve to change how the steam awards work so it's (generally) fairer for both old and new games.
引用自 imaginecatchynamehere：
I don’t really see an issue with most categories focusing on games released in the last year.
The issue is that new games only get one chance at each of the 10 awards they're eligible for. Then, the next year, (and all following years) they have to compete with all the other games released more than a year ago, which is the majority of them, for a single award. This is not fair on the old games or the new games.
引用自 imaginecatchynamehere：
Something like rotating categories like ‘Best Game of X Decade’ or even genre specific awards once they’ve cycled through the decades.
That wouldn't fix the issue and probably wouldn't make any difference at all, since the "Labor of Love" award is already awarded every year to a single game that's older than a year. The genre specific awards do sound like an interesting idea, (and might be the only way a game I actually like gets an award) but they don't even seem to try to counteract the problems I've already stated.
引用自 imaginecatchynamehere：
Since at least part (arguably a big part) of the Steam Awards is marketing, adding some categories for older titles wouldn’t hurt anything.
Yeah, well the steam awards probably shouldn't be as focused on marketing than it currently is. If people make a horrible game but market it very well, it might do quite good among the other nominated games despite being horrible. (probably because people can nominate a game without owning the game or having played it before) Rather, game developers should focus more on making a good game than telling people about it if they ever hope to get a steam award. Yeah, it wouldn't hurt anything but it also probably wouldn't help either.
引用自 imaginecatchynamehere：
Either way, it’s best not to take the awards too seriously. They’re really just lighthearted community engagement compared to some other awards that take themselves very seriously.
An unfair award shouldn't be as popular as the steam awards are.
And the steam awards are unfair.
#7
Tito Shivan 11 月 28 日 上午 2:57 
引用自 BraveCaperCat：
Not everyone needs to or does use newlines. There was only 1 good place to put newlines in the entire content of the post and I put 2 there.
You should read a bit more on usability and UX. The fact this thread has only 7 replies in two days shows people don't bother reading your OP.

引用自 BraveCaperCat：
I've never heard of "Titanic" before (or don't remember hearing about it, at least) and the oscars are different. It's not possible for a movie to be nominated for an award after it has already received that award, (well, other than the actor awards and "Best Original Song") but it's possible for that award to be given any year after the movie's release, as long as it was in a commercial theater in Los Angeles for 7 consecutive days during the previous year. However, this (well, not the commercial theater part) is only true in the steam awards for the "Labor of Love" award and not any of the others. What I'm (mostly) complaining about isn't that I can't nominate Titanic for this year's oscar award for best motion picture, but that I can't nominate a movie released more than a year ago (take your pick of an example) that hasn't recieved an award in some category I want to nominate it in.
So like I said, they're both annual awards which mostly nominate movies/games of that year except for a very narrow set of exceptions.

BTW: Your seven day rule is incomplete.
RULE THREE: THE AWARDS YEAR AND DEADLINES

4. Each picture may have only one theatrical qualifying run. The earliest theatrical exhibition that meets such definition shall be designated the picture’s qualifying run

Those games lost their chances for a nomination the year they released. Though luck.
#8
+Tooterfish 11 月 28 日 上午 5:09 
引用自 BraveCaperCat：
The steam awards, if you haven't heard of them before, are an annual event that takes place towards the end of the year. They're going on right now, you might want to begin nominating some games once you're done reading this post. The steam awards have a nomination period where non-limited users (I'm pretty sure it's those who have spent a certain amount of money through steam, but I forgot the exact conditions) can nominate at most 1 game each for 11 different categories. They are "Game of the Year", "VR Game of the Year", "Labor of Love", (which btw is spelt incorrectly) "Best Game on Steam Deck", "Better With Friends", "Outstanding Visual Style", "Most Innovative Gameplay", "Best Game You Suck At", "Best Soundtrack", "Outstanding Story-Rich Game" and "Sit Back and Relax". (all followed by "Award" on the nomination page) And here we run into our first problem. I can't vote any of my favourite games for the "Game of the Year" award. Well, really, it depends on which games are your favourites, but we'll assume that none of them are eligible. You see, only games which were released after last year's autumn sale are eligible for any awards... other than the "Labor of Love" award, which only games which were released before last year's autumn sale are eligible for. (this would otherwise make me ask what about games released during last year's autumn sale, but there are more important things to discuss this time) You see, all of my favourite games are really "old" games like Factorio and No Man's Sky. (there's also Minecraft up there, but that isn't a steam game) Ones which have been worked on for years. I'm sure most of your favourite games are pretty old as well. However, they can only be nominated for 1 award and you can only nominate 1 game for each category every year... Additionally, an existing winner of that specific award cannot be renominated for another one at a later date... Like... Why? I don't see any particular reason why that should be the case. If a game is better than all the other old games one year and it's still better than all the other old games the next year, then it should deserve a second award... And it appears to be set up for all games to fail. The old games all have to compete for a single position every year - there's so many that it's very unlikely you own - let alone like - any winner (past or present) of the "Labor of Love" award. (I certainly don't own or particularly like any previous winners) The new games, however, only get one chance at any of the 10 other awards, then have to compete with lots and lots of other games for just 1 the next year. I guess it's sort of like a lottery, just with an award as a prize instead of money. 11 winners are guaranteed, but it's very unlikely any particular game is one of them. I mean, I guess it is slightly more skill based (since you have to make a good game for people to nominate or vote for it) than a lottery, but the community is so diverse that it's pretty much random. Additionally, not everyone plays or even owns a VR headset or Steam Deck, so the two awards dependent on that ("VR Game of the Year" and "Best Game on Steam Deck") don't fully make sense. (of course, these awards are about games and not the devices themselves, but I don't feel it would be right to lie about a game being "good" on a device I don't own) There's still the skip option, but it feels too much like cheating if I'm using it to try and get the badge levelled up.

Now onto how this horrible system (which is restrictive to both games and nominators) could potentially be fixed. For one, the VR and Steam Deck awards need to be removed or changed in some way so that people who don't own a VR headset or Steam Deck can still (fully) participate. The "Labor of Love" award should have correct spelling. (though this is significantly less important than everything else) All the awards which only new games can be nominated for, I think should also accept old games. And perhaps a new award that only new games can be nominated for, so that new games get a chance to compete amongst themselves without as much competition of any of the other awards. And games should be able to get multiple of the same award. (except the one for only new games, but that's a necessary side effect)
Of course, the 2025 Steam Awards' nomination period has already begun, so the earliest this could apply is with the 2026 Steam Awards. Well, I think I can manage having to wait a year before the Steam Awards are actually good.

tldr, also at least steam allows for popular vote on every category. Not sure if that is on point with everything you said though, due to not reading it.
#9
4D 69 72 65 6B 11 月 28 日 上午 7:29 
What an unnecessary wall of text....ever heard of the Return Button?
And it is called Game of the YEAR for a reason.
They try to determine the game, that was released within the year and is most liked by everyone.
It is not a reward, that is meant to list your favorite games of all time.
#10
Tanoomba 11 月 28 日 上午 9:03 
The whole point of the Awards is to celebrate the games that came out this year (and acknowledge one older game that continues to receive impressive updates). These are the games most people played this year, the ones most people talk about, the ones that have received the most attention.

If you allow people to nominate any game that released any time for any award, you'd STILL end up with the same set of nominees to choose from in the end because those are the games that people are most familiar with and have been playing the most recently.

As soon as you allow for older games to be nominated, you're opening the floodgates for thousands of game nominations based on everyone's highly specific and unique play habits, none of which anybody else would vote for because they don't share those habits. Heck, even as it stands there are excellent indie games released this year that were well-loved by the people who played them, but even if every person who played them nominated them it stil wouldn't be nearly enough for hem to make the final nominee list.

I love the idea of acknowledging and celebrating older games. But the Steam Awards is not the place for that. The Awards are a popularity contest for currently relevant and prominent games, which for the gaming public at large are games that released this year.
#11
Tito Shivan 11 月 28 日 上午 9:29 
引用自 Tanoomba：
As soon as you allow for older games to be nominated, you're opening the floodgates for thousands of game nominations based on everyone's highly specific and unique play habits
Spoiler: Even if OP suggestion were made real it most likely wouldn't result in the game he likes being even nominated, because popularity ie ephemeral.
#12
nullable 11 月 28 日 上午 9:39 
Your dislike of something may not be a problem anyone needs to solve.
#13
x 11 月 28 日 上午 9:51 
引用自 BraveCaperCat：
"Labor of Love", (which btw is spelt incorrectly)

No it's not.
Labor is used in American English, while British English has standardised labour.

I personally don't care for the steam awards. I might give the results a quick look at best.
最后由 x 编辑于; 11 月 28 日 上午 9:52
#14
William Shakesman 11 月 28 日 上午 10:33 
引用自 Tito Shivan：
引用自 Tanoomba：
As soon as you allow for older games to be nominated, you're opening the floodgates for thousands of game nominations based on everyone's highly specific and unique play habits
Spoiler: Even if OP suggestion were made real it most likely wouldn't result in the game he likes being even nominated, because popularity ie ephemeral.
Wukong sweep year by year every year.
#15
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