The floodgates are flooding and the opinions are opining about the value of Steam Greenlight. Some clever uses have already appeared.
We mentioned the Greenlight Bundle last week as an interesting way to get a mass of thumbs up on some games. Since then Indie Royale made a collection as a way of letting people know where some of their off-Steam games are being held hostage.
Naturally, this being the internet, there are feelings are getting hurt. One developer has taken to Reddit to air his frustrations over the low quality comments which are looking at his game only as a Minecraft knock-off because of its visuals, despite not playing anything at all like Minecraft. I think the consensus that this is a result of the newness of Greenlight is close to spot on. Right now, lots of the people there are unsure what to expect to come out of Greenlight.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun interviewed a few indie game devs and they are echoing the sentiments that some people might be viewing this as a chance to get games that they were already going to get (like Call of Duty 13: Special Green Berets or Gears of War 9: Gear Harder) but only sooner thanks to their demands. I dont’ know, I’m just guessing. They’re probably right that a downvote button has less of a place in this type of environment. But I think Valve doesn’t look at their people as a bunch of anonymous users; they see them as unique customers with identities that they can attach personal data to.
The dust will be settling on Greenlight and some structural things will change. As more upvotes come out, we’ll probably see an almost there section. I’d personally rather see a money-where-your-mouth-is mechanism, as it ties in the amount you’re willing to pay into how critical or receptive you are for a given game. It may also keep out the kids who are living allowance-to-allowance. Who knows.
None of this is stopping the old way from working. In fact, it gives Valve more time to assess the other games, I’d think. So, nobody should worry that now Steam is somehow more tainted because the kids are running things. I don’t think we’ll see Half Life 3 on Greenlight ever.
Source: rockpapershotgun.com