Valve Announces Steam Trading Cards Beta

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Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Steam Trading Cards, a new service that rewards gamers for gaming on Steam.

Released in beta today, Steam Trading Cards allows customers to earn Steam rewards for playing the games they love. Those who participate will receive game-specific trading cards that can be collected to earn rewards such as game badges, profile backgrounds, emoticons, coupons, and more. The group of titles participating in the Steam Trading Cards beta includes Don't Starve, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, Portal 2 and Half-Life 2. The service will expand over the coming months to include many more titles on Steam.
 
Depending on the rewards this could be very good for the games as well as Steam ... frequent flier programs pay for themselves because they promote loyalty ... something like this could do the same :)
 
The fact they even bother to think up programs like this is why they'll always be miles ahead of copycats like Origin
 
I think they need to do something because publishers are getting with Amazon and others to try to knock them out of their dominance. Somehow Amazon is putting games on sale that are going on sale at steam, just ahead of when they do it. Good guess, maybe. maybe not.
 
......So how does this help me get Half Life 3?


Sounds too me like they let 1 too many anthropologist / psychologist in and Valve...I personally do not like this social incentive type gaming.
 
Remember when Valve made games (and not junk like DOTA 2 etc.)?

Instead of endless projects involving turning Steam into GameFaceBook and porting the same dated 135 year old engine and games to Open Solaris? :p
 
DPI said:
The fact they even bother to think up programs like this is why they'll always be miles ahead of copycats like Origin
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The fact they focus on shit like this is why they a re a terrible games company.

"hey everyone we just made a bajillion dollars in a sale thanks all!"

So, what games will you be releasing?

"we just release a free mod from 126 years ago on a 10 year old engine"

That's nice, I mean actual games:

"well we made CS:GO"

Ok, I mean actual games, not some previous free mod you tidied up a bit and sold to people, then tidied up a little bit more, but still looks like ass, then resold to people.

"Portal 2!"

That was 3 hours long...has no plot (other than "but it might have a plot!!111' and some unfunny badly written jokes and "you are a moron" dialog) and was just a series of rooms with idiot level "puzzles" and lots of loading screens, it's hardly a full game...or a very good one...(and it's a total console port :p) If I don't know anyone released a game for $50 that was dull and 3 hours long people would bitch them to death.

"what do you want theen?"

Something that isn't a free mod, released as paid for (portal/L4d/CS/DOTA 2), or horribly dated (HL2 episode who gives a fuck), or 3 hours long (Portal 2) or just terrible? (DOTA 2) It's not like you have no money or stuff and can't take risks. You can't use the "indie" excuse for poor quality either as you have more money than most the big publishers and a captive audience. Remember when you released HL2 and told people they might have to upgrade things? Why is an HD 2000 single core acceptable now to run it on max? Why do you not give a shit about evolving or pushing the PC platform or releasing AAA 12+titles, yet are happy to milk the shit out of it? :p
 
So it's kinda like earning achievements then right? Wonderful. :rolleyes:
 
ITT: People with first world problems and personal entitlements.
 
DeathPrincess said:
The fact they focus on shit like this is why they a re a terrible games company.

"hey everyone we just made a bajillion dollars in a sale thanks all!"

So, what games will you be releasing?

"we just release a free mod from 126 years ago on a 10 year old engine"

That's nice, I mean actual games:

"well we made CS:GO"

Ok, I mean actual games, not some previous free mod you tidied up a bit and sold to people, then tidied up a little bit more, but still looks like ass, then resold to people.

"Portal 2!"

That was 3 hours long...has no plot (other than "but it might have a plot!!111' and some unfunny badly written jokes and "you are a moron" dialog) and was just a series of rooms with idiot level "puzzles" and lots of loading screens, it's hardly a full game...or a very good one...(and it's a total console port :p) If I don't know anyone released a game for $50 that was dull and 3 hours long people would bitch them to death.

"what do you want theen?"

Something that isn't a free mod, released as paid for (portal/L4d/CS/DOTA 2), or horribly dated (HL2 episode who gives a fuck), or 3 hours long (Portal 2) or just terrible? (DOTA 2) It's not like you have no money or stuff and can't take risks. You can't use the "indie" excuse for poor quality either as you have more money than most the big publishers and a captive audience. Remember when you released HL2 and told people they might have to upgrade things? Why is an HD 2000 single core acceptable now to run it on max? Why do you not give a shit about evolving or pushing the PC platform or releasing AAA 12+titles, yet are happy to milk the shit out of it? :p
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Your extreme hatred against Valve is bordering on psychotic :eek:

And you defend EA who's ripping customers off left and right.
 
Gotta_catch_'em_all_logo_EN.svg
 
Ugh. So no HL3 , no TF3 .. no innovation. Just fucking trading cards?

I'm almost to the point now where I just don't give a shit what Valve does anymore since they are obviously more concerned with vaporware and fucking Pokemon achievements than actually being a business.
 
Hornet said:
Your extreme hatred against Valve is bordering on psychotic :eek:

And you defend EA who's ripping customers off left and right.
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Point out where it's extreme or the "hatred" part even? Why would you tell someone you hated to actually make an effort and not release crap all the time? (It's kind of disturbing how much crap the gaming industries Apple get away with) More people need to call them out on their shit, else nothing will improve.

Don't you care that they don't ever release proper games anymore even though they have lots of money (also they made a billion dollars yet have 1 support guy...)? Didn't it bug you Portal was 15 minutes long? Doesn't it bug you how terrible the Steam client/service still is?

When do I "defend" EA? You mean like when there was the whole "account banning" thing and I pointed out it was due to the chargeback? How is pointing out what's actually happening "defending someone" or is that a bad quality, and we should all get angry about stuff which isn't happening? There's lots of shit to get angry about with them, just people choose the illogical or made up crap constantly. Again, it's just calling people out on their shit. :p
 
DPI said:
OMG u gais stop improving Steam until I can playz Half Life 3 !
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It still kind of amazes me that in this day and age people still think video game development is just 1 guy who can only focus on 1 thing at a time.
 
DeathPrincess said:
Point out where it's extreme or the "hatred" part even? Why would you tell someone you hated to actually make an effort and not release crap all the time? (It's kind of disturbing how much crap the gaming industries Apple get away with) More people need to call them out on their shit, else nothing will improve.

Don't you care that they don't ever release proper games anymore even though they have lots of money (also they made a billion dollars yet have 1 support guy...)? Didn't it bug you Portal was 15 minutes long? Doesn't it bug you how terrible the Steam client/service still is?

When do I "defend" EA? You mean like when there was the whole "account banning" thing and I pointed out it was due to the chargeback? How is pointing out what's actually happening "defending someone" or is that a bad quality, and we should all get angry about stuff which isn't happening? There's lots of shit to get angry about with them, just people choose the illogical or made up crap constantly. Again, it's just calling people out on their shit. :p
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Your problem is you seem to pass your opinions as facts. You dislike Valve's game, that's fine, but so long as a game has no technical issues (as in they work), the rest are just personal opinions.

Portal was short but it doesn't bother me, I got it with Orange Box and I felt the package was worth it. (No one is forced to buy it at that price, or at all). I've also seen you criticize linear shooters, but you cannot claim a game is bad just because it's linear because there's nothing technically bad about linear shooters. Some people enjoy them, while others don't.

You've also criticize Valve for not making games. No where is it written that Valve must make video games every year. Valve is a business company, they are free to do what they want. There are no laws that say they must be making video games. Besides, from your criticism, it doesn't look like you'll be interested in their future titles so why bother complaining about Valve not making any video games.
 
Hornet said:
Your problem is you seem to pass your opinions as facts. You dislike Valve's game, that's fine, but so long as a game has no technical issues (as in they work), the rest are just personal opinions.

Portal was short but it doesn't bother me, I got it with Orange Box and I felt the package was worth it. (No one is forced to buy it at that price, or at all). I've also seen you criticize linear shooters, but you cannot claim a game is bad just because it's linear because there's nothing technically bad about linear shooters. Some people enjoy them, while others don't.

You've also criticize Valve for not making games. No where is it written that Valve must make video games every year. Valve is a business company, they are free to do what they want. There are no laws that say they must be making video games. Besides, from your criticism, it doesn't look like you'll be interested in their future titles so why bother complaining about Valve not making any video games.
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Portal 2 was 4-5 hours long and almost full game price. That's not an opinion. The other games were free mods, again not an opinion, HL2 is massively dated, maybe an opinion, but not really.

the linear shooter thing was mostly because of how people critisize games constantly like Halo (which I also don't like) for being linear shooters, but then praise HL2 as the best game evar, even though it's a linear shooter. However, the main problem I had with HL2 was it was boring (and easy) and had too much "cinematic experience" (people blah blah blahing) and even looks terrible now. However, I like L4D even though it's mostly linear, because the gameplay feels more interesting and actually fun.

It's wrong to want more from people and be dissatisfied with total laziness? From their actions it seems they aren't really interested in making decent games anymore, just making Facebook 2. So I'm not exactly expecting greatness from them any time soon. The fanboys, of course, will suckle them for doing anything. So why should they bother doing hard stuff when everything they do is magic and revolutionary? :p
 
Portal 2 took me 7-8 hours for the SP, and I think I am in 4-5 hours in the co-op. I finished most of the missions but never completed it due to technical issues on the other players end. Length for the co-op might be off, as said player dropped a few times and I had to wait for it to reconnect. But it certainly wasn't 4-5 hours.

HL2 looked very impressive for its time and still looks decent enough today. Obviously it looks dated, but considering it is roughly 9 years old that is to be expected.

I don't care about game companies pushing graphics that won't be able to be run for 3 years when they'll either be dated or generic. Though something like Frostbite 2, nice looking but optimized, would be great.

I also dislike these various social features they are incorporating into Steam. Though the part about getting coupons (generic 10-20%+ off of your next purchase) would be nice to get just for playing games you already own.
 
What is with these trading card games?
First Blizz now valve?

Is this just something in the playbook, when you have nothing to present to your customer just whip up a TCG and then you are Fonzi jumping the shark!?
 
Valve is really more of a distributor at this point (because of Steam) so this is a good move for that model ... to compete with Amazon, Gamestop, and other digital distributors ... as well as stay competitive with the app stores (Amazon, Google, iTunes) ... they need to offer new capabilities periodically ...

this one isn't too bad ... although it may not appeal to the hard core gamer crowd it will definitely be useful for the general gamers (which are the majority these days) ... we'll just have to see how it plays out :cool:
 
HardUp4HardWare said:
What is with these trading card games?
First Blizz now valve?

Is this just something in the playbook, when you have nothing to present to your customer just whip up a TCG and then you are Fonzi jumping the shark!?
Click to expand...

Although it's called trading cards, it's not a a trading card game. :p

It's an achievement from playing video games (currently limited to Valve's game and Don't Starve) that allows you to exchange it for stuff like custom background, chat icons, and discount coupons. These items are tradable if you don't want them or you can sell them in Steam's Market too. Don't know if people would buy them, but there are people selling them for a buck or two.

It's like on Twitch for example, if you're a subscriber, you'll have special chat icons. Just some cosmetic stuff from playing games.
 
03grandam said:
So it's kinda like earning achievements then right? Wonderful. :rolleyes:
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Sounds a lot like what origin already does, and it is lame there too. Unless you are paying me by the hour, you cant create enough incentive for me to waste my time on don't want to play it. I've played Valve's games, they want me to play more, they need a new game worth playing.
 
Yea, people just need to let go this idea that valve will release games. The stress levels and panties-in-a-wad syndrome was cute at first but is now so tiring. I guess people want a sympathetic ear, but I would hope at this point in your life you can find another outlet for joy and just concentrate on that instead of living in the past.

All the best
<3
 
I still remember all the hate Valve received when Steam was launched I still think its a horrible system and program yet everyone who bitched still latched onto the system and now it will probably be around forever. I wish Valve would make NEW games instead of being a virtual media distributor.
 
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