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New Steam Store, Lots Of New Stuff

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The new Steam store homepage has been launched and it's a massive change. We are also now curators to help you find games to buy.

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First of all make sure you join our GamingOnLinux Steam Group. We will recommend games for you to buy that have good Linux support, so be sure to keep an eye on it.

The main aim of the new store-front is to stop Steam being so static, so to be more personal to you it's all based on what your friends recommend, what you have looked at and purchased before, and what groups you follow recommend.

This is far, far better than just seeing a flooded new releases section full of whatever games Steam decides to greenlight or for publishers to mass-push old games onto the store.

A new major feature is the Steam Discovery Queue which is made up of titles recommended for you to browse through, and it works much like how greenlight does. You can skip titles, add to your wishlist, follow a game to see information pop up in your activity feed or mark something as not being interesting for you. I look forward to seeing what it picks up for me after a while.

The search function has also been through a major revamp (finally) with more detailed options to really find what you want and it's actually quite useful now.

The best part about it is the fact that games on your wishlist in the games lists are highlighted, and games you already own are faded out, so it again highlights games you don't already own to help you track down new titles to play.

Games pages also no longer list Windows, Mac & Linux system requirements together. They are now in tabs at the bottom of the games page, and it seems to automatically go to Linux first if you are on Linux and the game supports it. So that's pretty handy, but I doubt many people actually ever look at system requirements unless they are on low powered computers.

What are your thoughts on it? It's very blue, so good job blue is my favourite colour! I am surprised a couple items from your activity page aren't on the home-page to make it easier to follow updates for games and people you are following.

The only problem is that it again hides lesser-known and less popular games, so that gives them even less of a chance. This is what the curators system is there for and makes it quite important.

The only thing that has bothered me is this:
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Come on Valve, "PC" is not an operating system. Although trying to fight that argument is pretty much a dead horse now. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial, Steam
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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24 comments
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Ilya Sep 23, 2014
Quotefor you to browser through
oops ;-)

PS. Damn Valve, I thought you were smarter than that! PC, ts-ts-ts
Liam Dawe Sep 23, 2014
You saw nothing *waves hand like a jedi*
GoCorinthians Sep 23, 2014
Love U Gaben!:D
Segata Sanshiro Sep 23, 2014
QuoteWe are also now curators to help you find games to buy.

I thought about GOL as soon as I saw that feature. How are you going to do it? Recommend anything that runs well on Linux pick and choose favorites? The first might be a good option because then GOL can act as kind of a "Linux seal of approval", might encourage devs to make good ports and its useful for Linux gamers who want to know how good the port is.

QuoteCome on Valve, "PC" is not an operating system. Although trying to fight that argument is pretty much a dead horse now.

That's all Apple's fault really with the whole "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" rubbish. Basically, when Jobs returned, Apple hired this guy called Clotaire Rapaille who is a "marketing guru" (pathological liar and Machiavellian narcissist) who attempts to access the "reptilian brain" (irrational subconscious) of the consumer. Consumers perceived PCs as being overcomplicated, unreliable and ugly, and he discovered that the reptilian codeword for technology was "magic" so the result was that Apple distanced itself from the word "PC" and marketed its PCs as "magic" new devices that are somehow different from ordinary computers underneath (presumably running on the tears of unicorns or something) which are simple, reliable and "beautiful". So when you next see someone spending £900 on a macbook and think its irrational, that's because it is.

Rapaille in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbq6lUgG8gA

The converse effect is that after years of marketing Windows became synonymous with the word PC considering that for most people Apple and Windows are the only choices on the market. Maybe its why Linux has been slow to take off - using it is too much of a logical decision for 21st century consumer reptilian zombies.

(sorry, off topic but drives me nuts too)
pd12 Sep 23, 2014
It'll take a while getting used to it, like the blues, not sure about the lack of lines.
Feels more like an FB feed now lol.

Yeah, PC != OS but as you said, everyone uses it for "Windows" these days =/
Liam Dawe Sep 23, 2014
For our recommended list it will be games that I know have a decent Linux port, and are actually fun.
seven Sep 23, 2014
the new steam interface looks really great
DrMcCoy Sep 23, 2014
I hate it.

I want:
- a way to hide elements on the store front
- a way to opt out of recommendations altogether
- a way to not be recommened certain tags ("Kickstarter" for example is worse than useless)
- the Games->SteamOS+Linux dropdown to not list Linux games "by relevance", whatever that mean, but by release date as before
- it to remember my selection
- a way to hide a certain game everywhere
- a way to hide owned games in the browse games list
- a change color option ;). I don't really like blue that much

And yes, it would be really nice if I could remove all that crap from the frontpage and just move updates from followed games and followed greenlight games there.
AsavarTzeth Sep 23, 2014
The only acceptable answer I will take for listing PC as an OS is if people in general have no idea what Windows is. But even then, it should state platform instead of "OS".

In any case, it is just wrong. They should be setting an example and instead educate those who do not know better.
Nezchan Sep 23, 2014
I'll never understand why the "Recommended For You" includes stuff from my wishlist, since obviously I already know about it so there's no point recommending it to me.

I do like that the front page is now largely Linux, but I don't like that hitting the "Browse by platform" button doesn't give you a category page, just a search result list. I also notice that the occasional not-Linux game slips through, like how it just suggested the new Middle Earth game.

In general I find it slightly better than the old interface, but still very clunky with not much improvement in navigation.
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