The Steam Tags system was recently released and already needs to be fixed. There are many good reasons for this that we want to go over with you so think about them yourself.
#1 Fan Tagging, Uselessness and Noel’s Armpits are Delicious
Upon firing up an early BlazBlue copy to see how terrible it was without online I was amused to see one of the Steam tags was something along the lines of “Noel’s Armpits are Delicious”. While that was very funny it was also useless for those wanting to buy a game like this. There were other useless tags too like:
- No Online Play (although you can debate that one)
- 7 Years Too Late
These were later removed which simultaneously defeats the use of tagging by users and makes it easier to find games. So basically Steam is saying tag things, but in the ways we want you to. How do we fix this? Just tag it correctly yourselves, Steam owners.
#2 Steam Tags Don’t Work
The strategy tag shows just how terribly useless these are. I’m looking for say a cerebral strategy game and not just an RTS. Something with a campaign map. So I go to strategy and find that the tag is so overcrowded that it is useless. Here are a few games:
- Game Tycoon (simulation, not really strategy)
- Dead Man’s Draw (Card Game)
- Arcane Worlds (wha, what?)
- Dungeon of the Endless (Also what)
- Awesomenauts (platformer)
To be clear we like these games but developers should care more than anyone. It’s harder for people like us to find games when they are buried beneath others. So the tags are not specific enough and are not placed where they could help most people. You may find a few that you wanted but you could have found those just looking through.
#3 It Needs a Redo
Make tags based on what people want. Things like campaign maps, character/vehicles customization, sandbox mechanics. Tags people are looking for when they want a game they haven’t seen before. As of now, this system is terrible. Have fun with something that helps you find games as much as their original setup did.
What Works Now with Steam Tags?
They do have some tags that do this already however each one is overcrowded with so many entries that you’ll get 100 entries every time.
So how does this differ from digging through the store? Not very much at all. We all should ask Steam developers to fix this shoddy system.
First thing to do? Remove useless tags like gore, funny and arcade. They’re packed and useless. Add more tags like Gun Customization and get really specific. Until then it will remain useless.
