Paid mods pulled from Steam Workshop, full refund to those that purchased

Thanks to overwhelming feedback regarding the new paid mods in the Steam Workshop, Valve is pulling the plug on the new feature.

We didn't like the idea when it was announced last week, and it looks like those affected share the same feeling on having to pay for game mods.  Valve announced the removal of the new payment feature in a Steam Community post.

"We're going to remove the payment feature from the Skyrim workshop. For anyone who spent money on a mod, we'll be refunding you the complete amount. We talked to the team at Bethesda and they agree.

We've done this because it's clear we didn't understand exactly what we were doing. We've been shipping many features over the years aimed at allowing community creators to receive a share of the rewards, and in the past, they've been received well. It's obvious now that this case is different.

To help you understand why we thought this was a good idea, our main goals were to allow mod makers the opportunity to work on their mods full time if they wanted to, and to encourage developers to provide better support to their mod communities. We thought this would result in better mods for everyone, both free & paid. We wanted more great mods becoming great products, like Dota, Counter-strike, DayZ, and Killing Floor, and we wanted that to happen organically for any mod maker who wanted to take a shot at it."

Bethesda also updated their blog post and released a statement on the matter.

After discussion with Valve, and listening to our community, paid mods are being removed from Steam Workshop. Even though we had the best intentions, the feedback has been clear – this is not a feature you want. Your support means everything to us, and we hear you.

Last week, Valved introduced a payment method for creators to charge players for the content they create for their game. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was the first game to implement the new feature. The charge was made optional, giving the creators the choice to charge players any amount or give it for free.The feedback was mostly negative.

What we think: We see the  reason to why they introduced this feature, but how it was implemented shows ways to abuse the feature and overall affect the modding community in a negative way. Valve tested the waters  with Bethesda and it looks like they will have to go back to the drawing board if they want to try anything like this again.

If they really want to support modders to earn from all their hard work, a simple donate button would be enough to do just that. Or they could just leave the modding community alone and let them do what they do best.

What are your thoughts on paid mods? Is it a good idea and needs to be looked at in the future? Or let game mods stay free?

Steam In-Home Streaming now available to all users

Steam got an update today, giving  all users the ability to play any of their games in any computer at home, leaving your high-end computer to do all the work. All you need is a Windows PC, a good connection, and another computer connected to your Steam account that's also on the same network. 

I've tried this feature and it actually works. I simply leave my main gaming PC on and online, then I installed Steam on a 5 year old laptop that isn't built for gaming. When I log in using the laptop, instead of the usual "Install option on each game, I see the button "Stream". I click it and bam, the game turns on in my gaming PC, and I see the game on my laptop. All processing is done by the hosting computer, it simply feeds the output to the laptop. Any input I do on my old laptop will be transferred to the host computer for execution. You can now play.

Currently, Windows PC is the only system that can be the hosting computer. SteamOS, Linux, and Mac OS X will be able to host in the future. No date was given though. But you can stream any game to any system.

I'm sure you have guessed it by now - The performance of this In-Home Streaming is all based on your internet connection. It sounds all neat, but it won't be worth it if we are seeing input lag during a session. I was experiencing input lag making it hard to even play on the first 30 minutes. I checked who might be using the internet this early in the morning and noticed my nephew was watching a YouTube video on 1080p. Once he was done with his video, I saw improvements with my input, but it can still be a pain, especially when your trying to dodge a huge sword in Dark Souls 2.

The update is free for all Steam users. Simply update your client to get it.

Have you tried the new in-home streaming? Let us know your experiences below. If you have any more questions, check out this link to get all the additional information you might need about this new update.

Valve reveals the first 13 Steam Machines during CES 2014

Last year, we posted that Valve has made the big move by invading gamers living room space. Now, they revealed that they officially have 13 Steam Machines being developed by different manufacturers. Yes, we are not talking about one unit that would be using the new Steam controller and it's new Linux-based operating system called SteamOS, we are talking about 13 kinds of units.

It's crazy. The manufacturers creating Steam Machines are Alienware, Alternate, Cyberpower PC, Digital Storm, Falcon Northwest, Gigabyte, iBuyPower, Materiel.net, Next Spa, Origin PC, Scan, Webhallen and Zotac. Each Steam Machine is different, with price range as low as $500 to as high as $1400. The shape of the unit also varies depending on the manufacturer, so there's a lot to choose from when considering Valve's Steam Machines.

Unit specs for some Steam Machines were also announced with a price:

• Alternate – $1339 CPU – Intel Core i5 4570 Graphics – Gigabyte GTX 760 RAM – 16GB Storage – 1TB SSHD
• CyberPowerPC – $499 and up CPU – AMD/Intel Core i5 CPU Graphics – AMD Radeon R9 270/Nvidia GTX 760 RAM – 8GB Storage – 500GB
• Digital Storm Bolt II – $2,584 CPU – Intel Core i7 4770K Graphics – GTX 780 Ti RAM – 16GB Storage – 1TB HDD + 120 GB SSD
• Gigabyte Brix Pro – TBD CPU – Intel Core i7-4770R Graphics – Intel Iris Pro 5200 RAM – 2 x 4GB Storage – 1TB SATA/6GB SATA
• Falcon Northwest – $1,799 to $6000 CPU – customizable Graphics – Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan RAM – 8 to 16 GB Storage – up to 6 TB
• iBuyPower – $499 and up CPU – Quad core AMD or Intel Graphics – Radeon GCN Graphics RAM – 8GB Storage – 500GB+
• Materiel.net – $1,098 CPU – Intel Core i5 4440 Graphics – MSI GeForce GTX 760 OC RAM – 8GB Storage – 8 GB + 1 TB SSHD
• Origin PC Chronos – price TBD CPU – Intel Core i7 4770K (3.9 to 4.6 GHz) Graphics – 2 x 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX Titans
• Next SPA – price TBD CPU – Intel Core i5 Graphics – Nvidia GT 760 RAM – 8GB Storage – 1TB
• Scan NC 10 – $1,090 CPU – Intel Core i3 4000M Graphics – Nvidia GeForce GTX 765M RAM – 8GB Storage – 500GB
• Webhallen – $1,499 CPU – Intel Core i7 Graphics – Nvidia GT 780 RAM – 16GB Storage – 1TB SSHD
• Zotac – $599 CPU – Intel Core (TBD) Graphics – Nvidia GeForce GTX RAM – TBD Storage – TBD

It's exciting to know these Steam Machines will be available within the year. But I'm curious on how Valve and each manufacturer will manage the information for each unit. With each Steam Machine being different, it can come out confusing for consumers with all the choices.

Valve also announced that there are now 250 games now SteamOS ready.

Excited to get your own Steam Machine when it's available? Or are you good with your PC when it comes to your Steam games?

[Source: Joystiq, Valve]

The Steam box is a reality,will come in multiple forms on release

The second countdown has ended and Valve has announced the highly rumored Steam Box with the name "Steam Machines". This system will come in multiple forms from different manufacturers, all using the Linux-based SteamOS. They have a prototype, and Valve wants to send the prototype to 300 Steam users for testing purposes. Check out if your eligible. 

It's pretty easy to be on that eligible list, but your pretty much going against millions of users that want to be within the lucky 300. But trying won't hurt, here are the steps:

Before October 25, log in to Steam and then visit your quest page to track your current status towards beta test eligibility

1. Join the Steam Universe community group 2. Agree to the Steam Hardware Beta Terms and Conditions 3. Make 10 Steam friends (if you haven't already) 4. Create a public Steam Community profile (if you haven't already) 5. Play a game using a gamepad in Big Picture mode

Valve didn't talk about specs or anything but they did mention in the reveal that these "Steam Machines" are completely upgradable and open.

There's still one more announcement left for Valve's three-part reveal and my guess is either a new source engine, a game exclusive to this box, or the box's controller.

[Source: Steam]

Valve announces SteamOS

Someone is making a big move. Valve just announced today the SteamOS, a linux-based operating system that can run on any living room hardware. 

The big countdown from Valve ended and this is what we got. This operating system is just one of the big announcements planned, and shows their attempt to hit the living room space that's already crowded by console gaming. Aside from the Family Sharing feature and the usual videos and music media services, the biggest feature of this operating system is the ability to stream your games from your PC straight to your home network and  TV. Valve states this is as a "Cooperating System".

Steam is not a one-way content broadcast channel, it’s a collaborative many-to-many entertainment platform, in which each participant is a multiplier of the experience for everyone else. With SteamOS, “openness” means that the hardware industry can iterate in the living room at a much faster pace than they’ve been able to. Content creators can connect directly to their customers. Users can alter or replace any part of the software or hardware they want. Gamers are empowered to join in the creation of the games they love. SteamOS will continue to evolve, but will remain an environment designed to foster these kinds of innovation.

Steam also announced that a huge amount of games will support the SteamOS natively in 2014, more info is said to come in a few weeks. The usual features like Steam Workshop, in-game chat, game groups, clouds storage will continue in the SteamOS, and it will be free to download when it's ready. Information is still vague at the moment, but I don't believe this OS is meant to go head-to-head against other systems like Windows.

We'll just have to see at this point. This is just one of the three planned announcements coming from Valve and the timer for the second has already started. The second announcement will be revealed in 41 hours at the time of writing this.

With the release of the Big Picture feature for Steam a year ago, it's clear that Valve has their eyes on your living room. With this reveal, it seems like they are ready to make a move, expand, and enter an already crowded space.

[Source: Steam ]