Indie developers commented on Bethesda recent answers to negative reviews about Starfield in Steam

Bethesda has undergone considerable number of ridicule for her answers to negative reviews about Starfield, but, according to some indie developers who act as well, such things quickly become standard practice in the industry.

For several months, the Bethesda support service responded to separate negative reviews about Starfield in Steam. The answers come from several accounts related to Bethesda, and they all offer similar calls to try playing the game in different ways to get the maximum pleasure from it, they note that updates will appear in the future, and in some cases they insist that the game of really not boring.

For those who do not know, this becomes the standard of the industry. Due to how important Steam ratings play, and proven ability to sometimes turn negative reviews based on a simple interaction with the user, this is distributed. This is just a very big game that does it.

-writes Indie-developer Xalavier Nelson Jr.

"Yes, we have been doing this for several years", – Dillon Rogers agrees with New Blood Interactive. "Many people will change their feedback if you contact them and tell you that you are working on a problem or helping them to eliminate a mistake. This is of great importance for the algorithm".

Steam built mechanisms that allow developers to respond to individual reviews about the same time as there is a user rating. Such mechanisms have long existed on platforms with similar types of user reviews. The difference for Bethesda in these answers in Steam is that they are less like a direct response to reviews and are more like what they say to players, they are wrong, since they are not happy.

– writes the boss New Blood Dave Oshri.

Look at the answers of the developers to negative reviews about Gloomwood from New Blood to see an example of something more acceptable. As a rule, you will receive a brief gratitude for the review and comment that a specific problem will be solved in the next update.

Everyone quickly admits that the specific implementation of Bethesda of this tactic does not correspond to the tone. "Is it strange? Undoubtedly", – admits Nelson. "Whether it will continue to be used – and more used – as the Steam ratings play the role of the visible marker of the reputation of the video game? Undoubtedly".

It is worth noting that Valve insists that Steam ratings do not have so much affect the appearance of the algorithm. In her report on the work of search algorithms Steam, Valve noted that as soon as the game rises above "negative" rating and switches to the territory "mixed" or higher, this does not have a significant impact on the appearance of the game in history. But at the moment, Starfield has not a very pleasant rating of 69%, which does not reach 70%necessary for the transition from "mixed" To "positive". Even if this does not have a significant impact on the placement of the game in the algorithm, there is a feeling that the blue text will look much more pleasant for Bethesda than the current yellow.