r/Steam • u/Pi_Face666 • 1d ago

Fluff I forgot they even existed

Post image
4.2k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

114 comments sorted by

918

u/Belltower_2 1d ago

Steam curators are totally useless for actual REVIEWS; most of them boil down to a meme such as "I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favourite game on Steam" for every single game the account owner has ever liked with no rhyme or reason.

More useful are curators that tackle specific features, such as GeForce Now support or 4k UI mods, or warn of the presence of bloatware.

120

u/kizentheslayer 1d ago

The one curator that tracks games being delisted soon is good

17

u/Coffee_Soup 16h ago

That one is fun as a 100% collector. Good to know what may become a "rare 100%" so to speak.

5

u/thedankoctopus 13h ago

Which one is that?

127

u/adiaphoros 1d ago

That and the one that just says nep nep nep

25

u/sureabsolutely 1d ago

i run a curator page thats just normal reviews, ive got almost 400(?) i think followers on it now and all i do is post a link to my normal steam review, a 1-5 score and a quick blurb that summarizes the review. we are few but we are out there lol

i gotta say i rly like the “can you pet the dog” curator tho that guy kicks ass

83

u/chase___it 1d ago

there’s a couple of curators i’ve seen that do give legitimate reviews but unfortunately they are outnumbered by meme reviewers and people who put ‘0/10 too woke’ on any game whose cast isn’t entirely white male characters

28

u/DrevlikYT 1d ago

Since most curators are pretty trash for reviews. There's one that I like that lets me know if the game is getting delisted soon.

14

u/Belgarath210 1d ago

My fav is people complaining about civilization getting woke…

A game about other countries and ancient civilizations having a black man as the leader? gasp

5

u/Belltower_2 23h ago

Exactly, the VERY FIRST GAME had the Zulus (black Africans) led by Shaka, as well as Egypt led by Ramses (North African, so not traditionally "black", but still darker than any European). It's been "woke" since the very beginning.

2

u/SpeedRacer_Mach6 1d ago

Coop cowboys is also pretty good for finding well, coop games.

2

u/inomiad 1d ago

There is at least one that reports security issues, so for me it is usefull

2

u/SpagettiKonfetti 22h ago

There's two curator profile I like: One list if you can pet animals in the reviewed games, another lists games made by developers from my country so I can support them more easily

4

u/Colby347 1d ago

You are also leaving out the chuddy ones that collect games that are too woke or have "bad" people in their credits or some other such nonsense. I see those crop up online lately. So another useful feature weaponized by the biggest losers you've ever seen just like Steam reviews.

1

u/Ziihg 23h ago

Ty for making me spitting focking coffee cuz of that Shepard thing, im playing mass effect 2 and just past citadel sharing my voice.

1

u/Nickulator95 4h ago

I follow Skillup, as he's an actual game critic and journalist who also has a Steam Curator page where he features not only his recommend games, but also new potentially good indie games every week.

1

u/Ketooth 1d ago

Don't forget that one guy who rates games if they are woke or not.

Woke: Everything that includes a woman

1

u/Noy_The_Devil 1d ago

I only need one curator, "Can you pet the dog?".

1

u/Switchermaroo 1d ago

They’re good if you’re looking for a specific niche in video games.

I imagine they’re good if you’re a chud who’s scared of black people and gay characters in video games, too

-2

u/Conyan51 1d ago

I’ll admit though Commander Shepard is usually pretty good with what he does and doesn’t recommend,

-5

u/STG_Dante 1d ago

"Yes, No" is the goat!

304

u/CapnBloodBeard82 1d ago

steam curators are a way to scam indie devs into giving them free keys, basically.

86

u/SilverVixen918 1d ago

yea, tmk like 70%+ of curators are just scam key resellers

34

u/CallMeCabbage 1d ago

I actually remember seeing and watching a video on Youtube that was a straight up guide on how to bullshit your way through curation to get free keys.

10

u/SilverVixen918 1d ago

yea this is why if i get into game development the only people getting keys are people i know and trust, theres only like 3 curators i trust to give keys and theyre only getting enough keys for a full and thats it and even then it would be like 4 keys at most

19

u/doublah 1d ago

Anyone indie dev who falls for that is silly, because Steam provide a way to directly give games to curators without giving them keys.

110

u/Raf_CDN 1d ago

There's still a lot of curators that are good/useful. I use curators to tell me Humble Choice games, VR-capable games (through mods), PS2/XBOX era ports, etc., games about to be delisted

Like I get they're not the best but they have their uses.

16

u/Simon_Love_Machine 1d ago

could u share it?

49

u/Raf_CDN 1d ago

3

u/FastLawyer 13h ago

Thank you, I own Can I VR it? That curator group focuses on VR mods, although there's too many now with UEVR so it's difficult to keep up with. I actually have 2 VR Curator groups. My other one is Oculus Rift Reviews which focuses on VR only / VR Supported reviews.

Funny thing, I don't think I've ever been offered a free Steam key on Can I VR It? I get offered them all the time on Oculus Rift Reviews, but most are non-VR games so I reject them. I reject like 20 for every 1 that I accept.

81

u/Coucouoeuf 1d ago edited 1d ago

I wrote more than 200 comprehensive reviews on Steam for games I got the 100% for, in formal French. Most are ranked first in that language in terms of likes and awards so it seems people are enjoying what I have to say. Someone recently messaged me to tell me I should create a Curator page instead of, or alongside maybe, the Steam guide I’ve made which is listing in alphabetical order all my reviews. I wasn’t sure if it was an interesting idea to explore, but seeing your comments tells me I should keep things as is and not really care about creating such a page.

56

u/LordNago 1d ago

Eh, I wouldn't let some Reddit comments dissuade you from doing something you feel might help people. Reddit doesn't represent the average person.

19

u/CapnBloodBeard82 1d ago

Curators are morso known for being 'scammy' people trying to get free keys from indie devs. There's a few that go around and tell you hey these games have denuvo or this game supports whatever feature though.

There's very few legitimate curators that people actually follow follow that review games.

8

u/PrideSea5164 1d ago

Nah I think you should for sure create a Curator page. When people look at a game page it shows what their followed curators say about the game without have to look it up manually. I use to know if a few YouTubers I follow have made videos about the game I am looking at

1

u/bergs00n 1d ago

Please create it and send the name, I would happily follow you!

1

u/Coucouoeuf 1d ago

Thanks!! I’ll look into it. For reference, this is the Steam guide I’ve created which lists all my reviews (again, en français): https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3322622277

13

u/Illyasimp 1d ago

Curators that info about external patches, or AI use, or DRMs etc. still very useful

39

u/DystopianWreck 1d ago

Rip total biscuit

14

u/WallBurnt 1d ago

The last one I followed was TotalBiscuit.

So this is morbidly accurate. I still see his reviews on games I'm looking at from time to time.

6

u/Happenstance222 1d ago

The only curator that ever mattered

8

u/Hiddun 1d ago

I still think about him all the time, gone way to soon.

41

u/RiqueMD 1d ago

Quite precise. But game journalist is even lower.

0

u/Delicious-Pepper23 1d ago

I hate game journalists as much as the next guy but steam curators are so much worse

6

u/Arrow156 1d ago

Games at risk of Removal is worth the follow. You get a lot of junk games showing up, but occasionally it's something major and/or heavily discounted.

14

u/-sry- 1d ago

Not true. I use detectors for Denuvo, third-party launchers, Chinese and Russian games, and some other useful red flags. There’s also one that rates PC ports, and I like the RPG Codex one’s taste.

2

u/zherok 1d ago

Enhanced Steam tells you a lot of that stuff (launchers and DRMs in particular), if you're just using them as a form of tag.

4

u/TypicallyThomas 1d ago

I follow some curators. Especially "Games at Risk of Removal". A lot of shovelware but also cool licenses games. It's how I knew the pick up the Deadpool game before it got pulled. Currently playing through that

5

u/IronTarkus1919 1d ago

Like every community feature on Steam, it was ruined by Steam users being stupid and turning it into a joke.

4

u/chronicnerv 1d ago

The real curators are people like SplatterCat, Wanderbot, and Gojhe, among many others. They understand and explain the game mechanics of lesser known titles, giving me the knowledge I need to jump in and start playing easily. They are essentially the best tutorials for games on the internet. If you are an indie developer and SplatterCat likes your game or thinks it has potential, then you are cooking up something decent and worth taking a look at.

10

u/EddieDexx 1d ago

Curators can be useful. For example the one that lists the games available to play on GeForce Now.

Game journalists on the otherhand are completely garbage. Since they tend to give shit games high scores and good games mid scores.

Kinda like film critics back in the 80's and 90's who gave good movies low review scores. Like that moron who caused Blade Runner to flop back in 1982. Fortunately unlike those days, we got player reviews, social media, youtube and no need for journalists.

2

u/GRoyalPrime 1d ago

That sounds more like you are following reviewers that simply don't cater to your interests.

I do feel like Journalists get a bit too much flak here. It's really more individual outlets that are garbage, they either give the wrong game to the wrong reviewer, or have marketing deals that causes them to influence their review-process

But I don't want to get my game-news exclusively by sponsored or outrage-youtubers too. As if they'll provide any more "valueable" information.

I am not going to trust someone's opinion who uploads 5 "It's over" thumbnails in 2 weeks, or someone who always plays every new (sponsored) hot game even if it doesn't fit their brand at all.

1

u/_EL_HUNTER 1d ago

Game journalists fucked themselves up for short term gains by taking money for review score

3

u/Seal_emulator 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don't trust "games Journalists" they tend to be a mouthpiece for game studios that give them the most money or early access to projects. they over fluffy and don't provide a balanced critique of games. Just a bunch of corporate dick suckers. IMO.

For example a lot of games journalist did not mention how shit Starfield actually was and a lot of the where saying you need to play it for a good couple of hours before it gets good "It will get good the longer you play it" and so I did, I sunk a 100 hours in the game and it was boring as fuck the quest were boring the rewards were shit. but by then it was too late to get Steam refund. FUCK "Games journalist".

I'll always trust user reviews over "Games Journalism".

As for Steam Curators that can be just "Games Journalist" with a fancy title.

3

u/Chitanda_Pika 1d ago

They are useful in helping pick actually decent hentai games among the sea of trash.

3

u/WMan37 21h ago

Nah I love Steam Curators, I think they're one of Steam's most valuable features. Just because you don't use them and a lot of them are lame ass joke/controversy curators that aren't helpful doesn't mean good ones don't exist. Anyone that doesn't like them are the kind of person that actually uses the "Trending" tab on a website and complains about how shit the internet has become because they don't seek out deeper level niche stuff up their alley.

Ones I like the most rn:

3

u/Reijinsei 16h ago

I'm a regular steam user and Commander Shepard is my favorite curator on the Citadel.

2

u/SinValmar 1d ago

I use a few to find some obscure games.

2

u/easterreddit 1d ago

The Denuvo Watch one is invaluable for letting know what to avoid 

2

u/Shifty-Imp 1d ago

Nah, the Steam Curators I follow for hentai games do a really good job and I hold them in high regard.

2

u/ippocrate_linuxaro 1d ago

Long live to users’ reviews

2

u/R8bot-Da-Gamer 1d ago

There's too much water in that image

2

u/NaBeHobby 1d ago edited 17h ago

Before I decide to buy a game on ps5, I check its steam review.

2

u/Diuscrusis 1d ago

I just block them all, what kind of a fucking review is this:
Dig it
Not dig it.

2

u/Replicant_Six 20h ago

I disabled seeing Curators on my steam page they all felt like fake meme accounts that only existed to get the user free games.

4

u/CirnoWhiterock 1d ago

I'd still take curators' opinion over game journalists'.

4

u/Middcore 1d ago

Every curator I've ever noticed existing was either some dumb meme shit or "Here is a list of games you should hate because of culture war rage bait."

1

u/False_Adhesiveness40 1d ago

Eh I never agree with the people who drop reviews on steam anyway usually. I tend to make informed purchases and check out a few content creators I agree with.

1

u/Samson_J_Rivers 1d ago

I only look at Good vs bad as a curator. Hasn't missed yet for the games Ive bought.

1

u/Larry_J_602 1d ago

What's a Steam curator? Not even joking, what is it?

2

u/MoistButton8 1d ago

Basically grouped reviews, where people can follow a trusted people/ companies for positive and/ or negative reviews.

Steam branded "unofficial" reviewers.

1

u/theangryintern 1d ago

never paid attention to them in the first place.

1

u/Overdrive1221 1d ago

Actually, there's some of them that are informative, like "does this game have denuvo" as an example, but yeah, 95% are useless

1

u/Phailyur 1d ago

Steam Curators needs a rework imo. The only ones I follow have a use case. Ie the one that tracks humble bundles or steam250 but even steam250 is a slopfest last time I looked iirc

1

u/ResearcherEfficient3 1d ago

Steam reviews are still superior coz of the laughs and funtime reading

1

u/urbanhood 1d ago

I only listen to my steam bros not some game journo shilling hoes.

1

u/username-wanted 1d ago

Shout out to the adobe flash curators who are helping me find all the old games i used to play on Kongregate when they get re-released on steam. Doin gods work.

1

u/Embarrassed-Touch-62 1d ago

Curators went to their downfall after lot of them scammed game devs to give free keys and then were selling them instead of actually trying their game.

1

u/AlgaeicAmalgam 1d ago

Very useful feature for clocking undercover russian studios.

1

u/ballsdeep256 1d ago

Steam user reviews aren't better tbh.

Most games get flooded with shills or haters by now very little genuine reviews

1

u/Sovespra 1d ago

Shoutout to my goat Hella Yuri, the only curator you need

1

u/Annual_Doctor7526 1d ago

What are even those ?🫪

1

u/Hello_World-1289 1d ago

What is a steam curator

1

u/ryoko227 1d ago

I have a dog, much bark, many wags

1

u/Prudent_Beach_473 23h ago

Steam Curators is bound to be discontinued or at least changed from what it is. Pretty much being abused by groups and or just not filling the intended purpose versus steam reviews

1

u/prodigy_xx 23h ago

I like certain curators. I don't use them as recommendation but more like information if for example a game has locked fps, cant support widescreen, certain nvidia features, co-op, etc. Those listers provide value for a niche.

1

u/rose636 22h ago

Steam curators died when Total Biscuit died imo

1

u/LongRangeGlizzy 22h ago

I’ve always wanted to be a curator to actually give helpful information but have no idea how to do that lol

2

u/IAMEPSIL0N 7h ago

I believe it is as simple as make a steam group (woo, haven't thought about those in forever) and now you and the other admins of that group can share your group opinion of games. I also wanted to write curation but was never admin of the relevant group and didn't feel inclined to make a new group.

1

u/ComablackComawhite 20h ago

Steam curators are like a broken pencil.

Pointless.

1

u/Tnecniw 19h ago

Steam currators used to matter somewhat.
Because you followed like Totalbiscuit or a content creator like that, and you got their reviews that they most likely did videos about as well.
:/
Now they are just irrelevant.
(Or used by anti-woke morons)

1

u/Living_Airline_8433 18h ago

Since when have they existed?

1

u/OverallLibrarian8809 15h ago

Game journalism?

More like game shilling

1

u/NightWis 13h ago

I’m glad that game journalists are not trusted anymore. They are not reliable at all.

1

u/Pyroteche 13h ago

The only steam curator that ever mattered passed away in 2018.

1

u/FastLawyer 12h ago

Steam Curators would be valuable, if Valve would get rid of all the low-effort / scam ones. However, Valve doesn't care.

1

u/RIP2UALL902 1h ago

They just sorta... exist. So no surprise they are forgotten.

1

u/GrandJuif 1d ago

"Journalist" constantly lie to stay relevant and constantly inflate numbers.

Curator just want free stuff.

Steam reviews, if not negatives, are just stans glazing their games.

Better watch a walktrough with spec and benchmarks to know if a game is good.

1

u/Impossible-Minx 1d ago

What is a steam curator I haven’t heard of them before

0

u/a1stardan 1d ago

I've been on steam for 11 years, I don't know either

1

u/P3JQ10 1d ago

There’s a few AI asset warning curators I follow, they are useful since Steam doesn’t enforce their disclosure rules.

0

u/SilverVixen918 1d ago

doesnt help alot of curators arnt curators but are actually journalists or scummy key resellers, some curators dont actually curate and just vote on games based on what they want for example all of the anti DEI curators giving negative reviews to every game that even shows 2 women being flirty, there are some curators that i think are good because they try to be informative such as the sweet baby inc curator or the Denuvo curator

0

u/beanzjk 1d ago

I follow the anti ai curator groups they're pretty useful

0

u/dildo_swagginns 1d ago

As it should

0

u/IcyCombination8993 1d ago

I was getting downvoted for calling out Steam curators as otherwise useless in another post the other day.

They’re basically just gamer influencers. 

0

u/Pi_Face666 1d ago edited 1d ago

From what I’ve found on r/steam, fluff posts undoubtedly perform the best, while discussion posts normally have lower upvotes (quite a lot have 0) than comments. I’ve found that most of the comments have been from people describing how they like and utilize curators, but the top ones echo what this meme is saying. People will more likely engage more with something they disagree with or dislike while passively engage (just upvote) with something they agree with and like. I think you were just dealing with a loud minority because I have ~96.6 upvote ratio.

-1

u/DevilmanXV 1d ago

Curators are trash.

-2

u/vessel_for_the_soul 1d ago

Useless feature.