Project Chell
Test Subject #234 đSomewhere
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Level 19
Years of Service
Published September 2024
Steam profile level calculation is heavily weighted in favor of badgecraft. Veteran accounts can quickly be surpassed by relatively new accounts who choose to craft a small amount of badges.
In the current system, a single level 1 badge provides the XP equivalent of 2 years of using the platform. A single level 5 badge provides the same XP as owning 250 games on the platform. A full badge level can be purchased for as low as 20 cents (USD), as of September 3rd, 2024.
Rework profile level calculation to accurately represent veteranship and core platform engagement.
High-weight factors: Account age, games owned, hours played
Low-weight factors: Card badges, store event badges, community badges
Factor | Weight | Current | New | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Account age | High | 50 xp/year | 100 xp/year | To earn the equivalent of 1 year's XP in this rework, you would need to own 10 new games or play for 100 hours. |
Games owned | High | Variable
~15 xp/game @ 10 games owned ~3.25 xp/game @ 100 games owned ~2 xp/game @ 250 games owned |
10 xp/game | Increasing this factorâs weight also provides reward and incentive for players to spend more time browsing and purchasing games on the storefront. |
Hours played | High | N/A | 1 xp/hour | |
Card badges | Low | 100 xp/badge/level | 10 xp/badge/level (50 XP/badge/level for foil) |
|
Store event badges | Low | 100 xp/badge/level | 10 xp/badge/level | |
Community badges | Low | 20-500 xp/badge, depending on badge | As-is | Proposed as-is since these badges can only be earned once.
(This category includes badges such as Steam Hardware Beta, Steam Moderator, and Valve Employee badges.) |
[Note: Currently, all profile XP is derived from badges, including account age and games owned badges. Reworking profile level calculation is possible without complete overhaul since only the XP associated with different badges would have to be updated. If a new factor such as hours played, was introduced, it would simply need to be in the form of a badge representing the "tier" of hours played (1, 10, 100, 250, etc.), like the current implementation of the "owned games" badge.]
How were the proposed XP values decided?
The proposed XP values are chosen as example values to create a simple progression scheme that demonstrates the proposed weightings.
What would happen to existing accounts?
Their experience would be recalculated under the new system.
What about level boosting?
This rework is not designed to address level boosting. A small percentage of players currently boost their playtimes beyond physical possibility through use of third-party tools. Steam would have to ban the use of these methods to prevent boosting. The purpose of this rework is to improve the Steam experience for the broader user base.
Why are game achievements suggested as a low-weight factor?
Number of achievements available and achievement difficulty varies by game. Lower weighting ensures players are not discouraged from playing games with little/no achievements, or playing less total games overall.
The trading card and badge system is poorly designed. Trading cards are regarded as collectibles, but Steam has designed them as consumables.
Have you ever completed a trading card badge by playing a game? All 5 levels of a badge? A foil badge? Do you enjoy converting cards to gems to craft booster packs? Has the trading card system ever provided you with a meaningful social experience? For most users, the answer will be ânoâ to all of these questions.
Potential future badge expansions: Game achievements (Tiered badge), expanded community badges
What will happen to my existing gems and booster packs?
Gems will be converted to shop points. Previously convertible items such as emoticons and wallpapers will now be convertible to shop points. Existing booster packs can be opened like normal.
What will happen to my currently existing card badges?
They will become âLegacyâ icons, accessible from the Trading Card screen, so you can still display them within showcases.
Will this impact card prices?
It may.
What if I donât want to upgrade my Full Set icon to tier 2 but own 2 full sets of the same set?
Full Set icon tier should be selectable based on unlocked tiers. (Currently, this is not the case with badges either, and this is part of the badge management features proposed in section 4.)
The Steam inventory UI is poorly designed, as it does not scale well for larger game lists and individual game inventories easily become cluttered. Additionally, Steam and other developers indiscriminately add untradable/unmarketable items to your inventory, which is unable to be pruned or organized. Even tradable items cannot be deleted and must be traded or sold to be removed.
This simple list of changes would massively improve the Steam inventory experience:
Steam has no functionality to delete/hide badges or downgrade your badge levels. Many users have requested this feature to enhance profile customization or to hide adult-content badges.
Additionally, since there is no privacy setting to hide badges on your profile, the only way to hide the badges section is to set your entire Steam profile to Private (which also privates your game activity from your friends and prevents their ability to invite you in some games).
Add management and privacy settings for badges. This topic has been thoroughly discussed on this Steam forums post by Greyarty: Options to Delete, Hide, Downgrade Badges/Levels. It is one of the largest existing threads on the Suggestions forum, and has been active since 2019.
[Note: In the card/badge rework proposed in section 2, some badges would become Full Set icons. The badge management features discussed in the linked thread would still apply to badges and full set icons.]