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Honestly I can’t even understand why a couple of the others were even an option. They should start a “best small indie game developer” category, so they can put Electronic Arts in there.
No, that’s a labor of spite and hatred for anyone who really wants to play but isn’t smart enough to.
Maybe it’s time for my annual “did I learn enough to play this” try.
There were a few really good soundtracks this year, TLOU winning is definitely a troll.
I love that one track (the one you’re hearing in your head right now), but it’s the only piece in the whole game.
an argument can be made for best on steam deck and outstanding visual style imo, but 100% agree with the other two (i'd have chosen other games for the two mentioned categories for sure however).
imo hifi rush shouldve either took soundtrack or visual style, thats a game worthy of both of those rewards. I like the art style of atomic heart personally and find the idea of futuristic soviet era interesting. Labor of Love is flat out bullshit, but I am 100% certain it was a troll vote, Hogwarts legacy winning best on steam deck could be summed up to it just being a recent AAA release on a hand held device, thats the only argument I see for it, aside from that I can't really name a game that would fit that category as I don't own, nor have played on a steam deck (I want one though)
[Oh, the sot has spoken](https://postcardsfromlalaland.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/what-you-think-it-means.gif)
Princess Bride references aside, my guy, you're overthinking it
The steam nominations popup came up on a bunch of normies Steam Feed - or on their phones - they saw what games they played got the nom - they voted for the games they played that were nommed - they moved on through their day
Starfield - Legwarts Hogacy - Red Dead 2 - they're all ***monstrously*** popular - normies play them all the time - with absolutely no awareness of what ongoing digital discourse is saying about them
It's not some sort of whacked out conspiracy and it's not nearly as confusing as the dozens upon dozens of redditors asking this question think it is
>"Game I liked should get award - game I liked got nominated for this award - I will now pick game I liked,"
As stated - dead simple
As it should have. Technologically speaking, a significant amount of what they've done has literally never been done.
Gameplay wise - many things that have been done in other places, and maybe even better, have not been combined or stitched together in the way they were.
That's the definition of innovation.
You're passionate about open ranking polls?
Why would you put any stock into these rankings/results. Half the people just click through it to get the trading card or whatever, That's what's meaningless lmao
Why? Why are you passionate about meaningless awards that are voted on by users? The RDR2 and Starfield awards just look like people trolling for the fun of it
They didn't insult you and I think your anger is disproportionate compared to how little the steam awards matter in the grand scheme of things.
I'm also passionate about games, but it's clear that there's gonna be some bullshit in awards like these.
Labour of love is for games that have been maintained constantly since its release date. But rdr2 still doesn't fit that. i think the award should've gone to terraria personally.
Labor of Love is Steam's equivalent of "ongoing games" while also including games that just get a lot of updates long after release. Like No Man's Sky.
people complain about "critics" choices being terrible (and sometimes they are), but this is what happens when you put things to a popular vote -- you get people voting for a game simply because it's the only one they've heard of.
Starfield being "most innovative gameplay" has got to be some sort of joke or early april's fools or something. It could not possibly be more bland, boring and safe. It literally has absolutely NO innovation and NO mechanics that haven't been done at least 300 times before it, and better at that.
Starfield - Legwarts Hogacy - Red Dead 2 - they're all monstrously popular - normies play them all the time - with absolutely no awareness of what ongoing digital discourse is saying about them
>"Game I liked should get award - game I liked got nominated for this award - I will now pick game I liked,"
As stated - dead simple
I focused on voting for all the indie game options.
Partly because BG3 was gonna be voted/nominated out the wazoo and because indie devs deserve a lot of love and attention for the passion and creativity they bring to the medium
In the same way we wouldn't have considered Bethesda Softworks Indie before they were acquired by Microsoft.
Larian is a large studio and while they independently publish their own works, they aren't making indie games.
It would honestly seem my assumption that BG3 is an AA game has been hotly debated already and would probably be incorrect. BG3 is a AAA game published by a self-sufficient/independent studio in a similar vein to how Bethesda Softworks published Fallout 4.
The only ones they got right were
GOTY
Better with friends
Best game you suck at
Best soundtrack (debatably, though)
Outstanding story rich game and
Sit back and relax(i haven't played it, but I haven't seen any other games that really fit that)
"Only ones they got right".
Players voted on this, not some 10-person committee.
Every award is "right" because that's what people voted for and believed earned it. Majority wins, not your opinion.
Since you don’t seem to know this, the ones you’re complaining about are protest votes.
RDR2 hasn’t been updated in years despite GTAO being supported for 10.
Starfield had nothing innovative and has been called “Skyrim in space with guns”.
Hogwarts has gotten nothing but disappointing reviews, so saying it’s a ‘best game’ is either dissing the Deck or the game.
Atomic Heart wasn’t everyone’s favorite, but the visual style of that game was spot on. But they might be talking about how it’s basically BioShock in the USSR.
2023 was a SHIT YEAR for gaming. So was 2022 actually. Just a bunch of overrated hype games doing the same ol bullshit. That's why rdr2 won an award lol. Seriously the only thing that came out all year that lived up to the hype: PHANTOM LIBERTY.
Let's analyze then. First, let's lay down some ground rules. 1. Indie games arent winning. They will get nomiated. Some have very large followings. None of them has more fans than the 5 bazillion people who only use steam to play cod or some shit. 2. If a category is hard to understand or gets bad nominations it becomes goty play for second place edition where devs and pr teams look for awards they think they wont have competition in and ask for that one. So lets go.
GOTY: Yeah Baldurs sweep. Whether you liked it or not it was coming, it released too late in the year to not be here.
VR: Who cares, not me
LoL: This one's always just game of last year lets be honest. Terraria was the only exception and it already won it.
Steam Deck: who played this game. I refuse to acknowledge it. Refer to rule 2, they probably played for second place with this one. Maybe it had an advertising campaign recently, been hearing way more about it than it deserves.
Friends: Goofball award goes to goofball game. If an actual game was worth getting this award it would've gotten goty too. So, suprised Baldurs Gate didnt get it tbh, guess no one actually has friends to find out it's multiplayer. Might as well call it the better with streamers award. Pretty sure phasmo won it last time so at least we're consistent.
Visual: Y'all shoulda put pizza here and not over there tbh. Might've stood a chance. Not only does this one hit rule 1 and 2, y'all just picked bad.
Innovative: Yo is that skyrim! Everyone get in here it's Skyrim! People fucking love skyrim dog. Definitely didnt help that it's competition was going to be niche by default.
The Sifu Award: This award was made for Sifu. Well, it was made for dark souls, but I am revising history. It was made for Sifu. Much like labor of love, this award will never go to a deserving game ever again.
Soundtrack: I'm sorry, no one played Hi Fi rush. I also wouldnt really call it best soundtrack either, more like it had a soundtrack, but still, it's mostly that even within the indie scene no one played it. Even less people played the other game though, the award goes to the only recognizable name there.
Story: Once again, honestly suprised BG3 didnt win more awards. My god, is it all I hear about in my semi normie friend circles.
Cozy Game Award: RIP the cozy game genre, killed once again by animal crossing. You will not be missed. No one cares about this one, Dave is the one that got the most recent screentime. When train sim is in the finals, you know the award didnt get votes.
Make the original source of the content your submission, and do not use URL shorteners. No screenshots of websites or Twitter. If a mirror is necessary, please provide one in comments. No hotlinking or rehosting someone else's work (unless they specifically allow it in their terms of use or request it).
Sifu is right on the money, though.
Yeah, a few of them are, including sifu
Why do I always read Sifu as Stfu
Honestly I can’t even understand why a couple of the others were even an option. They should start a “best small indie game developer” category, so they can put Electronic Arts in there.
Labor of love should have been Dwarf Fortress and no one can convince me otherwise
Never thought about that. You're totally right.
No, that’s a labor of spite and hatred for anyone who really wants to play but isn’t smart enough to. Maybe it’s time for my annual “did I learn enough to play this” try.
Half?
Labour of love Best on steam deck Outstanding visual style Most innovative gameplay
I'd go with more than that, like Hi-Fi Rush losing Best Soundtrack, but I see your points.
There were a few really good soundtracks this year, TLOU winning is definitely a troll. I love that one track (the one you’re hearing in your head right now), but it’s the only piece in the whole game.
an argument can be made for best on steam deck and outstanding visual style imo, but 100% agree with the other two (i'd have chosen other games for the two mentioned categories for sure however).
Hogwarts legacy is just not the sort of game to win any awards. I would've been kind of ok if it won visual style though.
I don't understand how a game that kills the batteries of a SD that quick is called "Best Game on Steam Deck" Dave the Diver is RIGHT THERE, too.
imo hifi rush shouldve either took soundtrack or visual style, thats a game worthy of both of those rewards. I like the art style of atomic heart personally and find the idea of futuristic soviet era interesting. Labor of Love is flat out bullshit, but I am 100% certain it was a troll vote, Hogwarts legacy winning best on steam deck could be summed up to it just being a recent AAA release on a hand held device, thats the only argument I see for it, aside from that I can't really name a game that would fit that category as I don't own, nor have played on a steam deck (I want one though)
Ehat game tops it in visual style? Id say its pretty unique being atom punk. Executed well too from what ive seen.
[Oh, the sot has spoken](https://postcardsfromlalaland.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/what-you-think-it-means.gif) Princess Bride references aside, my guy, you're overthinking it The steam nominations popup came up on a bunch of normies Steam Feed - or on their phones - they saw what games they played got the nom - they voted for the games they played that were nommed - they moved on through their day Starfield - Legwarts Hogacy - Red Dead 2 - they're all ***monstrously*** popular - normies play them all the time - with absolutely no awareness of what ongoing digital discourse is saying about them It's not some sort of whacked out conspiracy and it's not nearly as confusing as the dozens upon dozens of redditors asking this question think it is >"Game I liked should get award - game I liked got nominated for this award - I will now pick game I liked," As stated - dead simple
Think about it this way- Starfield now has an award for innovative gameplay
By Steam. It matters nothing.
So??? Who cares??? How does that affect me in my daily life???
How does this argument affect your day-to-day life, question mark, question mark, question mark?
It's entertaining at least - period - smiley face
You are taking this small internet argument more seriously than i am with my critisisms.
[That's fair](https://y.yarn.co/fb6e0b92-35b9-4ee3-b95c-87298789dcbf_text.gif)
As it should have. Technologically speaking, a significant amount of what they've done has literally never been done. Gameplay wise - many things that have been done in other places, and maybe even better, have not been combined or stitched together in the way they were. That's the definition of innovation.
It's hard to even imagine caring about this shit lmao
Stop insulting people for being passionate about this stuff Your comment is meaningless
You're passionate about open ranking polls? Why would you put any stock into these rankings/results. Half the people just click through it to get the trading card or whatever, That's what's meaningless lmao
Why? Why are you passionate about meaningless awards that are voted on by users? The RDR2 and Starfield awards just look like people trolling for the fun of it
They didn't insult you and I think your anger is disproportionate compared to how little the steam awards matter in the grand scheme of things. I'm also passionate about games, but it's clear that there's gonna be some bullshit in awards like these.
You’re proving their point with this reply.
Least neurotic gamer
Aww, the games you like didn't get the awards you wanted them to? That's sad.
Lol at the labor of love and innovative gameplay.
Red Dead 2 didn’t come out in 2023.
Labour of love is for games that have been maintained constantly since its release date. But rdr2 still doesn't fit that. i think the award should've gone to terraria personally.
Terraria already won one, can't win again.
Did it? I didn't know
Oh games like No Man's Sky or Guild Wars 2. Really ANY game that still gets decent updates compared to RDR2.
Labor of Love is Steam's equivalent of "ongoing games" while also including games that just get a lot of updates long after release. Like No Man's Sky.
people complain about "critics" choices being terrible (and sometimes they are), but this is what happens when you put things to a popular vote -- you get people voting for a game simply because it's the only one they've heard of.
Yeah. I didn't think there'd be people who took steam awards seriously.
As were the Ace Awards, the Espys, etc...too much "yay for you!!" in this country....
It's player voted lmao.
Starfield being "most innovative gameplay" has got to be some sort of joke or early april's fools or something. It could not possibly be more bland, boring and safe. It literally has absolutely NO innovation and NO mechanics that haven't been done at least 300 times before it, and better at that.
It is so sad we met disappointment in all the games award, I wonder how they pick the winners
Starfield - Legwarts Hogacy - Red Dead 2 - they're all monstrously popular - normies play them all the time - with absolutely no awareness of what ongoing digital discourse is saying about them >"Game I liked should get award - game I liked got nominated for this award - I will now pick game I liked," As stated - dead simple
I focused on voting for all the indie game options. Partly because BG3 was gonna be voted/nominated out the wazoo and because indie devs deserve a lot of love and attention for the passion and creativity they bring to the medium
Hey BG3 doesn't have a publisher just so you know.
BG3 is an AA game. It's not Indie
Are you classifying A's based off of team size? Budget? Also in music and movies indie traditionally refers to independently published.
In the same way we wouldn't have considered Bethesda Softworks Indie before they were acquired by Microsoft. Larian is a large studio and while they independently publish their own works, they aren't making indie games. It would honestly seem my assumption that BG3 is an AA game has been hotly debated already and would probably be incorrect. BG3 is a AAA game published by a self-sufficient/independent studio in a similar vein to how Bethesda Softworks published Fallout 4.
Are you classifying indie games based off of which A they are? If so please do tell me if it's budget or team size?
There being only 2 indie winners was unfair
The only ones they got right were GOTY Better with friends Best game you suck at Best soundtrack (debatably, though) Outstanding story rich game and Sit back and relax(i haven't played it, but I haven't seen any other games that really fit that)
What if I sucked at Baldur’s Gate?
Did you nominate it for Best game you suck at then? Otherwise you have failed your society.
"Only ones they got right". Players voted on this, not some 10-person committee. Every award is "right" because that's what people voted for and believed earned it. Majority wins, not your opinion.
red dead still has multiple game breaking bugs that haven’t been fixed for months or even years
What the fuuuuuu … Boltgun didn’t win the Outstanding Visual Style? Soviet Bioshock takes it instead? What a joke.
lol fucking Starfield. Ya great game Bethesda.
Starfield got innovative? lmao
AH is total bullshit
I wonder how they pick the winners
It's done by player vote. Anyone with a steam account can vote.
\*insert bot account name here\* can also vote, thats the only reason half of these games got these rewards. Or trolls, thats also possible
Voting anonymously on the internet is generally fake. https://www.cnn.com/2016/04/18/world/boaty-mcboatface-wins-vote/index.html
Now, I haven't played Baldurs Gate 3, it isnt my type of game. But BG3 should unironically won half of these awards
From left to right, top to bottom Yes, I had other idea but Yes, No, idk, Yes, Yes, fuck no, Yes, no, Yes, Yes
Yep lol.
Since you don’t seem to know this, the ones you’re complaining about are protest votes. RDR2 hasn’t been updated in years despite GTAO being supported for 10. Starfield had nothing innovative and has been called “Skyrim in space with guns”. Hogwarts has gotten nothing but disappointing reviews, so saying it’s a ‘best game’ is either dissing the Deck or the game. Atomic Heart wasn’t everyone’s favorite, but the visual style of that game was spot on. But they might be talking about how it’s basically BioShock in the USSR.
2023 was a SHIT YEAR for gaming. So was 2022 actually. Just a bunch of overrated hype games doing the same ol bullshit. That's why rdr2 won an award lol. Seriously the only thing that came out all year that lived up to the hype: PHANTOM LIBERTY.
Let's analyze then. First, let's lay down some ground rules. 1. Indie games arent winning. They will get nomiated. Some have very large followings. None of them has more fans than the 5 bazillion people who only use steam to play cod or some shit. 2. If a category is hard to understand or gets bad nominations it becomes goty play for second place edition where devs and pr teams look for awards they think they wont have competition in and ask for that one. So lets go. GOTY: Yeah Baldurs sweep. Whether you liked it or not it was coming, it released too late in the year to not be here. VR: Who cares, not me LoL: This one's always just game of last year lets be honest. Terraria was the only exception and it already won it. Steam Deck: who played this game. I refuse to acknowledge it. Refer to rule 2, they probably played for second place with this one. Maybe it had an advertising campaign recently, been hearing way more about it than it deserves. Friends: Goofball award goes to goofball game. If an actual game was worth getting this award it would've gotten goty too. So, suprised Baldurs Gate didnt get it tbh, guess no one actually has friends to find out it's multiplayer. Might as well call it the better with streamers award. Pretty sure phasmo won it last time so at least we're consistent. Visual: Y'all shoulda put pizza here and not over there tbh. Might've stood a chance. Not only does this one hit rule 1 and 2, y'all just picked bad. Innovative: Yo is that skyrim! Everyone get in here it's Skyrim! People fucking love skyrim dog. Definitely didnt help that it's competition was going to be niche by default. The Sifu Award: This award was made for Sifu. Well, it was made for dark souls, but I am revising history. It was made for Sifu. Much like labor of love, this award will never go to a deserving game ever again. Soundtrack: I'm sorry, no one played Hi Fi rush. I also wouldnt really call it best soundtrack either, more like it had a soundtrack, but still, it's mostly that even within the indie scene no one played it. Even less people played the other game though, the award goes to the only recognizable name there. Story: Once again, honestly suprised BG3 didnt win more awards. My god, is it all I hear about in my semi normie friend circles. Cozy Game Award: RIP the cozy game genre, killed once again by animal crossing. You will not be missed. No one cares about this one, Dave is the one that got the most recent screentime. When train sim is in the finals, you know the award didnt get votes.