1)
@lexluthermiester, are you incapable of scrolling up to see your own words? I think it's ironic that I use the same, but am somehow wrong. Let me see. "You missed the point being made by Auswolf, one I agree with fully." No, disagreeing and missing the point are two entirely different things.
2) Doing a thing is not something that should be rewarded. It is also not to be interpreted as good, when the good is literally the opposite of what was cited. Read.
Valve finished the statement about removing all of these games not by saying it was a stand on quality...and
that they would be allowed back immediately if they changed their monetization. I use a body as a metaphor, because you seem to not want to see that they didn't do anything inherently good.
Let's humor the idea that I'm a game developer. I'm used to mobile, where any barrier to entry is insane...but a free game is the market standard. Cool. I transition to the PC market. Same deal...I can host my game on Steam...and free to play offers no barrier to entry. Great. I slap my Angry Birds clone, with the mandatory adds every few levels, onto the store. Years go by...and Valve does nothing. I wake up one day, and see my game has been pulled. That's not great...but I see that the reason is the adds...and Valve literally told me I have to do it in some way other than game stoppages. Great...I just need to make it take 1/3 of the screen, and have it constantly feeding in video. If the 30 second break was scummy, then imagine 33% constantly being a break. It's stupid, because Valve themselves have outlined how you work around it...and highlighted that if you just charge people something (which Valve gets a percentage of) then it's OK.
Congrats, you sell cigarettes. Your moral quandry is over though, because there's a little skull and crossbones in one of the corners of the packaging...because that will most assuredly stop people from smoking. This is not good. It is not a step forward. It is Valve seeking profit (something I have no issue with), and people lining up to pat them on the head for "saving PC games." You want a direct quote, then have it. "Valve accidentally looked like they gave a crap while doing what business are supposed to do, and seeking profit under the guise of a making more money."
I see your "they are doing something good by removing predatory advertising," and I raise you "they are ejecting it because it doesn't make them any money and may actually give them the perception of endorsing it." Please consider that during the next Steam Sale, powered by engagement and FOMO to drive sales and not to inherently benefit consumers. That's just Valve driving engagement and sales, like any other successful business, and is 100% devoid of good intention.
Wrapping all of the rest of the bullcrap up, that you guys seem to be delude into buying into, I have one question. What category of games make the most money? Is it perhaps free to play, preying upon freemium whales? It most definitely isn't the "just a tenner" games. If success necessarily creates competitors who copy success then what Valve has done is push more companies to either launch a product with immense risks and thus a barrier to entry, or become a skinner box designed to hunt whales for profit.
VALVE IS PUSHING THINGS LIKE THE FREE TO PLAY VERSION OF THE SIMS. If that doesn't make your skin crawl, then maybe you don't understand how absolutely far the sludge pipe goes...because you only play a few games...but the truth is always more complicated than "they did a good thing."
Last bit, I don't like advertisements. In a utopia it's the 90's again, where games released with the assumption of being feature complete and then maybe they had expansion packs. In the real world, there's colloquial parlance for "games while taking a poop." Even if I don't like advertising, I respect that the developers are putting out something I can do while occupied, ignore an add during, then get on with my life without ever having to pay a cent. Have you watched OTA tv any time recently? That's 100% commercial funded. Netflix and Disney used to be the way to pay and get no commercials, but now you pay and watch them. Youtube is currently a wasteland between add block and commercials. I don't like them, but I recognize that if I paid for things I'd expect more. When I get things free, there has to be a trade. Excluding a business model is not good for consumers...it's limiting the option for their benefit. I'm 100% certain somebody is angry that their favorite of the more than 89,000 games on the platform now looks like a viral pop-up window, because it's the way to force adds in if they aren't delivered in a break.
Well done reacting with your ego...