Playing games just became a game in itself! - Steam Trading Cards!

[Udder Juice]

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From PC Gamer

Steam Trading Cards releases in beta, introduces game badges, XP, and leveling

Join the Steam Trading Cards group on Steam to score a beta invite so you can start collecting trading cards, earning XP, and leveling up—yup, Steam just got gamified.

The games participating in the Trading Cards beta are Don’t Starve, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, Portal 2, and Half-Life 2, and up to half of the new virtual trading cards for each can be earned by playing them. The other half of each set is earned “through your collecting prowess,” which presumably means trading with Steam users who got different drops.

Once you collect a complete set, you’ll be able to craft a game badge which will appear on your profile and unlock “marketable items like emoticons, profile backgrounds, and coupons.” Badges can be leveled up by collecting the required trading cards again, and all badges—including any you already have—now give you XP which contributes to your “Steam Level.” Leveling up has its own benefits, awarding you “non-tradable items like profile showcases, extra friends list slots, and more.”

Now that playing games on Steam is a game, are you bothered that someone out there is already beating you? If so, the PC Gamer Steam group may be a good place to start looking for trades.

[JP0le]

Hmmm. I wrote a whole response and deleted it because it turned into the ramblings of a madman going through several simultaneous emotions. Here's a more concise, and hopefully inteligible version:

Just when you thought that Steam couldn't come up with more nefarious plots to raid your wallet, they've gamified your gaming portal. There are several facets to this that I find enticing, including an appeal to my need to complete sets (read: can't get enough achievements even if they offer me no incentive other than filling a bar to 100% completion). This is a personal problem that I think many can identify with. It's what drives me to play crazy intricate RPGs and Min/Max my way to the ultimate character roster by completing literally every conceivable side quest, forging the most challenging and epic weapons, and picking up every Goddamned feather/shooting every pigeon in-game.

This is a bad thing.

I'm already choosing which games I play based on several factors:

Perceived Enjoyment (will I have fun if I play this game now?)
Multiplayer (do I have friends to play the game with?)
Completion ("oh, I've got 15 minutes to grind some more, might as well crank that shit")
etc.

That last one is already bad enough. I literally have beaten games and gone back because I was "close" to getting 100% completion, even if that meant putting a game on hold that was going to be more enjoyable/fun/interesting. Now, we can add "meta-completion" to that list. I'm going to be looking at my Steam library through a lens with an added criteria: if I play this game, will I get a new card to trade or complete my current set?

This is something that I've been thinking about for a while, and I might start a post in another thread to get people's feedback on. Sometimes I lose touch with "playing" games and instead turn them into task-oriented work. I have actually gotten pissed off at myself playing CoD if I walk away without unlocking a new camo, calling card, or emblem. I have literally said "Geeze, Joe, that was a complete waste of three hours, try harder next time." The idea of playing "just for fun" or "with my friends" somehow has been been twisted into a quest to prove my worth through unlocking the digital equivalent of gold stars.

OK, enough about my personal problems (thread in the future). This is a great idea for business and a terrible idea for people like myself. I'm hopeful that I can just tune it out, because if I don't get hooked in the first place I won't be pushed to keep up the habit.

[Neptune49]

...This is a great idea for business and a terrible idea for people like myself.

Exactly.  It's a genius idea, but gives me one more thing to do in Steam which is the last thing I need with the enormous backlog of cheap games that I've assembled over the past 2 years.

One thing I have managed to start doing is prioritizing fun over everything else.  I just don't have time anymore to go back and 100% a game with all of the small and frustrating things that they put in there.  Instead I created my own gaming spreadsheet.  I put the things that I WANT to accomplish in the game down and track my progress on my entire backlog.  When something stops being fun, I move on to something else.  I leave little notes for myself.  For instance, I quit playing Lego Lord of the Rings.  I hadn't really played any of the lego games, but it just wasn't fun at all for me.  Marked it as canceled on my sheet and now I know never to go back. 

[Udder Juice]

I know what you guys mean.  I had cooled off on Team Fortress 2 but now that there are cards to collect I'll probably start playing it again. Its fun anyway!

In terms of how I play games.  I stopped worrying about 100% completion when it comes to cheevos a while back.  If its the rare game that I totally love I'll go back and try and pick up a few extra but typically whatever I manager to get during my play through, I'm happy with.

Now when I do get frustrated is when I spend three hours playing a game can can't make it to the next checkpoint or in the case of Dark Souls, lose all the xp I had accumulated.  If I spend time on a game and don't make any progress in the game I get pissed off at the time wasted.  Doesn't really bother me if I unlocked anything or not.

Supposed to be another double xp weekend on Black Ops so I'll probably be playing that and whatever else cross my mind.

Joe, we should get down on some MTG this weekend dude.

[JP0le]

Ohh... more double xp?! I'll definitely try to get on for some of that.

MTG sounds good too. I'm leaving town Sunday night, but we should be able to swing something.

[Udder Juice]

I just got into the beta and am reading the FAQ.

http://steamcommunity.com/tradingcards/faq

The big hook here is that each participating game will only drop half of the cards in its set.  The other half MUST be acquired through trades with other Steam users.  This is simply brilliant!  This forces you to play other games to have cards to trade for the sets you really want to complete. I don't know how long my level of interest will remain high but I am already thinking about what games I want to play lol!

[Udder Juice]

Dear sweet lord...

I just burnt an hour working on the Pillar of Community tasks... 

[JP0le]

Dear sweet lord...

I just burnt an hour working on the Pillar of Community tasks... 

... It's begun

[HelloStrega]

looks like i got in too, they've also sent me 3 beta access items to my inventory. anyone still waiting for an invite?