Let's bring back the RPG Maker tag on Steam together! #CapyNoButRPGMakerYes
Hello everyone! I'm sure you've heard the latest news that Steam has removed the RPG Maker tag from search. This is really bad news for the whole community, and the absence of this tag will prevent players who love games made with the RPG Maker engine from finding projects they truly enjoy and are interested in!
Instead of the removed tags, Steam added several other tags, including the "Capybara" tag... Who even asked for this? Is the RPG Maker tag less important than Capybara? Only a few games are found under that tag, while under the RPG Maker tag there are a huge number of games — an entire history and culture!
I believe that games made with RPG Maker are a whole genre, a culture, a player community, and a part of gaming history. RPG Maker deserves to be singled out as an entire genre!
Reasons why RPG Maker is important and deserves a separate tag:
- It is one of the oldest game engines with a rich history and community, standing at the origins of indie games and making game development simple and accessible to any user.
- RPG Maker has influenced and left a huge mark on the genres of psychological horror, walking simulators, quests, JRPGs, and Quirk-RPGs, leaving behind its own tropes and genre-defining games.
- Games made with the RPG Maker engine greatly influenced the rise of let's plays, impacting the creativity and popularity of some of the first bloggers such as PewDiePie, Markiplier, and others. On YouTube, you can still find videos with millions of views for games like Ao Oni, The Witch's House, Ib, Mad Father, Yume Nikki, OFF, Fear & Hunger, etc.
- Every year, one or several RPG Maker games become big hits that gaming media talks about, that receive awards, and for which wikis and player communities are created. For example, recent projects like Artis Impact, Look Outside, Fear & Hunger, The Coffin of Andy and Leyley, Omori.
- Games made with RPG Maker are recognizable — they look visually similar, often share a common perspective, common limitations, controls, and interfaces. It's hard to confuse games on this engine with other projects, and many players like this characteristic. When launching games made with RPG Maker, players have certain expectations regarding graphics, narrative, and gameplay, and these games meet those expectations.
I believe that players and developers must defend their right for RPG Maker to remain a genre and have its own tag on Steam. Because if we don't fight for this now, then perhaps in the future Steam might decide that, for example, festivals dedicated to games made with RPG Maker are also unnecessary, and that a shared engine isn't sufficient reason to organize a festival. Think it won't happen? Maybe, but no one ever thought before that the RPG Maker tag would be removed — and yet it has already happened.
What am I proposing? I propose that players and developers come together and start writing to Steam support, asking them to bring the tag back to the store.
I recommend writing detailed letters in which you explain the essence of the problem and why the absence of this tag makes using Steam more difficult for you and other players.
What players should write (key points):
- I love RPG Maker games but I can't find them in search.
- Why did you remove the RPG Maker tag when I and other players use it?
- There's been a mistake — the RPG Maker tag no longer works in search.
What developers should write (key points):
- Players are complaining to me that they can't find my game using the RPG Maker tag.
- The RPG Maker tag is important to me as a developer because it perfectly reflects the features of my game.
- I want you to bring back the RPG Maker tag because I want players to be able to find my game and other similar games in the genre using it.
Send your complaints here:
https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithSteam
Path:
Steam Support → Steam Client Crashes → Contact Steam Support
(Be polite!)
Why is this good for players? Players who love games made with the RPG Maker engine will be able to find them in Steam search.
Why is this good for developers? Developers who work with this engine risk losing a portion of their audience that loves and searches for their games.
If you receive a negative response, try to convince support of your position. Start a small dialogue — the longer it goes on, the better for achieving the goal.
Please do not insult support in your letters, as that is not our goal. We need to communicate our position and show that there are many players who love RPG Maker, and that they should be taken into account.
The RPG Maker community is very large, and I believe that together we can ensure that RPG Maker is considered a separate genre, and that gaming platforms respect the players and developers who are in any way associated with this genre.
I would be grateful if you join this initiative and support it. I will launch a hashtag for social media — #SteamNeedsRPGMakerTag & #CapyNoButRPGMakerYes — and I would be glad if you support it.
I also plan to reach out to the developers of the RPG Maker engine — perhaps they can help us in some way.
In the end. Why does "Capybara" get an entire tag with only a dozen games, while the many RPG Maker players cannot find thousands of games on this engine when they need to? Why was it decided for us what is important and what is not? This is unfair. RPG Maker deserves its tag.
Let's bring back the RPG Maker tag!