Steam deck forum section?

[Ethnod]

With the amount of love LMG and us Forum peeps have for the Steam Deck, I am surprised to see that there is no deck specific section.

 

Could we have one pleeeeese?

[Skiiwee29]

Steam Deck would just fall under PC Gaming. No need to have a dedicated console/device specific subforum. If so, then we would need one for Xbox, Playstation, Switch etc... 

[Ethnod]

Ahhhh but the Steam Deck is special

[Needfuldoer]

15 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

Steam Deck would just fall under PC Gaming. No need to have a dedicated console/device specific subforum. If so, then we would need one for Xbox, Playstation, Switch etc... 

Seems like the kind of thing that should land in 'Laptops and Pre-Built Systems'.

 

That subforum needs a tagline anyway, how about something like "...And Steam Decks, and Aya Neos, and Surfaces, and Librettos..." ?

[Skiiwee29]

Just now, Needfuldoer said:

Seems like the kind of thing that should land in 'Laptops and Pre-Built Systems'.

 

That subforum needs a tagline anyway, how about something like "...And Steam Decks, and Aya Neos, and Surfaces, and Librettos..." ?

That would work as well since it is basically just a prebuilt PC in a super compact form. 

[Spotty]

23 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

Seems like the kind of thing that should land in 'Laptops and Pre-Built Systems'.

Deciding where posts about the steam deck belong is like that button press meme. PC gaming since it's steam? Or is it console gaming like the switch? Or is it more of a phone/tablet? Maybe it's mobile gaming? I guess it's just a portable computer so laptops and prebuilts?...

 

Honestly, I don't think there's really been a definitive answer for the best place for that discussion yet, though there definitely would be benefit in establishing which section is used for the Steam Deck so that people know where to look if they are interested participating in Steam Deck discussions. 

Having a dedicated "Steam Deck" subforum would solve that problem, but realistically there isn't enough discussion around it to justify a dedicated subforum and like Skiiwee pointed out it isn't practical having subforums for each and every console or handheld device. 

[LogicalDrm]

I've been moving hardware related discussion to Laptops and Pre-Build Systems. And that related to games to PC Gaming.

[Kazooduck]

52 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Deciding where posts about the steam deck belong is like that button press meme. PC gaming since it's steam? Or is it console gaming like the switch? Or is it more of a phone/tablet? Maybe it's mobile gaming? I guess it's just a portable computer so laptops and prebuilts?...

 

Maybe even Linux

[Chiyawa]

9 hours ago, Spotty said:

Deciding where posts about the steam deck belong is like that button press meme. PC gaming since it's steam? Or is it console gaming like the switch? Or is it more of a phone/tablet? Maybe it's mobile gaming? I guess it's just a portable computer so laptops and prebuilts?...

Well, we're now on a very blur line between mobile and pc gaming, huh? But here's my suggestion:

- Windows gaming: So, whatever related to games in Windows that requires Windows OS to game.

- Console gaming: Xbox, PS5, Nintendo Switch, or a gaming device with their unique OS running games designed for the specific device only.

- Android gaming: games found in Android and maybe the Amazon Fire OS?

 

Maybe we can add a forum called retro gaming, like Atari Jaguar or Commodore 64? Or make this in console subforum? Maybe we need to add DOS gaming subforum as well under Windows gaming.

 

Of course there's newly emerging VR which is catastrophic hazard and injury prone?

[LogicalDrm]

3 hours ago, Chiyawa said:

Well, we're now on a very blur line between mobile and pc gaming, huh? But here's my suggestion:

- Windows gaming: So, whatever related to games in Windows that requires Windows OS to game.

- Console gaming: Xbox, PS5, Nintendo Switch, or a gaming device with their unique OS running games designed for the specific device only.

- Android gaming: games found in Android and maybe the Amazon Fire OS?

 

Maybe we can add a forum called retro gaming, like Atari Jaguar or Commodore 64? Or make this in console subforum? Maybe we need to add DOS gaming subforum as well under Windows gaming.

 

Of course there's newly emerging VR which is catastrophic hazard and injury prone?

You are intentionally leaving out Linux and Mac? Considering that Deck is closer to Linux than anything else.

 

Also, anything run with emulation is already filed under Software. Anything run natively would be fine under General Discussion. We are talking about very niche subjects in terms of this forums userbase.

[Chiyawa]

21 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

You are intentionally leaving out Linux and Mac? Considering that Deck is closer to Linux than anything else.

Ooo, yeah. I forgotten Steam OS is Linux.

[CerealExperimentsLain]

Quote

 

Users: Can we have a subsection just for the Steam Deck?

 

Mods: No, no, we can just keep all Steam Deck conversation within... Uhh... 3-4 different subsections...

 

 

The moderators own confusion is the best possible evidence to show that the Steam Deck could use it's own dedicated section where avid PC gamers could focus on it.  If it fits so poorly anywhere, then a new suitable place for it should be made.

[Rusty Proto]

We might need to put it in the "unobtanium" subforum.

 

...though in all seriousness, I really don't see a whole lot of discussion regarding Linux here, and SteamDeck is Arch Linux based. I have also heard a few of the big YouTubers call it a "console" so I certainly see an argument for putting it in a console forum. If I remember correctly, even Valve refers to it occasionally as a console. Additionally, for the most part, most consoles are pretty much specialty computers. Gamecube was PowerPC as was the Apple Mac of the day, Xbox was Intel, 360 is pretty much a specialty Windows computer, less actually having Windows on it. Switch is basically an Android smartphone. ...and so on. We might should just lump all consoles in with hardware, then.

[LogicalDrm]

13 hours ago, CerealExperimentsLain said:

 

The moderators own confusion is the best possible evidence to show that the Steam Deck could use it's own dedicated section where avid PC gamers could focus on it.  If it fits so poorly anywhere, then a new suitable place for it should be made.

I'm more inclined to have "junk" section where all those topics that have wide span, but not quite enough content for dedicated would go. Like Steam Deck, VR, 3D printing, Apple stuff, retro gaming and emulation etc.

 

All of those are something that members have asked dedicated subforum for at some point.

[Shreyas1]

Could they not just make it a subform under PC gaming? In the same way that 'techlinked sources' is under 'tech news'?

[LogicalDrm]

1 hour ago, Shreyas1 said:

Could they not just make it a subform under PC gaming? In the same way that 'techlinked sources' is under 'tech news'?

We don't want subforums for short-lived hypes that fade into back when something new comes out. Or in short, there's not enough content.

 

TechLinked subforum was by request from Riley. Same goes with (now dead and gone) Star Citizen sub.

[Ethnod]

In fairness the Steam Deck is not a fad but look, consider it down the line, when the numbers and back orders are finished next year. The are already hinting at a Steam Deck 2 so it's here to stay. 

 

Also, there are the competitors to the Deck, you could create a "Handheld PC" section or "Portable Gaming" or something like that, something that rolls them all into one. 

[CerealExperimentsLain]

8 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

We don't want subforums for short-lived hypes

...Wow...

[LogicalDrm]

10 hours ago, Ethnod said:

Also, there are the competitors to the Deck, you could create a "Handheld PC" section or "Portable Gaming" or something like that, something that rolls them all into one. 

Both of those already exist. Phones and Tablets would cover any handheld system. Portable Gaming = Mobile Gaming.

[ki8aras]

yea no

[SansVarnic]

Steam deck is mobile and is a console like device. Can be pc if setup right. In my mind depending on the topic, it would fall any of these 3 or others if necessary.

 

I don't feel a steam deck oriented sub-forum is necessary. If we went with the thought of needing one, then as pointed out by @Skiiwee29 , we would then have a hundred separate sub-forums dedicated to each of the various console and mobile devices available. I believe what we have now is suitable for what is needed. The topic of discussion can be moved to the appropriate sub-forum as needed by the subject of discussion within the thread. The reason for the current setup is to allow for this. 

[Vishera]

12 hours ago, SansVarnic said:

Steam deck is mobile and is a console like device. Can be pc if setup right.

I think that software wise it should be treated as a Linux PC,

So software issues will fit into the Linux sub-forum.

[Bad5ector]

So I'll add my thoughts, as a new Steam Deck owner, I personally would like to have a spot in the community that I frequent that had all of the relevant Steam Deck information all in one spot. 

Categories like:

 

Steam Deck Plugins (what plugins do you use)

Steam Deck Mods (like 3d printing)

Steam Deck accessories

Steam Deck Themes

Steam OS news / update discussions 

 

But judging by the tone of the mods here, doubt that will happen anytime soon. And that's their prerogative. I'll just look to other sites like Steam Deck Life, to satisfy my itch for Steam Deck info.

[Spotty]

Subforums are intentionally brand agnostic, with the only exceptions being 'Windows' and 'Linux, MacOS, and everything else'. For this reason I don't foresee a dedicated "Steam Deck" subforum. 

 

Absent a subforum dedicated to a single product, the question is which category best represents that product. We also need to consider where its competitors belong like the Aya Neo, GPD Win, and Nintendo Switch to name a few. The debate then becomes whether devices such as those are considered gaming computers (PC gaming) or handheld gaming consoles (Console Gaming).

I'll raise this internally with the moderation team to discuss but it will also be helpful knowing what category the community in general considers those types of products to fall under, as it should be intuitive for people to find.

[IkeaGnome]

Maybe a sub forum under console gaming. I know subforums aren't necessarily liked or needed, but named something like "Steam Deck and other hand held computers." The only part I don't see falling under that would go under Windows or Linux if people are trying to install Windows on them, or different Linux distros. If it's specific to hand held computers the OS issues could technically get caught in that subforum as well.