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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Steam Adds Collectible Card Game to Profiles


Building on their existing achievement system, Steam has implemented a new feature: Steam Trading Cards. The cards are added automatically to your inventory after playing participating games for some period of time. By default you can get up to half of a full set of any given game's cards and it'll be up to you to acquire the other half through crafty trades with your friends, through the community, or by purchasing them on the steam market. Turning in a set of cards nets you 100 "Steam Exp" adding to your Steam Level and nets you random profile backgrounds, random emoticons that can be used on the steam community, a badge to display on your profile and a chance at discount coupons. Repeating the collection nets you more exp, another pair of goodies, and levels up your badge. Higher steam levels mean higher chances of a rare "Booster Pack" drop and the ability to add more people to your friends list.

Screw the rules, I have money.

If emoticons and profile backgrounds don't strike your fancy you can always play the market. I wasn't toying with the beta very long so I just dumped all my cards immediately. Although judging from price trends during the beta, it won't net you a lot: I did manage to scrounge up enough that I'll probably pick up a cheap game from the <$5 bin when one piques my interest.
Alternatively, some of the profile goodies sell for more decent prices, so a few good trades and some luck with the randomization engine can put you in the direction of adding a new distraction to your steam stable.

Did you drop this Normal Pyro Card or this Golden Pyro Card?

Practically speaking, the cards don't add anything immediate to the player experience on Steam. There isn't a card game to play with the cards: although they've hinted they may consider the possibility in the future. Unless you've been capping out your friend's list and want to give it a boost. Nevertheless, for those who like such quirks or like to get competitive with your gaming levels, it'll no doubt be worth the time investment. Now that the system is out of Beta, everyone on Steam who plays relevant games should be getting the cards so whether your interested or not, it is at least worth taking a peek at your inventory to see what new goodies await.

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