From
Eurogamer.net:
Valve just changed the way Steam user reviews work - and it's certainly set the cat among the pigeons.
In
May, Valve updated Steam so that it highlighted recent reviews on
games. The thinking behind this change was sound: it wanted to better
show the current state of a game, many of which evolve quickly as
developers issue updates.
Now, though, Valve is changing the
default review score that shows up at the top of each product page - the
one developers and potential customers put so much stock in - so that
it does not include reviews written by those who obtained the product through a Steam key.
What
this means is that reviews penned by those who got a game after backing
it on Kickstarter, for example, or via a developer's website, do not
affect the Steam user review score.
Again, the thinking behind
this change is sound. Valve knows that some developers were gaming the
system - that is, they were giving keys to friends or shadey paid
services in exchange for positive reviews.
[...]
The upshot is that while Steam keys will remain free for developers to
give out or sell through other online or retail stores, Valve has deemed
it too easy for these keys to end up being used in ways that
artificially inflate review scores.
You'd think that news of Valve actually fixing something that's wrong with Steam would be welcome, but reaction so far is decidedly mixed.