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[toddhunter]

I don't believe it should be forced because then people wouldn't do it out of spite.

Maybe they would, but assuming devs want to be dicks about it, then so what? Worst case is we get some devs not providing patch notes, which is exactly what they do now.

Even a simple "minor fixes" is a big step up from people wondering what the fuck this new patch does. At least then you can stop wondering.

 

[Stevey]

I'm probably missing the point here OP, but you're saying it should be mandatory but then you're saying they can type gibberish if they want so what's the point?

 

[JaseC]

I'm probably missing the point here OP, but you're saying it should be mandatory but then you're saying they can type gibberish if they want so what's the point?

I say that simply because it's unrealistic to expect Valve to manually approve each and every public build update. While I'm sure some developers wouldn't bother providing notes in some cases, I'd wager that most would actually use the form as intended. I mean, there is practically zero difference in effort between typing "Blah blah blah" and offering even just a vague overview of what has changed.

 

[diamount]

Say it's a requirement going forward then it's a simple case of copy pasting, with maybe editing the format slightly. Hardly any effort on their part.

 

[Blizzard]

I think even something like "See forum for patch notes" would be helpful, so it would be nice to make developers include non-blank information.

Normally when I notice a Steam game patched I have to:

1. Right click, View News, get a bunch of random announcements.
2. Click Product Updates, notice the page is blank or nearly blank because the developer doesn't put anything at all.
3. Grumble, check the Steam forum, possibly find the answer.
4. In some cases, find nothing, go to GAF and ask in a thread, eventually discover that minor DLC was added or something.

 

[hesido]

It would be impossible to standardize the detail given in the changelog, ranging from very minute details like to something as broad as "fixed some bugs" or "added some effects", so mandating it would be useless.

 

[DJKhaled]

Will be lots of stability updates.

 

[Lord Panda]

Co-signed.

 

[Auto-Reply]

I actually was not aware that changelogs have fallen out of fashion?

 

[Blizzard]

It would be impossible to standardize the detail given in the changelog, ranging from very minute details like to something as broad as "fixed some bugs" or "added some effects", so mandating it would be useless.

It would be nice to require some text at all for the form developers submit, though. (I haven't done this myself but I'm guessing there's a form) That text could be as broad as "fixed some bugs", or it could be a Half-life 3 joke, but it would still be better than the current situation.

As the OP suggests:

Edit: By "mandate" I mean "include as part of public build update form". Nothing more, nothing less. If you're not sure as to what that means, please read through my replies in this thread before responding.

Preface: In the interest of not unnecessarily cluttering the thread title, I'm referring specifically to updates pushed through to the public branch (i.e. the build that every Steam user sees by default).

 

[Stitch]

Pretty much. It would be like the app stores.

• Performance improvements
• Bug fixes

That's still better than nothing. At least you know that the game was updated. You often get updates on Steam where it looks like the game was updated but actually it was just an updated version of DirectX...

 

[Serra]

Detailed patch notes are the bomb

 

[Durante]

I'm probably missing the point here OP, but you're saying it should be mandatory but then you're saying they can type gibberish if they want so what's the point?

The point is that many developers already write/publish release notes somewhere, and a unified location would make it far easier to find those.

It might also motivate some developers who didn't do anything to start providing patch notes. Or not.

In any case it's a net positive.

 

[LordCiego]

I really think they should add a page in the community hub area for the games that has a version history, which lists all prior versions of the games and allows devs to update that area with patch notes for each of the previous versions. This would allow retroactive patch notes (for devs who don't keep up) and would also allow people to see if the devs bother to put up notes at all. Would also keep the Valve involvement at a minimum, as they could just have the page auto-update with a new area when a new version is releasedaccepted.

If the devs already maintain a forum/news feed with patch notes, the solution is simple, paste a link. 2 seconds. Heck, I'm even happy when devs post an announcement saying "We patched the game, notes can be found here: LINK". Not having patch notes available for a game is quite frustrating though, especially if you're waiting for a particular bug or issue to be patched.

Does anyone know where we can submit suggestions for steam?

Yes they should do this.

And if a system like the one the op its asking got implemented it wouldnt mean mandatory changelogs, if nothing was provided by the dev/pub it should appear as "No patches notes were provided for this patch".

 

[PandaPedinte]

I totally agree, I remember complaining a lot about the updates for Risk of Rain, while I enjoyed it a lot various updates didn't have patch notes. I could go to the announcement page and find nothing, then jump into the community forums and have a lot of people wondering what exactly was updated.

 

[GravityMan]

Agreed with JaseC, Qassim, Durante and others that expressed similar opinions. I see no real downside. Add a simple text-area where the dev can type in (or copy-paste) the notes, and it'll be included in the patch submission and Steam will automatically take care of the rest. Done. Even something generic like "Performance improvements and bug fixes" (which is common on the iOS App Store) is better than nothing. Or a "See forum for notes" message.

The main benefit is convenience for users.

 

[DUFFMCWALIN]

I completely agree.

No developer can tell me that it's too much of an imposition to write up some patch notes.

If you have any sane development process at all you already have a change list in your source control log anyway.

Amen to this. Good notes on GitHub have saved me a lot of time and thats just for internal use.