Wildshape - Map Editor (free demo) is not a game. It's a feature locked advertisement/demo for a mapmaking/tabletop assistant software application... So it's an advertisement, not a complete product, for something that isn't even a game in the first place. Yet this has been launched on Steam as a GAME! It's a common mistake when unfamiliar with Steam to launch demos/advertisements as full games on Steam instead of tagging them correctly as demos. It's also a common mistake for developers who don't know the difference between games and software to try publish their software applications on Steam, sometimes as an attempt to mislead gamers, or gain access to what they think is a large marketplace by deceptively advertising their non-game software to gamers as a game.
It's not even complete, it's deep in development hell. There are no game loops, no interaction, no story, no plot, no AI, no progression, no meaningful interaction whatsoever. This is just virtual tabletop software that has either incompetently or misleadingly been launched in the wrong place.
Here's a link for the [url=https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithPublishing?issueid=925]process to publish Software which isn't a Game[/url] on Steam. It's unfortunate this process was not known about/followed, resulting in a software application being published in the wrong place.
Here's the instructions for putting a demo up on Steam, to demonstrate that there is a correct process for this, which hasn't been followed here:
https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/application/demos
While it might seem like an inocuous mistake, publishing demos and advertisements as if they are full games is misleading and in some ways harmful. Likewise, publishing software that isn't a game is also harmful. The developer here has done BOTH!!!! This advertisement is taking up marketing space and visibility that would be better made available to a developer that's done the right thing and created a full game. Instead, that visibility is given over to a demo/advert that's been published incorrectly and is polluting the marketplace. This harmful action by the developer makes it harder for gamers to find quality games, and it makes it harder for genuine game developers who did the right thing to find an audience.
It's unclear if this mistake was made through incompetence or a deliberate intent to mislead gamers, but at the end of the day, I can only recommend full, correctly published games to gamers. Because this is just a demo and not even a game, and because of the other problems with it, I can't recommend it.
It's also worth noting that, despite having set out to apparently do everything completely wrong by gamers, and despite this being incomplete and stuck in development hell with no sign of ever becoming a completed software application, the developer is charging a ridiculous $40 USD (I'm not kidding) to unlock the features of this incomplete software application. Even if they had published this properly in the software section, that wouldn't be acceptable.
Don't waste your time on this garbage software application polluting the Steam games store.
[quote][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/reviews]Developer Response![/url][/quote]
The developer has weighed in to inform everyone they didn't read the [url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/reviews]Developer Usage Rules[/url] for Steam "partners", or they deliberately ignored the part where Valve says:
[quote]Though it may be tempting, not every review needs to be responded to. A developer response will frequently draw more attention than the original statement, potentially turning a small issue into a much larger community discussion. It's also not a good idea to use this feature to refute customer opinions. Your direct attention can be seen as validation or a defensive attempt to silence your customers.[/quote]
The developer misquotes the proportion of the reviews which are positive or negative, but this has absolutely ZERO bearing on the facts about this software. If I went and changed my review for a Unity asset flip to "positive", would Wildshape suddenly contain game loops? No. Would Super Meatboy suddenly become rendered in 3D, because my review for a different product changed? No, it would not. My reviews for other products do not change the basic facts about THIS product. They are self evident, and all information in my review is factually correct and drawn directly from the product. The developer seeks to draw attention away from the facts about their product. Why? Guilty conscience.
The developer tries to justify breaking the rules and launching non-game software as a game on Steam. The software itself is not a game any more than using Zoom to play a game of charades online makes Zoom a game.
Is Zoom a game? No, no it is not. If I use my living room to host a game of Dungeons and Dragons, is my living room a game? No, my living room does not become a game if I use it to play other games. This developers lame attempt at excusing their harmful activity here does not change a thing.
The developer pretends they don't understand how demo products and free samples fall under the category of marketing and advertisement. It seems they're in denial, or desperate to try obscure the facts about this non-game software that has harmfully and incorrectly been placed on Steam as a game.
Nothing in the developers rambling, irrelevant response here changes any of the facts of my review, my original review stands unaltered.
