I think instead of grouping existing tags, it would be a better idea to make a new tag for the group (you are already naming the group when you create the collection, so why not make the name a tag?). To make that work properly, it would help a lot to make dynamic collections respect user-defined tags:

https://gtm.you1.cn/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/3/1751268481787770291/

Originally posted by vincent.gabriel:

I think instead of grouping existing tags, it would be a better idea to make a new tag for the group (you are already naming the group when you create the collection, so why not make the name a tag?). To make that work properly, it would help a lot to make dynamic collections respect user-defined tags:

https://gtm.you1.cn/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/3/1751268481787770291/

Yes, I had considered this as an alternative, if it worked. The problem is, it really doesn't buy me much if I haven't already been good about custom tagging. I still have to do the work of adding the tag in Steam, and making the determination myself as to whether each game belongs, on a game-by-game basis. After all, the whole advantage of dynamic collections is that if you decide to create a new one, you don't have to manually identify all the games in your library (I have hundreds) that belong. If you can express that collection in terms of "games with tag1 AND tag2 AND ... " then you're good. But if you need OR or NOT (I neglected to mention the need for negative (or "exclusionary") filters in my original post), you have no way of simulating this. Basically the idea is to give full boolean expressivity in defining a tag in terms of other tags, which would effectively allow you to create a rudimentary algorithm of sorts for auto-defining a collection.

I totally understand you. I try to see it from a more global perspective. If you make a custom filter, it helps you organize. If you (and some others) add a new tag, it helps everyone organize. Ideally, there are already very useful tags, and you only need to adjust a few odd games. That's actually the typical case for me. If it does not work for you, I would be curious what sets you would build.

Originally posted by vincent.gabriel:

I totally understand you. I try to see it from a more global perspective. If you make a custom filter, it helps you organize. If you (and some others) add a new tag, it helps everyone organize. Ideally, there are already very useful tags, and you only need to adjust a few odd games. That's actually the typical case for me. If it does not work for you, I would be curious what sets you would build.

Well, I'd actually be interested in finding out how user-defined tags become global tags. I'd be much more into it if I thought I wasn't just doing it for my own sake. For example, Steam has now accumulated a glut of cheap, hentai puzzle games, that deserve to be distinguished from things like, say, "Hunie Pop". You've no doubt seen them; they typically involve rearranging pieces of racy or nudie anime girl pix, cost about a dollar, and advertise with sentences like "Will help you relax with cute girls ..." or some such blather. If there were a tag that encapsulates this sort of thing, or if I knew how to create one that others could use, that'd be great. Otherwise, I'd try combining some tags like "Sexual Content" AND "Nudity" AND NOT "Story Rich", although that might not quite suffice.

Similarly, there are two types of Visual Novel games - those with choices & branching story lines & multiple endings, and those which really are just an illustrated electronic book - the latter typically being called "kinetic novels" or "kinetic visual novels" (not a great name choice, IMO, but regardless ...). I'm surprised that there isn't a tag for this - it basically separates things that deserve to be called "games" from those that don't. I normally have to go reading descriptions and/or comments to distinguish. Now, I made my own "Kinetic Visual Novel" tag, but I'm the only one who can see it or use it. So it basically helps me make a little note-to-self, but nobody else benefits from it and I don't benefit from others using it (otherwise, I'd be very much inclined to religiously tag things with it). So I'd at least like to be able to experiment with the presence or absence of other tags to see if I could approximate it somehow.

About global tags: well, it says "popular user-defined tags" on the label, not "predefined tags", so that might be a clue. The actual algorithm may be a bit more complicated in order to combat abuse, of course.

About exclusion: the shop actually has been, technically, supporting tag exclusion for a while. But there is no UI for it. Considering it is a frequently-requested feature, it seems odd that it stays almost-implemented like this for long, unless it is deliberately hidden. I suppose there is a reason for tags being include-only.

I'm having the same problem now, I wan't to make a dynamic collection for all local multiplayer titles but I can't combine "Local Multipllayer" and "Local Co-op." Not a super big deal because I just used two dynamic collections for each catagory but then I noticed a problem, I was looking at Portal 2 which has great couch Co-op and it wasn't listed in either. I checked and it's listed as "Shared/Split Screen Co-op."

It would be nice do be able to bunch all these games into one catagory so I could see what multiplayer games I have on hand. Valve please fix.

Originally posted by Applitude:

I'm having the same problem now, I wan't to make a dynamic collection for all local multiplayer titles but I can't combine "Local Multipllayer" and "Local Co-op." Not a super big deal because I just used two dynamic collections for each catagory but then I noticed a problem, I was looking at Portal 2 which has great couch Co-op and it wasn't listed in either. I checked and it's listed as "Shared/Split Screen Co-op."

It would be nice do be able to bunch all these games into one catagory so I could see what multiplayer games I have on hand. Valve please fix.

Thanks for bumping this. I'm not holding my breath on it, but it really would be nice.

Of course, implementing this would no doubt lead people to demand tag exclusion, which
@moira.lachesis above suggests has been implemented under the hood for some time. At that point, people would want to combine these things.

Here's my basic suggestion for how this would look. Take the existing filter UI and add tag exclusion, which should be relatively straightforward. Then allow people to combine the results of multiple such filters into one group (by combine I mean take their logical union).

For the mathematically inclined out there, this is basically implementing what's called disjunctive normal form of a logical expression. Any complex logical expression can be "simplified" into this form through basic application of DeMorgan's laws, so this would technically cover everything.

Tag exclusion has been fully implemented in the shop (with UI) for a while now. I wouldn't be surprised if the same technology is underlying dynamic collections, so that would be a low-hanging fruit.