In my opinion, the discovery changes made in April/May have been a step backward.
A lot of the categories players used to use to find and search for maps were removed. On top of that, maps now seem to appear in far fewer categories than before (See Images Below). This means many more maps are competing for a much smaller number of top Discovery spots. As a result, most players are being funneled into the same limited sections, while a lot of good maps become much harder to find.
The old system gave creators more ways to be discovered and gave players more places to look based on what they wanted to play. With fewer categories, discovery feels more crowded, less diverse, and less useful overall.
On top of that, I think the AI thumbnail checking system is really bad. It has falsely flagged multiple thumbnails of mine, even when made from scratch and attempting to be unique. AI systems are not reliable enough to be a main deciding factor for thumbnail moderation.
It also creates another problem: older maps can end up setting the standard for what a “good” thumbnail is supposed to look like, while new maps get flagged or limited for trying similar ideas. This gives newer maps even less of a chance to compete and makes Discover feel more like a place for players to find old maps instead of discovering new ones. Also, let’s not act like there are infinite possibilities for what thumbnails can look like, especially when creators are all trying to clearly show their map in a way that players understand.
And from my understanding, this issue does not only apply to thumbnails. If a map is deemed “unoriginal,” even if it is better made, more polished, or offers a better player experience than the original, it may still struggle to get shown in Discover.
I understand the goal may have been to simplify discovery and improve moderation, but right now these changes feel like they are making things harder for both players and creators.
Lets not talk about the failing Game Collections that no one wants to play and how Discover as a whole often feels like it is being used to show off new features, specific types of content, or Disney/IP content, instead of simply showing players what they actually want to play.
