I think many people (myself included) are upset over Valve's "new" content policy because we have basically gifted Valve with the mantle of responsibility for PC gaming based on their contributions to the platform for the last fifteen years. Getting digital distribution off and running in a customer-friendly way, adding middleware that developers and customers like in Steamworks, and even working on an alternative to Windows and a comfy couch option have all been great additions.
The problem is, they never viewed themselves as inhabiting the role of PC gaming caretakers. That's perfectly reasonable given that they are their own company and that the PC platform is open, but a lot of people assumed they had implicitly accepted that position. This is why this news seems like such a shock to so many - it seems to be a total abdication of something that segments of the public have entrusted them with for over a decade.
I haven't had a great experience browsing Steam's store or going through my discovery queues in a while. Part of me thought that might just be my tastes changing (not really interested in Simulator type games) but I think part of it is just the amount of crap that ends up on the service. I think having a separate section for independent publishers would help a lot, or maybe something developers or publishers with over five years of experience end up in their own tab where people like me can quickly locate them.
For what its worth, I think the Steam client is one of the worst ones out there today for PC gaming. Battle.net has better social functionality for me with its party system and live streaming outputs (I realize the friend lists are regional, but I only play with NA people anyway). uPlay has developed into a fine client on its own and I buy all my Ubi Soft titles on there, since buying them on Steam launches uPlay anyway. Even Origin has better download speeds and gives a free game away every month. I don't use a Steam Controller or Big Picture, so those features don't really matter to me.
edit: I also see a lot of arguments like, "Why should Valve dictate what we can and cannot play?" This isn't about that. If Steam doesn't let a game onto their store, you could still download that game from the developer or publisher directly, or any other storefront they can get onto. Valve is not the end-all, be-all client and storefront for the PC, despite many people refusing to buy any game that is not on it.
