Multiple game creators describe ineffective moderation on the platform, resulting in unchecked hatred in forums and targeted campaigns of negative ‘anti-woke’ reviews
For anybody saying “it’s not a problem, just moderate it yourself”, look at Relooted’s steam forum. There are more than 700 threads there and most of them are really not kind. Tell me how you’re going to moderate that.
Just put yourself in the shoes of game publishers or studios that make a game which goes against the grind and gets attacked like Relooted is being attacked. Would you want to employ somebody just to moderate the forums? Should the onus be on the forum owners or should it be on the forum providers (Valve)? Do you think this has no effect on the types of games being released?
I mean, look at this game Tyrone vs Cops 2. Is this OK? What do you think the forum discussions look like. Are they OK? If it’s only devs that should moderate their forums, that means the KKK could make game about water lillies and then have their forums be the meeting ground for white power discussions. They won’t be offended after-all. That’s OK?
The reason it got this bad was because they didn’t nip it in the bud sooner. If they had been more proactive from the start, there wouldn’t be 700+ threads.
At this point, just nuke them all and ban everyone who made a bigoted troll thread. It’s gonna be a game of whack-a-mole for a little while, but once you start handing out bans, the trolling will start die down.
I clicked a random thread and it looks like a lot of posters don’t even own the game. I’ve seen this a lot of times, people flaming and trolling on a game’s forum don’t even own the game. Thought the simplest fix would be to just not let them post and restrict game forums to those who bought it.
They do have an “Owners” forum (the default is the Non-Owners for those who don’t own the game). I imagine the non-owners forum is there to provide an opportunity for non-owners to ask genuine questions about the game, but that obviously isn’t happening. Maybe you’re right and they should just make it owners only. I don’t know if it would be visible to others though.
It “controversial” because racists and bigots made it that way. There was no controversy about other heist games, there’s no “controversy” about games with all-white characters. But put in a diverse group of character, that steal back what was stolen and suddenly that’s “controversial”.
I mean, look at this game Tyrone vs Cops 2. Is this OK?
It’s probably filled with vile stuff, so I simply won’t go there. There’s awful stuff to be found everywhere on the internet if you seek it out, you can just not go there.
Sure, I won’t travel to Gaza and say “wow, so many dead people here” and act surprised, but if I stumble upon a dead body on a playground, you betcha it’s at least a little surprising.
For anybody saying “it’s not a problem, just moderate it yourself”, look at Relooted’s steam forum. There are more than 700 threads there and most of them are really not kind. Tell me how you’re going to moderate that.
Just put yourself in the shoes of game publishers or studios that make a game which goes against the grind and gets attacked like Relooted is being attacked. Would you want to employ somebody just to moderate the forums? Should the onus be on the forum owners or should it be on the forum providers (Valve)? Do you think this has no effect on the types of games being released?
I mean, look at this game Tyrone vs Cops 2. Is this OK? What do you think the forum discussions look like. Are they OK? If it’s only devs that should moderate their forums, that means the KKK could make game about water lillies and then have their forums be the meeting ground for white power discussions. They won’t be offended after-all. That’s OK?
Surprisingly despite the forums the game has a “Very Positive” review, which is probably what I would have given it after playing the demo.
The forums are just full of bigotted trolls who want to see the game fail.
The reason it got this bad was because they didn’t nip it in the bud sooner. If they had been more proactive from the start, there wouldn’t be 700+ threads.
At this point, just nuke them all and ban everyone who made a bigoted troll thread. It’s gonna be a game of whack-a-mole for a little while, but once you start handing out bans, the trolling will start die down.
Or it becomes a popular trolling target with a cry of “they can’t take us all down” and it gets worse.
I clicked a random thread and it looks like a lot of posters don’t even own the game. I’ve seen this a lot of times, people flaming and trolling on a game’s forum don’t even own the game. Thought the simplest fix would be to just not let them post and restrict game forums to those who bought it.
They do have an “Owners” forum (the default is the Non-Owners for those who don’t own the game). I imagine the non-owners forum is there to provide an opportunity for non-owners to ask genuine questions about the game, but that obviously isn’t happening. Maybe you’re right and they should just make it owners only. I don’t know if it would be visible to others though.
A controversial game has controversial community? Shocked I must say
It “controversial” because racists and bigots made it that way. There was no controversy about other heist games, there’s no “controversy” about games with all-white characters. But put in a diverse group of character, that steal back what was stolen and suddenly that’s “controversial”.
Well, that’s what controversial means. Things like lgbt rights, abortion rights, etc. are also controversial, but objectively fair/correct
If any group complaining about something makes it “controversial”, then everything is controversial and the word loses all meaning.
It’s probably filled with vile stuff, so I simply won’t go there. There’s awful stuff to be found everywhere on the internet if you seek it out, you can just not go there.
Sure, I won’t travel to Gaza and say “wow, so many dead people here” and act surprised, but if I stumble upon a dead body on a playground, you betcha it’s at least a little surprising.