Excessive banning/Censorship on Steam: TOS should be modified.

[Squashbuckler]

Finally back after being banned for one month...


Thanks to everyone who kept this thread alive. Also, thanks to those who have not supported this thread by keeping out message heard!



Herein lies the problem with Censorship:

My Hypothesis was that "Helicopter Parenting" leads to overly sensitive children and a sterile environment. When that hypothesis was banned from the discussion, and "Idea" was effectively eliminated from the minds of anyone who was potentially following this topic.

This is inherently insidious, and damages the fabric our our society as we continue to have ideas eliminated by the gatekeepers of opinions and thoughts. Yes, this is just one forum, but why stop here? How many "bans" are we going to accept and perpetrate on other people? Just let people speak and stop reporting them.

Original Post:

In my 14 years on steam, I have to say that the banning and censorship has now reached a new level. (I cant even offer a descriptive word for fear of being "Banned", once again).

In fact, the TOS is unreasonable should be amended:
"This post contains content that is combative, argumentative, or likely to derail"

What kind of world are we living in when we cannot be "Argumentative?" The oxford Dictionary defines this as " given to expressing divergent or opposite views". This is the foundation of a civilized society, not censored speech.

Moreover, I dont think it is reasonable to be banned for weeks by asking if DEI initiatives are present in a game. That is not a discriminatory commentary, that is a legitimate inquiry with regard to a political position. If I were to ask if right wing ideology is present in a game, or to ask where on the spectrum a game exists, that is not discriminatory discussion. That is simply inquiring as to the political leanings of a game. A purchaser has the right to withhold monies from games that do not fit with his/her alignment.

As human beings, if you keep hitting report and desire to censor speech, eventually when they come for your speech, you wont have any. Speech suppression is a political tool, and those that desire to give up freedoms for security will regret it.

Let people debate and speak on these forums. Who cares if one person calls another person a name. Why do the readers of this post feel the need to hit "report" ?
It is the mark of an educated mind to hear an opinion or criticism, you don't need to accept it. Many have insulted me here and have disagreed with me, and that is fine. If I dont accept their gift (The insult), they are left holding the bag.

The molly-coddling of our youth that is allegedly the reason for mental health issues is nonsense. When an individual has confidence and is unaffected by social media and the opinions of others, they are more resilient.

It seems that any slight criticism or comment results in a "ban". This has absolutely gone too far.

Game companies can openly push political agendas, but any contrary opinion to it results in a ban.

Allow people to speak, and only moderate hate speech ( I.e: Prohibited grounds)

I dont like social justice/DEI initiatives in my games. When I ask about whether or not they are contained, I receive bans. How is this acceptable?

If you are banned by a dev, protest it! Don't let devs push their agendas in forums

If you are the kind of person that keeps hitting report, give it a rest.


At least steam kept this thread going..

Update: Had my Witcher 3 forum post deleted for saying the : " Main story was missing something, and generally weak". I was accused of being a "troll" because I had not yet updated my review from years ago. This is madness.

TL:DR : The forum rules need to change.

[Brian9824]

Publicado originalmente por Poop King:

Thats what the 'REASONABLE' part means, and you cannot ever hit, stab or shoot an intruder in the UK no matter what, that will never be considered 'REASONABLE'.

Also that is false - https://www.westminstersecurity.co.uk/residential-security/householder-defence-law-in-the-uk/

Was ruled reasonable after he stabbed a burglar to death and no charges were filed against him after they investigated.

Another example - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-15211250

The laws are much stricter, but you are 100% allowed to to stab an intruder in self defense and even kill them if its necessary to protect yourself or your family.

[Brian9824]

Publicado originalmente por Poop King:

Publicado originalmente por brian9824:

Same as the stand your ground law in the US which would not apply to protestors sitting still....

Which was what I said all along from the start.

If someone is sitting still and silent on or in your property in the UK, good luck getting rid of them without committing a crime yourself.

The main issue why generally nothing can be done about 'peaceful protesters'.

perhaps in the UK, in the US which was being discussed as Steam is a US company someone protesting inside a business who refuses to leave would be guilty of Criminal Trespass and be arrested.

Again laws of other countries are irrelevant when we are discussing how a US company operates. We don't go by the laws of Saudi Arabia or China when discussing US companies.

[BLOOD ASYLUM]

If you defend steam moderators and game devs banning people from forums, especially when it's a lot of false bans, and "I called the cops first." thinking, you should wear a shock collar in real life.

You can mute people, block people, ignore people. Just because you act like a ♥♥♥♥♥ or are scared of other people doesn't mean they should have services blocked. Unless of course it's illegal

[Tito Shivan]

Publicado originalmente por BLOOD ASYLUM:

You can mute people, block people, ignore people. Just because you act like a ♥♥♥♥♥ or are scared of other people doesn't mean they should have services blocked. Unless of course it's illegal

If you don't behave appropriately in a place, you'll swiftly be shown the door.

[BLOOD ASYLUM]

Publicado originalmente por Tito Shivan:

Publicado originalmente por BLOOD ASYLUM:

You can mute people, block people, ignore people. Just because you act like a ♥♥♥♥♥ or are scared of other people doesn't mean they should have services blocked. Unless of course it's illegal

If you don't behave appropriately in a place, you'll swiftly be shown the door.

Well that's not what happens on Steam is it. Steam basically is more like, "You're black, you can't be here." Or if you're critical of a game they basically censor you like nazis.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Publicado originalmente por BLOOD ASYLUM:

Publicado originalmente por Tito Shivan:

If you don't behave appropriately in a place, you'll swiftly be shown the door.

Well that's not what happens on Steam is it. Steam basically is more like, "You're black, you can't be here." Or if you're critical of a game they basically censor you like nazis.

That isn't what happens or what happened to you in the BG3 forums.

[BLOOD ASYLUM]

Publicado originalmente por SlowMango:

Publicado originalmente por BLOOD ASYLUM:

Well that's not what happens on Steam is it. Steam basically is more like, "You're black, you can't be here." Or if you're critical of a game they basically censor you like nazis.

That isn't what happens or what happened to you in the BG3 forums.

No better yet I actually screened a mod trying to get me to say something bad, recounted a convo with him, and he said I slandered him. Went back to the old convo and screened that as proof. I reported him no worries. So yes very gestapo like. They actively try to bait users to ban them, ultimately he just said I lied lmao. Like for instance, Tito and you play a hand in steam moderation. That's cool you guys want to do that, but if you censor people for opinions, report people for opinions, and are all about this discretion you make steam worse.

[BJWyler]

Publicado originalmente por SlowMango:

That isn't what happens or what happened to you in the BG3 forums.

Precisely.

Valve has given developers their own jurisdiction of the forum space on Steam as per Valve's agreement with said developers. Therefore said forums are as much a part of their jurisdiction as their own forums, reddit, discord & websites. It doesn't matter what other forms of communication that the devs may or may not have, they are still granted the right to control their spaces as they see fit.

The absolute entitlement gamers have shown over the last bunch of years is simply mindblowing .. and shameful. No wonder Gaming still doesn't get the respect it deserves by the rest of the world. These are the attitudes that only perpetuate the stereotypes of gamers of lacking maturity, among other things.

The negative feedback is not the entitlement - the reasoning that someone provide said feedback in whatever form they want wherever they want is the entitlement. There are right ways and wrong ways to go about it. Over the years, the vast majority of people I have seen complain about moderation have done it the wrong way. I have left plenty of feedback for developers over the decades and never once was moderated for it.

Devs are not always right, and they are never flawless. However they still have the right to control their own spaces as they see fit. Because, you see, freedom of speech and expression doesn't just apply when we want it to, and only to concepts that we agree with. Devs have an equal right to speech and expression, and to control the means and direction of that speech and expression on their own turf.

[BLOOD ASYLUM]

Publicado originalmente por BJWyler:

Publicado originalmente por SlowMango:

That isn't what happens or what happened to you in the BG3 forums.

Precisely.

Valve has given developers their own jurisdiction of the forum space on Steam as per Valve's agreement with said developers. Therefore said forums are as much a part of their jurisdiction as their own forums, reddit, discord & websites. It doesn't matter what other forms of communication that the devs may or may not have, they are still granted the right to control their spaces as they see fit.

The absolute entitlement gamers have shown over the last bunch of years is simply mindblowing .. and shameful. No wonder Gaming still doesn't get the respect it deserves by the rest of the world. These are the attitudes that only perpetuate the stereotypes of gamers of lacking maturity, among other things.

The negative feedback is not the entitlement - the reasoning that someone provide said feedback in whatever form they want wherever they want is the entitlement. There are right ways and wrong ways to go about it. Over the years, the vast majority of people I have seen complain about moderation have done it the wrong way. I have left plenty of feedback for developers over the decades and never once was moderated for it.

Devs are not always right, and they are never flawless. However they still have the right to control their own spaces as they see fit. Because, you see, freedom of speech and expression doesn't just apply when we want it to, and only to concepts that we agree with. Devs have an equal right to speech and expression, and to control the means and direction of that speech and expression on their own turf.

Jurisdiction hahaha whatever dude. It's business controlling their criticism. They are allowed to come on here lie to you about products, censor thoughts and complaints. I hope the law enforcement in your jurisdiction takes your computer away.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Publicado originalmente por BLOOD ASYLUM:

Publicado originalmente por SlowMango:

That isn't what happens or what happened to you in the BG3 forums.

No better yet I actually screened a mod trying to get me to say something bad, recounted a convo with him, and he said I slandered him. Went back to the old convo and screened that as proof. I reported him no worries. So yes very gestapo like. They actively try to bait users to ban them, ultimately he just said I lied lmao. Like for instance, Tito and you play a hand in steam moderation. That's cool you guys want to do that, but if you censor people for opinions, report people for opinions, and are all about this discretion you make steam worse.

BG3 is moderate by Steam support. They don't interact with users in the forums.

So your whole story is a lie.

[BLOOD ASYLUM]

Publicado originalmente por SlowMango:

Publicado originalmente por BLOOD ASYLUM:

No better yet I actually screened a mod trying to get me to say something bad, recounted a convo with him, and he said I slandered him. Went back to the old convo and screened that as proof. I reported him no worries. So yes very gestapo like. They actively try to bait users to ban them, ultimately he just said I lied lmao. Like for instance, Tito and you play a hand in steam moderation. That's cool you guys want to do that, but if you censor people for opinions, report people for opinions, and are all about this discretion you make steam worse.

BG3 is moderate by Steam support. They don't interact with users in the forums.

So your whole story is a lie.

Yeah you must be a moderator.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Publicado originalmente por BLOOD ASYLUM:

Publicado originalmente por SlowMango:

BG3 is moderate by Steam support. They don't interact with users in the forums.

So your whole story is a lie.

Yeah you must be a moderator.

Also false.

[Tito Shivan]

Publicado originalmente por BLOOD ASYLUM:

Publicado originalmente por Tito Shivan:

If you don't behave appropriately in a place, you'll swiftly be shown the door.

Well that's not what happens on Steam is it. Steam basically is more like, "You're black, you can't be here." Or if you're critical of a game they basically censor you like nazis.

Doesn't take much more than a glance at your post history to see that was not the case for you.

[BLOOD ASYLUM]

Publicado originalmente por Tito Shivan:

Publicado originalmente por BLOOD ASYLUM:

Well that's not what happens on Steam is it. Steam basically is more like, "You're black, you can't be here." Or if you're critical of a game they basically censor you like nazis.

Doesn't take much more than a glance at your post history to see that was not the case for you.

Give me some examples from my post history.

[BLOOD ASYLUM]

Publicado originalmente por SlowMango:

Publicado originalmente por BLOOD ASYLUM:

Give me some examples from my post history.

Equating LGBT to bestiality and pedophilia in the BG3 forums.

Did I equate them? Or did I say that beastiality and incest are how Larian decided to represent that community? Hmmmmmm