Text message for friend request :: Suggestions / Ideas

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Raptor Aug 25, 2014 @ 9:50am

Text message for friend request

Please add ability to include text message to friend request.

Many times someone wants you to add him and you know him in real life, but you have no idea who is "SomeoneWithNickXY". He could simply write "Hi, it's me, Joe. Add me." and you will know.

Just short plain text - no links, images etc. It will be the same as for ICQ, Skype and other programs with invitations.

Example:
http://raptor.cestiny.cz/Temp/steam_invites.jpg

Last edited by Raptor; Sep 7, 2014 @ 8:40am

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Showing 1-15 of 17 comments

Zwut Aug 25, 2014 @ 9:54am

Why can he not add you via steam?, seems like you are making it harder rather than simpler..

Acey Aug 25, 2014 @ 10:02am

Originally posted by Raptor:
Please add ability to include text message to friend request.

Many times someone wants you to add him and you know him in real life, but you have no idea who is "SomeoneWithNickXY". He could simply write "Hi, it's me, Joe. Add me." and you will know.

Shouldn't it be easier to add each other, since you guys know each other in real life?
Unless you didn't know that he just made a Steam account

Last edited by Acey; Aug 25, 2014 @ 10:30am

Fox Aug 25, 2014 @ 10:17am

Originally posted by Raptor:
Please add ability to include text message to friend request.

Many times someone wants you to add him and you know him in real life, but you have no idea who is "SomeoneWithNickXY". He could simply write "Hi, it's me, Joe. Add me." and you will know.

And you could as well write a "hi, my friend can't add you, visit this phishing link". As phishers already have a spam vector via groups, no need to make another one.

And should you know the person in real life, he can still tell you his profile name, or his profile URL, so you wouldn't get confused.

Raptor Aug 25, 2014 @ 10:31am

It has been just example. Let's say it is someone you know from other forum or simply you don't know him (or you don't know he is on steam) but he want to add you. There is no way how to tell me WHY he wants to add me. You can't send message if he is not accepted as friend.

It is simple, you don't like this feature? Don't use it. But don't tell me what is ok and what is wrong.

I don't care about scammer. There are many scammers in game chats and forums. All I want to know is why he want me to be my "friend".

Acey Aug 25, 2014 @ 10:35am

Originally posted by Raptor:
There is no way how to tell me WHY he wants to add me. You can't send message if he is not accepted as friend.

There is two ways, comment on your profile (like me) or make a trade offer with a message (though this requires that you have posted your trading offer url somewhere.)

Last edited by Acey; Aug 25, 2014 @ 10:35am

Aurelia Aug 25, 2014 @ 10:49am

The one major problem i see with this, is as Fox said. It could be anything from spam, to even taken advantage of for phishing and even advertising... it's a free messege send, as far as i can see, and anything could be in that messege.

If you know the person irl, i don't see why you can't just communicate with eachother first outside of steam. How hard is it to ask them for their steam account?

Originally posted by Raptor:
I don't care about scammer. There are many scammers in game chats and forums. All I want to know is why he want me to be my "friend".

Personally, i only usually see a purpose in adding people that I've interacted with and know the reason for. If anything else, If they add you, check their profile, and see if they are someone you might be interested in.

In my oppinion, why add people as friends you don't know? A friends list isn't supposed to just be a list of people. It's not meant to be, but a lot of people seem to think it is. That isn't it's function. You add people you like, or have a reason to be connected with, and if you have any external connection already then they already have the ability to communicate with you wherever they have interacted with you before. There's no reason to even know why people blindly friend request you. If you don't know who it is, and have no other way of knowing, then it's probably not someone that important, for any important reason.. That is just my personal view, and i by no means claim that's a valid reasononing to not have this, but it is a view you could consider.

Last edited by Aurelia; Aug 25, 2014 @ 11:00am

Fox Aug 25, 2014 @ 10:58am

Originally posted by Raptor:
It has been just example. Let's say it is someone you know from other forum or simply you don't know him (or you don't know he is on steam) but he want to add you. There is no way how to tell me WHY he wants to add me. You can't send message if he is not accepted as friend.

It is simple, you don't like this feature? Don't use it. But don't tell me what is ok and what is wrong.

I don't care about scammer. There are many scammers in game chats and forums. All I want to know is why he want me to be my "friend".

While such a feature may be nice, its implementation would sadly be more troublesome than it's worth. Considering that people still get scammed or phished on a regular basis, the support load will be even higher, considering that there'd be no prerequisite.

Lumi also completed my answer about ads, spam, or maybe harrassment being able to be sent. It's basically "able to send PM to anyone", with all the goods and bads about it.

Your suggestion isn't wrong in any way. It's just unlikely as-is because of all these reasons.

EDIT : rewording

Last edited by Fox; Aug 25, 2014 @ 10:59am

tomk1 Aug 25, 2014 @ 1:20pm

Your steam level 63 so know more than me, but can't your buddy just Real Life txt/tell you their user name.
Anyone can create a fake phone no. & you don't want to give out your phone on steam to spamers.

Raptor Aug 25, 2014 @ 10:09pm

It is really hard to ask for any feature. There are thousands/millions of users and only 5 has problems with it. There are so many stupid things in steam client and nobody cares. And asking for one plain text message makes war. Steam devs are not stupid. They can simply add option to filter those texts to remove urls or block them by default etc and you will be happy.

I don't want to all use friend request as another chat. Just to be able append message to request. As to sending gifts window etc. Nothing more. If user is idiot and is clicking on all links, it is not my problem. And it is not problem of steam. Idiots will trust spammers everywhere.

Aurelia Aug 26, 2014 @ 10:17pm

Originally posted by Raptor:
It is really hard to ask for any feature. There are thousands/millions of users and only 5 has problems with it. There are so many stupid things in steam client and nobody cares. And asking for one plain text message makes war. Steam devs are not stupid. They can simply add option to filter those texts to remove urls or block them by default etc and you will be happy.

The point of having a public suggestions thread is to get other people's opninions about it. It would be rather silly if the only allowed responses were "I agree!" We are not simply saying "Nope. don't want". we are giving reasons as to why it might not be a good idea.

Originally posted by Raptor:
If user is idiot and is clicking on all links, it is not my problem. And it is not problem of steam. Idiots will trust spammers everywhere.

It's unfortunately true, but it does happen, and it becomes steams issue when they get more reports of hijackings. I agree that there doesn't seem to be any logical reason to click on a link in a friend request, but not all steam users think before they see shinies. And again, it doesn't just have to be a link, it could also be spamming advertising, or abusive messeges/ascii art... Bots would abuse this feature like no other just to get their scamming websites and other things out there. Even if someone doesn't click on it, it still allows them to send it to everyone they see, and their chances of landing a success are greatly increased.

#10

tomk1 Aug 27, 2014 @ 4:59am

This is news to me if i understand. Makes no sense to have links in PM or (spam)Friend-requests. I assumed links would be internal or specific approved external sites, YT etc

I think you mean something like a simple instant messenger 'n exchange service without having to add as friend. (like buy/sell something in real life, never see them again, so non-buddy-system firewall still up) ??

#11