Why is there no Steam rule of trolling, ie being disruptive? Is trolling legit?

[ploppo]

I have reported a troll who is camping in a game hub.

They are basically just disruptive and trolling. They are completely non-constructive.


The problem is, there is no specific rule on Steam for me to request a ban or for a developer/moderator to ban them.

This is the possibly the closest Steam offers in this area:

Derail a thread's topic

Well, a clever troll can trolll whilst trying to keep on topic - ie they argue an opposite opinion.


So, I am now kind of stumped - is trolling technically allowed on Steam?

I've noticed that one of EA's forums have removed trolling as a forum rule - ie they actually removed this rule:

Be a troll. Trolling is deliberately posting sarcastic, off topic, or rude things to start a fight.

I'd like Steam to add it as a rule - in a nutshell.

What's the story on this?

[?!]

You can report "rude" posts, so it just depends on the level of sophistication we're dealing with.

[ploppo]

One big thing on Steam at the moment is Denuvo - people are literally spamming their disgust of it.

Someone can create a thread that shows they like the game, etc. Someone appears in the thread and bashes the game constantly because of Denuvo.

It's annoying.

[J4MESOX4D]

Escrito originalmente por ploppo:

I have reported a troll who is camping in a game hub.

They are basically just disruptive and trolling. They are completely non-constructive.
The problem is, there is no specific rule on Steam for me to request a ban or for a developer/moderator to ban them.

Game hubs are moderated (usually badly) by the publishers/developers of the game. Although you have the basic conduct outlined in the guidelines; mods in these can run the forums as they see fit.

Also you can't request bans - just report posts that you feel are violating the general Steam community guidelines and see if a mod picks it up.

[Ogami]

Game forums are run by the developer/publisher of the game. they also appoint their own set of moderators.
Its completely in their discretion what kind of topics they allow or not on their games forum.
Some forums are run more strict then others. If you reported the post and nothing has been done, that forums moderation decided to allow posts like that.
That is all.

[?!]

That may fall under derailing a thread, if the original subject-matter in no way touched upon Denuvo. Still, if they're actually civil about it and don't resort to name-calling or outright putting people down, then there isn't anything wrong with it, even if it is annoying. Someone's opinion being annoying to someone else shouldn't really be grounds for banning people off the forums. There would be nobody left if that were standard practice.

[ploppo]

Escrito originalmente por J4MESOX4D:

Escrito originalmente por ploppo:

I have reported a troll who is camping in a game hub.

They are basically just disruptive and trolling. They are completely non-constructive.
The problem is, there is no specific rule on Steam for me to request a ban or for a developer/moderator to ban them.

Game hubs are moderated (usually badly) by the publishers/developers of the game. Although you have the basic conduct outlined in the guidelines; mods in these can run the forums as they see fit.

Also you can't request bans - just report posts that you feel are violating the general Steam community guidelines and see if a mod picks it up.

Yeh, but Steam's owm rules don't seem clear in terms of trolls/disruptive posts, etc.

I can't expect a game hub moderator to make up a rule of banning someone if there is no such rule to even relate too.

[ploppo]

With trolls - we are basically in a position of waitng for them to clearly break a rule.

The idiot I am looking at now has done so about half an hour ago - looking at thread history - so, I am re-reporting them.

It is annoying to have to sift through post history, just to find an excuse to remove obviously disruptive users from a game forum.

[Gus the Crocodile]

Escrito originalmente por ploppo:

They are basically just disruptive and trolling. They are completely non-constructive.

Well, there is a directive to “make sure you are being relevant, constructive and polite”.

[The End]

Escrito originalmente por ploppo:

With trolls - we are basically in a position of waitng for them to clearly break a rule.

You can report, and let a moderator take a look, if that is not enough, you can block that user, now you won't see what he is posting.

[J4MESOX4D]

Escrito originalmente por ploppo:

With trolls - we are basically in a position of waitng for them to clearly break a rule.

The idiot I am looking at now has done so about half an hour ago - looking at thread history - so, I am re-reporting them

If the mods aren't visible and locking problematic threads or simply stepping in to defuse any escalating situation then they simply don't care about the user or aren't bothered about their forum. Either way, it's just a waste of time and it'll just seem to them like you have a vendetta against the user with lots of reports spanning multiple threads.

I've seen game forums where users have brought the game into disrepute, trolled, lied and caused carnage in the community yet if the forum owners don't bother taking action then that's their problem and doesn't really show a level of care they have for their game or its community.

[ploppo]

One of the snags is, once a troll is loose, they can trigger other people into breaking rules, etc.

It's annoying to see.

I can see the troll sweaing, but then I can see other people have sworn too - so, yeh, if I report the troll it does look like I am singling them out.

Life is harsh.

[ploppo]

So, do we need a trolling rule? Who likes the idea?

Trolling. Trolling is deliberately posting sarcastic, off topic, disruptive or rude things

I slightly modified the EA rule. Any further suggestions to it?


Anybody against a new rule on trolls?

[The End]

Escrito originalmente por ploppo:

So, do we need a trolling rule? Who likes the idea?

Trolling. Trolling is deliberately posting sarcastic, off topic, disruptive or rude things

I slightly modified the EA rule. Any further suggestions to it?


Anybody against a new rule on trolls?

The feeders are just as bad as the trolls, if people would stop feeding the trolls, they would lose interest in posting.

Use the block feature, people asked for it to cover the forums, Valve did listen, and it does now, start using it?

[ploppo]

Escrito originalmente por Rockon:

Escrito originalmente por ploppo:

So, do we need a trolling rule? Who likes the idea?


I slightly modified the EA rule. Any further suggestions to it?


Anybody against a new rule on trolls?

The feeders are just as bad as the trolls, if people would stop feeding the trolls, they would lose interest in posting.

Use the block feature, people asked for it to cover the forums, Valve did listen, and it does now, start using it?

Yeh, but I am not posting - I am merely observing a game hub.

I don't use 'block', because then I lose the ability to report anything severe that happens later.

Blocking is like turning a blind eye to something - not my style.

[Crazy Tiger]

Since when is posting sarcastic things wrong? And it's very hard to establish whether some things are simply sarcastic or sarcastic to start a fight.

Being disruptive will end up being a stick that people will use to try to suppress any opinion which goes against theirs.

It would also be of no use, as gamehubs can have their own ruleset. If the gamedevs and gamehub moderators don't want to take action, you can establish a million rules, they won't be enforced.