BMC studios is being unfairly targeted with selective enforcement of it's rules

[level94836]

Supposedly, "movie" esque games are being limited on steam. This meant that BMC studios newest release, "Each Sale I Drink a Glass of Water" was removed for these vague reasons, or at least we can assume. However, major titles such as Super Seducer and Steins Gate elite have seen no change. BMC's games may not be high top quality, but this is no excuse for them to be selectively targeted with rules that aren't enforced across the platform, or even transparently described to the affected party.

Either all is good, or none is good. This can't be a grey issue. And hell, you can't say you're enforcing quality when you're removing inoffensive titles like this but let unity/unreal asset flips stay on the storefront.

I, and more importantly, developers who have helped BMC studios reach new heights in their quality, and fans who are willing to support them, espescially during these trying times, need answers. If the game was removed because it was encouraging easy sales due to the nature of the game, then please say so! Don't just say you're enacting new rules against "movie based games" unless you're enacting these rules on every movie based game.

[Zekiran]

Please do site your sources on this?

Never heard of any of that. The studio, the games, or even the type of games. You don't say what reason WAS given, nor should it matter: are you the publisher? No? Then it's not your problem.

[level94836]

Zekiran の投稿を引用：

Please do site your sources on this?

Never heard of any of that. The studio, the games, or even the type of games. You don't say what reason WAS given, nor should it matter: are you the publisher? No? Then it's not your problem.

The rules need to be known and they need to be enforced equally. BMC makes "choose your own adventure" type games that show a different video for each choice you make. I don't know a reason because valve never tells anyone why their games are pulled, if the developer knew the reason this wouldn't be an issue and he wouldn't have made a stink about it. I'm not directly asking for solutions on his behalf, mainley i'm just spreading awareness of this issue and hoping to find answers. But if this isn't where i can do so, i'll stop here.

[Spawn of Totoro]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1291190/Each_Sale_I_Drink_a_Glass_of_Water/

Notice: At the request of the publisher, Each Sale I Drink a Glass of Water is no longer available for sale on Steam.

https://crappygames.miraheze.org/wiki/BMC_Studios

"BMC Studios is an indie "game developer" run by a French-Canadian teenager named Alain. He and his friends are infamous for making low-quality home-made videos filled with teenage memes then posting them on Steam Greenlight and later Steam Direct as if they were games instead of uploading them to YouTube or itch.io."

https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/1666776116200553082

With that principle in mind, we've decided that the right approach is to allow everything onto the Steam Store, except for things that we decide are illegal, or straight up trolling.

[level94836]

Spawn of Totoro の投稿を引用：

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1291190/Each_Sale_I_Drink_a_Glass_of_Water/

Notice: At the request of the publisher, Each Sale I Drink a Glass of Water is no longer available for sale on Steam.

https://crappygames.miraheze.org/wiki/BMC_Studios

"BMC Studios is an indie "game developer" run by a French-Canadian teenager named Alain. He and his friends are infamous for making low-quality home-made videos filled with teenage memes then posting them on Steam Greenlight and later Steam Direct as if they were games instead of uploading them to YouTube or itch.io."

https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/1666776116200553082

With that principle in mind, we've decided that the right approach is to allow everything onto the Steam Store, except for things that we decide are illegal, or straight up trolling.

So you go from "he did this on his own" to "oh yeah we outright removed his stuff and just slapped a notice telling everyone he did this"

not shady at all??? and why such selection now? Alain of BMC has and will share screenshots proving on his steamworks that this wasn't his choice or doing, his game was delisted for purchase without his decision and he is attempting to republish it (which i hope he's able to do). I'll end my case here because i know it's none of my business

[Spawn of Totoro]

level94836 の投稿を引用：

So you go from "he did this on his own" to "oh yeah we outright removed his stuff and just slapped a notice telling everyone he did this"

not shady at all??? and why such selection now? Alain of BMC has and will share screenshots proving on his steamworks that this wasn't his choice or doing, his game was delisted for purchase without his decision and he is attempting to republish it (which i hope he's able to do)

From the message on the game page, he did request it. In my opinion, he may have felt it fell into the category I quoted and may have removed it for the time being. Looking at some his other games, they have some interaction from the user. This one is only videos of him drinking water, with no interaction.

[Putrid Mutant]

Spawn of Totoro の投稿を引用：

From the message on the game page, he did request it. In my opinion, he may have felt it fell into the category I quoted and may have removed it for the time being. Looking at some his other games, they have some interaction from the user. This one is only videos of him drinking water, with no interaction.

I get your stance, it's something I can sort of agree with, but at the same time, with talks I've had with him he's lost access to all of his Steamworks uploads, even the ones that have interactivity and the ones that are full on games. You may not agree with this stance, but I find it hard to call any of his games "trolly" and especially not illegal. The only one you could make a full on case for is Coughing Simulator 2020, but even then, he's disclaimed that his intent isn't make crude jokes on COVID like a jackass troll would probably do under this definition.

[Spawn of Totoro]

[e-mail] の投稿を引用：

I get your stance, it's something I can sort of agree with, but at the same time, with talks I've had with him he's lost access to all of his Steamworks uploads, even the ones that have interactivity and the ones that are full on games. You may not agree with this stance, but I find it hard to call any of his games "trolly" and especially not illegal. The only one you could make a full on case for is Coughing Simulator 2020, but even then, he's disclaimed that his intent isn't make crude jokes on COVID like a jackass troll would probably do under this definition.

I am referring to a single game, the one stated in the OP. The other games seem to still be there and fine. No notices and still for sale.

If Valve stopped doing business with the developer, then they would all have been removed.

[Zekiran]

level94836 の投稿を引用：

Zekiran の投稿を引用：

Please do site your sources on this?

Never heard of any of that. The studio, the games, or even the type of games. You don't say what reason WAS given, nor should it matter: are you the publisher? No? Then it's not your problem.

The rules need to be known and they need to be enforced equally. BMC makes "choose your own adventure" type games that show a different video for each choice you make. I don't know a reason because valve never tells anyone why their games are pulled, if the developer knew the reason this wouldn't be an issue and he wouldn't have made a stink about it. I'm not directly asking for solutions on his behalf, mainley i'm just spreading awareness of this issue and hoping to find answers. But if this isn't where i can do so, i'll stop here.

If the developer wanted to 'raise a stink' they would need to do so directly and privately with Steam itself, not rely on random users to 'help' their 'cause'.

it's not your problem if you didn't make the game.

It looks like an absolute piece of garbage to have been there at all, honestly, so I wouldn't personally be surprised if at some point they DO get yanked.

[76561198001062896]

Zekiran の投稿を引用：

level94836 の投稿を引用：

The rules need to be known and they need to be enforced equally. BMC makes "choose your own adventure" type games that show a different video for each choice you make. I don't know a reason because valve never tells anyone why their games are pulled, if the developer knew the reason this wouldn't be an issue and he wouldn't have made a stink about it. I'm not directly asking for solutions on his behalf, mainley i'm just spreading awareness of this issue and hoping to find answers. But if this isn't where i can do so, i'll stop here.

If the developer wanted to 'raise a stink' they would need to do so directly and privately with Steam itself, not rely on random users to 'help' their 'cause'.

it's not your problem if you didn't make the game.

It looks like an absolute piece of garbage to have been there at all, honestly, so I wouldn't personally be surprised if at some point they DO get yanked.

and frankly, not a big loss anyway for those....games(?)

It makes Night Trap look like an absolute masterpiece and thats saying something

[Crazy Tiger]

I've looked through the "game" list of that studio. I guess they are just a small level above trolling, considering that they're allowed to be sold?

I doubt the dev is being honest with OP, it wouldn't be the first time a dev lies about their motives. If stuff got removed on purpose by Valve, all those "games" would have been removed.

[Sleepy Yoshi]

Comparing his game's to Stein;s Gate is a bit disingenuous. They can't even really be directly compared to other FMV game's such as Late Shift, Contradiction or The Complex. The only real commonality is that they are video based, have some degree of interaction, and are one would assume meant to entertain.

Not that I think there's anything inherently wrong with this. I'm sure there is an audience for his games, so it doesn't really matter if I like them or even what I think of them. There being here doesn't inconvenience me and is good for that niche audience.

But so far I only see a "he said she said" story. He said Steam removed them for x reason, Steam says he removed the game himself. One party is clearly lying and all that's going to end up happening is people who enjoy his games are likely to side with him as well as people who are disgruntled with Steam for w/e reason, while people who aren't either of those likely will believe Steam.

*shrugs* I doubt much more will come of this convo than that.

[crunchyfrog]

BMC and "heights ofquality" used in the same sentences.

♥♥♥♥ me, I haven't laughed this hard in ages. As you clearly have some connection to BMC, I doubt your quality has changed much if you still don't know this is a USERS' forum and no staff are here.

Now, if you used the words "lazy, poor, cash grabs" I'd be inclined to listen more.

[Kartoffelsuppe]

"each sale I drink a glass of water"

is not even a video game but a service. I'm pretty sure that's against the terms of use on Steam.

[crunchyfrog]

Oh and the audacity to bemoan asset flips, I almost forgot that hilarious point.

The lazy, bored teens doing even a poor job of home videos for a school project they've got to hand in the next day is NOT and can never be quality. They are barely games.

[Xautos]

watching someone drink a glass of water? i can watch people drink water from bottles outside or on youtube, why would i pay anyone to watch them drink water from a glass and call it a game?

It's not a game or even an interactive game. The person behind that obviously had their hand caught in the cookie jar and realised it's going to be a problem trying to explain how they can get away with it. Now they have been named and shamed, which this thread is about.

it also brings up an interesting point about how things like this get through to steam, it is clear some additional reviewing of procedures and how they are policed is needed. It literally fits the definition of a scam as it isn't a game but can be posed like one, and it could be made to last just over 2 hours before seeing the water drinking to evade the 2 hour refund limits and take everyone elses money in the process.

at least this user was caught in the act, who knows how many others want to try do this and find flaws in the way Valve operate.