Was Steam's decision to allow adult game on their platform good, or bad?

[Hunter Este]

Was Steam's decision to allow adult game on their platform good, or bad?

Why did steam not just create a separate platform just for adult games?

With a single click under profile settings, kids can get direct access to some very explicit gaming content, this seems unacceptable.

It seems like the type of adult games being allowed are getting more and more explicit and extreme as time ticks on, a very unfortunate downward spiral.

What are your thoughts and feelings, community?

[Pscht]

Originally posted by Morkonan:

That wasn't what the question was about. This is about "adult" games. It's about pornography.

Ah, yes. "Silly rabbit, gory dismemberment is for kids (but loving each other very much is adults-only)!"

No surprise there are so many IRL shootings in the USA.

[Kargor]

Originally posted by Pscht:

Originally posted by Morkonan:

That wasn't what the question was about. This is about "adult" games. It's about pornography.

Ah, yes. "Silly rabbit, gory dismemberment is for kids (but loving each other very much is adults-only)!"

No surprise there are so many IRL shootings in the USA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8uQyTEtCMM

[Weimu]

Originally posted by Pscht:

Originally posted by Morkonan:

That wasn't what the question was about. This is about "adult" games. It's about pornography.

Ah, yes. "Silly rabbit, gory dismemberment is for kids (but loving each other very much is adults-only)!"

No surprise there are so many IRL shootings in the USA.

ehhh, i agree the double standard of violence = ok but sex = not ok is silly, but lol, violence in media is definitely not the cause of irl shootings or irl violence in general

[Pscht]

Originally posted by Weimu:

Originally posted by Pscht:

Ah, yes. "Silly rabbit, gory dismemberment is for kids (but loving each other very much is adults-only)!"

No surprise there are so many IRL shootings in the USA.

ehhh, i agree the double standard of violence = ok but sex = not ok is silly, but lol, violence in media is definitely not the cause of irl shootings or irl violence in general

Ok, but there IS a relation to how easy you can get guns.

[Tito Shivan]

Originally posted by Hunter Este:

Why did steam not just create a separate platform just for adult games?

Because the world is made of shades of grey. Sure there's a clear distinction on the 'adult only games' but, what about all the other games which don't fall in the definition but still feature adult themes?

We'd simply be arguin why X game is in the wrong store until the end of days.

Originally posted by Hunter Este:

With a single click under profile settings, kids can get direct access to some very explicit gaming content, this seems unacceptable.

Änd it'd be exactly the same on a different store.

[Unexpected]

as long as the adult games are properly age gated, and parents are actually responsible with their kids, i see no problem with it, let the people have their entertainment if that is how they see fit to spend their money

[losferwords]

Perfect World. The new owners of Steam.

[♥ catgirl connoisseur]

Parents ought to be aware of what their children are playing anyway. It's on them to supervise. If they have access to Steam, they have access to the open internet.

There's also a number of non-explicit games that cover situations that aren't necessarily age-appropriate (or should be accompanied by an open discussion with parents), so it's not like running a separate storefront will completely avoid exposure to inappropriate content anyway

[lightwo]

Doesn't Steam enforce mature/adult content filtering for accounts belonging to minors?

Besides, the less censorship, the better. I don't mind investing in such games if they seem good.

[Sleepy Yoshi]

Originally posted by lightwo:

Doesn't Steam enforce mature/adult content filtering for accounts belonging to minors?

Besides, the less censorship, the better. I don't mind investing in such games if they seem good.

Valve doesn't know who is a minor and who isn't so any account could turn on adult content regardless of age if family view isn't set up. Parents would need to specifically turn that on.

[I'm_Tired]

Those violent and gore games on the front page is horrifying.

[Sleepy Yoshi]

Steam doesn't ask you for a birthdate when you make an account. It only has a box to check that you are "13 years of age or older".

There is the age gate for everyone initially when going to a store page that is deemed mature of course, but even if you put a year that would make you a minor you can just clear your cookies (or edit it directly) since it's stored locally. You'd then get the age gate prompt again.

It's imperative that parents set up family view if they want to restrict what their kids can see or interact with.

[Mailer]

I don't mind Steam extending into the adult gaming market, if they are confident enough in their user generated content scans and filters. Generally whenever there's a concern of what a kid can see, it is as simple as setting up family view, or just a consequence of poor parenting.

However, I think that joining adult only games alongside regular games in the Point Shop, for instance, is a *terrible* idea.
Declaring that your game is adult only should not grant you access to publishing entries into the Point Shop, which, while not plagued by NSFW content, has a terrible curating problem of outright low-quality, low effort items that just bloats categories up unnecessarily, and it is generally the same family of adult games that do this over and over.

The Point-shop and its associated perks, card systems, badges, etc. should stay out of reach of games which require the most egregious filtering, like "adult only", in my opinion, as these are community features that everyone can see;
though I can understand why Valve would use this as incentive for more adult games to come to Steam and get popular enough to unlock those features (i.e. "Steam is learning about this game...").

EDIT: I don't know, after thinking about it some more, mayhaps it isn't that big of an issue as I'm making it out to be, considering most popular point shop items tend to drown out the worst anyway. I just can't help but think that there is a better way to wall off adult only games from the rest, at least when it comes to profile decorations and the like.

[AmsterdamHeavy]

Originally posted by Mailer:

I don't mind Steam extending into the adult gaming market, if they are confident enough in their user generated content scans and filters. Generally whenever there's a concern of what a kid can see, it is as simple as setting up family view, or just a consequence of poor parenting.

However, I think that joining adult only games alongside regular games in the Point Shop, for instance, is a *terrible* idea.
Declaring that your game is adult only should not grant you access to publishing entries into the Point Shop, which, while not plagued by NSFW content, has a terrible curating problem of outright low-quality, low effort items that just bloats categories up unnecessarily, and it is generally the same family of adult games that do this over and over.

The Point-shop and its associated perks, card systems, badges, etc. should stay out of reach of games which require the most egregious filtering, like "adult only", in my opinion, as these are community features that everyone can see;
though I can understand why Valve would use this as incentive for more adult games to come to Steam and get popular enough to unlock those features (i.e. "Steam is learning about this game...").

EDIT: I don't know, after thinking about it some more, mayhaps it isn't that big of an issue as I'm making it out to be, considering most popular point shop items tend to drown out the worst anyway. I just can't help but think that there is a better way to wall off adult only games from the rest, at least when it comes to profile decorations and the like.

Nothing in the points shop from "adult games" is "adult content". So, why?

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by Hunter Este:

With a single click under profile settings, kids can get direct access to some very explicit gaming content, this seems unacceptable.

Thats what family view is for, if you set it up they can't do what your saying. I mean kids can go to google and access far worse content then Steam has. Part of being a parent involves parenting, and not expecting Steam to do it for you.

Kids can lie about their age and access straight up real porn sites, the only defense against that is actual parenting.