Re: How not to start the day

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

So, Steam locked my account today.

And why not? After all, I posted an incredibly suspicious (their
words) comment the other day. It was a response to a review on their
storefront. I forget what the game was, but that review basically
said: 'don't buy this game, even if its on sale, even if it looks
good, it's not worth it.'

So I replied:

   "It's true. I saw the game. I saw the pretty graphics. I saw
    the negative scores. But I also saw it was on sale and I
    thought, 'it couldn't be that bad'. I was >< this close to
    buying it. Then I saw this review... and I put away the
    credit card. It's like you knew me. Thank you for saving
    me $40USD."

(that's my content, quoted in full, that Valve found offensive)

As you can see, it's no surprise that Valve locked the account of
somebody who would say something so dreadful. I'm lucky my NNTP
provider doesn't cancel my account for repeating it here, even if it
was a first-strike by a long-time customer, content provider and
probable 'whale'. Truly heinous stuff, right? Worthy of immediate
locking somebody out of their property.

Obviously I'm being sarcastic. But I think I'm due to some cynicism
given the stupidity of Valve. It just reinforces my belief that
companies like Valve have way to much power over their customers

(similarly, Riot games has threatened to lock people out of their
accounts for posting or saying stuff off-platform outside of their
purview. That's right; do something offensive on Facebook and they'll
keep you from playing League of Legends)

It's not so much a problem of these corporations trying to police
their platforms. With all the misogyny, homophobia, and racism out
there, it's a necessity. But it's the ham-handed, algorithm-led,
shoot-first/investigate-never methodolgy they use. They just depend on
computers to do it, rather than pay for moderators, and trust that
these algorithmic decisions are correct. And then rather than
correspond with the offender first, they just take the nuclear option
and yank the account. It's wrong in every aspect.

I contacted customer support (which is to say, I clicked on a link and
got redirected to a box where I could type out a comment). I politely
requested that Valve investigate the incident and re-instate the
account. I fully believe they will do so. The comment is so patently
inoffensive that I have no idea why it even triggered an algorithm   

    [maybe it was the use of the "> <"  to indicate proximity?]

But it's annoying that I have to jump through these hoops and that a
black mark is now permanently associated with my account.

And it's made me distrust Valve --and their DRM-enforced control over
my property-- just a little bit more.

Valve locked mine for posting about a free game. They did not like that so I had to stop. :( Thanks God for usenet! :)
--
"Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, 'Jesus be cursed,' and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit." --1 Corinthians 12:3. Superman & Lois' finale was emotionally good!
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