Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 16 of 21

Thread: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

  1. #1
    HEXUS.admin
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Posts
    31,709
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    2,073 times in 719 posts

    Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Digital Homicide was trying to sue 100 Steam games critics for around £14 million.
    Read more.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    The Third Foundation
    Posts
    919
    Thanks
    2
    Thanked
    99 times in 91 posts

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Hopefully it'll be a wakeup call for developers who only distribute their games with Steamworks.

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Posts
    772
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    9 times in 9 posts

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Wake up call for developers to not promise more than what they grant.

  4. Received thanks from:

    Pleiades (20-09-2016)

  5. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    400
    Thanks
    9
    Thanked
    46 times in 39 posts
    • iworrall's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus B350M TUF Gaming
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 2700X
      • Memory:
      • 32GB C14 Team Group "Dark Pro"
      • Storage:
      • 512Gb Samsung 970 Evo NVMe
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Nvidia RTX3080 FE
      • PSU:
      • BeQuiet 1KW
      • Case:
      • Thermaltake Core V21
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 / Kubuntu 19.04
      • Monitor(s):
      • Acer Predator X34A
      • Internet:
      • Sky Fibre

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Derek (Line of Defence) Smart next, please!

  6. Received thanks from:

    Pleiades (20-09-2016)

  7. #5
    Member
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    144
    Thanks
    5
    Thanked
    9 times in 8 posts

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Death to asset-flipping developers!

  8. #6
    Ride the lightning Marenghi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    West Midlands
    Posts
    510
    Thanks
    65
    Thanked
    27 times in 25 posts
    • Marenghi's system
      • Motherboard:
      • AsRock X370
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 1700 @ 3.85
      • Memory:
      • 16GB DDR4 @ 3000
      • Storage:
      • Samsung 830 120GB + 5TB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire Nitro 480 4GB
      • PSU:
      • Corsair 600 watts
      • Case:
      • Corsair 550d
      • Operating System:
      • 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • Iiyama 24" 144hz + Viewsonic 24"
      • Internet:
      • 100MB fibre

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    I'd be careful Hexus, with the truly stunning logic of the developers you might be in the crosshairs next!!

  9. #7
    Senior Member this_is_gav's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Posts
    4,854
    Thanks
    175
    Thanked
    255 times in 217 posts

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    You forgot the first rule of mass media, Elliot! Give the people what they want! (add sea drill here)

  10. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Earth
    Posts
    1,545
    Thanks
    54
    Thanked
    289 times in 180 posts
    • Jasp's system
      • CPU:
      • i5 3570k @ 3.4GHZ
      • Memory:
      • 8GB DDR3 1600MHZ
      • Storage:
      • 1 x 512Gb Crucial MX100 1 x 2TB HDD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA GTX 670 SC
      • PSU:
      • 850W Corsair HX
      • Case:
      • Coolmaster Haf X V2
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 64-Bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell U2412M 1920X1200
      • Internet:
      • 6Mb ADSL

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Quote Originally Posted by this_is_gav View Post
    You forgot the first rule of mass media, Elliot! Give the people what they want! (add sea drill here)
    Is it sad i know what film this is from.....

  11. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Posts
    772
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    9 times in 9 posts

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Give the target group of the game what they want would be more accurate as it is, but most companies try to appeal to all instead of those groups that would be interested in playing this or that game.

    You can't make an FPS game for all and if you do... you end up ruining the endgame product.. see EA/DICE with SWBF and BF1

  12. #10
    Admin (Ret'd)
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Posts
    18,481
    Thanks
    1,016
    Thanked
    3,208 times in 2,281 posts

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Quote Originally Posted by Marenghi View Post
    I'd be careful Hexus, with the truly stunning logic of the developers you might be in the crosshairs next!!
    I'm not sure if that was intended to be serious or lighthearted, but it is indeed sn issue we keep a careful eye on. Which is why one post has already been deleted.


    WARNING FROM ADMIN TO POSTERS IN THIS THREAD

    By all means discuss the content of this news item, but stop using gratuitously insulting and potentially defamatory personal attacks.

    Doing so has the potential not only to get you, the poster, sued butcsldo to get HEXUS sued as the "publisher". While we would suggest getting yourself sued is not a good idea, we really do object to you getting us sued too.

    Make no mistake, I am not joking about this. We will remove all such posts and if it continues after this warning, suspend posters.

    Individuals out there probably regard all this "suing" talk as hypothetical, alarmist and a bit of a game. IT IS NOT, and we have the lawyer's bills to prove it. It can get right expensive, very quickly indeed, and is not a place we intend to go again because a user gets carried away.

    So by all means discuss, but do so with some self-control.

  13. Received thanks from:

    Pleiades (20-09-2016)

  14. #11
    Admin (Ret'd)
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Posts
    18,481
    Thanks
    1,016
    Thanked
    3,208 times in 2,281 posts

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    As for the legal dispute, I don't know enough about either party to have an opinion on the rights and wrongs.

    I will say, though, that it is quite possible that some of these "negative" reviews were unjustified, malicious and defamatory. The thing is, speaking as a professional journalist, negative reviews can indeed be very damaging, so if you're going to write a highly negative review, you had better both be right in what you say, and be able to back it up with evidence.

    Before I write a highly negative review, I make ery sure I have photos, test printouts, research notes, details of explanations sought and, in many situations, reactions from and feedback about the problems I had from the company,

    Why do I go to such lengths?

    Because I've had rare occasions when someone has so disliked my opinions that they threatened to sue. If the company making that threat has deep pockets, it is a VERY intimidating threat to face, as defending such a case is likely to cost many tens of thousands at a minimum and complex cases can run to 6 or even 7 digit legal bills and settlements. Do you, dear reader, fancy q £100,000 bill to defend yourself? What about £500,000? More than that? No, I thought not.

    Fortunately, I had a multinational publisher with very deep pickets and in-house lawyers on my side, but THEY wanted to be sure that, first, I would factually stand behind my negative review, AND second, could back it up, in court if need-be, Because I could, their response to the threat was "see you in court". At which point, the threatener thought better of it.


    So I've seen it both ways - threats of legal action used to try to intimidate and suppress negative reviews, and unjust and even malicious reviews designed to deliberately damage or destroy a company.

    And that's why I have no view on this case, having not used to the products in question or read the reviews.

    But what does worry me is the extent of monopolistic power available to Steam, and the potential for arbitrary application or even abuse of that power. Which is why, personally, in part at least, I refuse point blank, to buy any game that requires Steam.

  15. #12
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    3,526
    Thanks
    504
    Thanked
    468 times in 326 posts

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen View Post
    ......so if you're going to write a highly negative review, you had better both be right innwhat you say, and be able to back it up with evidence.
    I get the impression some of the "reviews" were anything but, that's unless you consider death threats and the like to be a review.

  16. #13
    Editable... jimbouk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Bristol
    Posts
    3,069
    Thanks
    319
    Thanked
    278 times in 226 posts
    • jimbouk's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asrock B450M-HDV R4.0
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 5 3600
      • Memory:
      • Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz C16
      • Storage:
      • Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire Pulse RX 580 8GB
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic Core Gold GC-650
      • Case:
      • Lian-Li PC-V1100 ATX
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • AOC CU34G2/BK 34" Widescreen
      • Internet:
      • EE FTC

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Doesn't sound like this was dealt with very well by anyone. Individuals posting death threats to the company, Steam not moderating their forums effectively, and the company threatening legal action to a large number of people. For the company to keep any high ground on this then they should have got law enforcement involved rather than suing people.

  17. #14
    . bledd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Posts
    1,886
    Thanks
    22
    Thanked
    135 times in 85 posts

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Digital Homicide.. more like Digital Suicide.

    This will be a hard stain to remove from their reputation.

  18. Received thanks from:

    virtuo (20-09-2016)

  19. #15
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    North Wales
    Posts
    1,849
    Thanks
    165
    Thanked
    271 times in 202 posts
    • virtuo's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte Aorus Master X570
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 9 5950x
      • Memory:
      • 64Gb G.Skill TridentZ Neo 3600 CL16
      • Storage:
      • Sabrent 2TB PCIE4 NVME + NAS upon NAS upon NAS
      • Graphics card(s):
      • RTX 3090 FE
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX850 80+ Platinum
      • Case:
      • Fractal Meshify 2 Grey
      • Operating System:
      • RedStar 3, Ubuntu, Win 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • Samsung CRG90 5140x1440 120hz
      • Internet:
      • PlusNet's best, but still poor, attempt

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    If the reasons for suing are what they say then I guess it's fair enough - nobody wants to be on the end of a bunch of internetters hell-bent on causing your trouble. Seems like a lot of money they are after but hey, America!

    I'd suspect there are plenty of legitimate reviews that also rate their titles poorly that would influence buyers decisions, and most people are sensible enough to a) get more than one opinion and 2) not pay much attention to Steam user reviews.


    I can understand Steams angle, they've got more customers than developers - I wonder if they'd do the same to a big player like 2K or Rockstar.

  20. #16
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Wirral, NW England
    Posts
    167
    Thanks
    32
    Thanked
    4 times in 3 posts
    • Vorlon99's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Supermicro C7Z97-M
      • CPU:
      • i7 4790k 4ghz + Custom Liquid Cooler
      • Memory:
      • 16GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1,866
      • Storage:
      • 1TB SSD SanDisk X300 enterprise + 1tb SSHD Seagate
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Superclocked ACX 2.0
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic 860W 80 PLUS Platinum
      • Case:
      • Supermicro S5 Gaming
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • Philips 273V5QHAB 27" AMVA LED 1080p
      • Internet:
      • up to 39mb Fibre

    Re: Valve removes 'customer-hostile' games developer from Steam

    Forgive me if I missed where this was explained, but if steam has removed all these products from sale (no opinion on this at the moment), does this now mean that those (potentially few) buyers who want to play what they have already bought can no longer do so.... do the games disappear from their library? Do they get a refund from Steam if steam have removed the game(s)?
    Add me on BL and Steam - Egg-O-Deth
    .

    .

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •