Valve needs to pay attention.
I want to talk about Steam and about Valve, and particularly I want to discuss my thoughts on what the current major problem is plaguing Steam as well as how Valve can easily fix it.
It should come as no surprise that I have a lot of problems with the way Valve conducts business on Steam. Over the past couple of years Steam has shown itself to be a breeding ground for fraud, scams, swindles; any kind of devious activity you can think of someone has probably used Valve’s digital distribution store for that purpose. We’ve seen giveaway scams, money laundering, international fraud rings, marketplace scams, impersonation, fake games, fraudulent reviews, gambling rings, asset theft, and bundle scams. Among others.
But today I want to talk about the real problem here because people tend to focus on the front end rather than looking at where things can really be improved. Valve wants to take a hands-off approach to stopping people at the door because they don’t want to take action against a game that looks bad but might actually sell pretty well. I can understand that.
Where the real problem lies and one that comes up a lot in our coverage of Steam store malfeasance is the issue of the back end. If Valve is going to allow pretty much anything on the storefront, they need to give users the tools to report any misconduct by developers/publishers. And more importantly Valve needs to read those reports.
Take for instance the Early Access Fraudsters article where I talked about MMOs that are in Early Access. Of the roughly 300 games that are listed as an MMO, still on sale, and in early access I discovered that more than 50 of them were abandoned and many of those were not only nonfunctional but had been for years. A lot of them had been nonfunctional since 2017 if not earlier. And their forums and reviews are coated in people claiming to have reported the games.
Valve’s response to reports on abandoned and broken games is incredibly erratic in terms of consistency and quality. For example you can go to my list above and find games that people have been trying to get taken down for upwards of five years with no luck. Meanwhile we report on a Cyberpunk giveaway scam and the game is gone within a week or so. Alternately we talk about Asteroids Outpost being nonfunctional and the developer closed down and Valve takes seven months to pull it.
So I want to use this opportunity to put out my open resume to Valve for the position I just created carrying the title Class A Superdetective. The purpose of the Superdetective is to take the job that some Steam employees seem to do on lunch whenever they don’t have other work and the foosball table is broken, and actually comb through the reports that are submitted for Steam games and follow up on them. Fulfilling the purpose of the report system.
I think I can do some great things for Valve considering I have pretty much started doing your work for you already in my previous articles. Just imagine how Valve’s optics can change when people are no longer saying “Valve seems to approve of their store being used for scams” and more “Valve sure is efficient and that Gabe Newell is so handsome I want to buy him fancy knives for his collection.” They’ll do that if you hire me, Gabe. Trust me. I keep my ear to the ground for you.
All I’m asking is for $40 grand salary plus health and dental, and I’ll even waive the dental if you don’t make me move to Seattle (I have a great dentist here and already have private coverage) and let me work remotely from my frigid house in Buffalo. I’ll even send some bison chip dip and all dressed potato chips each month. Good stuff.
Everyone wins, but especially Valve. I’m here for you. Have your people contact my people and let’s get this partnership running.
MMO Fallout 