Why it is OK to negatively criticize a free game

You’ve probably read it a couple of times. There’s a free game, say, on Steam, and people complain about stuff and then others talk down to them, claiming since it’s a free game, they are bad people.

So let me widen the perceptual horizon here.

Justified critique is totally fine, especially considering that a freely published game, especially on a highly-frequented platform like Steam, is often a promotion instrument, a skill demo, so it’s not exactly for the pure love of the world. You’de be surprised how many people are way more egoistically motivated than they pretend to be. But you’d only be surprised when you find out, and you only find out when you can manage to put them to the test. (I’m digressing slightly here.)
Furthermore, critique is free consulting, so they’re actually getting a good deal. I mean, there are game devs who are totally inept design-wise, publish a piece of crap of a game, then collect the tons of critique and get to work implementing the suggestions and thus don’t need to be anything but a hacker monkey who is being force-fed with game design training. That business scheme seems especially popular with early access. People will even pay for crap and on top of that give you free consulting services, all fueled by the hope that the game becomes great one day.
In the most extreme case, an early access game is little more than: “OK, I made an empty world space. Pay up, then I’ll allow you to tell me what you want in it and I’ll put it there. (Unless I don’t want to.) Isn’t that great? Your own personal ideas implemented in a totally not generic game. Your ego must be so st(r)oked right now. Buy your own little piece of immortality today!”
And the next day there’s an empty space with a pickaxe and a zombie.

I was inspired to write this when I learned about a free Steam game (Serena) that had some issues related to Steam being crap and Valve not caring (the usual), and I read up about the game, and it’s advertised as “…the result of a massive collaborative effort between dozens of fans and designers of adventure games.” while when you press ESC that story-progression-type game immediately quits, without so much as a confirmation dialogue. Unbelievable? Well, I’ve seen some wacky things. Totally justified to go “Dude! What the hell?!”

Speaking of incompetence: Is there any major internet business that hasn’t made it its mission to destroy any usability? As I am writing this, I have to switch between Visual and HTML view, because HTML view doesn’t have quick formatting, but requires me to add code manually, while Visual doesn’t know what a line break is (!), yet in HTML view it doesn’t even need/show the code for it.
I’m not even gonna explain how to do it more elegantly. They need to figure such basics out themselves. My consulting services aren’t for free, since my expertise is apparently scarce.

Go(ogle) fuck yourself, not us

Updated 2015-11-05 15:44 CET (see bottom for resolution)

One more story about how beyond sanity this corporation (Youtube i.e. Google) is. This happened after they systematically made it impossible for my subscribers/followers/whateveritscalledthesedays to follow a major type of my content on Youtube or Google+: video comments.

Anyway, I had a fun idea that merged entertainment, humor, art, education and spirituality in a simplistic video in context to the video title and description. It is an 8-hours long video called “Slow Workday Meditation Video” that is simply a pretty pink monocolor picture. The description provided context to this piece that mixed a humorous approach with actual spiritual-meditational themes, but I cannot post the actual description here because I don’t have it, for reasons I will explain.

You see extreme-length videos on Youtube all the time, and they’re mostly nothing but a complicated way to ignore the option of repeat-play. My video was created in 144p with 1 FPS and due to its low complexity in combination with modern video codec technology has a file size of less than 1 MB. Its play length is integral part of the piece and of no harm to anyone.

It got stuck in the processing phase although it was available, watchable soon. Since it didn’t appear publicly as uploaded, I linked it manually here and there.

Then the next morning I see this in my inbox:

—————————
Subject: Your video has been removed from YouTube

Hi Dowlphin,

The YouTube community flagged one or more of your videos as inappropriate. After reviewing the content, we’ve determined that the videos violate our Community Guidelines. As a result, we removed the following videos from YouTube:

Slow Workday Meditation Video

Please note that this removal has not resulted in a strike.

– The YouTube Team
—————————

This made me pissed. Especially since I checked the community guidelines and didn’t find anything that applied to the video.

So there is that joke of an appeal feature. The only way to communicate to Youtube at all in such a matter. And I had to use it not to appeal by making my point, but to inquire about what the actual reason was that they didn’t deem necessary mentioning. Mind that they state you are only allowed to appeal once, and your appeal message is limited to 200 characters. Think about the implications of that for a moment.

So I wrote:

—————————
After checking the Community Guidelines, the reason for removing this video is absolutely not clear. You need to state the actual reason so that I can evaluate that, otherwise this looks like a whim.
—————————

As I commented on my Google+ feed, due to my experience and insight I pretty much knew what would happen, and it did. Roughly nine hours later I receive another e-mail that at first I couldn’t believe is meant to be that response to the appeal:

—————————
Subject: Your video has been removed from YouTube

Hi Dowlphin,

The YouTube community flagged one or more of your videos as inappropriate. After reviewing the content, we’ve determined that the videos violate our Community Guidelines. As a result, we removed the following videos from YouTube:

    * “Slow Workday Meditation Video” (https://youtu.be/SBenR-eBQ-U)

We are constantly working to keep YouTube free of spam. It’s not okay to post large amounts of untargeted, unwanted, or repetitive videos. In addition, if the main purpose of your content is to drive people off of YouTube and onto another site, it will likely violate our spam policies. Learn more here.

Your account has received one Community Guidelines strike, which will expire in six months. Additional violations could prevent you from posting content to YouTube or even lead to your account getting terminated.

For more information about Community Guidelines strikes, please visit our Help Center. Please note that deleting this video will not resolve the strike on your account. For more information about how to appeal a strike, please visit this page in the Help Center.
– The YouTube Team
—————————

So another response that added nothing new, no reasoning, just another dumb claim that very much fulfills the appearance of a whim that I mentioned in my appeal, but this time, while adding nothing of reason, they punish me for so much as pointing out that they didn’t give a proper reason for removing my video – by putting a Community Strike on my account! Because I wasn’t OK with their willy-nilly unprofessional conduct. And if I didn’t overlook it, they didn’t tell me in the appeal process that it could result in such a strike. I assumed that they didn’t give a strike to begin with because of the triviality of the case. Yeah, I’m still way too optimistic when dealing with corporations. Their mindeset is just out of what I can anticipate.

This looks outright malicious, because either they are braindead/mindless drones, or they must have known that if I read the Community Guidelines and didn’t see the explanation for the video removal, then merely quoting a segment of those guidelines doesn’t add anything new. All it did was initiate a strike on my account without giving any clarification. And that is the behavior of crooks who don’t want to reveal their true motivations.

I also did check out the help document on strikes, and anything they might claim applies from there would be an uneducated judgment on my video, which could only be clarified if they specified the actual reason for the removal, because then the whole issue maybe could have been resolved elegantly.

In my account settings I now have one option to appeal the strike. But as long as I would have to again ask for an actual reason that makes sense and makes me understand what they think is wrong about my video, this would be quite pointless, considering the first appeal’s response. I’d have to appeal by telling them I only got the strike for inquiring about the actual reason for the video removal. What gives you an indicaton that that would work? LOL. (I’ll give it a try anyway. After all, the harm has been done. I’ll post the updates at the bottom.) And even if I knew in details what the issue is and could represent my standpoint on that if necessary, it wouldn’t fit into 200 characters, especially considering the abhorrent communication/comprehension quality I’m dealing with here. It’s like im talking to a closed-off emo teenager.

That message not only arrived in my inbox, but appeared when I wanted to access Youtube, blocking me from accessing the site logged in and thus any profile settings or such, and they coerce me to click “I Acknowlege” or I won’t get the access back, which while technically is not implying acceptance, it begins to feel like assrape. (Sorry for the language, but it reflects my disgust and how Youtube is coming off with such a behavior.)
Now it shows a “Bad standing” with community guidelines, which is a fucking joke. There’s nothing community about this, and I did nothing malicious or careless or problematic. I care a lot about community and Youtube are the egotistical jerks here.

Absurdly, due to the bad standing, I am now forbidden from using custom thumbnail pictures for my videos for six months (while normally they’re pestering me that I should use them all the time), which is a typical authoritarian punishment measure especially considering they are doing that because they can’t handle justified reasonable critique.

Now examining the standard text message for completeness’ sake:

I did not spam videos. I uploaded a single video of a kind I did not before, a one-timer idea.
The following points are thus void, unless I strech the semantics of the message into the illogical and look at them in a single-video context:

“Untargeted” – What is that actually supposed to mean? I uploaded a video with a clear aim, the audience being Youtube viewers. So that can’t be it, either. Ergo: Only makes sense in context to spamming uploads.

“Unwanted” – Like “untargeted“, this is an equally silly/non-applicable idea for a Youtube upload. Unless Youtube’s implied message is “We just don’t want this.” There’s also no reason why a video upload of this type might not be of entertaining value or other kinds of relevant value. Ergo: Only makes sense in context to spamming uploads.

“Repetitive” – Well, as I said, there are tone of videos that loop-play something excessively, and nobody seems to bother, and they are far from being tiny files. I, the fool that I am, actually took Youtube’s business concerns into consideration in making my video as tiny as possible, not even triggering multiple-resolution recompressions. I am not motivated by this to care about such things in the future. (I actually asked about such in the support forums, but only got two “expert responses” that stated what I had made clear I already knew and/or was nothing on the topic.)

The chance that someone watched it and reported it as some of the standard texts suggest is slim, considering the unoffensive nature of the video and its accessibility limited to my sub/follower audience. So this looks like Youtube did it themselves, while conveniently blaming “the community” in their standard-texty way. Or there is an army of zealous wannabe-Gestapos who do it for them.
This also sends an interesting message regarding other meditation videos, because they can by nature be very simplistic and repetitive.

“if the main purpose of your content is to drive people off of YouTube and onto another site, it will likely violate our spam policies.”
Guess who is the one driving people off your platform here, GooTube.
As usual, fear-motivated action makes the feared thing manifest. Corporate business shows this time and again.

“Your account has received one Community Guidelines strike, which will expire in six months. Additional violations could prevent you from posting content to YouTube or even lead to your account getting terminated.”
So I still haven’t received a valid reason for why my video was removed, entrapping me to commit further alleged violations which might lead to a termination of my account.
It’s like they really don’t give a shit, and their empty blabber about ‘carefully reviewing reported videos’ clashes with their capricious and careless conduct.

Anyone who has standards of professionality and considers doing business with Youtube needs to keep the risk in mind that comes from messy conduct like this. Hell, this is basically the same crap as the whole debacle with the copyright strikes system. The fact that it happened (happens?) in the first place is a sign that any opportunity for messing up new things will be taken.

Any kind of loyalty for such a business would be foolish and misplaced. Best to just accept that they are dilettantes and not base any dependencies on them.

On a more personal note, considering that I am struggling with many problems already and that a harmless video like the one in question is an occasional motivational boost that is very important to me for getting my creative juices flowing instills just more contempt for this kind of business. And since I am not given the choice to not run into such hassle again and again just by doing what I love, I will keep calling the problem out as long as it persists. Small-to-medium things have already built up and now this issue really pisses me off majorly.

Spread the link to this article if you are interested in this crap not happening anymore. It will never stop unless there is force applied.

 

 

UPDATE 1/2:

I now sent an appeal to the strike:

—————————

I received the strike because I merely requested clarification about the specific reason for the video removal, since I still have no idea what to avoid in the future or could have simply changed.

—————————

Because, why not just say what the issue is and maybe it can even be fixed without having to keep a whole video fully removed? You know … the intelligent and respectful way where everybody wins.

Let’s see what mindless, insulting move they make next. (Any positive expectations would be a mistake.)

 

 

UPDATE 2/2:

I received their response:

—————————

Dear Dowlphin:

Thank you for submitting your video appeal to YouTube. After further review, we’ve determined that your video doesn’t violate our Community Guidelines. Your video has been reinstated and your account is in good standing.

Sincerely,

— The YouTube Team

—————————

This is like the typical support communication situation where you first have to fight your way through layers of automatons before you reach someone who is allowed to be a human being. Translated into plain speak, this e-mail follows their intense efforts to save effort while avoiding the shedding of further light on their internal processes that they’d rather keep hidden. A bit of face-saving. But as I said … mostly time*-saving.
*)money

This doesn’t undo the annoyment I had, but somewhat cynically speaking I have to say this response is still relatively skillful in our modern corporate business world. They didn’t dare go any further, but their choice of resolution is a compromise. It’s like the most vexing “Oops, sorry” I ever witnessed. (Actually just “oops” – you can imagine the “sorry” if that’s how you roll.) … “Never mind” would probably fit, too.

Even if one has to go through an arduous process or hard times, I guess if your own effort in the end led to a result that at least satisfies you, it can be considered a worthwhile one. (This is much better than some other stuff I experienced in my life, where I fought sometimes even for years and it ended in total defeat against all sanity.)

So my final message would be to everybody: Keep making an effort. The more people do that, the easier it is for everybody else to do the same.

 

 

P.S.: On a technical note: I now noticed that their different codecs handled the upload differently. While their WEBM-based OGG Vorbis audio codec, likely due to being VBR, kept the audio track tiny, too, the MP4-based AAC (being ABR or CBR) became quite big – but still nothing dramatic. (300 MB) – I don’t know whether DASH causes there to always be an audio track, but if I’m not mistaken, not long ago a Youtube video could actually be audioless and that would be depicted as such on the control bar. This would at least be a smart way of doing things. Because what Youtube currently does with a video file that actually doesn’t contain any audio tracks is to generate a silent one.