1. There is no such thing as a "pending" ban or Steam admin. Anyone threatening your account is a scammer trying to scare you. Read more.

Community Outreach

Discussion in 'Discussion Archive' started by a tasty serving of, Sep 13, 2012.

  1. a tasty serving of

    a tasty serving of New User

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    As it stands now, getting marked as a scammer here on steamrep will get you banned from most trade servers and warn the more savvy traders. However, many of these people still have free reign to go onto public servers and still get to peddle their stolen items or even scam others. While steamrep doesn't have the power to trade ban any individual, I think getting marked could have more bite if we (more specifically someone officially designated as an admin on here) would try to convince non-trade servers to run the steamrep api and plugins.

    I think the vast majority of servers running would love to do their part in preventing scammers from joining their game. Granted, the logistics of actually asking every server admin would be daunting. As maybe step one in this process, maybe if some of the larger public servers were asked to participate, then those scammers would be further thwarted.

    Lastly, have any of you guys tried contacting valve directly and seeing if perhaps they'd work in conjunction with the site? I know that's probably not likely of them to do but eh, worth a shot maybe? Though as I write this out, my assumption is that they stand by their no outside trade policy and thus wouldn't try to police it. Well anyways those are some of my thoughts. I have a few more ideas but don't wanna diverge too much from this topic or post consecutive threads. And oh, if you like the thread, don't be afraid to click like :D
    HelenAngel and [WP] VenGanZa like this.
  2. VenGanZa

    VenGanZa User

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    Ideally every damn TF2 server in the world should be running SR pluggin, but that takes time and a concerted effort to educate and promote things. SR staff, admins and many others in the community are constantly encouraging sites and networks to implement SR for the betterment of their respective endeavors, but it doesn't happen overnight :)

    SR does speak to Valve (though they are not affiliated directly) indeed Helen is doing just that right now.

    As TF2 players who care about the community, our job is to help and promote SR in any way we can, they do a great job, but we in turn can promote it to our friends and contacts, every little bit helps.
  3. AcesGamer

    AcesGamer User

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    SteamRep is a database for scammers related to trading. The whole actually TF2 pub servers and whatnot is a completely different scene. The vast majority of pub server owners don't know/care about SR, and I understand them. Why should they?
  4. VenGanZa

    VenGanZa User

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    Are you barking mad? Everyone cares about getting scammed (normally after the fact), every damn site on earth should run SR pluggin and keep them out, hopefully over time more will.
  5. AcesGamer

    AcesGamer User

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    SteamRep isn't a service from Valve. Being a marked scammer shouldn't stop you from playing the game you paid for.
  6. Horse

    Horse Administrator SteamRep Admin

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    I've talked to those that run other servers mostly trade servers and convinced them to run the plugin - so you don't have to be an Admin here or anywhere else for that matter to bring up the suggestion and note the site for them to look over and make their own decision.

    So go say something yourself - if they do then ok if they don't then ohh well...moving on.
  7. Chaos

    Chaos Retired Staff

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    I agree with Ace. It's completely up to them if they want to run the API. Most server admins of normal play kick those that spam trades anyway.

    That's not how most of them make a profit. Most of them create alt accounts and spam us with those. Sigh
  8. a tasty serving of

    a tasty serving of New User

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    What ever happened to having integrity and doing the right thing? Admins certainly care when people are cheated by someone using some sort of script to gain an unfair advantage during gameplay. Why not care about someone being cheated out of their valuables, which seems to upset people on a far deeper level

    I will have to respectfully disagree with you on that too. Many times these interactions sour innocent people from wanting to play the game due to resentment. I stopped playing for over 2 months after I had my only unusual (at the time) stolen by a scammer. I only returned after my younger brother asked that I join a match with him. In society at large, you also lose many of your rights if you break the law. Why should admins implicitly condone liars, thiefs and hackers? Why can't there be a basic standard of conduct? The message should be clear; if you want to interact with the community at large, there will be rules and consequences for breaking those rules.

    Obviously admins can't and shouldn't be forced to run the API but I think it does the victims of scams an injustice by allowing scammers to roam around like they did nothing. Many times, victims on here have lost $100's (of dollars) in value. But we're defending the scammer because they paid maybe $5 or probably less for their account? If the consequence for scamming is strong enough, it will deter the behavior. Please note I said deter, not prevent or stop.

    Well as long as we're making it more difficult for them, I fail to see how that's a bad thing. Yes, they create alt accounts but sometimes steamrep is able to link alt accounts too. So they'd all be banned; if the api was being run. The real justification I can see is this sort of amoral stance of "ain't my problem". Although personally I feel this sort philosophy has led to the decay of society at large.

    First they came for the Socialist, and I did not speak out--
    Because I was not a Socialist.

    Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--
    Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
    Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
    Because I was not a Jew.
    Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

    - Martin Niemöller

    It is in our mutual self interest to look out for one another.
  9. Xenophobia

    Xenophobia Retired Staff

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    I agree with Aces and Chaos.
  10. Chaos

    Chaos Retired Staff

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    I agree that we have to look out for one another and SR is what it is. As soon as someone enters into trading, they soon find out about SR. Be it through a plugin on a server, general discussion on servers and forums or links on some of the most popular trading websites. There's no shortage of information out there or ways to find us.
  11. Mattie!

    Mattie! SteamRep Admin

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    I'd love to see more awareness of scammers and allow admins to decide what they want on their servers. Some people wouldn't like it, but some admins might. Any ideas you have to help us promote the options that admins have would be great.

    I would expect that most game servers would only want to display marked scammers (which the SR plugin can do) but not necessarily block them entirely. Banning scammers from popular game servers is probably too aggressive of an idea to push, but I could see a lot of admins wanting to indicate them clearly so newbies know to stay away.

    I personally don't want someone who verifiably tricks people out of hundreds of dollars on my game server. That's just me-- there are surely other admins like me, though.
    HelenAngel likes this.
  12. DataStorm

    DataStorm Retired Staff

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    Its been asked me before. I've always had the stance that once admins know of SR, they will have to make the decisions themselves. I'm having to agree on Aces mostly in this.

    Its great if gameservers groups want to run it, but its not our place to start asking their admins. If their players start asking to them, that is imo the right way it should be done.
  13. fxu

    fxu New User

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    Some servers run trade chat mods. So if you see yourself on a server that has it, try asking the admin about implementing the API.
  14. HelenAngel

    HelenAngel Retired Staff

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    I know of at least 20+ servers that are NOT trade servers that run our plugin. Anyone can run it and I encourage everyone to talk to your favorite gaming server and at least float the option to them. The worst they can do is say no. :) It's also fully configurable so a scammer can play on your server- our plugin just gives the admin the information and he/she can decide from there how he/she wants to handle the information it provides. It does NOT automatically ban scammers unless you set it to do so. It's a great tool to have in any admin's toolkit since a scam can happen anywhere- not just on a trade server!

    I am but one person and while I really do try hard to get the word out about SteamRep, every little bit helps! :) Please feel free to spread the word about SR & our plugin- anyone can run it & they don't even have to tell us that they're running it. :D

    Also, I just got back from a great trip to Valve's corporate offices and met some fantastic people. I can tell you that Valve does care about the trading community and all aspects of it. Why else would they have recruited one of the best economists in the world if they didn't? :D
  15. Fiskie

    Fiskie tf2bazaar founder Partner Community

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    Were they browsing Bazaar
    Pls say they were browsing Bazaar ;_;7
  16. HelenAngel

    HelenAngel Retired Staff

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    I did not see them browsing Bazaar. But then, everyone was at work so they were working on Valve stuff. :)
  17. fxu

    fxu New User

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    Did Gave mention me? He promised he would call, never did. I feel used. D:
    Dronefly likes this.