Steam randomly removes mods due to troll complaints

A new wave of chaotic decisions has begun in the Steam Workshop — trolls send fake complaints about mods that are eventually removed without verification.

The problem is that after a DMCA complaint (i.e., copyright), an appeal requires disclosure of personal data. Many authors refuse to provide it. Others have long since left the platform and don’t even see notifications, which is why projects disappear forever.

At first, massive complaints were filed by trolls, but then the mods themselves began to use them in conflicts among themselves. One of the most notorious cases occurred in the Hearts of Iron 4 community. After a quarrel between the teams, the developers of The Fire Rises mod filed a complaint against their competitor — Loong Rising of Darkness. Although the parties later settled the conflict, the complaint was not withdrawn, so as a result, LROD was permanently removed. Subsequently, TFR itself became a target in the corresponding complaints.

Modders say that the Steam Workshop system gives the complainant too much power: it is the complainant who decides whether the content will remain available after the appeal. If the complaint is not lifted, the author risks losing his account in a month. As a result, even blatantly false claims go unpunished, and this situation is typical not only for Valve but also for other platforms.

Currently, well-known mods are under threat or have already been removed, including xdReanimsBase for Left 4 Dead 2, Stormdark UI for Terraria, PropHunt for Garry’s Mod, UI Overhaul Dynamic for Stellaris, and Perfect Wallpaper for Wallpaper Engine. Valve responds by claiming that it is acting in accordance with the DMCA rules, but modders demand a change in approach to the case to stop the abuse.

It should be noted that there have been a lot of scandals around Steam recently. For example, the platform allows you to sell stolen indie games which is widely used by users. In other titles, we found malware that steals cryptocurrency and player data. The platform selectively and strangely checks games, which ultimately confuses both publishers and ordinary people.

Source: Notebookcheck