Steam scam-mitigation plan

[Adabiviak]

I didn't see this posted elsewhere here (and I'm not sure where to post this myself, so here we are). From Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/articles/steam-limits-users-who-haven-t-spent-5-to-prevent-/1100-6426742/). Short version straight from the article:

Users will now need to spend at least $5 on the Steam store before they can:
Send friend invites
Open group chat
Vote on Greenlight, Steam Reviews and Workshop items
Participate in the Steam Market
Post frequently in the Steam Discussions
Gain Steam Profile Levels (Locked to level 0) and Trading Cards
Submit content on the Steam Workshop
Post in an item's Steam Workshop Discussions
Access the Steam Web API
Use browser and mobile chat

I've only had a few scammers/bots come sniffing around my account, but I think this will help (outside of some edge cases of people active on Steam but who have spent less than $5).

 

[Lolcomputer]

Sounds like a good solution to the scammer bots. I've personally recieved, maybe... 100, and my friend has propably recieved much more.

But won't it split the F2P community? Not every single user on Steam has the possibility or wants to spend 5 bucks on Steam. I know, it's just petty 5 bucks. But perhaps if you live in Romania or such, or if you're under age, it may not be in your, or your parents for that sake, best interest to spend money. Also, I don't see how "Use browser and mobile chat" will help anything in this case. It's just unwelcome to new customers.

Altough, I will admit, that my agurment doesn't hold a lot of water. If you're a passionate player on Steam, you arguarbly cannot avoid spending 5 bucks on games or microtransactions.

Perhaps you can fix the problem by taking a much lighter approach, by just not allowing new users to send friend invites to premium users, and writing comments on other peoples profiles. That way, new users can still be friends with other new users, and the premium users with the most valued items in games, are completely void of bots.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Sounds like a good solution to the scammer bots. I've personally recieved, maybe... 100, and my friend has propably recieved much more.

But won't it split the F2P community? Not every single user on Steam has the possibility or wants to spend 5 bucks on Steam. I know, it's just petty 5 bucks. But perhaps if you live in Romania or such, or if you're under age, it may not be in your, or your parents for that sake, best interest to spend money. Also, I don't see how "Use browser and mobile chat" will help anything in this case. It's just unwelcome to new customers.

Altough, I will admit, that my agurment doesn't hold a lot of water. If you're a passionate player on Steam, you arguarbly cannot avoid spending 5 bucks on games or microtransactions.

Perhaps you can fix the problem by taking a much lighter approach, by just not allowing new users to send friend invites to premium users, and writing comments on other peoples profiles. That way, new users can still be friends with other new users, and the premium users with the most valued items in games, are completely void of bots.

Unless I didn't read shit, this may only affect anyone who forms an account after this is set in place?

I T I S A M Y S T E R Y

 

[Lolcomputer]

Unless I didn't read shit, this may only affect anyone who forms an account after this is set in place?

I T I S A M Y S T E R Y

Well, if we don't effect all accounts at the same time, we're never going to fix the hundreds of bots that still exist

 

[Vegeta897]

It does apply to all accounts retroactively, from the reports I've seen.

But the limitations on said accounts aren't really too drastic, especially if you're just on steam to play some free games. The only major one perhaps is being unable to send friend requests. But I think it's a worthy measure for Valve to take. I mean, there are lots of other networks/sites that you can have friends in outside of steam, it's not too essential. And if it is, it's only $5 away.

 

[Krynn72]

Shit, I'll have to check my account to see if I've spent enough.

But hey, at least now Valve can make money off scammers!

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Sent a thing about this to support a long while back, to see if there was any sort of 'block all friend requests' thing because of the absurd amount of them incoming from 'private profiles.' Good to know something was done about it.