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dervampireprince · 6 days ago

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Steam, Itch.io and the banning of explicit and LGBT+ Content. What can we do?

[All images in this post have alt/id text if you need it or want to copy paste anything]

With no warning, Itch.io, a site where many host their indie games, comics, books and more, has started purging and shadowbanning explicit and LGBT+ works. Creators got no warning. And if they were still owed payouts from these works, Itch.io is saying they won't give them their money as they 'broke the rules'. Rules that were only just set in place, with no warning, and therefore no way for creators to try and draw out their money or delete these 'offending' works before they got banned under the new rules.

So Itch.io has been the most recent to fall to the demands of a group that's been contacting Visa and Mastercard and convincing them to threaten sites/businesses with 'stop selling what we consider to be explicit content on your sites of we'll stop allowing your site to have transactions with Visa and Mastercard'. Steam folded, and now Itchio has too. And a reminder earlier this year Gumroad also stopped allowing explicit content, further back than that Patreon banned some kinks and fetishes even if it's depicted in fiction not real life, and I don't have to explain to you guys the great Tumblr explicit content ban of 2018.

And as always remember this doesn't stop with sexually explicit work as LGBT+ stories and people are often labelled as explicit and already we're seeing works being taken off Itch.io that are about LGBT+ and especially trans stories. Other non-sexually explicit works I've seen already getting shadowbanned, delisted or deleted are SFW games featuring furries/anthros, SFW dress up games (because when you take the clothes the model is nude), and the aforementioned SFW games that include LGBT+ characters and stories.

I'm compiling here information I've seen around various social medias, mostly Bluesky, because I haven't seen all these things shared over here.

I don't personally have explicit content on itch, but I had been considering one day selling things on there and I do currently have explicit content on my Patreon, my main source of income, and am terrified that Patreon is going to fold next (if anyone knows alterative for hosting audio content behind a paid subscription service please let me know so I can start maybe making a back-up in case the worst happens). Because for me personally if Patreon goes next, it's not like I can go out and easily get another job. Not only because in general finding and getting a job is difficult enough, but I'm autistic and have chronic pain and have been constantly getting sick or new pains over the last few years and don't feel safe being trans in the UK right now and all of that combined rules me out of a lot of jobs and makes me feel unsafe to apply to any. I'm so grateful I've been able to make a community around my work, but if Patreon caves next and I just leave my SFW posts on Patreon... 10% of my Patreons are signed up to the SFW tier, 90% are signed up to the explicit tier... I know if Patreon caves I will go from someone living comfortably who's searching to move out of my parents so I can live in a safer environment to someone who can no longer even afford the rent I pay to my parents. I'll try and get an alterative found and set up in case that happens and I can only hope you guys will follow me to whatever other site I have to set up... but it feels unlikely that people will get a whole new account on a whole new payment provider just to support me on a website they might never have heard of...

But what can we do right now?

A petition you can sign (international but you do have to give your name, email, and postal/zip code):

Get calling:

Mastercard (US): 1-800-627-8372

MasterCard (UK): 0800 964 767

Mastercard (International.): +1-636-722-7111

Visa (US + Can): 1 800 847 2911 / 1-800-VISA-911

Visa (AUS): 1 800 125 440

Visa (UK) : 0800 891 725 or use their international call collect +1 303 967 1096

Visa (International): (call collect - it costs them $): +1-303-967-1096

PayPal (US): 1-888-221-1161

PayPal (UK): 0800 358 7911 from landline, +44 203 901 7000 mobile

PayPal (International): 1-402-935-2050

(numbers gathered from these posts X X X )

Don't know what to say on the phone? Here's a script written by timidtanuki:

Creators have had their work removed off Itch.io with no warning and since it's been removed for 'breaking the rules' (rules that were suddenly in place with no warning) they aren't entitled to get their payouts. Just like other sites such as Youtube and Twitch and Etsy, Itch.io hold onto money from their users in a wallet and then give them payouts. So there is money creators have made, are owed, that Itch.io is not giving to them.

People are recommending that if you still have works on Itch.io to turn down the revenue sharing to 0% so that Itch.io no longer takes a cut or your money if you no longer want to support Itchi.io finically but don't want to remove your works from their platform. X

Other Bluesky posts and calls to action I've seen:

radiantg.bsky.social is asking for anyone on Itch.io who got their game deindexed, removed , or payouts turned off to reach out to them (espeically if you make explicit and/or LGBT+ games) for a piece of journalism about what is happening.

sleepyhart.bsky.social is making a thread of all the games that Itch.io has censored/removed from their site search function. Obviously be aware this will include 18+ only games, games with sexual content and other dark or heavy themes.

thetransfemininereview.com wants you to reach out to them if you're a trans creator on Itch.io who is being affected by this so they can make an accurate report. they say 'authors' in their post and I'm unsure if they also want game devs to reach out.

dropdownbear.bsky.com wants you to reach out if you have purchased things on Itch.io that you can now no longer access because of this ban. they can include them in a report being filed with the Australian Consumer Commission as this may be a violation of Australian Consumer rights. If you are Australian you can no longer access things you purchased of Itch.io you can report directly with this guide.

It's a scary time for adult creators and sex workers. It's a scary time to be trans. Support creators. And if anyone knows of any alternate payment providers that allow explicit work, and/or alternate websites to Itch (and in case things get worse, also give me Patreon alternates please) where people can host, sell and/or offer paid subscriptions to writing, images, videos, audios, games and more please leave them in the replies. And please help share this post, the posts I'm linking too, and any other resources you can find.

EDIT: here's a part two of more resources, wasn't much point in adding them to this post when editing a post only changes it on my blog and not on any reblogs. which also means most people won't see this edit either, but i figured i'd but it in here in case because it does change it on your 'liked' version of the post so if anyone was saving the post for later in your likes you might see this edit.

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tribow · 6 months ago

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I've played a game called "Cursed to Golf" recently, and I think that game might be the best example of a game that is held back by being a roguelike.

It's a 2D golf game. I'm gonna break down the non-roguelike mechanics before I go over everything else. You have access to 3 clubs. The driver, iron, and wedge. No putting. This is likely due to the fact that the game is a side scroller.

The image here gives a good example of what the golf courses look like. Levels are laid out almost like 2D platformer stages. There's a lot of height, terrain, obstacles and platforms to navigate with the ball. You're not just worrying about water and bunkers out here!

Like normal golf rules, you must get the ball into the hole with as little swings as possible. Unlike normal golf, you must score at least Par to complete the level. Essentially, you have a hard limit on the maximum amount of swings you can do before it's game over. Due to this, you're heavily encouraged to scope out the whole level and figure out the best path to victory. Hopefully you have the execution skill to perform the path you chose! (In a way, it's both a puzzle game and a precision game)

To help assist you, you're also given a small deck of cards. Cards can do a whole variety of things like give the ball special properties, open up new paths, give you a practice swing, and more! Your deck will influence the path you try to take throughout the course as you may be able to skip entire sections if you have the right card!

Cards are of course a randomized element, so we're in roguelike territory now. The mechanics so far work pretty well, but this game has to be a roguelike. What does it need to be a "roguelike"?

Levels must be procedurally generated

Permadeath. You lose everything and start from the beginning if you fail. (In this case you lose your deck)

Equipment is obtained randomly (again, this is your deck)

I wouldn't say the cards create the problem here, so I won't discuss them too much. The problem is the procedural generation.

Each level in this game is a randomized course. Normally, a "Par" is about 2-5 swings depending on the golf course. The game keeps this number (it starts you with 4 swings), but procedurally generating levels that must be beaten within 4 swings can be tough. Not to mention that this game is a side-scroller. How do you approach this?

Chuhai Labs (the developer) has a tile-based approach to this. The terrain is blocky due to this, but it makes procedural generation much easier. However, the randomization isn't tile-by-tile. Instead, there are tons of pre-built sections that are stitched together to create the course! I can't confirm this since I haven't played it enough, but each of these sections probably require 1 to 3 swings.

We have run into our first problem: The procedural generation needs space. By that I mean, if a level must be beaten within 4 swings you would be extremely restricted with what you can put together. Cards can't be taken into account because there's no way of knowing what cards a player will have. Forcing the use of cards is a no-go. With these restrictions, the variety in the level design could easily become boring. So Chuhai Labs went bigger, but how do you make bigger levels with only 4 swings maximum?

There's a mechanic I didn't mention: statues. There are special statues scattered all over every level. Hitting a statue grants you more swings. This is a really good way to address the issue with a boring level by increasing the size of levels. With the statues, you can implement level design that requires card use. If the player lacks the card, then you can create a route with statues that will give them more swings! You can even introduce high-risk routes with little to no statues. Now the player needs to figure out which route works best for their gameplan. and this challenges their navigation because they MUST hit the statue if they don't want to run out of swings.

This is good, but as a result, every pre-built section made for the procedural generation must get bigger. They have to take alternate routes into account. This makes the levels fairly large, and golf is already a slow game. This is a roguelike that can't be beaten in 4 hours easily. You might be spending 7 or more hours to reach the end of all 18 levels. Most players will likely need multiple gaming sessions to get to the end of the game, and since it's a rogue-like, failure means starting it aaaaalllll over.

Okay, not the end of world. Roguelikes are heavily punishing already. The player should be able to handle it. The level design changes every run so each attempt will be unique!

More problem: the player's tactics do not change. Despite the level design changing for every attempt, the player never needs to change their approach to the gameplay. It's golf. You want to make it to the end with as few swings as possible. That's the puzzle. The cards can certainly help you in a pinch and even give you access to different routes, but the player is not that incentivized to use them. Instead, they're incentivized to stockpile them to save them from mistakes.

The statues could have been used to force the player into maybe making a risky shot for the safety of getting more swings, but they're mainly used to extend the level so it has the space to use a variety of level design to the player. The player already needs to hit them, so statues can't stray too far from their main role.

Okay, that's fine the level desi-

Uh oh more problems: The level design fails to be engaging. What? But it's procedurally generated! It changes every time!! The statues are there to make it more interesting!!! All true, but each pre-built section in the procedural generation needs to account for the player lacking the cards to engage with certain setups. It must account for how many card-less swings are required to make it through the section. Sections must conform to having entrances/exits since without them they can't be pieced together. Despite all the cool mechanics and obstacles that exist in the game, individual levels cannot be distinct. They all blend together like a blob.

To combat this, the game has different environments the further you go, but they basically amount to a new tile set and obstacle set. The difficulty ramps up with the type of obstacle being used in the procedural generation, which is nice, but you have to get there. As usual with the roguelike genre, the game is difficult. When you get sent back to the beginning either through a knowledge check or poor execution, you're back in familiar territory.

After just a couple runs, the level design has already shown its hand to you. The only way to experience anything new is by progressing further. Unfortunately, progression is a slog. Failing even once means spending hours in levels you have already "solved". You know how to approach the obstacles now, and you know how to navigate a particular tile-set, but you gotta do it again.

The appeal of a roguelike comes from the spontaneity of every attempt. Each run IS different due to the layout and equipment heavily influencing every moment in gameplay. It's hard to adapt this idea to golf. Golf is about the precision and navigation of a course. You need to figure what tool is most appropriate for each swing and be able to land the ball exactly where you want it to land. It's a score-chasing sport, but that aspect is removed in Cursed to Golf to conform to roguelike ideology. Yet, you never have to change how you golf no matter how much you have to change your navigation.

I rambled a ton, but I haven't really got to my main point here. What if Cursed to Golf wasn't a roguelike? What if it was just an arcade golf game? You're no longer restricted by anything in the level design. Each course can challenge something specific and you can even have strange layouts that wouldn't quite work with procedural generation.

Alternate routes can still require cards. A player can strategize their deck now that they know courses. Players will also be able to practice a course. On their first encounter they may keep it safe, but on a different run they might go for riskier plays to achieve a better score. Players are no longer incentivized to stockpile cards as much since they won't be as heavily punished.

You can afford to make smaller courses to lower the run-time of each attempt. You won't have to worry about overexposing a player to a certain aspect of your level design.

I didn't mention this, but there are boss levels where you play against a character in this game. What if instead of needing to beat enough levels to reach them, you can play against them for a certain amount of holes. Instead of beating them in one level where you reach the hole first, the goal instead is to get a better total score than them over the course of several levels. You can move on to the next environment after defeating the boss score.

This progression would feel miles better compared to the roguelike progression Cursed to Golf is working with. Plus, it would allow the level design to have way more freedom now that it doesn't have to be procedurally generated.

This isn't me saying, "Cursed to Golf sucks!" by the way. Rather, I'm saying many of its flaws are inherit to its choice to be a roguelike with its style of gameplay. The gameplay itself is pretty fun, my problem lies with its structure. There's other roguelikes that encounter this problem for me, but Cursed to Golf has been the best example I've encountered so far.

#roguelike #cursed to golf #game design #game dev?#im not saying roguelike is inherently flawed #im only saying that the gameplay really needs to match its design philosophy or it falls apart #Noita is a super good example of gameplay working with roguelike design #long post

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