Slashdot Mirror
Steam is Finally Coming To China But Chinese Gamers Don't Want It (abacusnews.com)
Valve officially announced this week the arrival of Steam China in Shanghai. But Chinese gamers are telling the PC gaming platform to "get lost!" From a report: One of the most upvoted comments wrote, "Steam China get out of China." It's important to point out that gamers are directing their anger at Steam China, not Steam. In fact, Chinese gamers love Steam... the global version of it, anyway. There are an estimated 30 million Chinese users playing games on the platform -- games which otherwise aren't officially available in China.
But that's exactly why they fear the launch of Steam China, which is a joint venture between Valve and Chinese company Perfect World. Gamers worry that not only will Steam China be a heavily censored platform with a much smaller lineup of titles; worse yet, it might also be the trigger for the government to ban the global version of Steam.
But that's exactly why they fear the launch of Steam China, which is a joint venture between Valve and Chinese company Perfect World. Gamers worry that not only will Steam China be a heavily censored platform with a much smaller lineup of titles; worse yet, it might also be the trigger for the government to ban the global version of Steam.
gaben@valvesoftware.com
So the Chinese citizens' solution to stopping government censorship and overreach is to try and get a foreign company to stop a product that works with their government.
Seems like the wrong target to attack. How about revolting against your government instead?
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
If ever there was a perfect name for a communist "company", "Perfect World" would be it.
Better known as 318230.
Well done rulers of China, you got dissent by proxy. They can't criticise you guys directly, but they'll rise up via the commercial products that you guys get your hands into.
Doublethink:
1. Communist Party is the best party in the world (except for the US, who now have the best of everything)
2. Steam sucks! We want better games! We demand change!
"Everybody's naked underneath" -- The Doctor
... 'democracy', in Latin america by far, in the http://www.latinobarometro.org... : maybe something like it (misunderstanding a foreign concept, for cultural/political reasons) is happening in China against Steam...
Chinese gamers love Steam... the global version of it, anyway. There are an estimated 30 million Chinese users playing games on the platform
For China, 30 million is just a fringe user base. I think it would be accurate to rephrase as 'not very many Chinese gamers have even heard of Steam'
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
Lorelei.
Wrong tree to take a piss on. With the ongoing crackdown on gaming in China, it's almost certain that Steam is getting banned on the Great Firewall of China in near future. Valve simply sees the writing on the wall and is attempting to keep at least some of the market share.
Valve isn't the cause here. It's the victim desperately trying to adapt to the changing environment before it's killed off by the government entirely.
What's wrong with the existing rules which already prohibit harassment and the like? Or is your issue with enforcement?
Steam China get out of China? Because they don't like their own government-imposed censorship? Do any of these firebrands plan to change any of their own draconian policies?
Nope. Bing is scrubbed by Chinese firewall. However, Google/Bing/etc are not needed. Not all stories are in writing and ppl talk.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I agree with this. Sexual abuse and harassment against any person, whether they be female, male, intrasex, or otherwise is wrong. As I understand it, steam rules exist to prevent harassment, and topics that are political or flamebait get locked by moderators quickly, like your above topic.
It's right in the steam topic that you created, before it got locked:
Ask for rules that protect everyone.
Wait, the rules are there.
Report and move on.
I suspect you're not getting the support you want from the Steam and Slashdot crowds because many of us are against identity politics. Instead of identifying and grouping people based on aspects of their identity, many of us (myself included) prefer to deem harassment, sexual assault and vitrol as unwanted and bad against ALL users and put in place rules to protect everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or other aspects of one's identity.
I fully recognize that certain groups of individuals may encounter harassment, assault, and vitrol more than others, but that simply means that the rules provide those people more protection and redress, which is a GOOD THING(tm).
-=Lothsahn=-
But... China's government is composed of their own people! Yes, let us bring up Tianenmen Square where almost every single effing Chinese citizen was in support of the movement. There was a very *very* small group of people who gave the military (most of whom indeed supported this movement!) orders to kill their own people, so that everyone with a uniform and a gun who did not want to do this nevertheless told themselves they have to because these really powerful people are giving them orders. Yes, if only China governend itself... if only China was ruled by its own effing citizens instead of viewing their leadership as some kind of inanimate object that gives them orders they all disagree with. Effing ridiculous...
So, with China cracking down on ways to get around filters, what is this going to mean for the quality of games coming out of China?
Perfect World is mentioned here as teaming up with Steam. Perfect World is a developer, owner, and publisher of MMORPGs, Notable examples of games they have include: Neverwinter Online, Star Trek Online, Torchlight, Final Fantasy Type-0, Champions Online, and City of Heroes.
How much of this content is designed in China these days? How much of the content that appeals to a western audience is based on media and artwork provided over a VPN connection?
What impact will this have on trade, and communication, and relationships? What will we have in common once "The Great [Fire]Wall of China" goes up? How will we maintain the peace when there is nothing to bring us together peacefully?
I guess you also blame German Jews for the holocaust?
You're not wrong. But that's not how human psyche works. At all. You may as well expect ants to value the individual ant or suggest that sea cucumbers should fly.
That didn't go so well for them in the Warsaw ghetto. Still the right option though.
China is a different situation. Many people in China have survived the cultural revolution and seen their children attain a middle class lifestyle. By US or European standards it's horribly compromised but by Chinese standards this is a massive step forward.
They're more likely to celebrate than revolt. Change has happened and it's possible that it'll continue to happen. The current Chinese Government's actions on the Internet are an acknowledgement that they're losing the cultural battle; closing off the current communications routes will merely open others.
Remember your Gilmore.
Oh, and comically I forgot to mention your curious choice of number.
I think you'll find that rather more than 180k Jewish people prematurely lost their lives between 1938 and 1945. While precise numbers are constantly debated I think 5-6 million is a reasonable estimate.