If a developer on Steam finds a review or forum thread related to its game unsatisfactory, it has the ability to mark it as off-topic or abusive. This is according to a Reddit user, who recently discovered this strange option when digging through the Train Simulator 2014 page.
Technical problems made the launch of this on-rails experience anything but smooth. The Steam community discussion section quickly became the go-to destination for opinions and complaints that didn’t exactly shine a positive light on the product, but it didn’t take long for the creators to delete every topic started by its users. This includes guides, help for bugs, and basic walkthroughs.
The developer’s reason for purging its forums?
“The forums had become overrun with hundreds of dead threads many of which were months or even years old and related to contents/features found in previous versions of Train Simulator,” the statement reads. “A large number of threads contained spam, factually incorrect and misleading information or breeched either the Rules or Guidelines for Steam Community Discussions or our own Train Simulator Community Code of Conduct.”
However, multiple reviews were also considered “off-topic” when the users clearly had valid points. One player with 82 hours in game saw 110 people agree with him in the Steam community, but since his opinion was negative, the review was hidden.
When the Reddit user contacted Steam support, the staff member simply stated that “support for this title, including feedback regarding forum policies, is handled by the makers of the game.”
Giving developers the option to hide negative reports on their games? This might be an oversight that Steam needs to look into.
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