Can you please link to an example of where a game was removed from someone’s library? Unfortunately there’s a lot of misinformation going around. None of the changes that were deployed last week impacted availability of content in libraries. You can learn more on the FAQ on this post: https://itch.io/updates/update-on-nsfw-content#addendum-faq
- Please don’t hijack other people’s comments for your own support issue
- We didn’t “shadow ban” anyone. We “deindexed” a subset of pages from the discovery part of the site based on some criteria and announced it to our users https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_banning
- Your page does not follow the new rules because you still are accepting payments on it. Please read here: https://itch.io/t/5149036/reindexing-adult-nsfw-content
So what you're telling me is that the creators of NSFW content are still able to make money, even though multiple developers (that you also have responded to in this very thread) are able to make money, with no problems whatsoever? Because that's the real issue I'm trying to get at - I'm saying the actual definition doesn't matter because developers relied on the organization you work for to be consistent in protecting their interests, and yet the second it comes down to it, Itch instantly bends over for payment processors the second it becomes a little bit too spooky for Itch's liking - so much so that they don't warn anyone about getting their games de-listed and Itch doubles down on their decision instead of admitting they might've done a lot of people dirty.
So no, I don't think the actual literal definition makes a difference, because NSFW artists and devs have been following the rules like everyone else, but uh oh, a tiny bit of pressure comes from the top and they now have to run and hide like rats cause Itch didn't find the spine to warn anybody about ANY of this at ANY point.
Anyway, please keep going on about how the PLATFORM is at risk, instead of the developers that put their games and work on here. It's very clear where the interests of Itch (and therefore you as a worker for them) lie when the platform would rather ruin just the NSFW creator's livelihoods and not everyones, where the latter would actually inspire a lot of outrage and Itch would get a lot of support from a variety of communities in general, and the former is scummy but won't comparatively get as much backlash from the wider gaming community. Though I guess the former kinda backfired much to Itch's surprise, as clearly indicated by the walking back on the platform's part, but uh-oh! Itch kinda put themselves in a shitty spot, cause now people are actively complaining about it on their platform.
Maybe Itch shouldn't immediately be capitulating to the desires of payment processors if it's going to isolate and alienate the userbase and creators that have made Itch what it is, and the people working there should INFORM SAID USERS AND DEVELOPERS about potential threats to the platform, instead of just doing obviously bad actions with no forewarning to those impacted whatsoever.
The "_owner_" of Itch deserves to be criticized more than most because they have far more control over the platform than most, but I repeat myself.
On another note, if you're going to jump into the last post in an argument, you should read a couple of the previous posts and think about how your opposition might reply - and only after that should you then give your argument, because you're writing way too self-assuredly to be throwing out points that I already responded to in just that previous post alone.
Maybe you can find them for yourself if you're an employee of Itch.io instead of asking in a thread on one specific game where I had to scroll down for quite a while to access these comments. Kind of a stupid way of finding out which games have been de-listed, but I imagine you said that moreso because you think you have some kind of "one-up" on the people putting stuff on this platform with that line, but you don't. It just makes you and the platform (I'm presuming you work for) look lazy and deliberately cruel.
The "misinformation" is most certainly because Itch.io did pulled a bunch of games from the storefront with literally no warning, even though Itch has presented itself (at least, one account on Twitter definitely did) as a platform SPECIFICALLY FOR NSFW ARTISTS AND DEVELOPERS.
Admittedly the original version of this comment was made in error, I completely misunderstood what leafo was asking, but I'm more than willing to say that I spoke out of turn and was unnecessarily rude, but I would also say that it should go to show that I think how this was handled by Itch to be a massive blunder.
Also the first paragraph on the post above is another example of my misunderstanding why they were asking, but I'll leave that one as-is because I'm willing to both admit and show that my ego and/or pride were misplaced.
TL;DR: Said some smarmy shit and got put in my place, I'm enough of an adult to admit it.
We didn’t do any code changes that would prevent people from accessing content. The reason why I’m asking for people to share instances of issues because it’s been cases of people confused about how the website works, so I want to understand where the confusion is coming from. We’ve already made a few updates to the UI in some areas to make it more clear about access in cases where pages had to be taken down. I’ve been going around to people who are making claims to get a better understanding of their situation. Hope that makes sense.
Oh yes, the changes in code are definitely the issue here, and not the whole part about "people getting de-listed from the main store even though they were following the original rules Itch had in place until they decided to change them" or anything like that.
What's gonna happen to developer projects and creators when someone with more power than Itch (like payment processors, for example) decides they don't like violent content? I'm sure Itch will stand up against them like they did for the NSFW creators, right?
Or maybe Itch will just change the policies again and decide to de-list anything with "harmful depictions of violence", and MAYBE Itch will later decide to re-list the games after enough people complain, but I doubt it since Itch has already been more than happy to throw their creators under the bus, so I can only imagine how eager the platform will be to do it again for the sake of our ever-so-benevolent financial overlords.
Frankly, I can only imagine Visa and Mastercard have been emboldened to threaten Itch again, since it cooperated so efficiently in the past, and now will be even more interested in following through with their threats specifically BECAUSE the platform decided to pull the rug out from under everyone and start dictating who gets paid and when.