Dear fellow OcUKers,
Like myself, I know many of you are big fans of Steam. I've been on Steam for most of my adult life and it's long been at the point where if a game isn't on Steam, then I simply won't buy it.
I'm also a prolific user of the trading system and participate a lot in the Mannconomy they have created. For those who don't know, Steam allows members to trade their games (so long as they haven't been activated) as well as in-game items from a few select F2P games such as Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2. These are inter-tradable and you can even sell items for cash. Recently they've set up the community market where you can sell for Steam Wallet funds directly on the Steam Store.
I've been using this trading system since 2011, and enjoyed being part of an interesting and thriving digital marketplace. I've conducted 6,861 trades and gradually built up my inventories. All was fine and well until recently when I was permanently trade banned. Steam's reason for this?
To those who don't use the trading system this may sound like a fair judgment call. Items have apparently been stolen and I've received them, not to mention I've been warned about receiving them before.
But this is the problem - there is absolutely no way I can tell if items have previously been stolen or not. They do not come with a tag that says "stolen goods". Furthermore, Steam Guard is supposed to prevent issues like this - and without using it you simply cannot trade. When I was previously warned, I was away in Devon for Christmas. On the exact day I travelled down and logged onto my brother's iMac I got a message saying my account may have been hacked. Quite naturally I assumed it was simply due to being logged in elsewhere that a security measure had been automatically initiated. When I sent Steam Support a ticket they said I had received some stolen items and this was why. I queried them and asked which items they were and how I could possibly know but they refused to answer. I assumed they had their wires crossed due to the situation I was in.
Jump to today and I'm in a real pickle of a situation. These virtual items are worth quite a substantial sum of money (probably over £2,000, excluding the Steam Gifts!). I've been spending most of my free time trading for these items in order to get games and items I wanted as well as earn a bit of extra cash. I'm self-employed and work has been harder and harder to come by of late and I was using this to supplement my income. So it's a sum I really can't afford to lose.
I'm bitterly disappointed by how the Steam Support member dealing with my case has treated me. I've been an extremely loyal Steam member and bought over 1,400 games for my account. The vast majority of these have been bought direct from the Steam Store or retail activation, so not benefits from trading. How they can judge that having received a few items that originated from hijacked accounts warrants a lifetime trading ban, I just don't know. They should be fully aware of what the items I've obtained legitimately are worth and understand that it's impossible to avoid receiving the occasional stolen item. Yet every reply to my ticket is responded to with this:
I'd be tearing my hair out if it was long enough to pull but I'll have to make do with a rant here.
TL DR - Steam banned an innocent trader and he's not happy.
Like myself, I know many of you are big fans of Steam. I've been on Steam for most of my adult life and it's long been at the point where if a game isn't on Steam, then I simply won't buy it.
I'm also a prolific user of the trading system and participate a lot in the Mannconomy they have created. For those who don't know, Steam allows members to trade their games (so long as they haven't been activated) as well as in-game items from a few select F2P games such as Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2. These are inter-tradable and you can even sell items for cash. Recently they've set up the community market where you can sell for Steam Wallet funds directly on the Steam Store.
I've been using this trading system since 2011, and enjoyed being part of an interesting and thriving digital marketplace. I've conducted 6,861 trades and gradually built up my inventories. All was fine and well until recently when I was permanently trade banned. Steam's reason for this?
To those who don't use the trading system this may sound like a fair judgment call. Items have apparently been stolen and I've received them, not to mention I've been warned about receiving them before.
But this is the problem - there is absolutely no way I can tell if items have previously been stolen or not. They do not come with a tag that says "stolen goods". Furthermore, Steam Guard is supposed to prevent issues like this - and without using it you simply cannot trade. When I was previously warned, I was away in Devon for Christmas. On the exact day I travelled down and logged onto my brother's iMac I got a message saying my account may have been hacked. Quite naturally I assumed it was simply due to being logged in elsewhere that a security measure had been automatically initiated. When I sent Steam Support a ticket they said I had received some stolen items and this was why. I queried them and asked which items they were and how I could possibly know but they refused to answer. I assumed they had their wires crossed due to the situation I was in.
Jump to today and I'm in a real pickle of a situation. These virtual items are worth quite a substantial sum of money (probably over £2,000, excluding the Steam Gifts!). I've been spending most of my free time trading for these items in order to get games and items I wanted as well as earn a bit of extra cash. I'm self-employed and work has been harder and harder to come by of late and I was using this to supplement my income. So it's a sum I really can't afford to lose.
I'm bitterly disappointed by how the Steam Support member dealing with my case has treated me. I've been an extremely loyal Steam member and bought over 1,400 games for my account. The vast majority of these have been bought direct from the Steam Store or retail activation, so not benefits from trading. How they can judge that having received a few items that originated from hijacked accounts warrants a lifetime trading ban, I just don't know. They should be fully aware of what the items I've obtained legitimately are worth and understand that it's impossible to avoid receiving the occasional stolen item. Yet every reply to my ticket is responded to with this:
I'd be tearing my hair out if it was long enough to pull but I'll have to make do with a rant here.
TL DR - Steam banned an innocent trader and he's not happy.
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