(Patreon) "Why My Page Was Put Under Review"

[Boom's Attic Games]

Hi People.

I thought I'd make a post about this just incase any other developers get put under review for the same reason.

Spoiler: The reason why my page was put under reivew.

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Apparently It's due to the "Sexualise the depiction of minors".
(Something my page/game doesn't in fact do)

From what I can tell :
1. The word " Child " was used in a reply to one of my supporters and it was flagged by patreons comment/post automated scanner. (around 7 Hours after posting the comment)

2. An employee quickly glanced at my page/posts and say some nude images and to be on the safe side put my page under review.

3. They sent me a email regarding their guidlines and the picture above states why my page was put under review.

I've replied back to patreon obviously stating that my page does not show content nor does it host links to any content that "Sexualise the depiction of minors" and now I am just waiting on further information.

Don't get me wrong...
I do understand the need for these messures because there are people out there actually post real Pictures / Videos of this kind of content and patreon has made it very clear they do not allow this content.
But from a fictinal point of view....

Anyway, Just thought I'd share this with everyone.
I'll keep you updated.

-Boom

 

[Boom's Attic Games]

And you know what.....
Even if I was showing that type of content.
I don't even have the option to remove/delete posts anymore.

So how could I remove it as they have asked when....

 

[youpla]

In my opinion, they think that Chloe looks like a minor. But as long as you insist that she is at least 18, there should be no problem.

What I fear, on the contrary, is the incest fetish that is the core of your game... I hope that you didn't write some explicit things about incest on your patreon page as it could lead them to close it.

 

[Dirkusmaximus]

I think they'll say that some of the models look underage - regardless of whether anyone else thinks they do. That's what they've said to others.

 

[Humlebien]

You're not the only one to get flagged without proof, and then not being able to remove stuff, even if there is nothing to remove. Heard it from quite a few creators now. System is, as with many tech firms, broken and retarded. Only exists to cover their arses. Not yours, even if they make their move off of you.

 

[Delmach]

Thanks for giving more insight, heard of other incidents where people were reported for a myriad of reasons, where some of them werent even there. But your case is one of those "there could be any kind of possibility of unwanted content, lets hit the red switch immediately."

Also lovely its just by the word that they get a warning. As others said jokingly, we should probably ban every young person in real life, just to be on the safe side.

Maybe you can tell them they should fix their automatic systems, also make sure this suspension doesnt in any way count as a first strike or something, tell them to dont even think about having you on any kind of list or something because their faulty crap programs alerted them and their people pull the switch way too quickly.
You are after all their customer, you make them money, with them being more and more problematic since October last year.

 

[DrakeTLD]

Thank you SJWs for not looking/knowing the content and getting on your soapbox. (Yes, that is spite with a dash of sarcasm.) I know Boom's game doesn't have the sexualized depictions of minors because I know that I and a bulk of others wouldn't play it. Really getting sick of how much Patreon has gone to shit...

 

[DrSmith]

@Boomatica Like I said on Discord: KsT ran into the same problem. He had the chance to 'fix' things on his site.
So if the same reasons apply to you, you'll be given a chance to 'fix' your Patreon site and continue after they've approved the changes/new content.
Hopefully you can sort out things very quickly without too much hassles.

 

[User_215882]

If you have any "young" looking characters, even with the 18 plus caption, its best to not show them on your page. Both KsT and Luxee got hit for the very same reason and both got rid of them from the page to comply to the TOS. Going forward you might want to get rid of incest so that you dont her hit again. SOMEONE might make a patch to restore it, but Id rather you not get banned.

 

[CedSense]

Thanks a lot for sharing your story with us. It is valuable for other developers and even patrons.
From now on, I'll delete every comment that could be 'suspect' (and send a PM to explain) even if personally I don't have anything against it, just to be sure. I'm hope patrons understand the reason behind it.
It could have happened to me, with a comment mentioning a 'daughter', I pm'ed the guy and asked for an edit, which he did thankfully, but next time I won't even wait... Patreon seems on edge.

 

[Jim Webb]

Patreon are like dear game developers when the pilgrims landed at plymouth rock and after they set about building America they all went to work at Patreon so no sex in video games please!

 

[random.person]

I can't seem to be able to access to your own site as well, is this related to them not wanting you to link to sites which could be seen as glorifying sexualisation of minors or is it an unrelated issue?
Anyway, I hope things get sorted quickly, for I think you deserve a fairer treatment and have done a very good job on your game.

 

[DrSmith]

Well, I just talked to @Boomatica and the reason why he got shut down was someone reporting him after seeing pictures of Chloe.
Boomatica spoke with Patreon. They said Chloe was looking a bit young but overall they're ok with the incest theme as long as you don't advertise it. Boomatica is removing all pictures/animations of Chloe and all posts mentioning mother/sister from his site and he will be up pretty soon.
So for all devvers on Patreon, don't mention themes that are under ban by Patreon and don't post pictures of characters that can be seen as minors (just keep them in-game ). Then you're good to go!

 

[anne O'nymous]

So for all devvers on Patreon, don't mention themes that are under ban by Patreon and don't post pictures of characters that can be seen as minors (just keep them in-game ). Then you're good to go!

And once again we can see the absolute lack of constancy in the responses made by Patreon :/ While I'm glad for @Boomatica , games like Dreams of Desire have been under pressure two times these last months because incest is a big no for the guys who reviewed the game. The creator's team finally had to choice between removing all the incest content or being kicked out of Patreon.

 

[muttdoggy]

I'll say this again.. why isn't anyone FORCEFULLY addressing the issue of inconsistent enforcement?

 

[Zippity]

Hi People.

I thought I'd make a post about this just incase any other developers get put under review for the same reason.

Spoiler: The reason why my page was put under reivew.

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Apparently It's due to the "Sexualise the depiction of minors".
(Something my page/game doesn't in fact do)

From what I can tell :
1. The word " Child " was used in a reply to one of my supporters and it was flagged by patreons comment/post automated scanner. (around 7 Hours after posting the comment)

2. An employee quickly glanced at my page/posts and say some nude images and to be on the safe side put my page under review.

3. They sent me a email regarding their guidlines and the picture above states why my page was put under review.

I've replied back to patreon obviously stating that my page does not show content nor does it host links to any content that "Sexualise the depiction of minors" and now I am just waiting on further information.

Don't get me wrong...
I do understand the need for these messures because there are people out there actually post real Pictures / Videos of this kind of content and patreon has made it very clear they do not allow this content.
But from a fictinal point of view....

Anyway, Just thought I'd share this with everyone.
I'll keep you updated.

-Boom

Child pornography in any form and/or medium should be banned regardless if it's fictional or not... Even showing child like drawings in a pornographic way should be banned, because it's just a stupid attempt to get away with circumventing the law, regardless if it's creatively described as not being a child... Just resembling it should be enough to be considered offensive and unlawful, because it is wrong on every level to even attempt to have that kind of content, implied or not...

Not that I'm saying yours does... I have no clue...

 

[User_215882]

At this point be glad he got a friendly agent. Imagine if he got the one that reviewed Teacher' s pet. Still seems odd how they are enforcing their TOS.

 

[anne O'nymous]

I'll say this again.. why isn't anyone FORCEFULLY addressing the issue of inconsistent enforcement?

Already answered this one : Because everybody fear that it's not a, "there's some guys who enforce the rules too strictly", situation.

But I'll explained it more this time :

Actually some creators have the chance to talk with guys who are gentle and let them continue despite the content of their game. If someone ask for an official answer and, because of this, Patreon discover that some of their team members are too gentle, what will happen ?
1) Every games already reviewed will be reviewed again, and so the creators put under pressure once again.
2) The creators who had the chance to talk with a gentle guy will have to change their game, which isn't the case yet.
3) The gentle guys will be fired.
Personally I don't want to be the one responsible of all this.

So, yes, there's a small possibility that Patreon was really ready to accept banned content, as long as everyone act like the said content is fully legal. And in this case everything will end fine. But, according of the information we have, it's a really small chance. I mean, as long as we (the community) know, two creators have been said that they can continue if they act like their content comply to the rules, and something like ten creators have been forced to change their content if they wanted to continue using Patreon.
Take the team's leader of Dream of Desires by example. As long as we can rely on the information shared here (and we can), he was under review when the rules changed, and was said that he can continue as long as he don't talk about the banned content. He asked for a more reliable and explicit position from Patreon and was said that the rules are strictly enforced. Then later he was put face to a choice. Either he change the content of the game, or he's kicked out of Patreon. Three communications with Patreon, and only one gentle guy...

Anyway there's another problem. Whatever the real position of Patreon on this subject, only them will know it for sure. There isn't a single society in the world ready to, official or not, say that they've wrote rules just for the show and that they'll never enforce them as long as the users act like they comply with them.
Ideally, this whole thread should have stopped just before we know that he just need to hide the banned content. Things like this must stay between the guy who said it and the creator who heard it ; whatever it's the real position of Patreon or not.
It's a legal issue here. Whatever the truth, having official or unofficial information stating that they don't enforce their rules is a killer thing in justice. It's what change a, "Oh, sorry, we didn't knew. It was an isolated act from one of our staff member and we fired him of course because we aren't like that", into a "Mister, I know that you don't care about the content put on your site. Your rules are just for the show and you don't enforce them". So, said otherwise, it's what change a, "none guilty", into a, "you'll have so give them so many money that even their great-great-child will don't have to work a single day of their life".

So, whatever the true position of Patreon, the only thing we will know is if that they still have a lack of constancy or not.

 

[DSSAlex]

This backs up my theory that the agents reviewing content aren't given solid instructions on what exactly the TOS actually means. Simultaneously distressing and relieving.

 

[muttdoggy]

One thing to glean from all this.. Patreon isn't run right. Plain and simple.
For a company to work smoothly, everyone needs to be on the same page and all follow the same rules. If you leave them up to individual interpretation, shit WILL happen. It's not matter of if.. but when!