Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

651–660 of 953 posts

Re: Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope

#651

Post by fc417fc802 »

mgaunard wrote: post #592
fc417fc802 wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe I'm weird but I would much rather prefer my son plays video games 8 hours a day than watches adult content 8 hours a day. Isn't it the end result that matters? Presumably you'd like your son to become a functional adult. Neither of the scenarios you describe there sound like that to me (excepting perhaps "professional competitive gamer" but somehow I suspect most parents don't really approve of that outcome e…

I don't see how playing a lot of video games prevents being a functional adult. It's no worse than reading a lot of books or watching a lot of TV shows, activities that are not disparaged as much.

I guess it comes down to time allocation. If you're spending "a lot" of time on it but not so much that it precludes conducting the rest of your life in a functional manner then why would spending the same amount of time on porn (or any other supposedly degenerate activity) be any different?

Re: Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope

#652

Post by fmbb »

beeflet wrote: post #132
fmbb wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin existing is not going to make Itch.io not want to accept payments via Visa. Porn is a tiny market. It’s not worth it losing the payment processors everyone is on to serve porn game buyers.

>Porn is a tiny market. It’s not worth it losing the payment processors everyone is on to serve porn game buyers. I agree with this point but I don't agree with the premise. I don't really care about the censorship of porn, but it is a slippery slope to censorship in general. If you give them an inch they will take a mile. I think there is sometimes a business justification of putting your foot in the ground, even if…

I’m not making a value judgement here. Just looking at it from the point of view of a business.

Re: Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope

#653

Post by fmbb »

uncircle wrote: post #92
fmbb wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin existing is not going to make Itch.io not want to accept payments via Visa. Porn is a tiny market. It’s not worth it losing the payment processors everyone is on to serve porn game buyers.

> Porn is a tiny market. I'm not sure I agree. In the context of gaming, perhaps, but most of the Internet traffic is basically pornography.

When I say market here I mean something people pay for, where producers can convince people to spend money.

I’m quite sure there is not a lot of people paying for porn. The money people are making surely comes from ads and data hoarding.

Re: Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope

#654

Post by plaguuuuuu »

aprilthird2021 wrote: post #511
garciansmith wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bookstores sell kids books and adult material just fine. The adult stuff might be behind the counter or in a certain area, same as stores like Steam where you have to actively seek it out.

It's not the same as an online store. There is a way for people to know kids are in a place they shouldn't be or to deny them access to adult content in real life. In Steam, there isn't

If kids are on steam they're also on... ya know... the internet.

It's not complicated to realise that this achieves none of the stated objectives

Re: Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope

#655

Post by drdeca »

toomanyrichies wrote: post #645
drdeca wrote: post #582

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://xkcd.com/598/ (Except, remove the last panel)

It sounds like you're saying porn either "gave" you a fetish, or uncovered a latent fetish you didn't know you had (and /or preferred not to know about). If that's an accurate read, can I ask what harm it causes you to have a fetish? Provided it doesn't harm anyone else, what's wrong with liking what you like?

I don’t buy the “revealed a latent fetish” explanation. I don’t think people are born with a fetish baked into their soul.

Like, the people with the “blueberry expansion” one, you really think they were born with that? No, of course not, that would be dumb.

I think the main reason people put forth the “latent fetish” explanation is in order to argue that pornography is harmless.

As for why it harms me?

The purpose of sexuality is for relations with one’s spouse. On average, I expect it to be counterproductive in that regards. Most women wouldn’t find it appealing, and looking for specifically women who would find the idea appealing would substantially restrict the pool to search among. Also, most of the versions of the fantasy I have violated conservation of energy, and therefore cannot be physically achieved. Why would I want to want something impossible?

And, generally, lust promotes lust.

Re: Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope

#656

Post by fenomas »

calf wrote: post #642
fenomas wrote: post #566

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The claim isn't "we don't like it", the claim is "this is damaging to society" That's their framing , it's not what they actually do. If Collective Shout was a group that studied which things caused harm, and then campaigned against those things, then the point you're trying to make could stand. They're not. They've campaigned to ban rap artists, GTA 5, "50 Shades", lingerie ads, whatever random thing is around at…

If a special interest group is acting in bad faith, then it is still incorrect and confusing to frame it as "they just don't like that thing". We should just be saying they are acting in bad faith, weaponizing arguments, etc. Why they are against something also is explainable, so ideally we could also state their real motivations (they are racist, fascist, reactionary, etc.)

It's a description, not a claim. If a group tries to ban a thing, it obviously follows that they don't like the thing in some sense. Referring to them as "trying to ban stuff they don't like" describes their behavior, it's not a claim about what their motivations are or aren't.

Re: Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope

#657

Post by fc417fc802 »

anonym29 wrote: post #581
fc417fc802 wrote: post #578

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What gives you the impression that I might be offering my critiques lightly or arrogantly, as opposed to only after arriving at them through extensive, careful, and deliberate thought? Perhaps the fact that you made a claim without bothering to explain this supposed "extensive, careful, and deliberate thought" of yours? Also the fact that your tone generally comes across as ideologically charged; in my experience z…

>Is it really your intent to imply that I have called for such? That is quite the wild leap. I feel compelled to object that the turn this exchange has taken does not come across as being one of good faith. No, that was not my intention. You are right to object here. I allowed myself to get worked up by inadvertently framing your more methodological perspective as a moral perspective, and your perception that I came…

For what it's worth I myself am actually quite opposed to the status quo when it comes to freedom of expression. Most people, notably even most US nationals, seem to feel that the US permits too much. In contrast I favor compete abolishment of the obscenity carveouts.

However that isn't a free standing view on my part. I acknowledge that the conservatives raise a number of hard hitting points about corrosion of the social fabric, but observe that even jurisdictions with far stricter laws than the US still appear to suffer the same ills (in addition to those caused by the laws themselves).

My view is that this is due to modern technology having fundamentally changed the social dynamic. Continually eroding civil liberties in a doomed attempt to regain some imagined ideal of the past strikes me as nothing more than an obscene parallel to the war on drugs.

Given that we clearly recognize that certain activities are detrimental to society when flaunted in public surely we could apply the same principle to various forms of expression? It's not much of a leap - you'll already land yourself in trouble if you go around shouting your head off or intimidating people for example. Analogous to alcohol consumption, I'd much prefer a clear distinction between standards for public displays, secluded public business establishments, and private gatherings than the bizarre scenarios that the current obscenity laws inevitably give rise to.

Re: Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope

#658

Post by akshitgaur2005 »

t-writescode wrote: post #405
anonym29 wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Protecting women" is an incoherent excuse for pressuring websites to pull romantic games that feature consensual, loving, respectful homosexual male-male relationships, with no women even present in the game. The real motivations seemingly have nothing to do with protecting women, which appears to simply be a palatable facade for the true intention to suppress all depictions of sexuality, including the depictions th…

Ironically, isn’t most MfM smut written by and for women?

wait what?

Re: Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope

#659

Post by NoahZuniga »

can16358p wrote: post #105

What is wrong with these people who try to block certain content? Don't like porn? Don't buy it. Simple as that. No one, including governments or payment processors, should be in the position to decide whether a platform can sell something or not. I wish there was a payment processor who was brave enough to say a big fucking NO to censorship.

What if said game is a realistic CP simulation?

Re: Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope

#660

Post by furgot »

rustystump wrote: post #618
healsdata wrote: post #607

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What data or evidence do you have to suggest that there's a significantly larger amount pornographic LGBT content than there is pornographic straight content on these sites? Why does an LGBT creator that makes a game exploring how the Matrix is a transgender allegory have to actively distance themselves from bisexual dating simulators when I don't recall seeing anything from "Enter the Matrix" distancing themselves f…

Sigh. You completely miss the point. Oh well. For what it is worth, i am against banning innocuous queer content. Cheers.

That's a lazy and intellectually dishonest way of responding to criticism of your ideas. You made a claim and were asked for evidence. It's your choice whether or not you provide it, but you were in fact understood, and to pretend otherwise is dishonest.
Post reply on HN