If Steam republished all its now censored games, and magically developed and implemented a world class crypto payment system overnight…
Then Steam is still in breach of MC/Visas terms, and MC and Visa drop them, and now everyone has no choice other than to use GabeBucks or w/e to purchase Steam games with.
Also, Valve now pays employees and game publishers in GabeBucks.
Which would cause a fuck ton of games to leave Steam.
Are they even in breach of those terms right now? My understanding was that it only mentions illegal games. This was part of the reason why MC isn’t even talking to Valve, because they have no leg to stand on.
But the entire problem at this point is that no one actually knows what the actual, specific guidelines even are.
…
MC + Visa get pressured from Aussie Puritans.
MC + Visa basically have a Zoom call with Steam and Itch, and tap on the gigantic sign in the backdrop, at one specific rule… which is actually pretty vague.
Steam and Itch then do their best to interperet that as broadly as possible, update their own policies.
Gamers revolt, blow up MC + Visas phones and emails.
MC and Visa backpedal, claim that well actually, Step 2 didn’t go down like that, they were actually pressured by… all their other partner client banks, whom they also largely lord over with an extreme power imbalance?
New local laws, which are not specified at all?
…
The entire problem is that MC and Visa just thought they could swing their dick around, make vague threats, leave Steam and Itch to … figure out all the details… and then that blew up in their faces.
Had they actually done a legitimate amount of research, such that they could actually give much more specific guidelines, you know maybe involving Steam and Itch in the process, in a mutually collaborative way, instead of an authoritarian way?
Well then this mess would not have happened.
And now, actually doing this is the only way to fix the situation.
… They could have just done this from the get go, and not have caused mass confusion and a huge consumer revolt.
…
So this all isn’t me disagreeing with you, its basically me agreeing, yes-anding, just expanding on how the entire fucking problem didn’t even need to exist, the problem is the utter lack of clarity and specificity, was borne out of total hubris on the part of MC + Visa.
I just think, if it went to court, Valve would eat MC’s lunch. So I’m not sure they should be worried about being in breach of terms (that they haven’t even breached).
Literally every credit or debit transaction that involves them?
Oh yeah, they shave a penny or two or sometimes more off of that transaction, the business and actual banks involved usually eat it, not too long ago it would be much more common for retailers to pass some of it to the consumer as well.
Its the Office Space scam, but actually legit, at a muuuch grander scale.
Thats a fucking money printing machine, they unironically have at least 10,000x more money to throw at lawyers than Valve does.
Crypto is volatile, any volatile currency is not a good currency to be used, as most people will either hoard it or trade it. Alternatively people can use steam wallet.
The problem is paying devs and staff. You have to pay them with dollars or their native currency.
… Yes. These are… the main reasons why this is not easy.
You’re basically either running your own FOREX exhange, which is costly, complicated, expensive and intensive…
Or you are holding a significant chunk of your operating budget in… one, many, all cryptos? Which is extremely financially risky…
Or, you’re paying people directly in crypto, which ironically, probably a vast majority of people and entities that publish on Steam would quit the platform if that was mandated… kinda like how MC+Visa making a unilateral decision forced Steam to ban a bunch of games.
Ok, so we’ve got a single stable coin that’s been fairly stable for 5 years, good start.
Now, how do I know which ones that were around 5 years ago…would be this stable, 5 years back in time?
How do I know this one will be stable for another 5 years?
Is there… some kind of objective analysis I can do here, of all stablecoins, to at least have an idea of this, or am I throwing darts while blindfolded?
Businesses tend to like certainty and predictability when it comes to the fundamentals of their operations.
USDC and USDT have also been stable for quite some time.
USDC might be the only one I’d really trust though. Since it’s backed by Coinbase and Circle, it seems extremely unlikely to break down in any way. Because the powers at be wouldn’t allow it. Too much institutional investment.
Could they accept crypto? I can pay for my shady IPTV service with it, so why not games too? There’s gotta be a way around this.
Wouldn’t solve the problem.
If Steam republished all its now censored games, and magically developed and implemented a world class crypto payment system overnight…
Then Steam is still in breach of MC/Visas terms, and MC and Visa drop them, and now everyone has no choice other than to use GabeBucks or w/e to purchase Steam games with.
Also, Valve now pays employees and game publishers in GabeBucks.
Which would cause a fuck ton of games to leave Steam.
Are they even in breach of those terms right now? My understanding was that it only mentions illegal games. This was part of the reason why MC isn’t even talking to Valve, because they have no leg to stand on.
Are they in breach right now?
Evidently no…
But the entire problem at this point is that no one actually knows what the actual, specific guidelines even are.
…
MC + Visa get pressured from Aussie Puritans.
MC + Visa basically have a Zoom call with Steam and Itch, and tap on the gigantic sign in the backdrop, at one specific rule… which is actually pretty vague.
Steam and Itch then do their best to interperet that as broadly as possible, update their own policies.
Gamers revolt, blow up MC + Visas phones and emails.
MC and Visa backpedal, claim that well actually, Step 2 didn’t go down like that, they were actually pressured by… all their other partner client banks, whom they also largely lord over with an extreme power imbalance?
New local laws, which are not specified at all?
…
The entire problem is that MC and Visa just thought they could swing their dick around, make vague threats, leave Steam and Itch to … figure out all the details… and then that blew up in their faces.
Had they actually done a legitimate amount of research, such that they could actually give much more specific guidelines, you know maybe involving Steam and Itch in the process, in a mutually collaborative way, instead of an authoritarian way?
Well then this mess would not have happened.
And now, actually doing this is the only way to fix the situation.
… They could have just done this from the get go, and not have caused mass confusion and a huge consumer revolt.
…
So this all isn’t me disagreeing with you, its basically me agreeing, yes-anding, just expanding on how the entire fucking problem didn’t even need to exist, the problem is the utter lack of clarity and specificity, was borne out of total hubris on the part of MC + Visa.
I just think, if it went to court, Valve would eat MC’s lunch. So I’m not sure they should be worried about being in breach of terms (that they haven’t even breached).
I hear you, but I wouldn’t go that far.
You think Steam is a money printing machine?
MC and Visa are payment processors.
Literally every credit or debit transaction that involves them?
Oh yeah, they shave a penny or two or sometimes more off of that transaction, the business and actual banks involved usually eat it, not too long ago it would be much more common for retailers to pass some of it to the consumer as well.
Its the Office Space scam, but actually legit, at a muuuch grander scale.
Thats a fucking money printing machine, they unironically have at least 10,000x more money to throw at lawyers than Valve does.
It doesn’t matter how many lawyers you have, when Valve is literally simply not in violation of the terms of their contract.
They sell them at gamestop and best buy.
Crypto is volatile, any volatile currency is not a good currency to be used, as most people will either hoard it or trade it. Alternatively people can use steam wallet.
DAI is pegged to the US dollar
Steam gift cards can be paid in cash
They could easily accept crypto. The problem is paying devs and staff. You have to pay them with dollars or their native currency.
If crypto was mass adopted, this is the ultimate answer and would put them out of business anyways.
No, they could not, not easily.
… Yes. These are… the main reasons why this is not easy.
You’re basically either running your own FOREX exhange, which is costly, complicated, expensive and intensive…
Or you are holding a significant chunk of your operating budget in… one, many, all cryptos? Which is extremely financially risky…
Or, you’re paying people directly in crypto, which ironically, probably a vast majority of people and entities that publish on Steam would quit the platform if that was mandated… kinda like how MC+Visa making a unilateral decision forced Steam to ban a bunch of games.
…
You’re doing magical thinking.
Stop that.
Stablecoins already solve that. Not very trustworthy because they could in theory do the same but as a temporary solution should work.
Quick question, which stablecoins have actually been stable for 5 years?
10?
Ok, so we’ve got a single stable coin that’s been fairly stable for 5 years, good start.
Now, how do I know which ones that were around 5 years ago…would be this stable, 5 years back in time?
How do I know this one will be stable for another 5 years?
Is there… some kind of objective analysis I can do here, of all stablecoins, to at least have an idea of this, or am I throwing darts while blindfolded?
Businesses tend to like certainty and predictability when it comes to the fundamentals of their operations.
USDC and USDT have also been stable for quite some time.
USDC might be the only one I’d really trust though. Since it’s backed by Coinbase and Circle, it seems extremely unlikely to break down in any way. Because the powers at be wouldn’t allow it. Too much institutional investment.
Yes, by which ones are peer to peer and which ones are centralized. That’s also why there doesn’t need to be a bunch of them.
Cool, how do I determine that?
Is there some kind of… universal metric, a p2p to centralized scale, that is accurate, transparent, and stays basically the same… for a deacde?
Unfortunately not, it’s like picking the right Unix-like OS in 2003.
Yeah dude convert that shit as soon as you get it, don’t hold it. I’m not a fan but for receiving salary or processing payments in USD it does the job
You can probably find a place to buy Steam gift cards with crypto…
10 or so years ago, Steam accepted payments in Bitcoin, for some reason they stopped, so they certinaly can do that but chose not to.
Also, 99% of people would not use it so wouldn’t change much.