Less than a week after the announcement of the new policy for Kingdom Come: Posting 2 forums on Steam, Deep Silver says it has “listened to your advice” and removed almost all of it.
The first policy of leadership, published on January 17, announced the policy of “zero tolerance” for discrimination in any form, which it destroys all forms of discrimination, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other toxicities; it also prohibits “hate speech or hate speech,” including bigotry, neo-Nazism, and bullying.
“Any posts, comments, or behavior that promotes these negative sentiments will be removed, and the perpetrators will be swiftly punished,” PLAION_MY4NH wrote. Consequences for violations of the code of conduct may include warnings and subsequent removal to temporary or permanent ban from the forum.
Now, however, all that is gone. Instead of a “rule of conduct,” the Steam forums are now governed by a more concise set of “guidelines.”
“Over the past few days, we’ve listened to your feedback and updated our community guidelines to better reflect where we all want this,” Deep Silver’s new statement says. “We have made them clearer, simpler and shorter to be honest, respectful and focused – thank you all for being part of this journey with us.”
The new process is as follows:
- respect others: Treat everyone fairly. We are not trying to stop free speech, but ad-mode attacks, criticizing others for their choices – whether in games or in discussions – have no place here.
- On topic: Let the discussion focus on Kingdom Come: Salvation.
- No spoiler warning: Use tags or clear text with details.
- No spam or personal ads: Posts or content posted will be removed.
- Follow Steam’s instructions: These tips add on Steam’s Community Guidelines.
And that’s it. It is arguable that “respect others” encompasses all the provisions of the previous code, and Steam’s guidelines also prohibit things like “sults,” “harassment,” and “discrimination.” But as we noted when it rolled out, the broad, simple “don’t be a jerk” approach to doing good doesn’t work today. Evidence of this can be found in the many articles currently filling the Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 conference, including racial slurs, complaints about homosexuality sex, publication of “truths” about Mali – at least one of the NPCs in the game is published from Mali, which is presented as a safe and advanced country – and the message Not happy that developer Warhorse Studios did finish to the culture war boogeyman of DEI.
It’s all ugly and stupid, and it raises the obvious question: Why Deep Silver (or the parent company Plaion) walked back the rules in the forum that were defined good and very reasonable, and that gave clear and specific points for the fight against poison. content? Because it’s not out of line to say that racism or homophobia will hurt you—however—that’s how it works. And when Deep Silver says it’s making the change “to better reflect where we all want this,” I have to wonder: What kind of place does he think people want? ?
Neither Plaion nor Warhorse has commented on the change at this time, but the statement about “free speech” is suggestive. Many fans of Kingdom Come: Deliverance have complained on Steam and social media that Warhorse, and specifically creative director Daniel Vavra, have refused to answer questions about the game. in order to cover the fact that Kingdom Come: Rescue 2 has gone—you guessed it—”standing.”
The irony is that the return journey does not seem to have any expected effect: the forums are full of accusations that Warhorse and Plaion are only doing damage control and not about the real and legitimate concerns of the game – which is in their hearts. seems to only exist between gay and Black characters.
I have reached out to Plaion for comment on the forum policy change and will update if I receive a response.
