Posting and you.

[Neville]

Any message board should have a link to this:

http://scts.323ci.net/posting.swf

[Ash]

Heh!  That was a good one!

I occasionally post in the Steam forums and they have some of the strictest policies and moderators I've ever seen.
If you even think about writing a swear word (even with asterisks), not only will it be deleted, but you'll get a PM from a moderator telling you that you'll be banned the next time it happens.
(they've seemed to have eased up a bit, but not much)

And the moderators are totally drunk on power.
They'll permanently lock a thread at the drop of a hat if they want to.
I can't tell you how many threads I've read on there that were locked and I asked myself each time, "Why is this thread locked?  It doesn't need to be."
A thread won't even be coming close to getting out of hand and sure enough, they'll lock it.

Don't believe me?
CLICK HERE, then scroll down and look at all the padlock icons on the left next to each thread.

There have been a few threads where someone publicly called the moderators on their constant thread locking and can you guess what happened?
Yep...they locked the thread!

Whenever I post there, I always feel like I'm walking on eggshells.  You've really got to be careful there. 

[RCMerchant]

Wow...that STEAM place looks like the a nazi concentration camp version of a forum....! 

[Neville]

Well, that's another reason to hate STEAM. The first is that they sell software that needs to be activated from the Internet. Not only is that intrussive, but it also means you are paying for stuff that may be unuseable in the future. I still play my old DOS games on XP.

Which takes me to the second reason to hate them: they started selling old DOS games (Doom and others) embedded with a free DOS emulator, DOSBox, without even crediting them for the work. They solved the issue, but they still hide from the end user that what they're selling are essentially ancient games made playable through a technology that is not always fool proof or user-friendly.

Returnig to their phorum policiy, I hate that kind of message boards. Message boards were free speech is not possible are an aberration. Yes, moderation is necessary, and so are strict rules (specially in a board concerning gaming, which is prone to mention cracks or warez), but good moderation should be almost invisible.

[Allhallowsday]

...good moderation should be almost invisible.

  Right you are, Neville. 
That animation was amusing, they're the rules I live by, I particularly like the dark voice from beyond bellowing: "It is always better to post in an existing thread rather than start a new one...!!!" 

[Mr_Vindictive]

I have much love for Steam.  I'm a huge fan of digital distribution so Steam is great for me.  No having to go to a store and pick up software, I just click and download.  I also love Valve's software in general.

The Steam Forums are another thing.  I learned a LONG time ago not to go on the site and certainly not to post there.  The rules are strict but it's understandable considering just how large of a customer base they have.  I do feel that they could loosen the rules just a bit and all would be ok, but that's their deal.  Just pray you never have an issue with Steam and have to post there to try and find a solution.....