Gaming needs us again, friends. If you’re here, you've probably already heard that Visa has pressured Steam to remove a bunch of games. This kind of censorious attack on art shouldn't be allowed to stand. The Visa customer service number is 1-800-847-2911. Rumor has it that they are paying a third party call center to handle their traffic, and that they are paying by the call -- which would mean that a flood of dissatisfied customers calling in is actively costing them money. Calling is easy and fun! Of course don't harass or insult the customer service reps; just politely yet firmly make it clear that this is unacceptable.
I'm doing my part!
Worth doing still, but the first one worked so well because it was taking to the people paying them (advertisers) about the decisions other people (
scumjournos) were making on their behalf, to leverage changing their paymasters' minds against them.This one is going to be way harder, it's shit talking to the people who made the decisions themselves, they know what they've done and they're (probably) not retarded enough to think it would actually be popular, they already know you're pissed, they just don't care. The problem with Visa/MasterCard bullshit is there isn't anyone upstream like advertisers to lobby to instead, their model is sitting at the top and just skimming from everyone below them. The closest would be government intervention, who also aren't really interested in what the public actually want so the odds of convincing them to change anything seem low too. Even if they did intervene it would either have to be direct government action against Visa-MC, which has its own pitfalls as a precedent. Or finally loosening up the regulatory burden so as not to hand them a defacto monopoly on money transfers, which then also needs the public to en-mass make a decision to change who they do business with on principles rather than purely financial considerations, all whilst hoping the "new" competitors they're raising up aren't just the same old people in a different skin suit.
It seems to me like it's going to take something more like a mass grassroots uprising on a scale that either the gov can't ignore, or something too big to control with something like mass crypto uptake and populating a secondary financial system too big and too quick to stamp the boot on.
But in the meantime spitting in their eye when it's without any negative repercussions is probably the best course of action. Can't have a mass movement without a shared history and communal goals. "Fuck visa's coms" seems like a good, wholesome community builder and a way to unlearn the habit of helpless inaction. But realistically it's probably only step 1 of very many needed to actually change anything, just so no-one gets disillusioned with results that are slower to materialize than expected.
[Edit] Actually I suppose you could still indirectly lobby the people who pay Visa, aka the people behind storefronts like Steam. Although what you'd have to lobby for would have to be a little wild.
They can't leverage Visa into changing anything, but they could maybe be convinced to offer a separate cryptocurrency-only storefront for the otherwise censored games under an "independent", legally distinct company. Having a mainstream service point like that that only takes crypto would be a huge foundation block for a system that could sidestep Visa's monopoly. The hardest part would be convincing them the public support is so massive the government wouldn't dare financially ream them with bullshit rules and finding enough game devs willing to be paid in crypto, but that shouldn't be nearly as hard now that they've been fucked out of any other options.
You raise good points. I agree that this may not immediately get the results that we want. However, even for a corp as big as Visa, it will be very annoying to suddenly spend an extra couple of million on call center bills. There is apparently also a bill introduced that targets this behavior: the Fair Access to Banking Act. If we make enough noise, we can potentially help advance something like this -- and make Visa have to believe that it could actually pass. That's another few million for lobbyists.
Additionally, if there is enough public outcry, it's possible that competing payment processors may spring up to take advantage. Musk was already involved in the early days of PayPal, for example. He has the resources and experience to potentially start a competitor (probably tying it in with X). Or Gaben has been directly impacted by this, and has the resources to potentially change Steam cards from Visa branding to Steam branding. Again, even if this was just hypothetical, we may be able to make Visa believe that this stuff could happen, which could itself force them to straighten up.
This is also the type of Direct Action which will have those on the Left be able to cry 'Reform!", 'Change!" and 'Oppression!' but with an actual hook as it is an intersectional attack directly from the hegemonic elite they claim to hate (When it suits them) across an entire class hierarchy.
#NotYourYield?
The vector of attack's doubled especially since they've started removing horror games too.
I missed a chance for a King of the Hill reference. I should have said, "politely yet firmly ask them to leave... games alone." Oh well.
We're probably going to end up needing them named as common carriers.
They've proven that even if they face backlash, they'll just walk a little of it back, but continue doing it anyway.
There's a few laws that should be repealed that would help put an end to a lot of this imo. But one step at a time.
I used to work in a call centre. Some guy kept calling and talking about the CEO's wife's fake tits. I loved talking to that guy. Such a great way to waste time at work.
Well? Were they?
No idea. I was a call centre employee. I never saw the CEO or his wife. But probably.
I don't need to complain. I don't use their services
That is the real strategy here. Every transaction you make with Visa and Mastercard gives them money.
Worse, these people don't care about their customer support line. They are as meaningless as the numbers on a spreadsheet which they also use for you.
Close. Your. Cards.
Try using AmEx, Discover, Cash, and Bitcoin.
Good ideas. Would be great to call at least once, also :)