Multiple game creators describe ineffective moderation on the platform, resulting in unchecked hatred in forums and targeted campaigns of negative ‘anti-woke’ reviews
I’ve had a mildly expensive inventory in the past while trading so I’ve seen a lot of scammers. The clown award was the fastest way to tell if someone was suspicious. Obviously you don’t just base it on that, other telltale signs are no mutuals, private inventory, faked hours on cs, turned off commenting on profile, account level, 3p trust sites, etc.
I’ve yet to see a single profile that was legit that had the clown award. People usually don’t give out awards, at least the profile ones. The average person buys profile decor.
This was back in 2024 ish though, I don’t trade anymore so I block non mutuals adding me
That’s such poppycock I don’t even know if you’re subtly trolling. Anyone could put a clown on a profile for anything, and they come far more from bad actors than anything remotely legitimate. Steam forums are full of bad actors. Actually supporting that kind of petty toxicity by insinuating clowns mean something is gross.
Thankfully, profile awards can be hidden, and I’d expect they often are, so it’s hard to really say how many are given out. I certainly hid profile awards when the system was new, because it’s weird Steam just helps people deface your profile. Even having awards hidden hasn’t stopped the occasional spiteful clown award getting added.
So are you just gonna ignore all the other ways I’ve listed to tell a scammer?
Never said it was a one and dusted kinda thing if you had a clown award, just that it should immediately raise red flags if you have a relatively worth inventory and actively trading. MY experience is that all the randoms trying to add me that had the clown award displayed were in fact scammers.
This is in the context of trading once again, not steam forums or even general steam. Steam trading is functionally a different experience from general steam. No sane trader uses the forums to trade. Its all 3p sites. People adding you when you actively trade items are either people looking to trade or scammers. If you’re not trading in the mid to high tier range, none of what I’ve said applies to you. The clown award doesn’t mean anything then, because you’re not going to get 5+ daily friend requests
On a side note you should probably not use the forums, it’s been unmoderated for about 15 years.
I’ve had a mildly expensive inventory in the past while trading so I’ve seen a lot of scammers. The clown award was the fastest way to tell if someone was suspicious. Obviously you don’t just base it on that, other telltale signs are no mutuals, private inventory, faked hours on cs, turned off commenting on profile, account level, 3p trust sites, etc.
I’ve yet to see a single profile that was legit that had the clown award. People usually don’t give out awards, at least the profile ones. The average person buys profile decor.
This was back in 2024 ish though, I don’t trade anymore so I block non mutuals adding me
That’s such poppycock I don’t even know if you’re subtly trolling. Anyone could put a clown on a profile for anything, and they come far more from bad actors than anything remotely legitimate. Steam forums are full of bad actors. Actually supporting that kind of petty toxicity by insinuating clowns mean something is gross.
Thankfully, profile awards can be hidden, and I’d expect they often are, so it’s hard to really say how many are given out. I certainly hid profile awards when the system was new, because it’s weird Steam just helps people deface your profile. Even having awards hidden hasn’t stopped the occasional spiteful clown award getting added.
So are you just gonna ignore all the other ways I’ve listed to tell a scammer?
Never said it was a one and dusted kinda thing if you had a clown award, just that it should immediately raise red flags if you have a relatively worth inventory and actively trading. MY experience is that all the randoms trying to add me that had the clown award displayed were in fact scammers.
This is in the context of trading once again, not steam forums or even general steam. Steam trading is functionally a different experience from general steam. No sane trader uses the forums to trade. Its all 3p sites. People adding you when you actively trade items are either people looking to trade or scammers. If you’re not trading in the mid to high tier range, none of what I’ve said applies to you. The clown award doesn’t mean anything then, because you’re not going to get 5+ daily friend requests
On a side note you should probably not use the forums, it’s been unmoderated for about 15 years.