An Era Has Ended: Valve Deals a "Fatal Blow" to Trolls in Steam and the Black Market — The Rewards System Has Undergone Radical Changes
Now it will not be possible to earn money on provocative content.
Recently, Valve introduced a major update to the Steam Community Awards system, which are purchased with points.
A new set of awards has been released, and the old ones have been removed from sale — you can no longer purchase the legendary "jester" award, which players actively used as an insult, calling others a "clown".
After the introduction of the rewards system, individuals began to appear in the comments and reviews who spread provocative content in order to receive rewards (and, accordingly, earn points). Now this scheme does not work — points can no longer be gifted:
We have changed the rewards system itself: now, when receiving them, Steam points are no longer transferred. Instead, the main purpose of giving awards will be solely to recognize the content creator and express appreciation to them, as well as to show others that someone has appreciated their work.
This change almost completely kills the black market around Steam awards. Previously, through third-party resources, some entrepreneurs sold points — they took money for sending awards, and customers received the desired points. Now there is only a simple sale of awards left.
