Question about Paid content links

[VL_13]

4. Some Patreon links might be showing up as "not a valid URL" (fix completed)

I may be writing in the wrong thread, but please clarify the situation: my resource (paid Look) was deleted without any
notification, or something like that.. For the reason: "the unavailability of post on patreon",


but resource exists and works well

Is this some kind of new rule that nothing was known about until now?
- I believe that we need to be able to make corrections to the hub page if indeed, for some reason, the original post on patreon has become unavailable..

 

[AshAuryn]

I may be writing in the wrong thread, but please clarify the situation: my resource (paid Look) was deleted without any
notification, or something like that.. For the reason: "the unavailability of post on patreon",

View attachment 326581
but resource exists and works well

Is this some kind of new rule that nothing was known about until now?
- I believe that we need to be able to make corrections to the hub page if indeed, for some reason, the original post on patreon has become unavailable..

This is not related to our new var health check or paid procedures. Having a working link has been a long time rule. This may have been due to a report. Please contact @VaMDeV

 

[AshAuryn]

I may be writing in the wrong thread, but please clarify the situation: my resource (paid Look) was deleted without any
notification, or something like that.. For the reason: "the unavailability of post on patreon",

View attachment 326581
but resource exists and works well

Is this some kind of new rule that nothing was known about until now?
- I believe that we need to be able to make corrections to the hub page if indeed, for some reason, the original post on patreon has become unavailable..

I just subscribed, and it's true. There's no link and no way to download the resource.

 

[VaMDeV]

I may be writing in the wrong thread, but please clarify the situation: my resource (paid Look) was deleted without any
notification, or something like that.. For the reason: "the unavailability of post on patreon",

View attachment 326581
but resource exists and works well

Is this some kind of new rule that nothing was known about until now?
- I believe that we need to be able to make corrections to the hub page if indeed, for some reason, the original post on patreon has become unavailable..

Yes, your post was reported for not having a link to where your file could be downloaded. So yeah, I took it down and notified you as such. Sorry if that was not clear in the message.

 

[VL_13]

Yes, your post was reported for not having a link to where your file could be downloaded. So yeah, I took it down and notified you as such. Sorry if that was not clear in the message.

I don't understand.? If file is not contained on patreon page (I store files on MEGA, mediafire hosting),(I only send links in DM, I warn about this on home page and in pinned post)
- is this reason for removing ads on hab?

 

[everlaster]

Just commenting from the sidelines, but since we're publicly hashing out another creator's alleged policy violations...

Seems a bit weird you'd just delete their resource with no warning and no chance to rectify the issue, and apparently no proper investigation into whether the report was even justified or a simple user error. Not the best way to go about it IMO. I would have contacted VL_13, asked them to address the issue, and if there was no clarification or fix from VL_13 in a reasonable time frame, then delete the resource.

 

[Nobis]

I don't understand.? If file is not contained on patreon page (I store files on MEGA, mediafire hosting) is this reason for removing ads on hab?

Just commenting from the sidelines, but since we're publicly hashing out another creator's alleged policy violations...

Seems a bit weird you'd just delete their resource with no warning and no chance to rectify the issue, and apparently no proper investigation into whether the report was even justified or a simple user error. Not the best way to go about it IMO. I would have contacted VL_13, asked them to address the issue, and if there was no clarification or fix from VL_13 in a reasonable time frame, then delete the resource.

As a patron i had situations where 60%~ of the authors content was missing.

None on Patreon or MEGA. That was a bit misleading. Contacted the author on Patreon, - no response for 3 days. On average i reply in 30 mins or less, for the past ~4 months in my Patreon. That puts things into perspective. After calling that a misleading behavior, publicly, i was called an angry karen etc., thus, it's great to see such resources being deleted.

Nonetheless, a warning or something of that sort, would be nice too. Might be that the author simply forgot or sends those links via DM.

 

[VaMDeV]

I don't understand.? If file is not contained on patreon page (I store files on MEGA, mediafire hosting),(I only send links in DM, I warn about this on home page and in pinned post)
- is this reason for removing ads on hab?

Ok that is an excellent point. I am not a Patreon of yours. So I had no way of knowing how you handle your files for download. I acted because your content was reported by one of your Patreon's who could not find that look. Honestly I do not know why they did not come to you first.

If the post made it clear that the look was available on your member's only mega link, I would not have taken it down.

Now your file is not "deleted" it is just hidden from public view. Looking at your Ramona post on Patreon nothing seems changed there. I will undelete the post and trust that you will update your posting to make it clear where the file can be acquired. Groovy?

Also, No this has nothing to do with "- is this reason for removing ads on hab?"

 

[VaMDeV]

Just commenting from the sidelines, but since we're publicly hashing out another creator's alleged policy violations...

Seems a bit weird you'd just delete their resource with no warning and no chance to rectify the issue, and apparently no proper investigation into whether the report was even justified or a simple user error. Not the best way to go about it IMO. I would have contacted VL_13, asked them to address the issue, and if there was no clarification or fix from VL_13 in a reasonable time frame, then delete the resource.

Fair enough. However, without subscribing to VL_13 I could not do any investigation into what was happening. We do get dead links of old Patreon content, and Free off-site content, often enough that it was pretty standard to take the action that I did.

I think that it was really the person who reported the content who should have reached out to VL_13 first for a solution.

Also I think VL_13 did the right thing by reaching out to us for an explanation the way they did. Ideally it would have been in a PM instead of publicly. But no matter, I don't mind being transparent about the process I took on this.

 

[VaMDeV]

As a patron i had situations where 60%~ of the authors content was missing.

None on Patreon or MEGA. That was a bit misleading. Contacted the author on Patreon, - no response for 3 days. On average i reply in 30 mins or less, for the past ~4 months in my Patreon. That puts things into perspective. After calling that a misleading behavior, publicly, i was called an angry karen etc., thus, it's great to see such resources being deleted.

Nonetheless, a warning or something of that sort, would be nice too. Might be that the author simply forgot or sends those links via DM.

Again, good point.

Fwiw, personally I feel that it is best to remove the asset from public view, which is what "deletion" is really doing in this instance. When that is done we always notify the creator why it was taken down. At that point they have been notified and can take action by contacting us and working out a solution.

Otherwise a badly linked asset just sits their and lures in other User's who are hoping to DL something that is not available. For the three days or whatever time it takes for the Creator to either respond or fix it.

 

[everlaster]

I think that it was really the person who reported the content who should have reached out to VL_13 first for a solution.

In that case, it would've been best to instruct them to contact the creator first and see if there's just a misunderstanding. If they come back after doing so, and complain that the issue is still unresolved, only then take the content down.

 

[VaMDeV]

In that case, it would've been best to instruct them to contact the creator first and see if there's just a misunderstanding. If they come back after doing so, and complain that the issue is still unresolved, only then take the content down.

Yeah, maybe. Fwiw, the situation resolved itself just fine, right?

With everything that happens on the hub on a daily basis not to mention other work and irl priorities, I personally want to keep my action plate as clear as I can.

 

[everlaster]

Yeah, maybe. Fwiw, the situation resolved itself just fine, right?

I'm not the right person to ask, you'd have to ask the actual parties involved. All I'm saying is I don't think the resource needed to be taken down in the first place, I see it as a moderator error to just unquestioningly assume a report is valid and needs immediate action. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that.

 

[VL_13]

Yeah, maybe. Fwiw, the situation resolved itself just fine, right?

I also hope incident has been resolved.
I am well aware that you are constantly working on this, and such procedures are part of daily practice. I was confused by the fact that I didn't get a warning about this (post was deleted and I found out about it post facto). This is the first time this has happened to me, so I didn't immediately realize what was going on.

 

[VaMDeV]

I'm not the right person to ask, you'd have to ask the actual parties involved. All I'm saying is I don't think the resource needed to be taken down in the first place, I see it as a moderator error to just unquestioningly assume a report is valid and needs immediate action. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that.

I got the report, looked at the content, followed the link, saw only pictures of the content with no file link or text on how to get a file link. At that point it seemed like a legitimate complaint and I took the action that I did. The Creator reached out to me to ask "Why?" I answered, they took action in response, the post is again live now and all parties seem satisfied for the most part.

When it comes down to it. I like to get things done in the moment, with the best judgment I can, with the info that is presented to me. Yeah sure, I may make a mistake now and then. However I always do my best to address everyone politely and with respect. Then work toward an amicable solution. It doesn't always work, however at that point, I am usually not the one being the issue.

 

[VaMDeV]

I also hope incident has been resolved.
I am well aware that you are constantly working on this, and such procedures are part of daily practice. I was confused by the fact that I didn't get a warning about this (post was deleted and I found out about it post facto). This is the first time this has happened to me, so I didn't immediately realize what was going on.

You saw I undeleted the post, right?

 

[everlaster]

I got the report, looked at the content, followed the link, saw only pictures of the content with no file link or text on how to get a file link. At that point it seemed like a legitimate complaint and I took the action that I did. The Creator reached out to me to ask "Why?" I answered, they took action in response, the post is again live now and all parties seem satisfied for the most part.

When it comes down to it. I like to get things done in the moment, with the best judgment I can, with the info that is presented to me. Yeah sure, I may make a mistake now and then. However I always do my best to address everyone politely and with respect. Then work toward an amicable solution. It doesn't always work, however at that point, I am usually not the one being the issue.

I don't understand why you want to justify your past actions instead of looking into what you could do better in the future - especially as you already acknowledge that mistakes can happen. Not trying to corner you personally here, but to point out something I think is important and would like to see improve, looking at this as a creator and a community member.

I think it's generally true that assumptions are dangerous, and that it's important to investigate thoroughly before coming to a conclusion. I think it's especially true for moderation, and in moderation there's the additional layer of managing members of the community who are people and those people will either feel positively about the interaction or get stressed or demotivated by it. That layer isn't something you need to think about when developing a piece of software - make the wrong assumption or make a few shortcuts and the only complaint you're going to get is an error on the log. But managing a community of creators and users, you kind of need to think more carefully about the consequences as well. That's how I feel about it, anyway . I've been VL's patron before so this caught my eye, I was already sure it was just a misunderstanding.

Also if I could make a practical suggestion - since the content wasn't actually deleted but just unpublished/hidden, it would make sense to change the notification to say that instead of "deleted". Most people understand deleting to be a permanent thing.

 

[VAMIC]

Ok that is an excellent point. I am not a Patreon of yours. So I had no way of knowing how you handle your files for download. I acted because your content was reported by one of your Patreon's who could not find that look. Honestly I do not know why they did not come to you first.

If the post made it clear that the look was available on your member's only mega link, I would not have taken it down.

Now your file is not "deleted" it is just hidden from public view. Looking at your Ramona post on Patreon nothing seems changed there. I will undelete the post and trust that you will update your posting to make it clear where the file can be acquired. Groovy?

Also, No this has nothing to do with "- is this reason for removing ads on hab?"

Creators hosting content on Mega and making you go through Discord or some master link is becoming increasingly normalized due to fears of piracy. It doesn't really deter file sharing as much as slow it down and occasionally it allows you to more easily track down the perpetrator. But as I've said, in a better world, it would all be free only and on the Hub. Question: what happens if the creator is just poor with naming conventions and uploaded a resource elsewhere on Patreon? Is there a written policy for how to indicate where things are hosted/updated on sites outside of VAM?

 

[VL_13]

Also if I could make a practical suggestion - since the content wasn't actually deleted but just unpublished/hidden, it would make sense to change the notification to say that instead of "deleted". Most people understand deleting to be a permanent thing.

Speaking of which; that's exactly what I thought (that the post was deleted permanently). ?.

message.

I don't know how technically difficult or limited this is, but perhaps this notice should be made clickable (as is case with any other notifications)