I haven't been able to find a content policy document on what Valve allows on Steam Workshop, but here's what I've been able to infer from research, a general level of paranoia towards credit card companies, along with some of my own personal red lines.
If you'd like to discuss these policies amongst yourselves, you can do so on the discussion page. If you'd like to ask me for clarifications directly, send e-mail to jack@fleshcult.com.
No Photographic Porn
- Valve are US-based and 2257 compliance is a thing, so no nude photos are allowed.
No Underage/loli/shota/chibi
- Child-like proportions can be a fuzzy line with hentai, but you should stay away from that line entirely.
- That means no high school settings and no school uniforms.
- This will be enforced and this policy will never change. I don't care what other people are getting away with on Steam.
No Rape
Fleshcult is not and was never intended to be a good model of consent: A Faustian pact is blank cheque consent, which is bogus. That being said:
- Dubious consent is ok, but out and out rape is not.
- Someone getting raped until they like it is still rape, obviously.
- Mind control, love potions and the like are ok.
No Beastiality
- No screwing real animal species.
- Fantastical monsters are ok. (e.g. hentai parasites)
- Boning weird sentient consenting creatures is totally cool, encouraged even.
Furry content must be tagged
- For the convenience of both furries and everyone else, all submissions are tagged 'furry' or 'notfurry'.
- If your mod has both furries and humans, it gets tagged 'furry'.
- If a furry status doesn't seem applicable to your mod because it's about tax accounting or something, then your mod is 'notfurry'.
No Race Hatred
- Adoring depictions of nazis or nazism will get you booted off the workshop by me.
- Story content that involves struggling with racist antagonists is fine.
Q&A
- This Roy-Orbison-Wrapped-In-Cling-Film mod is really disgusting, what can I do?
- If it's against the rules, report it via the Report button in Workshop. If it's not, just leave it be.
- What happens if I break the rules?
- I'll send you a warning and delete your listing off the workshop, then you can resubmit with a fixed version. If it keeps happening and I think you're operating in bad faith, I'll ban you from the community hub. This covers Steam Workshop, the Steam forums, and Steam guides/screenshots.
- Why are furries getting special treatment with tagging?
- Steam Workshop is a tag-based system, and the furry community has a tendency to overwhelm tagging systems. Think of any Booru you might've used. Without rules you tend to see a big mess of a gajillion species tags and near synonyms of 'furry'. If a similar situation is developing with some other kink, I'll look at setting up a similar rule.
- What about scalies?
- For the purposes of tagging, scalies are furry. Anthros in general are furry, as are ferals.
- The base game has centaurs. They've got lots of horse bits, are they furry?
- No, I'm gonna arbitrarily say Greco-Roman mythological creatures don't count as furry.
- Are tentacle monsters furry?
- No.
- Is the Egyptian god Horus furry?
- Yes.
- Does this mean that furries built the pyramids?
- Naturally.
- This is bullshit! You should be a lassiez-faire free speech absolutist! Shouting 'fire' in a crowded theatre is the only way I can cum!
- Complaining to me won't do any good, go play something else.