People skeeting stuff.
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Censorship is the fetish of the rich and powerfull.
The reason they want emails is because the phone calls are slowing the call center SLA to a crawl and tanking their metrics for the quarter. If this keeps up, the payment processor will push back next time and Christian authoritarians won't be able to get away with shenanigans like this again.
They probably have their customer support laid out as phone, email, and maybe chat. Phone is the most expensive support channel because it's 1 person to 1 problem and it's impossible to scale, so they can't roll out a bot or ignore the metrics for long. Keep up the pressure!
Do we think these payment processors are running their own call centers? Seems more likely that they're contracting the work out, and those firms just aren't going to get their contracts renewed.
I just tried Visa Canada and I got someone without any accent, so either they have their own or they have to run it out of Canada because of financial laws. I call the English line speaking French
Also kinda weird it was just these two platforms. Browsing through the Switch 2 store the other day, I saw a few porn games on there, too. One of which was literally about the "step sister stuck in the washing machine" meme.
It's Nintendo FFS; it's wild they even let such games on their store regardless of outside influence.
Incest.
It's Nintendo FF
That's the point; the washing machine and the step brother are a metaphor for Nintendo, the step sister for their customers.
Incest
No, no, it's metaphorical criticism.
Sorting by new on the eshop shows a surprising number of slop games.
Quite a contrast to the Nintendo Seal of Quality that is largely responsible for saving the video games industry after the crash in '82.
omg so much shovelware and cheapest porn
i expected that the Nintendo eShop would be more curated, but this is no better than other stores - no, it's even worse, because parents fully have the same expectation that i had before seeing that, and many will just hand a nintendo device over to the kid without checking.
and 70$ for cyberpunk 2077 - it's a new console, not a new game ffs.
I also can't tell if it's running on the device natively or if it's streamed. The store lists it as a "cloud version" and every single game with that label is something very new and with very high fidelity graphics that I can't believe run natively on the Switch 2.
Not sure where you're seeing cloud version, that's not showing up on my store. Regardless, cyberpunk runs natively
Despite what religions say, this is what they actually do:
They attempt to control your life based on their fiction.
Every time. Every year. Every century. It never stops. This is what religion is about. Controlling everything and everyone. For the better? Nope. Definitely not.
Would be nice if any religion ever had even a shred of proof. Imagine if a Catholic priest actually could do the Healing hands?
Nope. Just controlling dicks.
For maximum disruption, phone, then email. If they don't respond in a timely manner (or it's boilerplate bs), another phone call to "clarify" things.
Just remember, the grunts on the phone aren't your enemy. Your goal is to maximise the amount of time you swallow, not to upset them. They could often be allies in hiding.
We don't have to truly break them. We just have to be more annoying than the religious nutjobs.
Master card
US + Can English
(skips card number input)
Visa
PayPal
US English
Say "make a complaint"
Stripe (unconfirmed)
Script:
I’m calling to urge [company name] to immediately end the policy that unfairly targets the adult content industry. I’m also asking that [company name] sit down with stakeholders- specifically sex workers and adult content creators- to develop solutions that ensure equitable access to financial services, create stability, and reduce harm for sex workers.
afaik it’s not a new policy for mastercard/visa: what’s new is that valve, itch, and even visa and mastercard were just kinda ignoring it
worth noting it’s not all adult content either… things like fisting even are fine, but “bodily fluids” are not. it’s a bit of a weird one all round
i think that they just did a big over-correction
and to be clear, i absolutely DO NOT think even the policy as it stands/stood should hold: they shouldn’t be in the business of morality policing almost anything - if i want to pay for videos/games with bodily fluids in porn then they should facilitate that transaction
Mastercard is now trying to get you to give your bank/card in order to take the complaint lol had 3 reps ask. Don't give em the info they might cancel your card or some shit in retaliation
Called both, both wanted me to email. I read script then told them to stay in their lane. They both said this matter has already been documented. Keep calling should call them every day if you have the time. Also its, 1, 1, then just hit # when they ask for card number. Then you get transferred. I had four minute wait with Visa.
I have a friend who runs starlight shop. She’s not allowed to use cards for many things because the payment processors are convinced she is running a scam since they have classes on reiki and palm reading and herbs and stones and other stuff they tell her they “don’t pay fortune tellers.”
This really should be regulated. Electronic payments must accept everything cash can be used for or nothing. None of this censorship bullshit.
To be fair, that shit is a scam...
Yes and no. It can be, but not universally. As she explained it to me, it’s sort of a way of gaslighting people into being more critical about themselves, their lives, their points of view. Their idea is to push for positive change in the world by demonstrating they have that capacity in themselves. They never say “you can only buy magic rock or herb here” or “all palm readings done other places are wrong, you must come here” and they also turn away people who get waaaay to into it. I think it’s all hippy crystal-gripping nonsense and we respect each others viewpoints, but I do appreciate what she’s trying to do and for some people it does work.
On the other hand, look what we let Christians get away with. All she would have to do to get approval from payment processors is throw a cross on the logo. THATS the issue here.
Hell does "we don't pay fortune tellers" mean? Remember miss Cleo? She made a crap load of money, and it definitely wasn't cash!
Is there hope for the US? They are looking more and more like Saudi Arabia. What's next, killing journalists and banning the opposition?
Yes.
Americans have alternatives in the form of Amex and Discover card apparently. Do we also have any alternative that works EU-wide at least? And where does one even get a card that's not Mastercard or Visa, if that's all that the local banks and my neobanks offer?
We Europeans should soon be able to pay with Wero online. And we can hope that the digital Euro and GNU Taler will establish themselves in the future.
That's great news for online, but I'd also like a card for offline and that still means either Mastercard or Visa :(
AFAIK, Wero has planned payment per NFC, but it might take a while. I wish some Austrian banks would have already joined in on Wero, but alas...
Wero already can transfer money between people btw, sending to phone numbers - if the other side already has Wero, it's direct, if not, they can supply a bank account for deposit
You can get Amex in Europe fairly easily, but acceptance is spotty. I used to have a card in Germany, and while it was usually not a problem with online purchases (domestic and international), shops were 50:50 at best.
Wero is a fairly new technology on the market. They advertise it as being made in Europe. A bunch of major banks in Germany, France, and Belgium seem to support it. I haven't used it yet though.
It's a cool thing and will be great for online payments but I don't think there's a solution for in person payments yet, still need one of the big 2 for that
Amex or discover are a fucking joke. No bank uses em either.
So your stuck with really shitty credit cards that you would have to be stupid to get or the REALLY nice ones that have like 1000+ annual fee.
So hey, what are the actual alternatives to Visa and Mastercard, especially if you live in the US?
Amex and discover for credit card. PayPal (has also done similar), crypto if accepted and debit.
Paypal is not a valid alternative to this situation.
Are they a religious org? I thought they were explicitly feminist, or is that just the CEO?
Religious anti-choice feminists who protect the children by cheering for a show glorifying child sexual abuse, but banning video games that depict sex between consenting adults.
Yeaaaah...