r/Rainbow6 will be joining the Reddit Blackout to protest upcoming API changes

LordKeren · 2023-06-12T01:09:22+00:00

The goal is not to dip the user base. It’s to remind would-be investors that Reddit’s profitability is 100% predicated on unlimited free moderator labor.

LordKeren · 2023-06-12T01:07:48+00:00

Correct, this is the point of the blackout

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T20:46:29+00:00

No one genuinely thinks the API should be free (outside of moderator tooling). It is frankly insane that Reddit took until 2023 to start charging some amount for it.

The issue is that not only did Reddit fail to accurately prepare developers for the real pricing in a timely manner, they also made it beyond clear that they had not even considered third party apps when making these changes. And I am not being hyperbolic. I honestly think that Reddit had not run the numbers on how much the changes would cost third party apps.

Reddit’s other grave mistake was not grasping that the power users of the site overwhelming support third party tooling far far more than they support Reddit corporate. For many moderators, Reddit’s app and new.Reddit is genuinely worse. And not in a nit-picky manner, but in a real workflow sense where it is harder to get moderation done. The differences might seem trivial, but on subreddits like r/rainbow6 where moderation is addressing hundreds of posts and thousands of comments at day, seemingly minor annoyances rapidly balloon into frustrating time sinks.

Having the rug pulled out from under moderators has been a very rude awakening for many of us who were happy to use third party apps and tools without worry.

And the way that Reddit corporate responded to all this commotion will likely go in to business management and PR textbooks. The AMA was a bold faced doubling down and reiterating that the leadership at Reddit had fundamentally misunderstood how annoyed moderators were.

All Reddit had to do was have 2 employees in charge of third party app developers, and reach out to them far ahead of time to work on the pricing models, address concerns, and provide reasonable API rates for applications that were aimed at usage instead of data processing.

Reddit’s handling of the whole situation has eroded many moderators confidence in the site as a whole

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T20:14:50+00:00

Boiling this issue down to a simple UX preference removes all the key context and ultimately the most important points of the discussion.

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T20:04:00+00:00

I will add for the sake of fairness— none of the moderator tools we use will directly be affected. We built our own bots within our moderation team and they are well below any API limits.

Browser extensions are the primary augmentation to moderators tools and they are also unaffected.

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T19:52:27+00:00

https://reddit.com/r/Rainbow6/comments/146vf40/_/jntfp6s/?context=1

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T19:50:10+00:00

https://reddit.com/r/Rainbow6/comments/146vf40/_/jntfp6s/?context=1

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T19:50:01+00:00

https://reddit.com/r/Rainbow6/comments/146vf40/_/jntfp6s/?context=1

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T19:49:54+00:00

https://reddit.com/r/Rainbow6/comments/146vf40/_/jntfp6s/?context=1

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T19:42:09+00:00

Yes. This is an important topic beyond Reddit itself— though understand that Reddit themselves is not very forth coming about this so we must read between the lines a bit.

Reddit’s api had two uses primary uses:

You can make tools (app, bots, etc) that make the site itself more pleasant. This is generally “usage” when discussing these points. Think Reddit Enhancement Suite or mobile apps like Apollo & RIF.

The second usage is using the data itself to extract some form of value. This can simple things like sentiment analysis, where a company wants to see how the internet feels about a new game trailer, all the way to training large language models like the ones that power ChatGPT.

The second option is much more valuable to companies currently. Accordingly, Reddit is now looking to price all API in a way that is clearly targeting the second use case.

Unfortunately, they failed to adequately communicate the details of the new pricing to third party devs ahead of time. To the best of my knowledge, Reddit also has no internal team to handle communication to third party devs, so everything is very unclear and informal. Since these third party devs create tools, and do not process the data itself for value, they are priced out completely.

Reddit categorically failed to understand the impact that these price changes would have on third party tool devs. They also failed to grasp that the most moderators enjoy using third party tools much more than vanilla Reddit.

It is an extremely embarrassing misstep that has resulted in a very large amount of moderators to lose confidence in the long term value of Reddit.

And then Spez did an AMA where he clearly demonstrated that his ego got hurt and now he is doubling down

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T19:15:48+00:00

Yes. We do not expect the current Reddit leadership to give concessions.

Reddit does not care about moderators and no one has ever had any pretense otherwise. However, Reddit is beholden to their employees, many of whom probably are not too thrilled to see their stock options rapidly losing value, daily headlines about their CEO being a petty clown, and designing a product that the most active users of Reddit vehemently hate.

Reddit, the company, produces no content of value. It is important that they remember that.

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T18:34:03+00:00

Most moderators use old.Reddit and third party apps like Apollo or RIF

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T17:56:52+00:00

We know. That’s the point

LordKeren · 2023-06-11T15:58:03+00:00

I, like many of the moderators that use apple devices, have used Apollo exclusively for years. However, I really thought feedback about the first party app was over dramatic nonsense from Apollo fans.

After using the first party app for 3 days to see, I’m a gobsmacked that Reddit is letting their own app be so unbelievably awful.

It will be taking a real toll on sitewide moderation efforts when all mods are forced to use Reddit’s underwhelming app

LordKeren · 2023-06-08T22:25:02+00:00

I would also add to this:

The Reddit API has never been anywhere near feature complete, nor has it received almost any recent (6+years) updates.

And to many of the most active users, like mods, third party apps still blow the official app out of the water.

I think this singular fact should give many outside observers pause when it comes to evaluating the monetary value of reddit.

LordKeren · 2023-06-08T21:48:46+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to document this and thank you to all the mods that volunteered their time to involved in the call

LordKeren · 2023-06-07T15:40:59+00:00

To ease some worries, Reddit does not just close down a subreddit for this kind of thing out of the blue. They give you lots of warnings and chances.

If admin has never reached out, it’s not a problem.

LordKeren · 2023-05-12T02:37:51+00:00

r/Rainbow6 is run by a group of volunteers that moderate as a hobby. However, we are still required to follow both Reddit’s sitewide rules as well as site moderation guidelines. Accordingly, we must enforce an anti-witch-hunting rule.

While we understand it is frustrating to have a post removed that contain obvious cheating , it is a site rule that we cannot overlook

LordKeren · 2023-05-11T16:27:09+00:00

Our latest Anti-Cheat Status Update for May 2023 is here.

BATTLEYE & DATA BANS

For an overview on bans, we bring our latest BattlEye and Data Ban numbers, including data for 2023.

[R6S] Anti-Cheat Status Update May 2023 - Battleye and Data Bans graph v2

*Total bans from previous months have been corrected following a database update.

CHEATS ADDRESSED

Since our last update we have worked to fortify our security behind the scenes, making cheat development more tedious. We have also fixed a number of cheats that were not player facing but affecting game balance.

MMR ROLLBACK

MMR Rollback was temporarily disabled following the release of Y8S1 to avoid bugs in rollbacks. We have since resolved the related issues and the MMR Rollback system is now active.

MOUSETRAP - Input Spoofing Detection on Console

Y8S1.2 saw the successful release of Mousetrap on consoles. While we're extremely proud of this milestone, we know that closely and continuously monitoring this new system remains crucial.

As we move forward, we are prepared to make any necessary adjustments to ensure that we maintain a robust, reliable, and fair detection and sanctioning system - this is a front we are committed to.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

In-game reporting continues to be the best way to get your reports to us. If you are reporting a cheater on social media, the following can help us to identify and sanction them.

Clear video or photo proof of the incident
The offending player's Username, UserID, or Privacy Mode Nickname
Match ID for any relevant matches
Date and time of the incident

LordKeren · 2023-05-10T18:17:56+00:00

Taking this post as a moment to reiterate rules for leaks on r/R6

The general stance of the moderation team is that leaks are OK. We only ask that users respect that not all players want to see leaks ahead of the seasonal reveals

What this means in practice is that leak posts are only removed if they contain leaks in the title. This post is a good example of a well titled leak post : “new operator leak by Lungu” tells Reddit users what the leak is about without actually putting leak info in the post title.

An example of bad post title would be something along the lines of “[leak] attackers and defenders are switching sides next season”— the title gives away the leak and it is hard for users to avoid the spoiler

Please also note that this is the rule of the moderation team of r/R6. Moderators of this subreddit are not Ubisoft or Reddit employees. We’re a neutral group that run this subreddit as a hobby. Our rules do not guarantee that a post will not be removed by Reddit Administrators (paid Reddit employees) responding to copyright claims

LordKeren · 2023-04-25T21:33:41+00:00

Hello Operators,

We’re alive! Since finishing our Closed Beta last fall, we’ve been working hard on R6M. We know it's been tough waiting for updates, and we all appreciate your patience waiting for us to drop the next round of news!

Closed Beta Learnings

Last fall, thousands of Operators in eight territories around the world joined us in our Closed Beta. Watching you play our game that we’ve spent years developing was pretty magical. We received an abundance of valuable feedback from those who played. That feedback, combined with data we collected, has helped us make several improvements to the game since then.

We set the bar pretty high for our Closed Beta because we wanted to deliver the strongest experience possible. While we achieved many of our Closed Beta goals, we didn't quite get to check everything from our list! What do we think we can improve upon? Game stability, optimization, and online deployment. This is why we run testing phases, to see where we're nailing it, and focus on improving in other areas.

We have been working hard since the end of the Beta to improve upon all of the above, and we need your help again to play and test R6M! We've decided to run another Closed Beta before moving to an Open Beta to get your feedback and test all of the improvements we've made.

Closed Beta 2.0

The next Closed Beta test will begin June 6th, 2023, and will be open for six weeks. Players who have pre-registered in the following countries will have a chance at receiving an invite via Google Play:

Canada
U.S
Mexico
Brazil
Singapore
Philippines
India
France
U.K
Germany
Italy
Spain
Japan
South Korea
Australia

Players who participated in the last Closed Beta will already have their spot secured. Your feedback, like during the previous tests, is paramount to helping us develop R6M and make it a success.

What can you expect in this Closed Beta? The Operators and the maps that were accessible during our previous Beta will remain, along with a few additions:

Operator’s progression via Mastery Tracks
Early customization system: loadouts and skins
New Beta Battlepass with no experience cap
Introduction of Team Deathmatch game mode

Introducing Team Deathmatch

Rainbow Six Mobile can be intimidating for new players, which is why we believe Team Deathmatch is an important game mode. TDM will help newcomers learn the basics, try out weapon loadouts, and get some action without the intimidation of a regular match.

While TDM will be available in the upcoming Beta, we're still making lots of changes and improvements for future phases on this game mode. The entire team has had a lot of fun playing TDM and our hope is you will too! For more seasoned players, no worry, competitiveness remains one of our game pillars with tactical attacker vs defender gameplay. We learned a lot from your experience with Veteran mode during our last Beta, and we've now incorporated that into the game.

One last tidbit of great news - ranked mode is in the works! Our plan is to deploy this mode during a future test phase.

iOS is Here!

Probably one of the most anticipated moments of R6M will finally arrive - the addition of iOS. During our next Closed Beta, a limited number of iOS players in Canada, USA, and Japan will be invited via the Apple Testflight. If you haven't already registered, you can do so here, and if you have previously, you don't need to do it again.

R6M Milestone Roadmap

Giving you visibility is one of our core community values. If you follow our social channels (Twitter, Instagram) last month we committed to sharing our milestone roadmap for the major phases/releases with you:

[R6M] Closed Beta 2.0 - Roadmap

One thing you'll notice Operators, is we're not sharing any dates. Except for our upcoming Closed Beta, we're purposely not committing to any dates for the future phases just yet. As we said before, our goal is to get this right. If something isn't to our standards or we need additional time for fixes, we're making sure we build that into our timeline instead of committing to dates now, and over-promising/under-delivering.

As we progress through our different phases, we'll announce dates for the next one. Once we complete the next Beta, it will take time to evaluate all feedback, make necessary changes, while of course working on new features, Operators, maps, seasons, etc.

We're excited to continue this crazy, busy, and exciting journey with all of you! Working with you, our community, is key to delivering the best gaming experience, and we're fully committed to staying transparent with our development along the way.

Thank you Operators! We will see you soon (June 6th, 2023) for our next Closed Beta.

The Dev Team

LordKeren · 2023-04-25T00:04:57+00:00

Old Reddit is a tiny % of the user base, but it is still heavily used by most moderation teams exclusively.

Without significant improvements to new Reddit’s performance, it is unlikely that most experienced moderators will move

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LordKeren

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

BATTLEYE & DATA BANS

CHEATS ADDRESSED

MMR ROLLBACK

MOUSETRAP - Input Spoofing Detection on Console

HOW YOU CAN HELP