Steam Workshop petition turns violent with death threats

It was only yesterday that Valve announced that modders would be able to start charging for mods in Steam Workshop – the first game to adopt paid mods was The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Soon after the announcement the community shared their opinion on the matter…

A good amount of Steam users did not like the idea, one Steam user went as far as setting up a petition on Change.org requesting that Valve discontinue their efforts.

As of now, there are 46,166 individuals that have signed the petition — this is not why this article exists. This article exists because people have begun aiming death threats at Valve's co-founder Gabe Newell, supporters of paid mods and modders. The petition has been updated in regards to the death threats:

Thanks for signing this petition guys, you have all made this possible.

But there is something thing I wish to address to.

Supporters on Steam: I made this petition so you guys can have freedom in modding, no paywall to get in your way to install a mod in a civil manner. I do not endorse any death threats towards Gabe Newell or any other person. I do not endorse you guys spamming about the paywall, we know it is there, and we know you want it gone. I ask you to please not do that, as it will only impact our cause negatively.

Thank you for your patience and your support.

Even the creator of the petition, who obviously does not like the idea of paid mods recognizes that death threats over the issue are simply not right.  Death threats seem to be a "go-to" reaction for some people on the internet, it's as though people forget there is a person on the other end reading your death threat. Someone who can become very afraid for their safety.

If you need a wake-up call on the concept, there's a video of a livestreamer breaking down pleading the internet to stop swatting livestreamers. This person had a gun pointed at their family because of a swatting. Death threats can be just as impactful on someone's life.