Jan 7
Dear Michael, Your Vimeo Account Has Been Removed
Just got this via email:
Dear Michael Zenke:
Your account has been removed by the Vimeo Staff for violating the Terms of Service of Vimeo.com
Reason: Uploading game walk-throughs, game strategy videos, depictions of player vs player battles, raids, or other videos that simply depict individuals playing a video game. We hope you find a video host more suited to your needs. If you believe this was an error, please send a civil response to this email and we will work with you, assuming you are correct.
Regards,
Vimeo
Here’s what I actually sent them:
Dear Vimeo,
No, you’re absolutely correct. “Videos that simply depict inviduals play a videogame” were all I had in my account. Under the terms your site operates, my account was entirely due for removal.
However, I want to note two things. First, I find it a bit offensive that videogaming should be looked on as somehow ‘beneath’ the notice of your website. Machinima and in-game activities are a rich part of gaming culture, and the dismissive tone of your email to me here is very frustrating. Why videogames and gaming activities are somehow ‘not good enough’ for your site is somewhat beyond me.
Second, I just recently obtained an HD camcorder. Given the (previously) pleasant experience I’ve had with your site, I was planning to spend the money required to move my account to premium status. Now that you’ve removed my account, you’ve also removed my interest in doing so. Your choice to view videogaming in this light has, as of today, cost you money. Please take that into consideration as well.
Thanks for your time,
- Michael Zenke
Here’s what I want to say to Vimeo:
Fuck you. Fuck you and the horse you road in on, you pretentious ‘art-loving’ prats. Gaming’s not good enough for you, eh? Well, gee, I guess I’ll just have to go spend money with one of the other hojillion video-hosting services out there. Sucks to be you! (raspberry)
I’m so glad I’ve grown up so much over the last few years.
18 comments18 Comments so far
Damn this is awful
I have been hosting my video blog on their and like you recently bought a HD camera for blogging use and was thinking baout upgrading to the premium service.
I’ve no idea where to head next, i loved the simplicity of Vimeo but this is bad!
Give WeGame a shot. They even offer their own free video capture client (though it doesn’t work on every single game like Fraps will) but you can upload files to your account without the client.
It’s 100% focused on game videos!
While the “Rational and Polite Michael” response gets the job done, I like the “Hate-Filled Angry Michael” response more.
Death to “Polite Michael!” We demand more “Hate-Filled Angry Michael!”
Jason (resident drunken idiot of Channel Massive)
I prefer “Nerd-Rage Michael”, too.
Brings back memories of a “Hulk. Smash.” moment had when discussing Hasbro’s idea of charging a monthly fee to play D&D 4th edition over the web. Good times :)
Thats sucky. I guess they’re trying to keep the ‘quality’ of their videos high? kinda lame.
Whats so bad is that Vimeo’s available quality is by far the best, though youtube HD is getting close (but can you upload HD on a ‘free’ account?)
So… I’m supposed to be biased to my employer (Photobucket), but our video quality is pretty dang bad. But, I do have the ability to suggest or even implement improvements! Any suggestions on how Photobucket can really improve for gamers?
My current idea is a screenshot synchronizer that monitors your directories and automatically uploads them to photobucket in the background. I could do the same with video (up to 5 minute), but again, our video quality is a little lacking currently.
I use viddler for all my videos. I prefer their quality.
I think that a lot of video sites are bamboozled by the Let’s Play forum on Something Awful.
Wow, that is ridiculous.
I’d take my business elsewhere. What does Vimeo have that YouTube doesn’t? Just better quality? I thought YouTube does the HD stuff now.
Ugh! That’s terrible. Their Terms of Service is dumb. They should get a new, cooler one.
I think Vimeo as a sovereign entity can do as it pleases. I don’t see a condescending tone, just a simple statement of fact about their terms of service. I really don’t think you’re justified in your feelings; just use a service that supports your video types. Heh.
Frustrating and annoying.
On the other hand, if they want their service to express a view of the world that does not include video games (which they lump in with porn, the incitement of racial hatred, and spam), that is their prerogative.
They do seem to allow Machinima, if you clearly label it as such because, unlike porn I guess, they don’t know it when they see it.
Such is the gamer’s lot. I was at Christmas dinner when my youngest cousin, a strident 22 year old art major, at the mention of World of Warcraft responded, “that game that loser teenage boys play?” I got to point at three people at the table who were neither teenagers nor losers, one of whom was also not a boy.
And, in a final pair of nits, I have to admit, having been on both sides of the situation, hearing somebody say “I was just about to spend money with you, but now I won’t” is generally viewed as blustering. On the other hand, working for a company that often advises other companies on customer service, putting a phrase like “assuming you are correct” in a letter like this is not only unnecessary but is also likely to anger or annoy a potential or current customer.
I hope Vimeo rots in hell. Their whole HD gimmick is already outdone by others, and their TOS won’t be tolerated by normal people. Even YouTube is getting crazy about gaming videos, as they’ve recently removed a bunch of mine that I had up for almost 3 years.
I would’ve taken a middle route between politely miffed Michael and frothing Michael. While they’re fully within their right to close your account for this reason, it’s still a stupid reason. There’s also nothing on the main site that’d indicate there’s some bias against video game movies: “Vimeo is a thriving community of people who love to make and share video. From simple moments to masterpieces, Vimeo is the perfect home for you to upload, store and share all the video you create.” Nothing about “only home movies” or “budding art films” or whatever. Nice of them to bury such in the TOS, and also nice of them to not give you a warning before closing your account.
I see they’re partially based out of ‘Portland’, and given they’re smug enough not to indicate which Portland I’ll presume they means Oregon instead of Maine. As a transplant from the east coast, I can vouch for Portland’s supersaturation of pretentious prats.
Hee. Thanks for the good chat, all. I always forget that people actually read this thing until days like this. :)
And never mind that Vimeo clips are almost always not viewable by people outside of the USA.
My initial thought was that Vimeo wasn’t rolling around in as much money as YouTube, so they needed to implement limits to stay profitable, or at least bleed money less quickly. In such a situation, yeah, I might consider banning video game playing videos on the grounds that they have an amazingly small target audience.
Then I found Vimeo’s official statement (backup link). Okay, they do note the resource limitations. But what they say first is, “The Vimeo staff does not feel that videos which are direct captures of video game play truly constitute ‘creative expression’.” Vimeo can get bent. Sure, straight video of a game is pretty low creative expression. But with adding commentary, or information on how to play, editing to highlight interesting moments, or having someone tag along in a MMOG solely to act as a cameraman is absolutely creative expression. By their standard the nightly news frequently isn’t “creative expression.”
Oddly, if they would have simply omitted the first point and said, “We’re poor, backlogged, and video game videos are a huge chunk of the problem. Sorry, we need to ask you to leave for the good of the service as a whole,” I wouldn’t be so annoyed at them.
Michael,
I take this point to humbly suggest you use the following, an except from the loving Mr. Skullhead, one of the site admins for Kingdom of Loathing, giving his thoughtful insights about those who were unhappy with their most recent promotion:
Arashmin, and those who share the sentiment below, fuck you. Fuck each and every one of you. Fuck you sleeping, fuck you waking up, fuck you standing, fuck you lying down. Fuck the horse you rode in on, the groom that brushed its mane, and the blacksmith that made its shoes. Fuck your mother, your father, any siblings, and any other living members of your family tree. Fuck you.
THAT sounds more like the Michael I know :)
I remember when they decided to excommunicate gaming videos. It was a sad day for me, but not for the usual reasons. Vimeo is one of the only “video” sites that I can get to at work! :)
PTD
Yeah, I’ve been following their asshattery for a while.
http://www.robotskirts.com/2008/07/27/vimeo-bans-gaming-videos/
When they introduced the pay option, I wondered if videogames would be added back in. I think only half their staff realizes they have customers.