Over the weekend, it came to light that Team Fortress 2 has been struggling with a severe botting issue for two years and little has been done to help. Valve has even failed to acknowledge the community's feedback, sowing some bitter seeds. The bots range from aimbotters to those proclaiming to sell child porn to racist and homophobic bigots, flooding lobbies with hate speech while making games a nightmare to play. IGN wrote a report detailing the problem, bringing it to light, as well as the call to action from fans, with many calling it "literally unplayable". In the wake of these reports, Medic actor Robin Atkin Downes has said that he will reach out to Valve and ask about the problem."TF2 community! I hear you," Downes opened. "Please understand that although I worked as an actor on the game, I do not work for Valve. That being said, I will do what I can to help you. I will contact those I know at Valve this week and ask them about this situation."
However, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Half-Life writer Chet Faliszek stressed not to harass employees or actors over the problem, saying that "the TF2 community is amazing and better than this." It was in response to fans calling for a protest at Valve HQ, likening it to the Half-Life 3 ones held back in 2011.
Some replied that these fan campaigns were humorous and not harassing, but Faliszek replied, "People showing up at your workplace gets less and less funny every year."
So while Downes reaches out to Valve for comment and seeks to get to the bottom of the issue on his side, it's important not to overstep boundaries and harass people to try and stop the harassment. Fighting fire with fire won't work.