Failed to modify topic, Please try again later.

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Chocbomb 18 hours ago

A few years ago i attempted to report a message, and got the error "Failed to modify topic, Please try again later."
I didn't think anything of it, i assumed it was a place-holder error message because other people had reported the post already and that's why it stopped the report ability, but i was wrong.

I'm getting the same error message again in different circumstances.
So i checked to see if there was another issue and found out that if a title to a thread has a few secret characters or words then the thread becomes immune to moderation and can freely be abused without Steam being aware of anything inside it because no-one can use the report mechanic if the title has secret catch-phrases.
Im not sure if the content of the thread is enabling the error aswell, only that the titles of threads share a recurring few numbers and words in threads that give error "Failed to modify topic, Please try again later."

There was a post from 2015 that got locked by a moderator because of "confusion" when it was about the same error issue.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/discussions/forum/1/618463446166389661
It is slightly odd to me that the moderator didn't verbally acknowledge the error to the people within the discussion and then proceed to pass it onto the engineers to investigate but instead locked it, halting any further investigation that spanned 9+ years.

10 years later and still happening.

It seems like this error is being used to allow arguments with some discussions involving specific influencers, developers and laws in specific regions of the world.
Using the Steam client to report i get the error with specific titled posts.
I attempted using Steam's Browser to get around it but no, i still getting the error.
Even using a browser login to try and i still get the error.
There is no way for me to report the thread itself or other replies within the thread because i will get the "Failed to modify topic, Please try again later."

I found quite a few posts about this with google:

https://www.google.com/search?q=steam+Failed+to+modify+the+topic.+Please+try+again+later.+site:steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com&client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=b78c1da0b3392974&sxsrf=AE3TifPDEsEGUP4BW4lPry80--Z9anwtGg:1751620916467&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwixioe08KKOAxXlV2wGHVk0IgwQrQIoAnoECAkQAw&biw=1920&bih=927&dpr=1

Last edited by Chocbomb; 18 hours ago

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Showing 1-9 of 9 comments

Chocbomb 17 hours ago

Sooo.. you think it might be the Steam summer sale secretly restricting the amount of input it accepts per-person ?

That's something i didn't think of.
The amount of tickets the Steam support has to go through during this time must increase each year.

If so, then i understand, i just wish the Error was informative in that case, i can at-least sympathise with the added work i must be adding to them making money selling games during this time.

10 years worth of people posting the same issue and only getting replies from tormented ravings of madmen who survived multiple summer sales.. and not the guiding hand of a moderator but instead a moderators wrath which locks threads without setting the confusion to informed.

Last edited by Chocbomb; 17 hours ago

Chocbomb 11 hours ago

I have no idea what youre talking about.
Starting to think this has nothing to do with steam sale now and going back to my original theories.

Was about getting an error when reporting abusive behaviour in forum discussions..

Failed to modify topic, Please try again later.

Iceira 10 hours ago

Failed to modify topic, Please try again later.
This mean they either server are busy or glitch or bandwide into them is not there.

Chocbomb 10 hours ago

Originally posted by Iceira:
Failed to modify topic, Please try again later.
This mean they either server are busy or glitch or bandwide into them is not there.

Why did you delete the 3 huge walls of text?

cSg|mc-Hotsauce 10 hours ago

Which topic?

Chocbomb 10 hours ago

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:
Which topic?

:nkCool:

Haha, good question.
The error message doesn't tell me what topic, just that it can't modify it.

It's 8 hours later and im still getting the error, but the person i was reporting has a red (banned) tag on them-self now.. so some rogue moderator is dishing out justice either way, probably from other people reporting, altho the banned persons comments insulting others are still there.

cSg|mc-Hotsauce 9 hours ago

You don't have the link to the thread?

Chocbomb 9 hours ago

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:
You don't have the link to the thread?

:nkCool:

Oh is that what you meant by topic?
Is it against the rules to name & shame still? idk if im allowed to post links highlighting bad behaviour and the people within.