Is it OK to post a job relating to gaming?

[#1]

We have a fairly straightforward project where we need a mathematician to help us develop a spreadsheet to work out probabilities/outcomes/odds of winning some online games we are developing. It's basically helping us with reusable formulas we can use in the spreadsheet as we change certain conditions so we can see how the probability/odds of meeting different winning conditions change.

I've looked through the terms of service and there doesn't seem to be anything against this, but I have tried posting this job on another website and they closed my account for terms violation, without specifying what it was that was violating their terms (they also don't list anything in their terms against gambling/gaming etc).

So I wanted to check this was OK on here before I went through the whole process of posting the job.

[#2]

re: "Is it OK to post a job relating to gaming?"

Yes.

But "a job related to gaming" is a broad category. For example, is this a job asking an artist to draw an elderly couple playing chess? Such a job would certainly be allowed.

It is possible that a "job related to gaming" could violate a specific Upwork ToS rule. But as a general concept, Upwork allows jobs related to gaming.

[#3]

Hi Jonathan,

Thank you for reaching out to us. You may want to check this page to find which types of jobs are not allowed on Upwork. Let us know if you have further questions. 

[#4]

This is a fantastic link that Forum moderator Nikola referenced.

https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500007578942-What-kind-of-jobs-aren-t-allowed-on-Upwor...

"What kind of jobs aren't allowed on Upwork?"

For the record, here are words that do NOT appear on this page:

- gaming

- game

- gambling

I think this page is a really good guide.

The original poster was worried about posting a job which would violate Upwork rules. An extensive discussion of Upwork rules can be found here:

https://www.upwork.com/legal

Is it necessary to read and memorize all of that before posting a job?
No.

If the original poster (or any client) has a question, it is fine to post here in the Forum.

FROM FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE: I have posted nearly 100 jobs on Upwork. It IS POSSIBLE to post a job which gets taken down or removed because Upwork's automated algorithms incorrectly flag it as a job which violates Upwork rules. But typically one can simply adjust the wording to make the job post more clear, and then one is able to post the job and hire freelancers.

As a practical matter: I have had that happen, but my Upwork account was not suspended or terminated or anything. If a sincere client is posting legitimate jobs which don't violate Upwork's core principles, I don't think they need to worry about getting kicked off the platform.

When Upwork kicks a client off the platform, it is not due to a misunderstanding or minor unintentional infraction. Upwork doesn't like to kick real clients off of the platform. When it kicks a client off of the platform, it is because that person is a scammer or a person who is intentionally and repeatedly violating serious Upwork rules.