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In forum "Sentinels of the Store General Discussions"

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Sun Lucky/Lucky sun (previously banned developer) Sockpuppet Accounts/ Complete Game List

Originally posted by Hitman:
There was a whole youtube video about these *games*. Hence how I ended up here. Keep up the good work Sentinels.

Thanks for stopping by!
Would you mind linking the video? I did not know someone covered this

Originally posted by milttollin (on vacation):
https://steamhost.cn/app/1461730/Undercover_brother/
https://steamhost.cn/app/1440790/Fled_fierce_city/

Thanks for the tip! I have updated the post

In forum "Sentinels of the Store Review Manipulation"

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Suspected Review Manipulation: Beholder's Lair

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William at Oxford, possible review manipulation

Thanks for the post!

After viewing several of the games and their reviews I would have to agree that the reviews are definitely suspicious

I also did not realize that despite the games not having enough reviews for a score, when combined in a bundle Valve combines the reviews and gives the bundle a score based on that. And as you mentioned it looks like this dev may have used that to his advantage and under the radar.

I will pass this on to Mellow.

Nice work spotting the reviews.

In forum "Sentinels of the Store General Discussions"

596

Steam Game Sharing Thread

Originally posted by wind_candle:
https://steamhost.cn/search/?developer=FreeAnimals_Software
https://steamhost.cn/search/?developer=Dnovel

So I came across these devs when checking through some profiles that have reviewed games by EpiXR, and couldn't help but notice similarities in review activity for their games: 10-20 straight positive reviews during the first couple of days of Early Access launch, then zero activity thereafter. Not to mention most reviews seems to be generic praise that can apply to any game. I guess there might be some form of review manipulation going on, but I haven't found any proof yet. In the mean time I can't help wondering: what's in it for them? Are they trying to game the system? (considering Steam actively promotes games leaving Early Access)

Yes, we too have noticed this to but the trouble is how to prove (without much doubt) that they are engaging in review manipulation (because we know they are). While they review many of the same games its in different orders and that makes it a bit difficult to convince Valve. I suspect that it might be a few people with purchased bot accounts and a lot of them have a ton of hours in CSGO or Dota 2 and some of those have VAC bans (just a theory). We were tipped off to a website that offers paid reviews and even listed a few clients (the website is now down but I did archive the page). The issue is trying to find something that is more concrete than circumstantial and the later Valve may not take seriously.

That being said I do think Valve have sensed something going on as 2 games that had review manipulation have offtopic reviews flagged and some have shown up in the ban wave that Valve enacts.

I will ask the mods if we can create a mega thread for this particular issue as its a lot to look into and analyze. In the mean time the best thing we can do is keep a count of the games and accounts as well as keeping an eye on the positively reviewed new releases, specifically the 100% positive ones where the game looks like shit

Originally posted by wind_candle:
Previously banned dev returns:
https://steamhost.cn/search/?sort_by=_ASC&developer=EpiXR+Games+UG

I faintly recall their games having abnormal positive review streaks, so possibly banned for review manipulation.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/groups/Sentinels_of_the_Store/discussions/0/2791621875937594698/#c2791621875940225431

https://steamhost.cn/app/1424770/Aery__Little_Bird_Adventure/
I checked this game and most of the reviewers' profiles have uncanny similarities: mainly played CS:GO or popular games but suddenly felt like writing a positive review for an obscure indie game; have no achievements unlocked despite the achievements looking easy to unlock according to the description (finish act 1...2...) and having several hours on record.

Hey thanks for the post. We are aware of their circumvention and the suspicious reviews. And I will see if I can talk to Mellow about it. One other game came back that is also circumventing a ban which is
https://steamhost.cn/app/1445410/Aka_Blade_VR/

which is just reuploaded Aka Time VR which also had review manipulation going on as well as copyright infringement

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Sun Lucky/Lucky sun (previously banned developer) Sockpuppet Accounts/ Complete Game List

Originally posted by milttollin:
More...
Escaping maze
Prairie survival

Thanks for the find! Will add it to the list!

596

Steam Game Sharing Thread

Originally posted by Magerama:
Here's a trash-making dev with suspiciously good ratings. NL Studio.

Look at these two... things, in particular:
https://steamhost.cn/app/1417500/Planet_Station/
https://steamhost.cn/app/1398570/Last_Escape/

They're almost the same, you don't need to bury that deep to see it. Launched, like, 20 days apart. Pretty sure that this (Russian, which is evident to me by the phrasing they use) dev is another asset flipper, but this is the easy part. Well, I assume. Pretty sure that they're lifting assets from old 90s shooters. In particular, Bloodshot, as was pointed out by a guy on Planet Station forums. Maybe? I haven't played it, watched some footage and nothing struck me as stolen yet. Could be something more simple.

The way they fake their reviews is even less obvious. I mean, the only thing I have against them is that almost every one of these "reviewers" compares the game to "Doom" (for sure, doing what was asked of them) while it's much more akin to Wolfenstein. I don't think that so many people could mix these games up almost at the same time. Someone had to put the bullshit in their mouths. For them keys, most likely. Anyway, even if there's no direct evidence just now, keep an eye on these shenanigans.

We have been noticing the reviewers for some time now (proving review manipulation such as this is difficult)

In forum "Sentinels of the Store Dirty Devs"

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Copyright and Suspected Review Manipulation: Aka Time VR

The game has been banned

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