Originally posted by Arzola:

Originally posted by SirViolentDeath:

We are interested in any info on all coordinated key scammer/boosters. I was able to tie SteamBST to a russian key reseller website. I will ask Mellow if anything can be done about it.

Yea that is mainly the reason I showed it, I don't want it to just end in "hey, this is shady".
But at the same time, attempting to send this directly to Valve or an equally important figure in this matter, seemed like I was skipping a step to make it count.

I can't guarantee Valve will take action, but my goal is to make enough info available for devs to stay clear of these kinds of people and not do business with them.

Originally posted by 真 MUTANT OVERLORD(off.until 1.04:

Originally posted by talgaby:

Hey, they are still at least better than Salz. He would have threatened you to send him 10k keys for free to not get your games review bombed.

Salz? You mean Germany or a person?

SalzStrange, a greenlight booster that extorted devs though we dont have concrete proof of that. It's just something we have heard from devs though

We are interested in any info on all coordinated key scammer/boosters. I was able to tie SteamBST to a russian key reseller website. I will ask Mellow if anything can be done about it.

This is something we have been aware of and keeping an eye on.

TL;DR: Don’t make baseless accusations

So I want to address a topic that I have seen pop up over the past year, witch hunting. What is witch hunting? Witch hunting is the process in which a user goes out of their way to essentially start looking for something that isn’t there and they’ve been given no reason to even start looking for what they aim to find, the objective of which isn’t actually apparent. Why am I talking about it? Because I have seen people witch hunt or accuse one another of witch hunting. I have seen situations where the person being accused of witch hunting show sufficient evidence to back up their claims. Since I have been doing some research for a while now, I figured I should make this post just to sort of give and explain some tips with regards of how to effectively conduct yourself when getting research and how to stay out of witch hunting territory.

First off, a person should have evidence to back up what ever claim they are making. Example: If a person suspects a developer having sock puppet accounts, that person should be able to present evidence to support that, such as the same support emails being used (although there are a few rare exceptions to that).
Second, a person should make sure that the evidence they use to back up their claim is sufficient, not trivial. Example: Accusing a developer of using different developer names (sock puppeteering) because they use the same kind of font or is making asset flips is not sufficient evidence.

Lastly, a person must always consider other explanations for the evidence they present before presenting them, especially before making said evidence public. Example: Accusing a developer of scamming customers because they revoked keys that were bought on a third-party website. It is very possible that the developer had keys stolen from them on their website, then sold to a third-party site (see G2A). Unless a person is being out down right insulted/harassed by the developer (like DH) or there is an overwhelming amount of evidence to prove otherwise, don’t always assume malice or sinister intent from a developer’s actions. Your first theory is almost always going to be wrong (I say that from experience).

I know Steam has gotten worse regarding quality control, with loads of clone games, asset flips, and even outright offensive content to some people. Last year we had a lot of “bad actors” come out of the woodwork and I know that puts people on alert for more of them. I can understand that. I get and am happy that people want to help clean up Steam, as that was the reason I joined Sentinels of the Store. However, it is absolutely vital to not get frantic about it. I can’t stress this enough as last year I spent countless hours gathering information and research. If you want to help, the best way to help is support the games you enjoy on Steam; write reviews on them, tell the developers how much you enjoy their game in their forums, and leave constructive feedback.

Thank you for reading this and my utmost apologies for the lengthy post

SirViolentDeath

Sentinels of the Store Researcher

Edited by Mellow_Online1

I've been meaning to make this post for some time and with 2017 ending I feel now would be an appropriate time to reflect on this past year.

For those of you who don't know, I am SirViolentDeath, a researcher for the Sentinels of the Store (weird title, I know, also no health benefits). I only joined this group around the beginning of February this year. Back then I could not imagine ever being so involved/invested in this group. But here I am now, with notepads and spreadsheets on research topics regarding 'bad actors' on Steam. I have learned a lot of things this year and I hope to continue to learn more next year.
I have had the fortunate opportunity to make new friends along the way. I am very thankful to those people. I am also very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with content creators. I am thankful to those people as well. And lastly, I am grateful to be a part of a community of people who care about videogames. Whether you're a casual gamer, a hardcore gamer, content creator, achievement hunter or game collector; Whether we had good, bad, or awkward times,

I want to wish you (albeit late) happy holidays, and a Happy New Year.

https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/73jw93/public_scamlist_for_indie_devs_contribute_here/

https://t.co/yGEy5tX6YL

https://t.co/yGEy5tX6YL

while I appreciate the gusto from you guys, just because these guys have keys from devs does not mean that those devs are all in cohoots with them. Its usually just a business transaction. Eventually myself or someone else will make a post about this type of thing.