Catly Developer Banned Me For Exposing Their Game as Potential Scam

[Vandy]

Hello. As the title says, I was banned for relaying information that is public to the steam discussion board.

During The Game Awards, this suspicious "game" was advertised using styles and assets that had the appearance of being generated by AI systems. I posted about the developer's lack of published history, and of the suspicious deletion of another similar project. All information that I shared was public, found through a few search engine queries.

My message was as follows. If you believe I was banned legitimately and without censorship, please say so, but I feel that the developer is suppressing criticism of the people:

Be wary of Information Security

Disclaimer: the following opinion is just that: opinion based on loose facts. Therefore I will preface any statements with "alleged/ly" to preserve myself from any false reports of defamation.

I suspect that this game may allegedly be, or rely heavily upon the use of AI.

The founder, Kevin Yeoung seems to have scrubbed his data from LinkedIn, despite historical remnants pointing to his background being primarily in finance, carrying only a Bachelor of Science in accounting and finance.

The developer has no other published work to date, but there are traces of an additional, scrapped concept called "Plantly." While webcrawler data shows vague traces of it being marketed through both LinkedIn, Instagram, and possibly other social media websites, all live platforms result in a 404 error while attempting to access.

If this developer is in it for the authentic experience of game development, I would be deeply shocked. This feels artificial (artificial intelligence, you could say). I would not put a single line of personal information into any kind of sign-up process or Steam-linked data sharing if I were you.

Steam, if you are reading this: please vet developers with more scrutiny than this. Frankly, I'm disappointed that TGA allowed them to advertise. I'm sure they payed a hefty sum to get their IP in front of so many viewers, and the unscrupulous opinion of the board members is what decided that money was more important than the spirit or authenticity of game development.

[Mad Scientist]

If you believe there's an issue with a product on the store, go to the products page and report it with relevant details.

[eram]

steam is a program its unable to read your post

[Wolfpig]

You know....maming claims without having any proof or knowledge can be called Badmouthing which can be, depending on content etc., have legal consequences for the one doing that.....and then a "ban" in a forum would be your smallest problem.

[Nx Machina]

Writing a disclaimer has zero validity when you named the individual which is both defamation and libel.

Defamation occurs when false statements are presented as fact and they cause harm to individuals or businesses. Defamation can hurt someone’s reputation and damage their economic opportunities, so it can give rise to a legal claim.

Libel occurs when a false statement is published in written form and does harm to a victim.

[KharnTheKhan]

Originally posted by Vandy:

Hello. As the title says, I was banned for relaying information that is public to the steam discussion board.

During The Game Awards, this suspicious "game" was advertised using styles and assets that had the appearance of being generated by AI systems. I posted about the developer's lack of published history, and of the suspicious deletion of another similar project. All information that I shared was public, found through a few search engine queries.

My message was as follows. If you believe I was banned legitimately and without censorship, please say so, but I feel that the developer is suppressing criticism of the people:

Be wary of Information Security

Disclaimer: the following opinion is just that: opinion based on loose facts. Therefore I will preface any statements with "alleged/ly" to preserve myself from any false reports of defamation.

I suspect that this game may allegedly be, or rely heavily upon the use of AI.

The founder, Kevin Yeoung seems to have scrubbed his data from LinkedIn, despite historical remnants pointing to his background being primarily in finance, carrying only a Bachelor of Science in accounting and finance.

The developer has no other published work to date, but there are traces of an additional, scrapped concept called "Plantly." While webcrawler data shows vague traces of it being marketed through both LinkedIn, Instagram, and possibly other social media websites, all live platforms result in a 404 error while attempting to access.

If this developer is in it for the authentic experience of game development, I would be deeply shocked. This feels artificial (artificial intelligence, you could say). I would not put a single line of personal information into any kind of sign-up process or Steam-linked data sharing if I were you.

Steam, if you are reading this: please vet developers with more scrutiny than this. Frankly, I'm disappointed that TGA allowed them to advertise. I'm sure they payed a hefty sum to get their IP in front of so many viewers, and the unscrupulous opinion of the board members is what decided that money was more important than the spirit or authenticity of game development.

Its pretty obvious its a scam game, All the marketing is based around selling merch even on the steam page. Regardless you should know by now Game Discussions arent Moderated by Steam but by the Friends of the Devs unless something heinous goes on in those discussions Steam moderators will never look at it.


Also disclaimers aren't legally binding against being sued for defamation

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

Defamation occurs when false statements are presented as fact and they cause harm to individuals or businesses.

Thanks, the correct english word did not came into mind when i wrote my text

Originally posted by DarkMageVulnar:

Its pretty obvious its a scam game, All the marketing is based around selling merch even on the steam page.

Im sure there are a lot of games which sell stuff related to their game way before it releases too.


BTW: You do realize that one is a post for a companion App which is tied to the game, the other stuff ingame Items?

[KharnTheKhan]

Originally posted by Wolfpig:

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

Defamation occurs when false statements are presented as fact and they cause harm to individuals or businesses.

Thanks, the correct english word did not came into mind when i wrote my text

Originally posted by DarkMageVulnar:

Its pretty obvious its a scam game, All the marketing is based around selling merch even on the steam page.

Im sure there are a lot of games which sell stuff related to their game way before it releases too.


BTW: You do realize that one is a post for a companion App which is tied to the game, the other stuff ingame Items?

And i should care why? There no information about the game itself, Just what you can buy. Im not gonna sit here and argue with you over an obvious scam, Enjoy your shilling

[fluxtorrent]

"I created a conspiracy out of whole cloth and poor logic skills and people don't want me around!"

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Thanks!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2987350/Catly/

Wishlisted.

[eram]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Thanks!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2987350/Catly/

Wishlisted.

:nkCool:

that looks amazing
instant wishlist

[d@v3]

Originally posted by fluxtorrent:

"I created a conspiracy out of whole cloth and poor logic skills and people don't want me around!"

if you had bothered to do any research[www.digitaltrends.com], you'd know it's not a conspiracy

[mldb88]

So in other words got banned for slander and libel because there’s zero evidence to back up said claims… sounds like a justified ban to me.

[nullable]

Originally posted by d@v3:

Originally posted by fluxtorrent:

"I created a conspiracy out of whole cloth and poor logic skills and people don't want me around!"

if you had bothered to do any research[www.digitaltrends.com], you'd know it's not a conspiracy :conwayfacepalm:

I mean did you read the article, being mysterious and unknown doesn't necessarily equal a scam. it's certainly not what the article claims, so either you didn't read it, you don't expect anyone else to, or you still leap to conclusions and think anyone who doesn't is the foolish one. It would hardly be the first time a game will have over promised and under delivered, see No Man's Sky, Cyber Punk, etc. You and everyone else will just have to wait and see.

You're going to have to live with the fact other people will reserve judgement. And having a store page for a game that's not on sale yet isn't some conspiracy. Neither are fantastical exaggerated claims. Also try to remember bad games get roasted alive. Predicting a game will be bad and going on a crusade against it may not be the righteous cause everyone else needs to entertain.

And at such point in time the game or developer is actually violating Valve's policies your feelings and opinions may not matter, which is why you, the OP and others, are arguing with users and trying to kick up a fuss to feel better instead of patting yourself on the back for having removed the game from Steam successful due to your reports.

[Ice Scream]

Thanks for sharing, added to wish list.

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by DarkMageVulnar:

Originally posted by Wolfpig:

Thanks, the correct english word did not came into mind when i wrote my text





Im sure there are a lot of games which sell stuff related to their game way before it releases too.


BTW: You do realize that one is a post for a companion App which is tied to the game, the other stuff ingame Items?

And i should care why? There no information about the game itself, Just what you can buy. Im not gonna sit here and argue with you over an obvious scam, Enjoy your shilling

I don't even care for the game.
But if people are to dumb to activate their brain for more then 0.1 seconds stuff comes out like what you and the creator of the thread wrote.....