Raven's Cry - Removed From Steam...Again

Aubrielle

Aubrielle

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Vendetta: Curse of Raven's Cry has been removed from Steam because of fake reviews posted by developer TopWare.

Thanks, Couch.

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It appears that publisher TopWare might have been caught out by the powers that be at Steam for posting false reviews for their Vendetta – Curse of Ravens Cry release.

You may not have heard of Vendetta – Curse of Ravens Cry, but it’s a pirate themed adventure that was re-released last year and it came with some of the oddest game trailers we’ve seen featuring some quite fruity language.

Today there’s been some action on SteamDB which shows that entries and information for the game have been deleted from Steam.

It’s now thought that the game has been removed because publisher TopWare has been posting fake reviews which gave the game a 76% positive review score. This is of course against the rules of Steam and a very dodgy practice, especially when the game has been quite publicly slagged off by people unfortunate enough to have played it.

Metacritic’s user scores are down at 3.1, which is not always proof a game is bad, but in this case the user reviews are probably quite accurate.
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More information.

More information.
 
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TopWare. It makes it sound like the game is something you'd pick up at Dollar General in the same aisle as the cheap offbrand earbuds.
 
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"It’s now thought that the game has been removed because publisher TopWare has been posting fake reviews...."

So this time POSSIBLY because of fake reviews. But who knows? Steam will have to announce why it happened.
 
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Aubrielle said:
TopWare. It makes it sound like the game is something you'd pick up at Dollar General in the same aisle as the cheap offbrand earbuds.
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Well they did publish and develop a few games I enjoyed over the years.

Quoted from the developers Wik Page.
1997 — Earth 2140
1998 — Earth 2150: Escape from the Blue Planet
1999 — Gorky 17
1999 — Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator
2000 — Earth 2150: The Moon Project
2001 — Earth 2150: Lost Souls
2004 — I of the Dragon
2005 — Earth 2160
2007 — Two Worlds
2010 — Two Worlds II
2011 — Two Worlds 2: Pirates of the Flying Fortress
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Seems they went bankrupt (Third time).

Link - https://steamcommunity.com/app/281130/discussions/0/624076027620592177/

Lets not forget the corruption and embezzlement from years ago.

Link - http://www.gamespot.com/articles/topware-in-trouble-due-to-embezzlement/1100-2683205/
 
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Whoa...they did Septerra Core?? And all those other ones...I'm familiar with them too, though I have yet to try Two Worlds or Earth 2150, etc. Wow.
 
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Back in the day they published a lot of stuff I loved, like the first big Game Collections called "Gold Games", which basically gave access to a wide variety of games for a little price. They also published Realms of Arkania in Germany. And Jagged Alliance.

Sad to see they (potentially) incorporated such methods.
 
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Aubrielle said:
Whoa…they did Septerra Core?? And all those other ones…I'm familiar with them too, though I have yet to try Two Worlds or Earth 2150, etc. Wow.
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No, they didn't develop Septerra Core, they just publish it. The team that was doing SC went bankrupt before it even came out and they finished the game, illegally, on their own PCs at home before Monolith saved them and got the game out. I was a member of the game's community back then and followed it extensively.
 
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Good grief, it wasn't bad enough that Reality Pump wouldn't update the game and had their devs tell gamers that anything over 30 FPS doesn't matter in gaming. Now this.

It's a real shame, Two Worlds 2 remains one of the best and more underrated games of all time.
 
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"Well they did did publish and develop a few games I enjoyed over the years."

I don't know what games they developed, they're a publisher. Raven's Cry and Vendetta the new somewhat more playable version of Raven's Cry was developed by Reality Pump and published by TopWare.

It is a good game, so don't judge it if you have not played it. The game itself is good. The problem is the very poor optimization which the developer refuses to fix under some of the most lame excuses ever fabricated in history.
 
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I've avoided reality pimp since their debacle of two worlds. First they claimed and preorder sold (iirc) it as Coop. Then promised a editor which was fraudulent, as they pretend there is an editor. They make you register and interview (answer questions via email) to get it, but I don't think anyone ever got it. I've seen less than 5 mods for the game, compared to 1000s for Oblivion.

Then tried to pretend it was like Gothic 3 and Oblivion. Also (iirc) they promised voice, but there was none of very little. Fraud on top of fraud, on top of fraud.
 
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Acleacius said:
I've avoided reality pimp since their debacle of two worlds. First they claimed and preorder sold (iirc) it as Coop. Then promised a editor which was fraudulent, as they pretend there is an editor. They make you register and interview (answer questions via email) to get it, but I don't think anyone ever got it. I've seen less than 5 mods for the game, compared to 1000s for Oblivion.
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I had the chance to talk with one of the lead producer's at reality pump after Two Worlds II was released three years ago. He was very humble and forthcoming.

We talked about the reviews for Two Worlds II, and the content that was unfinished, or cut. He also went on to talk about their plans for a possible Two Worlds III.

It's a shame nothing ever came out of the ideas pitched. Last I read they were working on a game called Sacrilegium with the updated engine from Two Worlds II.

Sadly they were forced to finish Raven's Cry instead after TopWare went bankrupt, and Raven's Cry original developer was dropped. So I can't blame them for this disaster.
 
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LOL, now that is what I'd call an epic fail.
 
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Hyperion said:
Good grief, it wasn't bad enough that Reality Pump wouldn't update the game and had their devs tell gamers that anything over 30 FPS doesn't matter in gaming. Now this.

It's a real shame, Two Worlds 2 remains one of the best and more underrated games of all time.
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I have to say your last line I don't think I have ever seen before....I think you would have to replace the with my.
 
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Hm... I still don't own a copy. Wanted to buy and play it when it's a lot cheaper.
 
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A pity, if they really did this thing. I came very close to buying this title when it was first released but thankfully the early reviews told a terrible story. On the other hand, I have read some fairly positive things about this re-release (from people I know) and I had intended to give it a chanse once it showed up on a sale.

Hope the game is returned to steam at some point.
 
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Couchpotato said:
I had the chance to talk with one of the lead producer's at reality pump after Two Worlds II was released three years ago. He was very humble and forthcoming.

We talked about the reviews for Two Worlds II, and the content that was unfinished, or cut. He also went on to talk about their plans for a possible Two Worlds III.

It's a shame nothing ever came out of the ideas pitched. Last I read they were working on a game called Sacrilegium with the updated engine from Two Worlds II.

Sadly they were forced to finish Raven's Cry instead after TopWare went bankrupt, and Raven's Cry original developer was dropped. So I can't blame them for this disaster.
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Damn shame to see Reality Pump ruined because of this. Two Worlds were not quite of Gothic caliber, but potential was there.
I still don't see the reasoning with them trying to compete with TES or Black Flag, when you have barely a fraction of budget and personnel for it.
 
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