Misleading experience images

:To see misleading images of anything on Roblox, see deceptive advertising.
Misleading experience images are a type of images placed on a game that are intended to lure players in but actually have nothing to do with the game itself, creating a sense of clickbait. Misleading experience images are used to attract the players' attention and trick them into coming to the creators' games. This method of advertising for the game is frowned upon by the Roblox community.
== Controversy and notable abusers ==
Even though a player might leave the game as soon as they determine that the game is being inaccurately advertised, the experience creator is still rewarded for that player visiting their experience. Using misleading experience images is a quick way for builders to get to the front page of the game's page, but once caught, they are oftentimes disrespected by the Roblox community. The use of misleading experience images is also commonly associated with builders practicing the bait and switch scam.
The most notable users who have used misleading experience images include (terminated), (terminated), , (terminated) and (terminated).
== Detection of misleading experiences ==
Misleading experiences are commonly associated with certain game and description characteristics, including:
* The experience title is inaccurate compared to the experience image. An example would be a game with a title of "walk 1000 miles for admin!" and has a thumbnail image of My Little Pony', or if there is a message displayed along the lines of "Finish the obby for a surprise" only for the player to be teleported to another experience instead. Other games like these have titles like "Escape _____".
* The description of the game not matching up with the title of the game. However, typically the description of these experiences will not describe the game, only list links to VIP classic T-shirts, or post irrelevant tags within the description, they also tend to advertise groups that claim to give other things such as bonuses, admin, or VIP.
* The image gallery for the experience does not have a common theme. For instance, a misleading game with an image gallery might have both a picture of a cartoon and a picture of a video game.
* There are more dislikes for the game than likes. Players will often dislike a game if they determine that it is misleading.
* The experience's description tells the user to like and/or favorite for a chance of VIP to get good ratings.
* The game's description says something along the lines of "More Dislikes = The Scarier It Is", or "If you like the game you will get admin." (Note: It is impossible to determine who liked and disliked the user's game.)
* Typically, the image gallery for the game contains a screencap from Minecraft, SpongeBob SquarePants, Family Guy, Fortnite, or a stolen thumbnail from another game (such as an obstacle course, a bridge, or something similar).
* A lot of clickbait games will have a thumbnail from a YouTuber, especially , , and (formerly DanTDM).
* Most thumbnails contain free models.
* Sometimes, the thumbnail and title of game will be changed regularly to something different by the developer.
* Most misleading experiences would have a title like "____ for a surprise!" but actually do nothing.
* The game's title is excessively repeated in all caps, for example, "RIDE INTO MR. KRABS RIDE INTO MR. KRABS RIDE INTO MR. KRABS." This is seen a lot because it makes it more likely to appear in searches.
* Most icons and or thumbnails have an obby course heading toward a popular character or object (most generally toward their mouths).
* The game's title is stolen from another game, for example, "ADOPT ME ADOPT ME ADOPT ME" or simply "Adopt Me!" to confuse players to play their game instead of the real game.
== Decline of misleading experiences ==
On June 18, 2013, the rating system was implemented in games, allowing players to rate experiences with a like (thumbs up) or a dislike (thumbs down) to show how well the experience is created after playing the game. Players typically avoid games where a vast majority of the ratings are negative. Because of this, many, but not all, misleading experiences were thrown off the front page, marking the start of their downfall. Pieperson50's most visited game currently has 1,221 thumbs down in comparison to its 1,131 thumbs up.
== Moderation ==
Misleading experience images are a bannable offense as they are scams. If a user is caught with a misleading game, typically a 7-day ban (sometimes a 3- or 14-day ban) is issued, their experience is put under review indefinitely and sometimes the game gets reset to a default starter place. Groups that made a misleading experience can also be locked.
Depending on how many times a user has been banned for this action, they may even get terminated for it.
== Misleading games ==
=== "Rob a Restaurant" games ===
In these games, players do not rob a restaurant. Instead, players just complete an obby for a surprise. However, the surprise is a teleporter that teleports players to another game for more experience visits.
=== Mineblox ===
In 2017, some players created a game called Mineblox. However, the game claims to be Minecraft, but it is not. The game had gone to the front page, but it went off the front page a couple of days later.
=== "Free Admin" games ===
These games require players to do something in order to become an admin of the game.
=== "Escape ____ Obby" games ===
These games suggest that players will have to go through an obby, as well as run away from someone. However, the real game is a generic obby.
Usually, the thumbnails for these games show "lava jumps" that lead to said character, with large eyes and stolen mouth assets from the said characters.
=== Spam/Repeated keyword games ===
These games usually have a repeated keyword such as "obby" or "tycoon". An example would be "OBBY OBBY OBBY OBBY", or “TYCOON TYCOON TYCOON TYCOON”. These games tend to appear earlier in the Roblox search bar because the search engine experiences search results in the order of matching terms in the game's title.
These games are usually disliked, and often lead to an unrelated tycoon/obby, or a teleport experience.
=== "___ Tycoon" games ===
These tycoon games may usually take players to a normal, no sense, obby or tycoon. However, sometimes it might be just an off-topic tycoon, like "Murder Tycoon".
== Gallery ==
Category:Scamming techniques