Misleading place images

To see misleading images of anything on Roblox, go to Deceptive advertising.

Misleading place 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 place 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 place creator is still rewarded for that player visiting their place. Using misleading place 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 place images is also commonly associated with builders practicing the bait and switch scam.

The most notable users who have used misleading place images include jaredvaldez4 (Terminated), Adrian928, Pieperson50, RegularYT (Terminated) and Rebreb97 (Terminated).

Detection of misleading places
Misleading places are commonly associated with certain game and description characteristics, including:
 * The place title is inaccurate compared to the place 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.
 * The description of the game not matching up with the title of the game. However, typically the description of these places will not describe the game, only list links to VIP 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 place does not have a common theme. For instance, a misleading game might have an image gallery might have both a picture  of Spongebob and a picture of Minecraft.
 * There are more dislikes for the game than likes. Players will often dislike a game if they determine that it is misleading.
 * The place'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 your game.)
 * Typically, the image gallery for the game contains a screencap from Minecraft, Spongebob, Family Guy, 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 Denis and DanTDM.
 * Most thumbnails contain free models.
 * Sometimes, the thumbnail and title of game will be changed regularly to something different by the developer.
 * In most misleading places it would say __ for surprise but it did 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."

Decline of misleading places
On June 18, 2013, the rating system was implemented to games, allowing players to rate places with a like (thumbs up) or a dislike (thumbs down) to show how well the place 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 places 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 place 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 place is put "under review" indefinitely and sometimes the game gets reset to a default Starter Place. Groups that made a misleading place can also be locked.

Depending on how many times a user has been banned for this action, they may even get terminated for it.

"Rob a restaurant" Games
In these games, you don't rob the restaurant. Instead, you just complete a obby for a surprise, the surprise is a teleporter that teleports you to another game for more place visits. Remember, do not play this game.

Mineblox
In 2017, some ROBLOXians created a game called Mineblox. However, the game claimed it is Minecraft, but it's not. The game had gone to the front page, but it went off the front page a couple of days later.

"Free Admin" Games
In these games, it requires you to do something in order to become an admin of the game.

"Escape ____ Obby
These games suggest that you'll have to go through an obby, as well as run away from someone. However, the real game is a general obby.

Usually, the thumbnails for these games show “lava jumps” that lead to said character, with large eyes and stolen mouth assets from BFDI.

Repeated Keyword games
These games are usually have a repeated keyword such as Obby or Tycoon. An example would be "OBBY OBBY OBBY OBBY".

These games usually have lots of dislikes.

"___ Tycoon" Games
These tycoon games may usually take you to a normal, no sense, obby or tycoon. However, sometimes it might be just a off-topic tycoon, like "Murder Tycoon".

More coming soon