List manipulation?

Yep, and as Sckxyss poisnts out, these are by people who have only recently joined.

Continuing from last ones I noted from the E Re album ratings page (StevenHack being the the most recent of those I already had listed):

• BRADER

Joined date: 12/13/2009

Has only rated E-Re.
..................................................................................................................

• angelkk

Joined date: 12/14/2009

MAGMA Live/Hhaï (Köhntark)(rating only)
MAGMA Ëmëhntëhtt-Rê(rating only)
TRANSATLANTIC The Whirlwind(rating only)
THE TANGENT Down And Out In Paris And London | review

Other Magma ratings a smokescreen perhaps?
......................................................................................................

lanz

Joined date: 12/14/2009

OZRIC TENTACLES Strangeitude(rating only)
OZRIC TENTACLES The Yumyum Tree(rating only)
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME The Great Misdirect(rating only)
MAGMA Ëmëhntëhtt-Rê(rating only)
DREAM THEATER Black Clouds & Silver Linings(rating only)
BRIGHTEYE BRISON Believers & Deceivers(rating only)
NEMO Barbares(rating only)
THE TANGENT Down And Out In Paris And London(rating only)

..................................................................................................

• spacefunk

Joined date: 12/14/2009
KAIPA Inget Nytt Under Solen (rating only)
ROINE STOLT Wallstreet Voodoo(rating only)
ROINE STOLT Fantasia(rating only)
ROINE STOLT The Flower King (rating only)
MAGMA Ëmëhntëhtt-Rê(rating only)
THE FLOWER KINGS Stardust We Are(rating only)
THE FLOWER KINGS Paradox Hotel(rating only)
THE FLOWER KINGS Unfold The Future(rating only)
THE FLOWER KINGS The Sum Of No Evil(rating only)
THE TANGENT Down And Out In Paris And London(rating only)
PLANET X MoonBabies(rating only)
PLANET X Quantum(rating only)

A four this time for E-Re and five for Down and Out

...............................................................................................

• tull

Joined date: 12/14/2009

BILL BRUFORD One of a Kind(rating only)
WEATHER REPORT Black Market(rating only)
STEVEN WILSON Insurgentes(rating only)
DEREK SHERINIAN Planet X(rating only)
DEREK SHERINIAN Inertia(rating only)
DEREK SHERINIAN Molecular Heinosity(rating only)
PANZERBALLETT Hart Genossen Von Abba Bis Zappa(rating only)
DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA Sing-Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious(rating only)
PORCUPINE TREE The Sky Moves Sideways (rating only)
PORCUPINE TREE The Incident(rating only)
IL CASTELLO DI ATLANTE Capitolo 7 - Tra Le Antiche Mura(rating only)
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME The Great Misdirect(rating only)
REDEMPTION Snowfall on Judgment Day(rating only)
PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI Stati Di Immaginazione(rating only)
PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI Dracula Opera Rock(rating only)
PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI L'isola di niente (rating only)
PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI Per Un Amico(rating only)
JETHRO TULL Thick As A Brick(rating only)
EMERSON LAKE & PALMER Brain Salad Surgery(rating only)
EMERSON LAKE & PALMER In the Hot Seat (rating only)
EMERSON LAKE & PALMER Pictures at an Exhibition(rating only)
MAGMA 1001° Centigrades(rating only)
MAGMA Ëmëhntëhtt-Rê(rating only)
MAGMA Köhntarkösz(rating only)
ELOY Ocean(rating only)
THE TANGENT Down And Out In Paris And London(rating only)
FOCUS Moving Waves (rating only)
TRANSATLANTIC SMPTe (The Roine Stolt Mixes)(rating only)
CAMEL Mirage(rating only)
YES Relayer(rating only)
YES Close To The Edge(rating only)

Like with spacefunk who joined and rated the albums on the same day, a four for E-Re and a five for Down and Out.

All of the recent rating accounts save one that only rated Magma's (with two stars) have rated both albums and have rated Magma lower.  Plus all joined since the 13th (and most accounts on the 14th).  If rating E-Re a four, which is a very high rating, is to throw people off the scent, it's quite funny.

M@X wrote: I've made a small cleanup of duplicate ratings. It should be more "accurate" now. I have also improve the function to check for duplicate ratings.

I see that a lot of ratings have been removed from The Tangent's Down and Out page, but I don't see any gone from Magma's Emehntehtt-Re page. http://www.progarchives.com/album-reviews.asp?id=25584


Edited by Logan - December 16 2009 at 12:34

Thanks M@X!

I have a question: Have all ratings for those who created multiple accounts for those albums been deleted?  In other words, if a person is found to have created more than one account, will the person be penalized by removing ratings from all of his/her accounts?

Sckxyss wrote: Nice work M@X. Man, now all that effort they put into making new accounts every day has gone to waste

I still don't see why people do it at all...it seems to be one of the stupidest things ever, multiple accounts to rate something badly/well rather than one account with a review explaining their POV.  Words can tell me MUCH more than ratings.

In this case I don't believe that it was because of a belief that an album was being too highly rated as purely an attempt to get an album into top position by raising its ratings while knocking down the competition.  I question if E-Re was even listened to.  While at least one five star review was removed, I believe, of Down and Out, that person also rated without reviewing multiple times the same album and then gave multiple lower ratings to E-Re (that one star ratings were being avoided to make it less obvious and because one stars were being deleted before shows some cunning).  Perhaps if said person. or people, had listened to E-Re, then they would have reviewed it to have more of an effect (though I wouldn't put it past such people to plagiarise other people's reviews or BS one's way through a review even if they haven't heard it).

Edited by Logan - December 17 2009 at 18:37

Does someone come to PA only to give just one album from a corner of the world a * rating? Really? Maybe it has to do with the fact that the particular album is "too high" in the genre top albums list...

http://www.progarchives.com/Collaborators.asp?id=13267&listreviews=&showall=true#reviews

These guys do manipulation or at least they're not really following the guidelines:

http://www.progarchives.com/Collaborators.asp?id=23134&listreviews=&showall=true#reviews
http://www.progarchives.com/Collaborators.asp?id=11600&listreviews=&showall=true#reviews
http://www.progarchives.com/Collaborators.asp?id=4843&listreviews=&showall=true#reviews

We can rate as we want to, as long as it makes sense. Having average of 2.5 just from 1 & 5 stars isn't right and certainly breaks the rule about "not everything you like is masterpiece and there's something good on album you want to drown with 1 stars".

So if it looks "normal", there's nothing bad with that. What's normal ? Well, here, admins must use common sense. But I'm glad that mostly, admins investigate it, evaluate results and there are no forced acts, nobody is insisting on deleting them. Mostly. Just in the most "fishy" cases.

^ Martin,

Zitro wrote: And what Logan is saying continues and Magma keeps falling down.

  I though Magma just flows down and burns anything that gets in its way.


Edited by Slartibartfast - April 02 2010 at 09:51

Three Gandalf-related  accounts are now active trying to push up this album: http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=27414

Here are the suspicious accounts:
Gandalfs Mother
Gandalfino
Gandalff

Can their IPs be checked?