Hmm? What do you mean by this? If you're referring to the (YC) submission tags, that doesn't indicate that particular bias.
Note that submissions from certain people/companies add extra relevant context
> Note that submissions from certain people/companies add extra relevant context
Yes, I think I agree. I'm okay with the way things are, ish. It would be better with more transparency, though, but HN's "goal" seems to be quality, and they certainly think that quality is increased with increased visibility to YC-related submissions. My only problem would be HN posing as "fair", which I don't think they do.
If you are a very well known user like patio, it's possible that you'll get a good amount of upvotes more easily. For most users, however, it seems to me to be a matter of good title, good content and luck as to whether or not your submission does well.
Patio's comments, in my experience, are an outlier in quality/length, so it's hard to use that as a trend.
Anyway, to me it seems that, with the rare exception, HN is pretty good in each submission being judged on its own.