View Full Version : Suggestion to stop ads from bots
Perplexinator
01/06/2011, 22:37
So, there's recently been a lot of bots making accounts on this forum to promote their item, whether it's drugs or something else.
I feel a good suggestion to deter this a bit would be to enforce a requirement of all new members before they can post on the forum.
Each new member must wait one week before making a post.
This encourages long-time lurkers to make an account so that they can post if they need to in the future.
It also deters the bots who will want to post instantly after making a new account.
I have my doubts the bots will be diligent enough to wait a week before posting their ad.
Also, within that week, if gives the moderators and administrators time to look into who have made accounts recently to perhaps catch the bots before they get to post due to them having outrageously unrealistic names.
So, there is my suggestion. Something needs to be done.
We've actually tried many those restrictions and it hurts the community because just don't care to sign up. The system we have now where members report spam and the staff takes care of it does seem to work. I am going to restrict all new members to post a thread in the New Members forum first (Say "Hi!") before they are allowed to post anywhere else though.
charlesdward
01/07/2011, 01:59
We've actually tried many those restrictions and it hurts the community because just don't care to sign up. The system we have now where members report spam and the staff takes care of it does seem to work. I am going to restrict all new members to post a thread in the New Members forum first (Say "Hi!") before they are allowed to post anywhere else though.
That's a good idea, actually. At least then the spam is contained in one specific area so you can nip it in the bud right away.
I can see how tracking spam posts across random threads, even with us reporting it, can be a bit of a chore.
Have you considered forbidding new members from posting links for their first five posts? As a recent arrival myself, I wouldn't have considered that onerous.
Have you considered forbidding new members from posting links for their first five posts? As a recent arrival myself, I wouldn't have considered that onerous.
That's not a horrible idea; I'll have to check the capabilities of the system.
As of 5 minutes ago; all new members are moderated; and the only forum they can post in is the New Member forum. Once they post their friendly "Hi I'm new!" thread; then they'll be promoted to a registered user. This should greatly curve the spammers as they can't spam into old threads and necro them.
Ultim8 Avenger
01/07/2011, 11:53
That's not a horrible idea; I'll have to check the capabilities of the system.
As of 5 minutes ago; all new members are moderated; and the only forum they can post in is the New Member forum. Once they post their friendly "Hi I'm new!" thread; then they'll be promoted to a registered user. This should greatly curve the spammers as they can't spam into old threads and necro them.
nice. good job bossman!
but i can't help but think...
all those spambots losing their jobs. :cry:
d_knight7
01/07/2011, 12:29
all those spambots losing their jobs. :cry:
They'll have to swallow their dignity and become lawyers.
drax2099
01/07/2011, 12:40
While I like Suttkus idea that all new members must have at least 5 (or 10) posts before they can make a post with a link in it, we had three rather aggressive spammers there and one had 12 posts before they started opening many threads and by the time GryphandSPAMSaBOT got caught and cut out he was at least 59 posts across many threads. (Poor Latveria in Europe EU!)
By the way these Spammers one was trying to boost hit counts and one was trying to get Trojan viral. You can tell by the way the subject matter loads.
I believe it may also be why WizKids site may be giving us some loading issues right now and is not an html issue.
So to reiterate my point Suttkus has a good idea it just might not always work.
The "New Member" group currently limits just about everything (no signature, no bbcode, etc.), but that is just for 1 post. I have thought about a multi-step system like you mentioned:
New Member (< 1 post) >>> Rookie Member (<100 posts) >>> Veteran Member
I just don't want to make a poor first impression of the community for new members. We need new blood on the site, just like HeroClix needs new blood into the game.
mattsolo
01/07/2011, 13:51
The "New Member" group currently limits just about everything (no signature, no bbcode, etc.), but that is just for 1 post. I have thought about a multi-step system like you mentioned:
New Member (< 1 post) >>> Rookie Member (<100 posts) >>> Veteran Member
I just don't want to make a poor first impression of the community for new members. We need new blood on the site, just like HeroClix needs new blood into the game.
Great Job! Now if you could only do something about the Moderators that have sig lines longer than my... well some of them have really long sig lines.
The "New Member" group currently limits just about everything (no signature, no bbcode, etc.), but that is just for 1 post. I have thought about a multi-step system like you mentioned:
New Member (< 1 post) >>> Rookie Member (<100 posts) >>> Veteran Member
I just don't want to make a poor first impression of the community for new members. We need new blood on the site, just like HeroClix needs new blood into the game.
Just be upfront in the introductory email, "We are trying to prevent spam bots from ruining our forum, so please bear with us." Most people hate spam and will understand that they need a period to show that they aren't spammers.
Another option is to make it be like some kind of Turring test. Could "probationary" members have a little bar on their post with buttons, so that existing members can click "not a spammer" after they say something intelligent and relevant? It will either block the spammers, or force them to develop human-like AIs, either of which would be interesting!
iceman243
01/07/2011, 14:00
Nice work trying to solve this problem while still giving a good impression of the site to the newbs! What a pain to deal with...
red king
01/07/2011, 14:01
Just be upfront in the introductory email, "We are trying to prevent spam bots from ruining our forum, so please bear with us." Most people hate spam and will understand that they need a period to show that they aren't spammers.
Another option is to make it be like some kind of Turring test. Could "probationary" members have a little bar on their post with buttons, so that existing members can click "not a spammer" after they say something intelligent and relevant? It will either block the spammers, or force them to develop human-like AIs, either of which would be interesting!
I like it!
Then we only have to ban the ones looking for Sarah Conner!
Typhon, may I suggest changing the "intro text" in the new member forum to specifically request that new members say something game related rather than generic? A lot of spam-bots are programmed to say something along the lines of,
"Hello, I'm new, but I've been a big fan for a long time!" before hitting you with "check out my webcamz!"
Even asking them to post something as simple as, "What's your favorite superhero team" would be a big help in weeding out the wheat from the chaff. Or maybe we should say the steak tenderloin from the spam.
Since we're only asking for 1 post before the system automatically makes them a full member; the content isn't really that worthwhile. We could have the system be 100% moderator approved, but we currently don't have the staff to manually approve every new member ... and I know from experience that if I sign up for a website; I want to participate immediately. Even the 1 hour delay right now may be enough for someone not to use the site.
Since we're only asking for 1 post before the system automatically makes them a full member; the content isn't really that worthwhile. We could have the system be 100% moderator approved, but we currently don't have the staff to manually approve every new member ... and I know from experience that if I sign up for a website; I want to participate immediately. Even the 1 hour delay right now may be enough for someone not to use the site.
I still like the idea of saying something specific in the forum.
My favorite superhero group is:
Like maybe a little questionare? It'll make it easier for us to pick out the spambots faster before they can get to their second post, or something?
I like the idea just since there are some questionable spambots out there that don't post links or anything like that..
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