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Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 6:46 pm
by Phoenixwarrior141
We really need a system to keep these bots from posting the same thing a few hundred times and nearly crash the board.

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 1:43 am
by Endoperez
Phoenixwarrior141 wrote:We really need a system to keep these bots from posting the same thing a few hundred times and nearly crash the board.
Yup.

Would it be possible to auto-ban anyone who has only posted spam after 100 disapproved posts?

The clauses:

Has any post been approved? If NO, then
Have over 100 posts been DISapproved? If YES, then

AUTO-BAN!

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 5:57 am
by Glabbit
That's a good idea, actually.
Does anyone know how that could be implemented onto the forums? We'd have to propose the plugin to Jeff, I'm sure.

Though in my opinion that '100 posts' could easily be reduced to 50. Or even 20.
Heck, probably 10.

Honestly, what human being would manage to make 10 posts that we'd disapprove whilst trying to join the community?
Besides possibly Phoenix.

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 6:25 am
by Endoperez
Glabbit wrote:That's a good idea, actually.
Does anyone know how that could be implemented onto the forums? We'd have to propose the plugin to Jeff, I'm sure.

Though in my opinion that '100 posts' could easily be reduced to 50. Or even 20.
Heck, probably 10.

Honestly, what human being would manage to make 10 posts that we'd disapprove whilst trying to join the community?
Besides possibly Phoenix.
It's possible for one preorderer to intentionally try and ban someone who necro'ed a dozen old threads on Lugaru forum or something. To be on the safe side, 50+ disapproves would be better.

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 6:33 am
by Glabbit
That makes sense. You drive a hard bargain, sir.
What say we make it 25?

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 11:41 am
by Endoperez
Glabbit wrote:That makes sense. You drive a hard bargain, sir.
What say we make it 25?
I say we leave this up to the one who has to implement it, if anyone who can do that is found.

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 1:38 pm
by Phoenixwarrior141
No, better solution entirely:

Keep the new people from posting another thread/post until the post is approved by a moderator (Considering I leave this open most of the day, that shouldn't be a problem).

This means for every one bot, 1 post and 1 thread.

Disapproved bots could be auto-banned, but that might be a bit dramatic for the humans who attempt to join.

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 1:49 pm
by Endoperez
Phoenixwarrior141 wrote:No, better solution entirely:

Keep the new people from posting another thread/post until the post is approved by a moderator (Considering I leave this open most of the day, that shouldn't be a problem).

This means for every one bot, 1 post and 1 thread.

Disapproved bots could be auto-banned, but that might be a bit dramatic for the humans who attempt to join.
Again, I think a higher limit would be better. Maybe 10 posts or so?


The solution we come up with should cause as little disruption to a normal user as possible. Occassionally, posts in the less used sections slip by with no one noticing them. The oldest had been there for over a week, at least.

I think replies to old threads might not bump the thread until the posts are approved.

Only allowing one post might not work during holidays, when new users might be bristling with joy and new ideas and regulars might be on a break.


Also, only allowing one post would make it harder to know which bots to spam. 10 posts show how much and how quickly posts are spammed.

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:34 pm
by Phoenixwarrior141
The idea, however, is that we'll sort out bots and ban them before they crash the board.

New users won't want to post multiple threats anyways.

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 3:21 pm
by Grayswandir
I think the obvious answer is to ban any new member that has letters, symbols, or numbers in their username. Thus, we get rid of the problem entirely. Of course, we'd have to wait for them to post something then come up with a flimsy excuse to get rid of them.

Another solution I saw was to make all members with zero posts unable to see anything but one thread on the entire forum. They weren't allowed access to anything else until they replied once to that specific thread. It kept all the bad shit in one section and let all the real members through. And if you're still lurking with zero posts. Tough. Now you'll have one.

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 3:23 pm
by Phoenixwarrior141
Makes sense, but that can still be a problem to normal people.

I still like my solution.

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2014 4:32 pm
by Grayswandir
My idea may cause "issues" with normal users and cause stress in their otherwise unfulfilled and fruitless lives. However, it would also get rid of a majority of the spam being posted. Most of the bots post new threads, a few of them do use replies, but most of them create new threads each and every time. If zero post accounts aren't allowed to create new threads, we basically nip them at the bud and only the bots that reply will get through. Thus cutting down on the spam we have to deal with in the first place. Someone would have to go through the member database every so often to get rid of zero post accounts, but we'd easily be able to tell which accounts were real because they'd have one post.

As for "normal users"...assuming they are smart enough to follow directions and have regular reading comprehension they'll be able to figure out how to get to the rest of the forum. Preorder Members would be unaffected as it is because they'd already have access to the secret area and we don't have to worry about them being bots.

Any new member would only see one thread that reads something like this:
SPAM PROTECTION: REPLY TO THIS THREAD TO ACCESS THE REST OF THE FORUMS
Please post your real name, your social security number and a valid credit card number with the three-digit security number on the back. Please remember to include the expiration date, we can't use it if you don't give us all your information.

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 4:03 am
by Korban3
Zip code too.

Image

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:15 pm
by renamedperson
Korban3 wrote:Zip code too.

Image
So Captchas don't work anymore?

Re: Sudden surge of spam

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 6:52 am
by Glabbit
I'm not sure they ever truly have.
Sure, they've had some positive effect, but the AI-race just keeps going.