Stop the bots!

[ComplicatioN]

Gbatemp should have a rule where you must post into the introduction section.
Doing this shall allow you to view the rest of the forum.

Anyone agree?

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Lol, I was just gonna post a topic on this. Anyway, I didn't, but here's what I wrote before I saw this:

Sorry Hadrian, couldn't find the old thread. No rotten skull fucking today.

Anyway, we've been having a recent spike in spambots. The only thing to stop us from clicking on a thread and having a computer screen plastered with dicks is the mods striking it before we do. So, how about some preemptive measures? List your suggestions here!

Some that have been brought up from the Shoutbox discussion:

- Captcha recognition for membership: There's anti-captcha tools out there though.
- First-post limitations: Enforcing harsh limits on a poster's first post. No images, no embedded links, character limits, etc.
- Deleting inactive accounts: Delete zero or low-post accounts that have been inactive for maybe a period of a year. This would help slow down spambots who make tons of accounts years ago as well as help enforce new membership requirements.
- E-mail activation: Don't know how much this would help (or if we already have it), but e-mail account activation. Basically you enter your e-mail, you get an automated e-mail from here, and you follow the link to activate your account.
- IP Address recognition: All IP addresses would be checked on joining GBAtemp. If you're IP address is the same as another account, an admin must be contacted about it. Of course, admins could approve accounts from the same IP addresses if a valid excuse is given (brothers, roommates, etc).
- Automated locking and post requirements: My idea was to have something like a 10-post requirement in order to start a new topic. However, as Hadrian brought up, spambots could just necrobump old threads to post their random crap. So, if we automatically lock threads that are inactive for, say, six months, and enforce a post requirement of 10 before users can create new topics, it may just help. Sure, they can post in newer threads, but it's easier to nip single posts in the butt. It would also mean new users who come here for one-off issues like a bricked Wii wouldn't waste forum space with new topics. They can now post their questions in one of our fabulous help threads.

 

[Hadrian]

Problem is that its hard enough to find staff we can trust as it is, look at what happened with JPH! I can see some members being predujice to certain new posts. We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods if we still have to check all the disapproved posts anyway?

We could have it so only staff can approve posts but that would be more hassle then just pressing our spambot button seeing we get shit tons on new posters each hour.

*think on*

 

[Domination]

We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods.

We could have one special mod just to overlook this.

I VOTE HADRIAN! DEMOTE HIM!

 

[rockstar99]

Problem is that its hard enough to find staff we can trust as it is, look at what happened with JPH! I can see some members being predujice to certain new posts. We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods.

We could have it so only staff can approve posts but that would be more hassle then just pressing our spambot button seeing we get shit tons on new posters each hour.

how about staff can see who deletes each topic and if the topic was good then they take the guy who deleted it out

 

[MegaAce™]

We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods.

We could have one special mod just to overlook this.

I VOTE HADRIAN! DEMOTE HIM!

He sure already has enough work as moderator.

 

[Zalda]

Problem is that its hard enough to find staff we can trust as it is, look at what happened with JPH! I can see some members being predujice to certain new posts. We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods if we still have to check all the disapproved posts anyway?

We could have it so only staff can approve posts but that would be more hassle then just pressing our spambot button seeing we get shit tons on new posters each hour.

*think on*

What happened to JPH?

 

[rockstar99]

We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods.

We could have one special mod just to overlook this.

I VOTE HADRIAN! DEMOTE HIM!

He sure already has enough work as moderator.

why not somebody from former staff like Thug4life

 

[Guild McCommunist]

We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods.

We could have one special mod just to overlook this.

I VOTE HADRIAN! DEMOTE HIM!

He sure already has enough work as moderator.

why not somebody from former staff like Thug4life

There's a reason they're "former" staff. That doesn't mean they're bad, but it usually means they aren't nearly as active or got sick of all the weight they carry.

 

[rockstar99]

We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods.

We could have one special mod just to overlook this.

I VOTE HADRIAN! DEMOTE HIM!

He sure already has enough work as moderator.

why not somebody from former staff like Thug4life

There's a reason they're "former" staff. That doesn't mean they're bad, but it usually means they aren't nearly as active or got sick of all the weight they carry.

sorry then just dont read my post

 

[tj_cool]

you could also work the other way around:

give certain members the option to UNapprove messages
if they unapprove a message, it won't be visible for other members
but moderators can still re-approve it in case of abuse/whatever

although that wouldn't differ much from Reporting
only the post would be hidden a little faster

edit: former staff does still have moderating power I believe, but as stated, most of them are not very active

 

[Hadrian]

I am still open to Dommy's idea of letting certain members help with approve posts we could have them as a new group:

NEW POSTER APPROVER

Has to be in pink HAS TO BE! And the group name would need to be better...fuck it call them:

HADRIAN & TONI'S MINION

And they could do "other stuff" for us

Also pretty much all staff ranging from Mag to Admin could also chip in if they have spare time. I can probably pick 10 people who can do this and not abuse their "power" but would that even be enough? And also would they be quick enough to deal with new posts so that it wont push away potential great new members.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Anyway, I'll go to my favorite point which was harsh first-post (or first 5 posts, 10 posts, etc) restrictions. No pics so we can't see big dicks and titties on every spambot post (as much as we may like them), no embedded links (like this), character restrictions (since I find a lot of spam bots give rather long spam posts on occasion), and maybe something silly like a question that has to be answered with a yes or no check. These questions would be simple, like "is GBAtemp a .net or a .com?", but just enough so that you can't always check the box to go through with it. These restrictions would be gone after the first (or the first few) posts, of course.

 

[p1ngpong]

Well I don't really get all this spambot hysteria, I don't see them as a huge blight on the forum. Generally all that happens is a spambot makes a thread that nobody is interested in that at most lasts a couple of hours, then it gets deleted. Sure they are annoying and once in a while they post porn or other crap, but they aren't really overrunning the place now are they?

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Well I don't really get all this spambot hysteria, I don't see them as a huge blight on the forum. Generally all that happens is a spambot makes a thread that nobody is interested in that at most lasts a couple of hours, then it gets deleted. Sure they are annoying and once in a while they post porn or other crap, but they aren't really overrunning the place now are they?

That's true, it's not like a wave, but I'm sure you're not a fan of seeing these posts as much as the next guy. And if we can enforce measures to stop a problem, we might as well. If there's a hole in your clothes wouldn't you want it fixed? (well, unless it's your "special hole" in your pants pocket).

EDIT: Oh yeah, anyone just thought of blacklisting words like "porn"? I mean, most of us say pr0n or stuff like that. Not to mention if you were posting a site like Toniplutonijsmoosethongporn.com it'd be messed up then.

 

[Danny Tanner]

Why does it seem like the bots only post spam topics on the GBA Games section?

Also, locking out content to non-registered users would make a lot more noob topics because since people have to sign up anyway, it's easier to just post than search. I've lurked these boards for a very very long time, and never felt the need to post until I got an account. And now I have posted quite a bit in the past week

 

[MegaAce™]

Why does it seem like the bots only post spam topics on the GBA Games section?

Also, locking out content to non-registered users would make a lot more noob topics because since people have to sign up anyway, it's easier to just post than search. I've lurked these boards for a very very long time, and never felt the need to post until I got an account. And now I have posted quite a bit in the past week

The bots sometimes post in the Blog section.

 

[connor_walsh]

Why does it seem like the bots only post spam topics on the GBA Games section?

Also, locking out content to non-registered users would make a lot more noob topics because since people have to sign up anyway, it's easier to just post than search. I've lurked these boards for a very very long time, and never felt the need to post until I got an account. And now I have posted quite a bit in the past week

ive started to post more recently (since cheat forums getting quiet) i find all answers to questions are in stickys

i think there should be a restriction on how many "what flashcard shud i buy" "HELP I BRICKED MY WII!!!" "how can i hack my dsi/ps3" questions

edit : why are the christmas smileys still here ?

 

[rockstar99]

I would Laugh Out Loud if a SpamBot posts in this thread.

 

[tj_cool]

p1ngpong is right. The amount of spambots is too low to take action
and Hadrian already stated on page 1 that you just have to report them, thats all

We tried that approval thing on another forum once btw
and it didn't turn out very well
eventhough the forum wasn't even very active

What happened to JPH?

He got banned
Since then, we have no Head of Mag. Staff (as they decided we don't need one)

 

[Zalda]

I can see that by myself tj, but why did he get banned? he seemed such a nice guy.