Stopping the spam

[Kostia Kaploon]

Originally Posted by Joseph Visscher

Agreed and i think your onto somthing, maybe we can add something like, if you post is deleted because of spam the spammer's posts go down 5 posts?

even better you can make a little formula where the first time you go down 1 post, then 5 posts, then 25 etc. untill come to zero. That will make it more painfull to make more spam posts. But the main idea is great i think.

Kost.

[The Witch King of Angmar]

Originally Posted by kostiak

even better you can make a little formula where the first time you go down 1 post, then 5 posts, then 25 etc. untill come to zero. That will make it more painfull to make more spam posts. But the main idea is great i think.

Kost.

If you really look at when you give intelligent and thought out posts how they really add to the forums well as open up new ideas and makes the forums alot more enjoyable. For me, post counts are just a bonus.

[Andreas Hollandt]

Originally Posted by kostiak

It will be hard at first but I think the solution is to delete every off-topic or spam replay from now on. I were on lots of forums that applied that and after 2-3 off-topic replays you understand that and stop replaying off-topic.

Of course this helps, but noone wants to spend his time with deleting spam posts in the forums. We got more important things to do.

Originally Posted by Darvin

I do find the small and pointless posts interfere more with discussions than they help. Unfortunately, I don't see an easy solution. A ten word minimum will just make them say MORE mindless drivel, which won't help.

One of the most effective - if blunt and unpopular - techniques for reducing such spam is to remove the post count. A lot of people feel the need to post to get more posts. If that need is removed, they will post because they want to. At least then the people who are spamming are doing so because they actually want to be involved in these conversations, not because they want a higher post count. However, it wasn't popular on any other forum, so I suspect this method wouldn't be popular here, either.

Thanks Darvin. Your posts are always profound and to the point.
Yes, a word limit doesn't change anything. I think it'd even cause spam.
Removing the post count is the best idea I read so far here. You can see how "far" you've come by your user title, showing the post count only induces topics like "who has the highest post count".

Whatever we do, we need the help of the community. If someone spams, remind him of the fact that this is deprecated. If he doesn't stop it, report the post(that small exclamation mark) and we will take further actions.

[ShadowyMoon]

I think you guys need moderators to help you.

[Ryan Zelazny]

I do delete spam posts when they are completely pointless and such. I try and let you guys have some freedom in that regard, we don't want to discourage people from posting here.

We also are using an infraction system which will remove post count from people and infractions are also displayed on your public profile. You can actually mark posts so that when staff members login, they can be viewed and taken care of quickly if you think they are unappropriate. You can do this by clicking the report post icon,

[ShadowyMoon]

I always wandered what's that for... Thanks for clearing things up Ryan.

[Solomai]

I have seen on other forums a solution that actually labels the poster as "spammer" instead of the title they would have displayed for the number of posts they have made. Perhaps you could look at a similar solution?

unfortunately that approach would require forum moderators and is a little subjective, but post like "I agree" and "yep" are obviously an attempt to increase the users post count

as you can probably see by my post count, I'm not in the habit of making inane posts. I only post when I have something to add to the discussion or to pose a question.... *dons asbestos armor* flame away kiddies

[Puppeteer]

"I agree"


hehe, anyway I think that offtopic posts which are inane and have no real meaning should be deleted, but I say let people have Freedom, to a limit. Is that a dichotomy? Too much freedom needs restriction...

[The Witch King of Angmar]

Maybe some of like the 3 month old topics that aren't active could just be deleted but your post count would stay the same.

[SPARROW94]

why do i see so much anti-spam.....i pity you