Forum Reminder: PLEASE DON'T REPLY TO SPAM THREADS

[japester]

If you see a spambot, please don't reply to it. Replies require extra effort to clean, and clearing the original spam is already a full-time job.

Instead of replying, please use the "report post" button to notify the moderators.

Also, spambots tend to shotgun duplicate threads all over the place. If you report one thread by a particular spambot, there is no need to report other threads by the same 'bot--we will destroy every thread in that spambot's profile.

Your cooperation is much appreciated.

THE MOD SQUAD

[MegaScience]

You mean like that time a account had 2 spam topics advertising stuff, and in one of them I posted "How would you like your ban?" after reporting?

I remember, in the topic I posted in, my response became the topic post. Funny.

[japester]

You mean like that time a account had 2 spam topics advertising stuff, and in one of them I posted "How would you like your ban?" after reporting?

I remember, in the topic I posted in, my response became the topic post. Funny.

Yes, that sort of reply is exactly what I'm talking about.

And no, it wasn't funny.

People might be surprised to know that banning a spambot and cleaning up it's posts isn't a one-click affair. It takes several screens, menu choices, etc to do a proper job of it. So adding to that workload is the last thing we want people to do.

In your case, when a 'bot has made several spam threads, the easiest way for us to clean it up is to grab all the posts in their profile and remove them. Unfortunately, this does not remove the replies to the moved posts. We then have to go back and start all over again, cleaning up the remaining threads/posts.

I imagine many of our members weren't aware of the harm they were causing, which is why I'm making this request. If everyone helps us out on this, it will significantly add to the cleanliness of the forums.

[AspirationRealized]

I wish there was a way to alert people based solely on the name of a new account.

Can't tell you how many times I see that for that one moment there are no mods on the active list, but the newest member is "livesexshowslive".

Now maybe, just maybe, they came here to have philosophical discussions on objectivism and its role in the challenging morality of Bioshock...

but I doubt it.

[MegaScience]

I've reported topics with NO moderators online, and the topic would disappear, and it''d then show a moderator online.

How exactly does Reporting Posts work? It made a moderator come online.

[501105]

I think the mod gets a pm and/or an email

[MegaScience]

A PM requires being logged onto the forum, and email requires they were constantly monitoring it.

[japester]

I think the mod gets a pm and/or an email

Correct. It sends an e-mail.

And yes, we have one or two mods who monitor things almost constantly (one of which is on hiatus, hence the increased spam). The rest of the mod team is spread out over several time zones, so someone will usually catch the alert before too long.

[Das Wunderkind]

So that explains how you guys are so efficient!! It all makes sense now.

[Judgeofwings]

I think you mods are doing a great job and i commend your work. I never open spam threads,but promise to report any spammers i find.

Anyways i've always been meaning to ask why this site gets spammed. I mean its horrible seeing threads telling you to buy pills or threads with titles of pure nonsense,but why or how was this started? Do people think it's funny to do this?

[Das Wunderkind]

Unfortunately it seems theres always somebody set out to ruin someones fun However all the spammers in the world cant dampen our excitement about the upcoming game !!

[MegaScience]

I never open spam threads,but promise to report any spammers i find.

You have to go to the topic page to report it, and if you don't read it, a seemingly spam thread could actually be on topic and relevant.

[japester]

Any site with significant traffic gets spammed. The busier this site gets, the more spam it attracts.

We could be stricter about fighting spam, but most measures that limit spam also limit legitimate posts. So any automated measures we adopt may negatively impact the experience of you, the members. And 2K prefers not to do that. They want to keep the forums inviting and easy to use.

As for why, spammers do it to make money, pure and simple. The anonymity of the internet allows them to send out millions and millions of ads, without fear of being punished, for almost zero cost. So they don't care if only 1 ad out of several thousand gets clicked on.

[Das Wunderkind]

Well said, we should all get big daddy drills and find those spammers and. . . deal with them

[japester]

I never open spam threads,but promise to report any spammers i find.

Opening a spam thread doesn't cause us any additional work. It is only a problem if you reply to that thread.

Oh, and as for reporting obvious spam names that haven't posted yet, there isn't a good system for that. Even if there was, I don't think I'd want anyone to use it. Banned spambots can still visit the site (they just can't post), so an obvious spam name in the users list might already be banned. We mods often discuss ways to spot spambots that are being sneaky, and we are pretty good at banning some with legitimate-looking names long before they get a chance to pollute our lovely forum.

[Judgeofwings]

Opening a spam thread doesn't cause us any additional work. It is only a problem if you reply to that thread.

Oh, and as for reporting obvious spam names that haven't posted yet, there isn't a good system for that. Even if there was, I don't think I'd want anyone to use it. Banned spambots can still visit the site (they just can't post), so an obvious spam name in the users list might already be banned. We mods often discuss ways to spot spambots that are being sneaky, and we are pretty good at banning some with legitimate-looking names long before they get a chance to pollute our lovely forum.

Ah i see now.
Thanks

[BioShockWins]

Japeser
Starring in: I was a spambot for the FBI

Sometimes you can tell, but some times you can't.

Its incredibley annoying when I see a name in the user list thats like lasonasg892w34n but I can't exactly prove that they are spam bots.
But for a lot of them I can.

[japester]

Japeser
Starring in: I was a spambot for the FBI

No way! Do you mean Uncle Japeser? I haven't heard from him in ages!

Japester

[Dax01]

If you guys were to raise the posting requirement, say they have to make 200 posts before they can make a thread, I think that would solve the problem of spam threads.

[rootbeertapper]

If you guys were to raise the posting requirement, say they have to make 200 posts before they can make a thread, I think that would solve the problem of spam threads.

This would ruin 'choice' because many newcomers want to ask a question right away. If the user can't have the freedom to post as they want they will go someplace else and in most cases other places are less credable.

[Dax01]

This would ruin 'choice' because many newcomers want to ask a question right away. If the user can't have the freedom to post as they want they will go someplace else and in most cases other places are less credable.

GAF does fine with it. If the user is dedicated enough, he'll stick around.

[japester]

If you guys were to raise the posting requirement, say they have to make 200 posts before they can make a thread, I think that would solve the problem of spam threads.

Never happen.

First, some spambots reply to existing threads rather than starting new ones.

Second, this would prevent people from posting tech support questions. (Not to mention generally stifling new user participation like rootbeertapper suggested.)

[TurdSandwitch]

If you guys were to raise the posting requirement, say they have to make 200 posts before they can make a thread, I think that would solve the problem of spam threads.

Another problem with this is that all the newcomers would start to spam posts just so they can start their own thread, thus in trying to stop spamming you would have created a monster!!!!