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/Talk forums locked

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wololo
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Posts: 3621
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:42 am
Location: Japan

/Talk forums locked

Post by wololo »

Hi all,
it has come to my attention that the Forums have become a nest of spammers, and we do not have the moderator manpower to handle that.

Given the low amount of "legit" activity in the past few years, I've decided to lock the forums, effective immediately.
In theory you should still be able to look at older threads, but not post anything new.

It's a bit sad but it's probably for the best at the moment.


If you want me to unlock a particular subforum, and are willing to volunteer as a mod for that subforum, please send me a PM here, and/or (recommended!) email me at wagic.the.homebrew@gmail.com so we can discuss.

If you notice anything spam-related (e.g. bots abusing Private messages, or bots still able to post in forums, or spam we haven't cleaned up yet), please reach out to me as well.
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d@rk51d3
Moderator
Posts: 221
Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2013 11:48 am
Location: Terra Australis

Re: /Talk forums locked

Post by d@rk51d3 »

All good.
Happy to help, if needed.
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NNNRT
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Re: /Talk forums locked

Post by NNNRT »

I think since most spammers are relatively new accounts if not completely new, there should probably be some restriction that only allows users to post after a certain amount of time, or only allows them to use links for example after having made a certain number of posts, etc. I've seen it on other forums; I don't know how easy or hard it would be, but it's only suggestion. It is sad indeed that these spambots forced us to have to lock these forums like this. Of course, I'm ready to help as well.
d@rk51d3
Moderator
Posts: 221
Joined: Tue Aug 13, 2013 11:48 am
Location: Terra Australis

Re: /Talk forums locked

Post by d@rk51d3 »

I think one problem is, that they’re often sleeper accounts. You see them register, their usernames are often a giveaway but they lay dormant for weeks/months before making their hit. Maybe new users early posts should need to await moderation?
NNNRT
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Posts: 1629
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2012 1:32 pm
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Re: /Talk forums locked

Post by NNNRT »

Exactly why I mentioned a restriction that allows them to post links after a certain number of posts (30 for example), with a limit of 1 or 2 posts a day so they don't make 30 posts in one day. An additional restriction could be added (above this one) that would only let them post links after 6 months for example (as in 30 posts + 1-2 posts per day + 6 months). I think this would save effort and at the same time is effective and would revive the forums.
wololo
Site Admin
Posts: 3621
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:42 am
Location: Japan

Re: /Talk forums locked

Post by wololo »

We've had some similar restrictions in place for a long time. To your point, NNNRT, I could increase the requirements, but I'm worried it would frustrate legit users, and only delay spammers: with not enough people actively moderating the forums (I'm not blaming anyone for this, I'm the most guilty of all), the spammers would take over eventually.

If some people are willing to volunteer to moderate a specific subforum, I can reopen it though.
If you need US PSN Codes, this technique is what I recommend.

Looking for guest bloggers and news hunters here at wololo.net, PM me!
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