What would you be prepared to 'give up'?

[Mags Indigo]

In the war against spam - what 'freedom' on the forums would you be prepared to give up in order to make it easier to keep spam under control?

(Anti Spam Thread)

[Knowl Paine]

How about money. We hire a 24 hour moderator or activate that you've got mail thing, with a bell attached, linked to a pager and a cell phone.

 

[Ricky Zhichao]

Seem bit weird anyway. Cant but wonder what is the point and what they get with that. Only scum reputation. But maybe that kid has an offer to get 100L every day for that work. So that way she can get new pants in sl every day:PP

[valerie Inshan]

 

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Knowl Paine wrote:

How about money. We hire a 24 hour moderator or activate that you've got mail thing, with a bell attached, linked to a pager and a cell phone.

 

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I agree. I would give up my weekly premium 300 L to pay a moderator for European hours. We get the worst of the spam between 8:00 AM and 6: PM GMT here. :smileymad:

 

[Mags Indigo]

 

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valerie Inshan wrote:

 

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Knowl Paine wrote:

How about money. We hire a 24 hour moderator or activate that you've got mail thing, with a bell attached, linked to a pager and a cell phone.

 

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I agree. I would give up my weekly premium 300 L to pay a moderator for European hours. We get the worst of the spam between 8:00 AM and 6: PM GMT here. :smileymad:

 

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Giving up money is one thing... how about giving up the 'right' to make as many threads as you want - or maybe only residents over a certain age can  make threads???

 

[valerie Inshan]

 

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Mags Indigo wrote:

Giving up money is one thing... how about giving up the 'right' to make as many threads as you want - or maybe only residents over a certain age can  make threads???

 

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I certainly would be OK giving up the right to create more than 2 threads a day, Mags. Mothering a thread properly takes time and needs care. I would be more than happy to see 2 creative threads rather than 10 useless ones. And yes, I think "age" should grant some rights in here. A 10 minutes old resident sould not be allowed to post 40 threads in less than a 30 minutes laptime! This is just insane.

 

[Mags Indigo]

 

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valerie Inshan wrote:

 I certainly would be OK giving up the right to create more than 2 threads a day, Mags. Mothering a thread properly takes time and needs care. I would be more than happy to see 2 creative threads rather than 10 useless ones. And yes, I think "age" should grant some rights in here. A 10 minutes old resident sould not be allowed to post 40 threads in less than a 30 minutes laptime! This is just insane.

 

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I do agree with you - though I know this is a contentious issue with some people - to be honest I've created a few threads today simply because I'm about and the spam is annoying me - but it's hard going coming up with any kind of relevant ideas. I know people love their 'vanity style' threads - but there's even only so many of them that can hold any interest at all. Two threads per day was mentioned by some posters - even 5 would provide some relief from the spammers. Restricting 'thread' rights to older residents might help too. Let's see what other people think.

*Dons armor

[Aabz Adamski]

Nobody should must to give up anything.

The other forums are not to have spam problem. Only Linden Lab. And it is not to matter what softewares they are using either.

[valerie Inshan]

 

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Mags Indigo wrote:

 

I do agree with you - though I know this is a contentious issue with some people - to be honest I've created a few threads today simply because I'm about and the spam is annoying me - but it's hard going coming up with any kind of relevant ideas. I know people love their 'vanity style' threads - but there's even only so many of them that can hold any interest at all. Two threads per day was mentioned by some posters - even 5 would provide some relief from the spammers. Restricting 'thread' rights to older residents might help too. Let's see what other people think.

*Dons armor

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lol Mags, I hardly have more than 2 ideas a day!!! I know what you mean :smileyvery-happy:

 

[valerie Inshan]

 

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Aabz Adamski wrote:

Nobody should must to give up anything.

The other forums are not to have spam problem. Only Linden Lab. And it is not to matter what softewares they are using either.

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The spammers should be the ones who give up, that's right. Sadly, we have to deal with this.

 

[Willow Danube]

hehehe... Lets 'give up' a virgin in a yearly ceremonial offering to the Linden gods for a year long protection from spam and bad weathers. I'm sure one of the Dolcett sims would be equipped enough to hold such event.

@Mike.. Go ahead, buddy.. *edit me for harassment*

Seriously, what am I willing to give up?

Since the spammer is only attacking the Forums at certain hours of the day and weekends, we can limit creating new threads to groups ranked as Member and above for over a period of hours. Any threads created by anyone else are limited to 'emergency' purposes and must be addressed in the Answer section. Posting as replies however are unlimited and subject to moderation. 

[Mags Indigo]

 

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Willow Danube wrote: <snip>

Since the spammer is only attacking the Forums at certain hours of the day and weekends, we can limit creating new threads to groups ranked as Member and above for over a period of hours. Any threads created by anyone else are limited to 'emergency' purposes and must be addressed in the Answer section. Posting as replies however are unlimited and subject to moderation. 

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That's another approach - though the spam is worse at 'Euro hours' so that could inhibit a whole section of the globe from participating fully in the forums. Food for thought though :smileyindifferent:

[Wildcat Furse]

 

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Mags Indigo wrote:

In the war against spam - what 'freedom' on the forums would you be prepared to give up in order to make it easier to keep spam under control?

(Anti Spam Thread)

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I give up nothing, the best solution is to offer the spammer a job @lindenlabs as moderator, that way the poor spammer can at least pay his/her food and energy bill each month .... let's say it is a win-win solution  :smileytongue: *meows*

 

[Mags Indigo]

 

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Wildcat Furse wrote:

 I give up nothing, the best solution is to offer the spammer a job @lindenlabs as moderator, that way the poor spammer can at least pay his/her food and energy bill each month .... let's say it is a win-win solution  :smileytongue: *meows*

 

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I think that's a fine idea - and quite humane - to us all :smileyvery-happy:

 

[Venus Petrov]

I think that LL should be able to block these spammers.  That this new platform was released without testing what was common at times in the GD amazes me.  I am not willing to limit creating threads due to the spammer.  I would be willing to limit creating threads to up the quality and reduce/eliminate duplication.  One can post as much as they wish, of course.

[Mags Indigo]

 

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Venus Petrov wrote:

I think that LL should be able to block these spammers.  That this new platform was released without testing what was common at times in the GD amazes me.  I am not willing to limit creating threads due to the spammer.  I would be willing to limit creating threads to up the quality and reduce/eliminate duplication.  One can post as much as they wish, of course.

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*Grins - I kind of agree with your sentiments, but as we both know there are many who do not - for a diversity of reasons, some with more credibility than others in my opinion.

To be honest I don't much like too many rules and restrictions myself - I remember that was one of the things that wowed me most about SL when I first found it - people could be anything they wanted to be without anyone in authority going ''tut''. How times change!

[Henry Darkthief]

I keep pointing this out ... Ignore seems to work.

Last week, when the scam-spammer was using some user name like nmhrpdxgrtsml, I clicked on the name from the View All list and added it to my Ignore list. I then logged out and shut down my browser. I had some RL things to deal with.

I have not seen a single one of those scam-spam threads since!

It likely needed the log out, and I ahd logged out from both the forums and from the Dashboard, and it could be that you need to actually close your browser, but, so far, it seems to be working.

[Mags Indigo]

 

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Henry Darkthief wrote:

I keep pointing this out ... Ignore seems to work.

Last week, when the scam-spammer was using some user name like nmhrpdxgrtsml, I clicked on the name from the View All list and added it to my Ignore list. I then logged out and shut down my browser. I had some RL things to deal with.

I have not seen a single one of those scam-spam threads since!

It likely needed the log out, and I ahd logged out from both the forums and from the Dashboard, and it could be that you need to actually close your browser, but, so far, it seems to be working.

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Aye Henry - but that doesn't help the new people who pop in to thave a look at what's going on in the forum and are met with a blanket of spam. Or indeed people who don't know how to use ignore functions - which I find are pretty erratic anyway.

Let's hope LL get their heads around it soon.

[Henry Darkthief]

 

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Mags Indigo wrote:

 

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Henry Darkthief wrote:

I keep pointing this out ... Ignore seems to work.

Last week, when the scam-spammer was using some user name like nmhrpdxgrtsml, I clicked on the name from the View All list and added it to my Ignore list. I then logged out and shut down my browser. I had some RL things to deal with.

I have not seen a single one of those scam-spam threads since!

It likely needed the log out, and I ahd logged out from both the forums and from the Dashboard, and it could be that you need to actually close your browser, but, so far, it seems to be working.

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Aye Henry - but that doesn't help the new people who pop in to thave a look at what's going on in the forum and are met with a blanket of spam. Or indeed people who don't know how to use ignore functions - which I find are pretty erratic anyway.

Let's hope LL get their heads around it soon.

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Agreed. So, what I will do is continue to describe what I did to get Ignore to work with the intent of getting that info to the new people. That should also help to get LL to wake up and make sure it is reliable. And we should push for some things to be stickied, and not just the Ignore function, but also sorting, rank defintiions and such.

 

[Raudf Fox]

Free creation of accounts.  I say a 5 to 10 USD fee to create new accounts would be appropriate.  Then it becomes a case of, "Let them create as many accounts as they want!"  They'll ast least be paying for the moderation to get rid of them :smileywink:

[Mags Indigo]

 

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Raudf Fox wrote:

Free creation of accounts.  I say a 5 to 10 USD fee to create new accounts would be appropriate.  Then it becomes a case of, "Let them create as many accounts as they want!"  They'll ast least be paying for the moderation to get rid of them :smileywink:

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And that's another idea that's been around for some time - well since free accounts were allowed. Somehow I don't see that change coming soon. :smileyhappy:

[Carole Franizzi]

Hiya Mags.

I've been absent for several months but over the last few days I've been checking out the forums again (haven't quite made it in-world yet and may not for a while yet...initially didn't have time...now can't really be bothered...funny how you can lose the SL habit so totally...) and, looking around, I'm wondering if the spam problem wasn't the very least of the threats to the "freedom" of the forumites. The SL forums always were (and appear even more so now) a corporate voice-box and serve only one master. The little spammy issue was actually a visible but very minor nuisance.

PS Isn't it odd that there seem to be so many more topics, categories and threads and yet not that much you feel the urge to contribute to?

 

[Mags Indigo]

 

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Carole Franizzi wrote:

Hiya Mags.

I've been absent for several months but over the last few days I've been checking out the forums again (haven't quite made it in-world yet and may not for a while yet...initially didn't have time...now can't really be bothered...funny how you can lose the SL habit so totally...) and, looking around, I'm wondering if the spam problem wasn't the very least of the threats to the "freedom" of the forumites. The SL forums always were (and appear even more so now) a corporate voice-box and serve only one master. The little spammy issue was actually a visible but very minor nuisance.

PS Isn't it odd that there seem to be so many more topics, categories and threads and yet not that much you feel the urge to contribute to?

 

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Carole - 'tis lovely to see you out and about in the forums again and I hope to run into you inworld sometime as well (as we've never actually met).

I think there's a few things that have changed in the forums...

 

1. We at last have the moderation we were always asking for but as you so rightly put it - that doesn't necc. mean greater freedom of expression but rather that the forums are now being 'guided' down a 'corporate voice-box' to promote the image of SL that LL want to promote - as it's their business that's what they are entitled to do whether we like it or not.
2. There are so very many headings and 'sub forums' that there is actually a lack of  a 'community chat space' - it's all very sectioned out and in my opinion that takes some of the spontaneity away. There are too many hidden choices and unless you dig through all the various sections you can easily miss out on the best and most informative discussions.
3. Off Topic was hoped to be the replacement for the old GD - but with less nastiness and less AR abuse. Unfortunately it's become just another 'room' to discuss SL. Also as posts in Off Topic don't get any points people naturally tend to take their posts to somewhere they will be counted.

As for inworld - it is funny how a break can put the whole thing into perspective and you find you need/enjoy the SL experience less and less. That's something LL need to be aware of too - it's actually quite easy to lose the 'old reliables' if you make SL seem less tuned in to their needs and wants - and that includes on the forums and all the other 'public presentations' of SL.

Anyway - I've ramaished on long enough - nice silks btw :smileytongue:

 

[kattatonia Wickentower]

Why should we have to give up anything because of spam?  This new forum setup is already much too restrictive for my tastes.   I don't buy into the idea that they could get rid of spam if only we are willing to become good little stepford clones..../me looks around suspiciously, eyes darting back and forth.

 

[Kidd Krasner]

I've read through this thread, but probably haven't caught up on all the related threads since the switch.  But it occurs to me that thread titles are a major annoyance with spam, even if you never read the contents of a spam thread. 

Therefore, with respect to titles of new threads only:

1. Prohibit special characters other than hyphen (the minus sign), period, comma, colon, apostrophe, double quotes, and question mark.  This would allow accented characters and others needed for foreign languages, but prohibit wing dings, stars, other fancy glyphs, and most especially, the dollar sign and other currency symbols.
2. Prohibit more than one special character in a row, other than ... (ellipses) or -- (double hyphen to represent a dash)..
3. Prohibit more than three consecutive capital letters (ignoring spaces and punctuation), and more than one capital letter within a word (to allow names such as McDougal).
4. Prohibit more than three letters in a row that are separated only by spaces or punctuation.

This boils down to not allowing the titles to be used as visual attention-getters.  The forums aren't intended for advertising (other than some of the commerce-related ones), and with those, the attention-getting titles quickly drown each other out.