Dearest PJ and all other members associated with the moderation of this site:
You now have users who, upon discovery of the fact that new users are (presumably?) registered easily and/or automatically, are making new accounts to trollspam your forum. You will notice there are already inflammatory postings of OSC's ED page, other memes, etc, being put on multiple pages, forcing you to play catch up and delete/lock/whatever.
I would guess that they'll just keep registering new alts to keep doing this even if you are/can lock them out with any sort of promptness, and you will be unable to keep the flood of inflammatory content at bay using the current method of operation.
Also, clive candy has decided to directly disobey your orders and already is posting threads again AND shows no inclination to stop instantly re-registering as many times as he wants.
Therefore: if you don't have the ability to ban quickly and painlessly, you should ask the site's owners for that power promptly.
additionally, you need to find out immediately whether or not you have the power to change UBB classic's archaic registration system to require moderator approval, waiting periods, initially limited forum access, etc. -- anything that stops it from being the way it is now, wherein the forum allows somebody to just automatically make an account and start posting whatever they want.
As a stopgap protection for the time being, you may want to temporarily halt forum registration.
Don't lock/erase threads that have been hit by a trollspammer, unless you intend to simply empower them to get threads locked and erased just by trolling them.
Do something quickly please.
EVERYONE ELSE:
don't quote or respond to obv. trollposts. For the time being, don't even talk to new users.
I'll say that again:
don't
even
talk
to
new
users
Sorry new users who aren't trying to troll! Y'all just came at a bad time.
Also don't talk to clive. he's trolling. duh.
DON'T BE TROLLBAIT.
ok that's all
[ April 22, 2010, 01:50 AM: Message edited by: Samprimary ]
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
Hasn't registration been temporarily been disabled in the past?
If it really is that bad, perhaps that would be appropriate here as well.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
OH RIGHT. One more thing. if new registration gets disabled, don't just disable it, then wait, then re-enable it, but otherwise not change anything.
it is a stopgap measure.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
Yeah, An Escape Goat is posting some pretty rank things. And it seems to be escalating. The first one of his I stumbled across - while actually some what amusing in a very crass way to the not-easily-offended would be extremely offensive to the majority of the Hatrack community. I'm not sure if I should mention which thread I found it in or not, lest the rubbernecking make it worse...
..I've whistled a bunch of the ones I've found, but I think I've already spammed PJ's inbox enough.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
Speak of the devil.
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: OH RIGHT. One more thing. if new registration gets disabled, don't just disable it, then wait, then re-enable it, but otherwise not change anything.
it is a stopgap measure.
Isn't the idea to wait until they get bored and go find somewhere else to troll?
Sure, they may come back eventually, but that's true of pretty much any reasonably method of keeping them away.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by ricree101: ]Isn't the idea to wait until they get bored and go find somewhere else to troll?
That empowers a troller to shut down a forum's registration process as many times as they want and halt the flow of new users at their convenience.
Which means if you do nothing but continually halt new user registration as a response, then you're allowing one or a few people the ability to choke the life out of your forum.
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
Well that was an entertaining bout of trolling. I'm putting my money on it being one of Pweb's homegrown.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
quote:Ok -- was able to get in touch with the webmaster, and he has suspended registrations, so I'm reallowing the posting. Please don't whistle any more of the posts in question -- I'll delete them, but it's a manual process.
Careful, the spammer in question may (probably) have registered more than one account in advance. If you can (again, I know very little about UBB classic because it's no longer supported): look at all the accounts that were registered around the same time as goat. Disable them.
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
Yea, Papa, you take care of those accounts, I'll make sure the shelter is stocked up with canned food and crossword puzzles.
Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
Don't forget the marsh mellows, graham crackers and chocolate. I'm not going into hiding with out a good supply of s'mores.
Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
I'm going to bring a good supply of tin foil hats, just in case.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
It looks to me like someone who was fed up with Hatrack's moderation decided to channel some /b/ in an attempt to force the moderation system to change.
Bravo, I guess?
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
wassint me
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
lol oh my god so many people think I did this
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
Yeah, I think that's a little far fetched.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Reasonable hypothesis though: i got so fed up with the way the moderation works/doesn't work here that I pulled a reichstag fire event to force the changes I had been suggesting for a while.
or something
i don't know
i didn't do this Posted by Sean Monahan (Member # 9334) on :
Ok, I'm going to out myself as a n00b here, but I have to ask: what's "/b/"? I've seen people here talk about this before, but I don't know what it is.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Beats me.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
Hatrack is like Lost- "/b/ was something that happened a long time ago, and if you needed to know about that, you would already..."
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: lol oh my god so many people think I did this
I didn't.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Samp, I didn't (and don't) think you did, but you are a subject troll on the issue of forum moderation. The owners clearly don't want to do it your way. At some point you really need to realize that and let it go, no matter how much better you think things would be if they followed your advice.
Posted by August (Member # 12307) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: don't
even
talk
to
new
users
Sorry new users who aren't trying to troll! Y'all just came at a bad time.
Oof, I guess that's me to a T. Catch ya when the drama is over, guys.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
I want Avatars damnit.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by dkw: Samp, I didn't (and don't) think you did, but you are a subject troll on the issue of forum moderation.
No I'm not! I pointedly offer constructive advice where I feel it is relevant because I feel it's important towards keeping the forum's community from suffering from issues like this or the other pervasive degenerations it has been suffering for over a year now. I'm not berating and I'm offering only well-thought out advice that I draw from great personal experience, and I present them insistently but respectfully. If what I've been doing is something you could confuse for subject trolling, I don't know what I can tell you besides 'way to totally not get me.'
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: 'way to totally not get me.'
*wears all black*
*rebels against curfew*
you just don't GET ME okay?
*writes bad poetry*
Posted by scholarette (Member # 11540) on :
Samp, it never even occurred to me to blame you. I thought it might be another troll trying to show what a real troll would be like. I also didn't consider you a subject troll- persistent in your opinion, but I don't recall you ever being rude.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary:
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: 'way to totally not get me.'
*wears all black*
*rebels against curfew*
you just don't GET ME okay?
*writes bad poetry*
I checked hatrack today, to see if I could troll
I focus, on one subject, the only one I know
What have I become? My sweetest forum?
Everything I post, gets ignored, in the end
And you can quote it all, my empire of links I will derail your threads I will make you hurt
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
First of all, that was pretty awesome, Samp. The Hurt parody, I mean.
Second of all: While I will cop to the fact that I was thinking of you as a prime suspect, that was really just a gut instinct. Because you seem to know enough about internet subculture to accurately don the facade of a /b/ troll, and you were one of the first people I saw to call attention to said troll. Sort of a he who smelt it, dealt it thing, I guess? I'm not really surprised to learn it's not you, and I'm relieved.
I still get the feeling whoever is doing it is an existing poster trying to force a situation where changes would be necessary.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
It's not that I don't get you, Samp. I know that you are sincere in trying to help. But the continual beating of a dead horse gets tiring. It's been made quite clear that the site owners are not soliciting advice or input in how they run the place and I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes you would take the hint and drop it already. Even when we agree with you.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:. It's been made quite clear that the site owners are not soliciting advice or input in how they run the place
PPS: pj I did actually send some pretty helpful emails your way, in response to requests. i am kind of assuming the internet ate them or something?
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
If you're still reading: thanks for everything, PJ.
--j_k
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dan_Frank: First of all, that was pretty awesome, Samp. The Hurt parody, I mean.
That was me dude.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
quote:Originally posted by Orincoro:
quote:Originally posted by Dan_Frank: First of all, that was pretty awesome, Samp. The Hurt parody, I mean.
That was me dude.
Wow. So it was.
Um.
And I gave someone crap for misreading my last name. Whew! I... don't know what to say.
Except: That was a very amusing Hurt parody, Orincoro. I laughed heartily. Very sorry that I was so blind I didn't give you proper credit.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa:
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: lol oh my god so many people think I did this
I didn't.
Nor did I.
Posted by Papa Janitor (Member # 7795) on :
Samp, those emails must indeed have been lost in the ether. I assumed you'd been busy -- there's a lot of that going around. Anyway, if you could try re-sending them, I'd appreciate it.
To all, I have no reason to think Samprimary had any part in the actions taken by An Escape Goat. I'm not going to speak to that any further, because I don't want to go through a laundry list of who I don't think was involved, or by process of elimination who I think may have been.
Interesting side note -- this guy was in my high school graduating class.
Thanks, PJ
Posted by Drifter (Member # 11958) on :
QUOTE] EVERYONE ELSE:
don't quote or respond to obv. trollposts. For the time being, don't even talk to new users.
I'll say that again:
don't
even
talk
to
new
users
Sorry new users who aren't trying to troll! Y'all just came at a bad time. [/QUOTE]
Ya know... some of us so-called new users have been around for a long, long time. We just use different user names than we used to. We've seen the spamming before, we remember the forum being closed temporarily.... and we remember and remember.... Spamming...It happens occasionally. Get over it and stop taking it so personally.
*grumbles in crotchety mumble about young uns showing no respect these days. Newcomers thinking they know it all mutter mutter mutter*
And you know what Samprimary we'd like it just fine if you let PJ do his job rather than publicly try to teach him to suck eggs. He does a great job and has for a very long time.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
Just because someone is doing something out of the goodness of their heart, doesn't mean they are doing it well. It's like tying someone's leg behind their back and calling them a great runner. Well... *maybe* they are. How could you tell?
Posted by Drifter (Member # 11958) on :
quote: Just because someone is doing something out of the goodness of their heart, doesn't mean they are doing it well. It's like tying someone's leg behind their back and calling them a great runner. Well... *maybe* they are. How could you tell?
Hatrack's still here isn't it? Other sites close down from the constant spamming.
Mind you it's not as busy at it used to be. I, along with many other regular users, got completely fed up with certain posters using the site as their personal blog.
Posted by just_me (Member # 3302) on :
quote:Originally posted by Drifter: Ya know... some of us so-called new users have been around for a long, long time. We just use different user names than we used to. We've seen the spamming before, we remember the forum being closed temporarily.... and we remember and remember.... Spamming...It happens occasionally. Get over it and stop taking it so personally.
*grumbles in crotchety mumble about young uns showing no respect these days. Newcomers thinking they know it all mutter mutter mutter*
And you know what Samprimary we'd like it just fine if you let PJ do his job rather than publicly try to teach him to suck eggs. He does a great job and has for a very long time.
Umm... you do know that it says right next to your post count when you registered, right?
And I think highly of PJ, but I gotta say the bottom line is that - for any number of very valid reason - he isn't really able to do the job "right". I don't think this is his fault and I think he does the best he can with a bad situation but I also think Samp does seem to try and give constructive advice, not just empty criticism.
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
quote:Originally posted by Drifter: ...rather than publicly try to teach him to suck eggs. He does a great job and has for a very long time.
How long would you say PJ has been sucking eggs so well? Posted by String (Member # 6435) on :
quote:Originally posted by Blayne Bradley: I want Avatars damnit.
Seconded.
Posted by Drifter (Member # 11958) on :
quote:just_me: Umm... you do know that it says right next to your post count when you registered, right?
quote:Drifter: We just use different user names than we used to
....and the young fullas can't read and comprehend either *sheesh*
So I'm reiterating this very good advice:
quote:dkw : It's been made quite clear that the site owners are not soliciting advice or input in how they run the place and I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes you would take the hint and drop it already.
It's been repeatedly stated that this is a privately run site, to be run as the owners see fit. It's like being invited into their living room to discuss topics of interest.
quote:PJ When I started here long ago, moderation was very light, because in general there weren't many issues that required them (this could be "good old days" faulty memory, I grant). The people who were here and active came because they wanted to, and followed the community standards (aside from TOS, relatively unstated but understood) because they wanted to -- because they believed the place was better when they did, presumably. Not because they feared what might happen if they didn't. /QUOTE]
This is what I remember too. Although the debate was very vigorous, and at times contentious, there were very few personal attacks.
[QUOTE] That said, Samprimary, if you would be willing, I'd be interested in seeing a list of what you think such guidelines should look like -- what you've seen be effective at other (similar) places..... Since it's something that the Cards (rather than the forum membership) need to decide on, an email would probably be better than a post here
shortened and my bold emphasis)
This isn't difficult to understand.
*moderates typical antipodean bluntness to nicely say:* Enough already! Drop it! The Card's have the right to run their site as they please. You have the opportunity to privately email PJ. Do it or don't do it, but please, stop being so rude and publicly criticizing your hosts. I resent that I am only moved to post these days, something that could be construed as a personal attack. I really resent you involving us all in your bad manners.
quote: just_me: I also think Samp does seem to try and give constructive advice, not just empty criticism.
Whereas, I found it easily believable that Samp spammed the forum to prove a point Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote:I resent that I am only moved to post these days, something that could be construed as a personal attack.
For what it's worth, anonymous lurker, I resent this too.
Posted by Drifter (Member # 11958) on :
For what it's worth I've been around, in one form or another, quite a while. The earliest post of mine I can find is in '03. I was here when Bob had his Dreambook and when Balder caused such a kerfuffle I was there when we started an internet phenomenon over this quote:
"What does it do?" "It doesn't DO anything. That's the beauty of it."
I was here when Hatcrack was a semi-serious concern for a few
I have been here though Hatrack romances, marriages, divorces and births. I've had Hatrackers stay in my home... and some of them had to fly halfway around the world to do so
I care Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by Drifter:
quote:just_me: Umm... you do know that it says right next to your post count when you registered, right?
quote:Drifter: We just use different user names than we used to
....and the young fullas can't read and comprehend either *sheesh*
He's pointing out that your account is over a year old. You're not a 'new user.'
quote:This isn't difficult to understand.
Yeah, you're right. It's not, but you don't seem to understand anyway. I notice you're omitting or missing the part where, in accord with his advice, I didn't post those guidelines and tried to mail them.
soooooooooo
Posted by Drifter (Member # 11958) on :
quote: Yeah, you're right. It's not, but you don't seem to understand anyway. I notice you're omitting or missing the part where, in accord with his advice, I didn't post those guidelines and tried to mail them. soooooooooo
*Points up board*...And have posted them right here. Soooo not a private email then is it?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
quote:I care...
I think, as long as you're using an anonymous handle, the best that can be said is that you cared. Posted by Jake (Member # 206) on :
quote:Originally posted by Drifter: For what it's worth I've been around, in one form or another, quite a while. The earliest post of mine I can find is in '03. I was here when Bob had his Dreambook and when Balder caused such a kerfuffle I was there when we started an internet phenomenon over this quote:
"What does it do?" "It doesn't DO anything. That's the beauty of it."
I was here when Hatcrack was a semi-serious concern for a few
I have been here though Hatrack romances, marriages, divorces and births. I've had Hatrackers stay in my home... and some of them had to fly halfway around the world to do so
I care
Have you seen things we people wouldn't believe?
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion?
Have you watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate?
Will all those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain?
Posted by just_me (Member # 3302) on :
quote:Originally posted by Drifter: For what it's worth I've been around, in one form or another, quite a while. The earliest post of mine I can find is in '03. I was here when Bob had his Dreambook and when Balder caused such a kerfuffle I was there when we started an internet phenomenon over this quote:
"What does it do?" "It doesn't DO anything. That's the beauty of it."
I was here when Hatcrack was a semi-serious concern for a few
I have been here though Hatrack romances, marriages, divorces and births. I've had Hatrackers stay in my home... and some of them had to fly halfway around the world to do so
I care
As long as you're being a coward and hiding behind an alias all this is worth absolutely nothing to me.
Sure, some of us may say things that can be considered rude etc, but at least we're saying them in the open.
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
Even reading those lines out of context on a tan background gives me chills.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jake: Have you seen things we people wouldn't believe?
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion?
Have you watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate?
Will all those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain?
literal lol
Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
I've posted so many times in the last hour that I very well could be trolling.
It's not very satisfying. I'm not getting anything out of it. I wonder why folks do it?
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
Because you suck!!
HAXOR!
Posted by Achilles (Member # 7741) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jake:
quote:Originally posted by Drifter: For what it's worth I've been around, in one form or another, quite a while. The earliest post of mine I can find is in '03. I was here when Bob had his Dreambook and when Balder caused such a kerfuffle I was there when we started an internet phenomenon over this quote:
"What does it do?" "It doesn't DO anything. That's the beauty of it."
I was here when Hatcrack was a semi-serious concern for a few
I have been here though Hatrack romances, marriages, divorces and births. I've had Hatrackers stay in my home... and some of them had to fly halfway around the world to do so
I care
Have you seen things we people wouldn't believe?
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion?
Have you watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate?
Will all those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain?
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