Ellri

Massive Spambot invasion 4/16/2016

Not many we've seen of those, @Shienvien.

Sample post or somesuch would work for many too.

It doesn't take a lot to rack up 200 posts. A bit of ooc chatter, participation in a spam section thread or three, a few IntCk posts, the rare IC posts...

Mind you, these were suggested parameters for being allowed to approve new users as non-bots. Most of the guild members who don't rack up a post count like that tend not to care overmuch about reviewing new members, wethinks.

Massive Spambot invasion 4/16/2016

RPers in general generally don't go looking for places to RP on specific dates. Muses are often fickle creatures, so chances are that someone who would join might not be in possession of an active muse at such a registration date.

Far easier to have a demand on introduction thread and/or approval/invite from another user with >n post count. The latter would help those who get panicked by the idea of writing such a thread join.
If you need to have been registered for 1 months and have at least 200 posts to approve a user, chances are pretty high you're not a spambot. We thought of suggesting higher numbers, but not everyone posts a lot even while being active. if a bot manages to get to 200 posts and 1 month of life, its a pretty good bot.

Our cost-benefit evaluation of just 1-3 days per month with registration puts the costs at far higher than the benefits.

Massive Spambot invasion 4/16/2016

The entire guild architecture is "not standard", @Shienvien. Thats what makes it unique.

Massive Spambot invasion 4/16/2016

Indeed, @NuttsnBolts. Everyone here helping out pointing out the bots when the mods already have a reliable list isn't all that beneficial, really. 'tis better to point out other issues that aren't part of this here case, as this one's being handled as well as possible already.

Soon enough our Dark Overlord Mahz will be finished with forging the tools necessary for the mods to deal more easily with this here case.

Its annoying for a lot of people not to be able to help out more directly, but nothing to do about that. We can at least skip out on pestering the mods so that they aren't delayed extra.

Massive Spambot invasion 4/16/2016

You do realize that the mods automatically get a list in their private area with all new users and a few details about them, right?
There's generally no need to list them up here.

When a new user is created, they're automatically added to a list that moderators have in the moderator forum. It shows their username, the email address they registered with, and a post count. So, really, all the reporting people are doing is somewhat redundant, as we can tell who the spammers are simply by following the generated moderator list and applying common sense. Now, that said, when it's happening this frequently and on this large a scale, it's almost impossible to keep up with, regardless of the information we have at hand. More moderators won't necessarily fix the problem because the bots will simply find a way to eventually circumvent our efforts and we can't all be around all the time. (That's just life.) Once Mahz puts his new system in place, whatever system that happens to be, we'll be able to keep things like this from happening and clean up the forum more effectively. Patience is key in this situation, however frustrating it happens to be in the meantime.

TL;DR -- The bots will get theirs in the end. Just sit tight. We'll handle it.

@Sherlock Holmes

Massive Spambot invasion 4/16/2016

Oh, we know that perfectly well, @Aragorn.

Massive Spambot invasion 4/16/2016

@Mahz A recaptcha for every new topic or just for new topics from people with postcount below n?

Massive Spambot invasion 4/16/2016

y'know... if you want to make a truly sneaky spambot... have it post regularly the first ten posts, then in the 11th, make its top half regular and the bottom pure spam... Or somesuch other convoluted system that is as not beneficial as spam from post #1.

Massive Spambot invasion 4/16/2016

But-but... We want it fixed the day before it started, @Hank!
[obligatory whining]

That being said, a nuke function will make cleaning up a lot easier for ya.

Massive Spambot invasion 4/16/2016

Indeed. forging a few extra banhammers may not be unwise in the face of this conflict.
Alternatively, restricting new player to a single section till they're approved by someone. These someones could also be picked from guild members to remove burden from the regular mods.