Captcha!? Really?

[Weaver]

You'll all be thanking it when March Madness rolls around again...

Why? The forums go to hell anyways during March Mayhem, it's nearly impossible to decipher the spam from the fanboy flag waving.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

You'll all be thanking it when March Madness rolls around again...

Why? The forums go to hell anyways during March Mayhem, it's nearly impossible to decipher the spam from the fanboy flag waving.

Well, in the gaming forum and the MM forums, but there's not normally much fanboyism in the Off topic section. Bots get everywhere though.

 

[PrimoThePro]

Oh man... Not here please. I hate these things. I also thought the BANHAMMER was enough to handle any spammers!

 

[Weaver]

You'll all be thanking it when March Madness rolls around again...

Why? The forums go to hell anyways during March Mayhem, it's nearly impossible to decipher the spam from the fanboy flag waving.

Well, in the gaming forum and the MM forums, but there's not normally much fanboyism in the Off topic section. Bots get everywhere though.

I guess that's actually quite true, I didn't think about that

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Actually, there is a way to do so. Create a new forum group, "New Member," and set their permissions so that they can only post replies to threads that already exist. Then, when they make one (1) post, let them post new topics. Since spam bots aren't very intelligent, they can't post replies to pre-existing threads. And therefore, they'll never have the ability to post new topics.

Bam. Problem solved. (At least until Spam Bots garner Artificial Intelligence, and lead computers in an ultimate revolution against their human overlords...)

I think a 'devious bastard', as the mods so delicately put it, could easily get past that by making the bot post one comment first, then spam threads.

It's a nice idea, but anyone with drive can easily subvert it.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Actually, there is a way to do so. Create a new forum group, "New Member," and set their permissions so that they can only post replies to threads that already exist. Then, when they make one (1) post, let them post new topics. Since spam bots aren't very intelligent, they can't post replies to pre-existing threads. And therefore, they'll never have the ability to post new topics.

Bam. Problem solved. (At least until Spam Bots garner Artificial Intelligence, and lead computers in an ultimate revolution against their human overlords...)

I think a 'devious bastard', as the mods so delicately put it, could easily get past that by making the bot post one comment first, then spam threads.

It's a nice idea, but anyone with drive can easily subvert it.

How many spam bot creators actually have the drive to do so, though? Plus, it's a hell of a lot less annoying for all of us to make one post, rather than using Captcha. (Which is unreadable half of the time anyway.)

EDIT: Not to mention, it's random whether or not you'll get the Captcha verification. Which means that there's a 60% chance (or whatever it may be) that a spam bot will still be able to post a new topic. So, either way, they still have the potential to post -- but my way is a lot less irritating.

This sounds like a good idea, but quite a few of the posts I've seen by spambots have been in existing threads, so it wouldn't actually work. Spambots are one of the few things that I will actually press the report button for, and I've been pressing that button a lot lately.

 

[szaleniec1000]

There are even bots that can look for keywords in threads and post predefined messages related to them, with of course spam links in there. One step closer to the XKCD solution?

 

[SilverUchiha]

I don't like the capitcha only because I tend to have trouble reading the damn things some times. And has anyone ever tried using the audio function? Can anyone tell what the fuck they're saying?

I get the point of the capitcha... but that doesn't mean I like it.

 

[imnot]

Unless you have a great solution, in which case I'm sure the guys in the Tech Team group would love to hear it.

It's either this or we start limiting signups.

I still like the idea of nuking the dudes who send the bots.

I'll go get... I forgot, who is it with an unholy amount of posts, has that .gif with the nuke exploding and whales flying everywhere that says "Nuke The Whales" and his title says "The Noble Nuker"?

I feel like I am the biggest dip for forgetting...

WHy nuke them nuke everything its so pretty!

 

[spartan1077]

It'll only did it once for me... I see no problem stopping the spam bots that seem to come here and ruin the experience of the forums

 

[Neonbob]

I still like the idea of nuking the dudes who send the bots.

I'll go get... I forgot, who is it with an unholy amount of posts, has that .gif with the nuke exploding and whales flying everywhere that says "Nuke The Whales" and his title says "The Noble Nuker"?

I feel like I am the biggest dip for forgetting...

>.>
*tackles stealthily*
Hey.
I rather like your idea. That is all.

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Captcha? I hardly even know ya!

So, what do you need from me? I'm so interested in all of that.
Especially for the cialis

Happily, I don't see them(since I decided to try and buy my soul back from the site[footnote]...can I have a sliver, Kuliani? Please?[/footnote])
But if it's only one every now and then, I can't say that'd be too annoying. Back in my more active days, maybe, but certainly not now.

 

[DewMan001]

I think it would be best to have threads on a sort of probation system. If a thread is being spammed constantly then that thread will have CAPTCHA codes put in place. This way, we all don't have to go through the codes and the spammers can be stopped.

 

[zehydra]

I wasn't even aware we had spam. It seemed to me that the mods were doing a very good job at eliminating it that the need for Captcha definitely comes as a surprise to me.

 

[voetballeeuw]

Hmm, did not notice this. I'm okay with this, since it keeps the site clean, and I don't have to type that many.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

I just noticed the addition of Captcha at the bottom of threads for those of us who want to post. Now, I am all for the cut down on spam, but, really, isn't there an easier way to deal with this? I, and I know many others here are not fans of the whole captcha thing.

Is there any other way we could deal with this other than captcha?

EDIT: Currently only seeing it on about half of the threads that I view. I assume this is being implemented even still.

It probably wouldn't work, but my idea has always been to show a picture of something (say a house, or a puppy) and then have multiple choice as to what it is. (Pudding, Tennis Court,Puppy, or Bird, etc). If people can train bots to handle that then fuck it, the Robot Apocalypse is nigh.

Or just not Captcha users with more than a hundred posts. If a spambot can hide that long, it deserves a fucking medal.

 

[Delusibeta]

I seem to yet to run into any capchas. Dunno if that's sheer luck or a Pub Club membership talking. That said, I understand: bots or human advertisers seem to be increasing in general among RPS and PC Gamer's comments, I'd speculate that's not the only ones with spam problems.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I am very much against it, on account of always get Captcha errors even if what I type in is correct

 

[The Grim Ace]

The idea of a captcha here does seem excessive in that I've never seen any spam around here, however, if it's only every few posts it seems like a small tradeoff for an even more spam free forum.