[Idea] Clean up forum spam

[Dopium]

I am sure many will not like this idea however some may agree that the spam going around can be a real PITA. The spam i am talking about is "post#" spam, as in posting irrelevant and unnecessary trash to boost their total number of posts (like it some sort of status).

I have noticed alot of new comers do this in the first 3 month or so, treating their post numbers like an achievement. Dead give away is when they brag about having made 500 posts or so.

Really this is just spam and is becoming annoying having to skip past their nonsense comments on EVERY bloody topic.

Also the fake troll account 176433428000blah blah blah should be removed as it only encourages the behavior. That account is just a in-direct stab towards new comers that actually just want to share their mods with others.

I suggest removing the ability for regular users to view ones post count, only admins should have access to that information. Almost willing to bet 50% of nonsense comments would then diminish as they have no goal or objective to meet.

This is a forum not a game!

[Evergreen]

That is a very good point. Although, I do like knowing when I hit a major milestone like 1000 or something. Still, very good idea.

[hoodedice]

I have noticed alot of new comers do this in the first 3 month or so, treating their post numbers like an achievement. Dead give away is when they brag about having made 500 posts or so.

Well meaning, non-nooby members like Enke do it as well. I see no problem with this. None of the spammy members have been spotted doing this.

Also the fake troll account 176433428000blah blah blah should be removed as it only encourages the behavior. That account is just a in-direct stab towards new comers that actually just want to share their mods with others.

Those guys are kids. They aren't doing anything technically wrong. This is a game oriented towards kids and we can't really help it if we get a bunch of 8 year olds wishing for Herobrine or a dragon mod. IMO, those are kids whose parents did not buy them MC and they found out about the free MT instead. They don't know or care about free as in freedom software and do not care about schist as long as they get their fairies, gnomes or whatever.

Sometimes, as in the case of AMMOnym, a member can actually become productive after staying on the site for a bit.

I suggest removing the ability for regular users to view ones post count, only admins should have access to that information. Almost willing to bet 50% of nonsense comments would then diminish as they have no goal or objective to meet

Apart from the text under the avatar which says 'Member', 'Moderator', or 'Core Developer', the only other factor that shows a person that a certain user is credible is the post count. No one can and has spammed to that level. I did on an average spam about 15-20% of my posts, but most of them were in the proper place (Offtopic).

Now, how to declutter the forum.

To tell the truth, I have been thinking about it for a while and I have the followng for you and anyone else to whom it may concern to consider:

1. Posts in 'Modding General', 'Texture Packs', 'Maps' and 'Minetest Games' MUST have 1 screenshot and 1 download link. Even for alpha and beta. Screenies can be linked - No need to put it in an img tag.
2. Questions MUST be put in the respective discussion thread for it. NO ONE is allowed to create a question topic unless in Feature Discussion, or in the topic for Modding under Modding General.
3. FAQ's shall be locked with a link posted to a thread with the answer and deleted within a short span of time.
4. Age should be asked upon registration. No one should be barred, but this will be very helpful.
5. Every one should be recommended to post in an introductory thread, which has yet to be created. The language of the newbie will help us determine if he's a pest or not.
6. Well-known helpers, mod devs and artists must be given special designations as semi-mods (Special members with no mod powers) and must be made responsible for answering questions within entire sub forums.

Also, ONLY 9 MORE POSTS TO GO [spoiler]trololololololo[/spoiler]

[Dopium]

Apart from the text under the avatar which says 'Member', 'Moderator', or 'Core Developer', the only other factor that shows a person that a certain user is credible is the post count.

This is the point i was trying to make, how is a member with more posts then another more 'credible'? The rest is neither here nor there. Just because someone has spammed their post count does not mean they are more credible, some seem to believe this. Only way to know if someone is 'credible' is to sit back listen and observe their work.

Personally when i research something i collect information from many various sources. Whether it be from topic replies or other outside information, i then decipher the facts from the trash. If 90% of the sources say 'this is the way to do it ect' i throw the other 10% in the bin, regardless of their post count.

Therefor the users post count is irrelevant (useless information) other then for admin purposes. However this is a problem on many forums not just minetest.

Just think it will weed out the irrelevant comments to an extent, no counter no competition no need to post spam.

[Novacain]

1. Posts in 'Modding General', 'Texture Packs', 'Maps' and 'Minetest Games' MUST have 1 screenshot and 1 download link. Even for alpha and beta. Screenies can be linked - No need to put it in an img tag.

and what about requests for help with mod development? I personally have very little in the way of programming skills right now, but I do have some unique ideas, and need to find help.

4. Age should be asked upon registration. No one should be barred, but this will be very helpful.

the problem with this is that you are now collecting personal information. Bit of a turn off.

6. Well-known helpers, mod devs and artists must be given special designations as semi-mods (Special members with no mod powers) and must be made responsible for answering questions within entire sub forums.

I like this idea. question is, what to call them?

This is the point i was trying to make, how is a member with more posts then another more 'credible'? The rest is neither here nor there. Just because someone has spammed their post count does not mean they are more credible, some seem to believe this. Only way to know if someone is 'credible' is to sit back listen and observe their work.

chances are if you see that someone has been playing for the past year and has 1,000+ posts, they probably have some pretty good knowledge. if a person just joined and only has 1, chances are you are gonna be pretty wary about what they say. I personally liked being able to see when I really started to join the community. my post count all of a sudden jumped from 10 to 20, then to 40, and is still climbing. I think it is a fun feature. also, if you report those spamming and get them banned, chances are you won't have to worry about them spamming anymore to get their count up, even if they make a second forum account.

[hoodedice]

@Dopium: Currently, yes. But after a little clean up, if we do have one, the post count will become very relevant. What you do is what I do - wiki, API, and IRC. I don't hesitate asking and again on the IRC. In the end, everyone benefits from better mods =). But not everyone has time for that. And for such cases, a new member is often more ready to believe someone with the 'COre Dev' tag than a 'Member' tag. OR the post count. But you may be right too. We have people who join up after much contemplation, so they already do know a lot even before their first post.

1. Posts in 'Modding General', 'Texture Packs', 'Maps' and 'Minetest Games' MUST have 1 screenshot and 1 download link. Even for alpha and beta. Screenies can be linked - No need to put it in an img tag.

and what about requests for help with mod development? I personally have very little in the way of programming skills right now, but I do have some unique ideas, and need to find help.

READ SUGGESTION 2.

4. Age should be asked upon registration. No one should be barred, but this will be very helpful.

the problem with this is that you are now collecting personal information. Bit of a turn off.

You gave us your email while registering. Enough to find out your home address, the school to went to/ go to, and the phone number of your last girlfriend. Your age is just the number of times you went round the sun. Nothing big about that.

6. Well-known helpers, mod devs and artists must be given special designations as semi-mods (Special members with no mod powers) and must be made responsible for answering questions within entire sub forums.

I like this idea. question is, what to call them?

Senior Members.

[Novacain]

You gave us your email while registering. Enough to find out your home address, the school to went to/ go to, and the phone number of your last girlfriend. Your age is just the number of times you went round the sun. Nothing big about that.

and I have two e-mail addresses for my alias, Aincha Bisnus. emails are easy to make fake. or you could use a similar approach to what runescape did/does (been a while since I registered an account on there, so idk) of selectiing an age range. -12, 12-16, 17-25, 25+.

[rubenwardy]

Certain members in the top 15 user by most posts, post an average of 20 posts a day.

2. Questions MUST be put in the respective discussion thread for it. NO ONE is allowed to create a question topic unless in Feature Discussion, or in the topic for Modding under Modding General.

I disagree with the topic in modding general.

Firstly, what is supposed to go in modding general other than questions?
Mods go in modding releases, after moderator vetting. Libraries are rare.

Secondly, that topic is hard to follow in structure. Things are much clearer in their own threads.

Finally, asking questions in their own topic means that you can choose a title that is meaningful. For example, I will look at a question entitled "Formspec problem: everything in the wrong place", and not a question entitled: "Entities: changing their textures at runtime", because I know more about them

3. FAQ's shall be locked with a link posted to a thread with the answer and deleted within a short span of time.

Do you mean the real FAQ (wiki or forum), or a FAQ that a person has asked?

4. Age should be asked upon registration. No one should be barred, but this will be very helpful.

How?

5. Every one should be recommended to post in an introductory thread, which has yet to be created. The language of the newbie will help us determine if he's a pest or not.

And what would you do if (s)he is? Ban them?

6. Well-known helpers, mod devs and artists must be given special designations as semi-mods (Special members with no mod powers) and must be made responsible for answering questions within entire sub forums.

I like this, but meh.

[Enke]

Well meaning, non-nooby members like Enke do it as well. I see no problem with this. None of the spammy members have been spotted doing this.

Uhhh, is that a compliment, or an insult?

Those guys are kids. They aren't doing anything technically wrong. This is a game oriented towards kids and we can't really help it if we get a bunch of 8 year olds wishing for Herobrine or a dragon mod. IMO, those are kids whose parents did not buy them MC and they found out about the free MT instead. They don't know or care about free as in freedom software and do not care about schist as long as they get their fairies, gnomes or whatever.

You are correct.

Sometimes, as in the case of AMMOnym, a member can actually become productive after staying on the site for a bit.

Some. Not all, but some.

I suggest removing the ability for regular users to view ones post count, only admins should have access to that information. Almost willing to bet 50% of nonsense comments would then diminish as they have no goal or objective to meet

Apart from the text under the avatar which says 'Member', 'Moderator', or 'Core Developer', the only other factor that shows a person that a certain user is credible is the post count. No one can and has spammed to that level. I did on an average spam about 15-20% of my posts, but most of them were in the proper place (Offtopic).

This is generally true. A member with more posts will generally be more helpful and credible. Not always, but a spammer with 500 posts is the exception, not the rule.

1. Posts in 'Modding General', 'Texture Packs', 'Maps' and 'Minetest Games' MUST have 1 screenshot and 1 download link. Even for alpha and beta. Screenies can be linked - No need to put it in an img tag.

It seems good in concept, however, my thought is a thread where you can post a notice that you are working on a mod.

2. Questions MUST be put in the respective discussion thread for it. NO ONE is allowed to create a question topic unless in Feature Discussion, or in the topic for Modding under Modding General.

Feature discussion shouldn't be for questions. A thread where newcomers can ask questions about little things may work.

5. Every one should be recommended to post in an introductory thread, which has yet to be created. The language of the newbie will help us determine if he's a pest or not.

Allow me to ask: How would you determine someone's a pest or not from a single post? These things take time. First impressions are important, however.

6. Well-known helpers, mod devs and artists must be given special designations as semi-mods (Special members with no mod powers) and must be made responsible for answering questions within entire sub forums.

I object to this idea. One of the things that I liked about this community was that if someone had a question, and I had an answer, I could help them. The suggestion your are making sounds like only certain people will be allowed to help because they've been here longer.

[/endwalloftext]

I only posted in this topic because hoodedice referenced me.

[hoodedice]

I disagree with the topic in modding general.

Firstly, what is supposed to go in modding general other than questions?
Mods go in modding releases, after moderator vetting. Libraries are rare.

Secondly, that topic is hard to follow in structure. Things are much clearer in their own threads.

Finally, asking questions in their own topic means that you can choose a title that is meaningful. For example, I will look at a question entitled "Formspec problem: everything in the wrong place", and not a question entitled: "Entities: changing their textures at runtime", because I know more about them

Yes, but as far as I've seen, most question in Modding General are dang nooby, like, How do I install mods? Can someone gimme code to do x? I'm gonna release a mod after x time, blah blah. Maybe we could allow users to post after say, 5 posts in modding general, or they come up on the IRC and ask for permission to post.

Do you mean the real FAQ (wiki or forum), or a FAQ that a person has asked?

FAQ that every other newbie seems to ask, like - How do you install mods?

How?

User shitposting, while being older is a troll. Younger users also have to be taught how to use a computer. Them shitposting can be tolerated to an extent. Knowing the age helps me use a particular language to help out.

And what would you do if (s)he is? Ban them?

Depends. There are users who have been banned for being pests. But ofc, an introductory post will only help us get his background and the level of crap they might post.

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Uhhh, is that a compliment, or an insult?

None! I was just pointing out how 'normal' users like you and me also put the post count achievement on reaching a certain number of posts =)

It seems good in concept, however, my thought is a thread where you can post a notice that you are working on a mod.

No. Stuff gets lost easily.

Allow me to ask: How would you determine someone's a pest or not from a single post? These things take time.

"First impressions are important"

I object to this idea. One of the things that I liked about this community was that if someone had a question, and I had an answer, I could help them. The suggestion your are making sounds like only certain people will be allowed to help because they've been here longer.

I never said that those without the badge can not answer questions lol. I just said to give them a badge just to make them shine out as someone who knows stuff and is credible. Like I can get a badge just called 'Helper'. Ruben can get a badge called 'Mod Developer' and so on...