tile wrote:
pretty sure that nobody likes the joke though... because the way that it is being carried out is like censorship. if the filter could be turned off by users who wanted to actually say the word,it would still be funny. but it's not. and now that it's 2014, 6 years after the fact, im pretty sure nobody cares about that website anymore.

Well, good news, it's still my website and I still think it's funny.

npc_msleeper_boss wrote:
tile wrote:

pretty sure that nobody likes the joke though... because the way that it is being carried out is like censorship. if the filter could be turned off by users who wanted to actually say the word,it would still be funny. but it's not. and now that it's 2014, 6 years after the fact, im pretty sure nobody cares about that website anymore.

Well, good news, it's still my website and I still think it's funny that you dislike it.

SO TOO BAD.

at least half of the joke is on you... It isn't as mandatory as you think you can make it, so i don't have to deal with it. i have software on my computer that can be used to automatically replace your filter with the correct wording, which i got specifically for that. not to mention, i can also do this:

tile wrote:
Have a holly, jolly ;
It's the best time of the year
I don't know if there'll be snow
but have a cup of cheer
Have a holly, jolly ;
And when you walk down the street
Say Hello to friends you know
and everyone you meet

Oh ho
the mistletoe
hung where you can see;
Somebody waits for you;
Kiss her once for me
Have a holly jolly
and in case you didn't hear
Oh by golly
have a holly
jolly this year.

and if you need proof of the mysterious software that you think is probably a bluff, here it is:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/deta ... l?hl=en-US

Okay.

Thanks for sharing, tile. What a grinch.

In other news, let's filter "Nike free run" to spam now

quaternary wrote:
Thanks for sharing, tile. What a grinch.

In other news, let's filter "Nike free run" to spam now

As always, just hit the "report to moderators" button.

I know you guys think it's hilarious to post in reply to a spam thread but it really is the worst for us.

npc_msleeper_boss wrote:
quaternary wrote:

I know you guys think it's hilarious to post in reply to a spam thread but it really is the worst for us.

I know you think it's funny to censor all mentions of a specific set of winter holidays, but it really is the worst for us.

so, good news! it's still the website we're all members of, and we still think it's funny.

I personally dont care when some words here are censored, for example Christ-mas.
Its not my website/forum, and i dont have to decide how npc_msleeper_boss makes his website,
so discussing about censoring is just pointless. The only worse things are the spambots..

Hey this is the spam thread, not the Christm?s thread.

I've noticed a new (?) kind of spambot that posts a generic "thank you" message and then edits the signature an hour later with a link to spam.

quaternary wrote:
Hey this is the spam thread, not the Christm?s thread.

I've noticed a new (?) kind of spambot that posts a generic "thank you" message and then edits the signature an hour later with a link to spam.

Yup! and then a bit later they're banned and their threads removed :3

Tile - Since you seem to think it's hilarious to be a dipshit, I've gone ahead and banned you for a week or so. See you around.

PS - Your signature is too tall. The maximum size is 150px total - images and text included. Please fix that once your ban runs out.

Poor tile, I'll be seeing him on moddb for a while.

Ok this is ridiculous.

Laakkone pointed me to the forum today and I cleared out over 60 spam threads that were posted in just one day.

Didn't even move em to the trash - just ticked the posts and deleted them from the 'moderate forum' area.

of all that is sane: please put better spam protections msleeper!

The problem isn't just spambots posting spam, some bots register and just sit there with a link in their user profile. Google finds this link and thinks its more popular.

memberlist.php?g=230mode=groupstart=6475

MSleeper, can you add a column displaying whether or not that user is banned on that list? it would be helpful to look down the list and be able to quickly spot spam bots, and just ban them right away, but I dont want to be re-banning accounts

I'm not sure if we have it here or not, but verify email before you can use your account?

Also, this looks like a reasource that may be able to help. I found it by doing a websearch of one of the IPs of one of the spammers

http://www.stopforumspam.com/

Edit:
Just did a permma ban on everyone who joined the last week, except for people who were posting non-spam, or logged back in after sign up date.

I think we need to delete these spambot users though, or atleast cleanse their public data, because they are still propagating their spam on their user profiles.

list of the damned banned

Ahoms
Louiseoiv
ShirleyDob
MiguelCug
WilliamBymn
tuxvapkn
plerjrovr
ueapmedf8
almams18
Robertfes
carpinteyropnc
Invevense
Piegeniweet
Robertgob
QuickShot
Kemspaumura
tastdiursiose
rimiStoogyMit
MohamedEa
DorothyDuek
BLetGXloio
marianady16
YHioAMmbfg
andomoal
lsguybqq
Ahoms
Timothyst
owikizjt
MuMescogMom
kaunbintang
10seloso
Holmqvisst
kjmlaiz
QTlrNVbyem
LRmgBCzqox
Marilynst
JudithBelo
FrankieEl
MhWACvelkL
SallyCype
riviorspus
apelsinikgmz
Dennisrex
gxmqhffb
astoksDab
hlvdkgyc
hgctbkrn
TonerMixxd
LynetteKn
plerpromd
pletcherovt
Jinnalove
carpinteyropja
Samuellal
Taendagzx
nuxemmfs
Sxxmentq
JtanpZoved
Pulmebear
CloreCorAreve
xishkmlb
MR.CO
faisalwy
sonofgod
ubilada

Edit:
New idea... maybe stupid, maybe not

We could move the register page to a new address or php command.
If it is a bot, then it will break as it wont have the right page.
If it is a human, they probably have the page bookmarked, and they'll not find the page when they go to the bookmark.
At this point you could determine that whoever travels to the old register page is probably a spammer, you could record their IP, or temporarily block it. In-case it is a human who then navigates to the proper register page.
This wouldn't affect any current users.

Edit: more mass banning

Shakirafah
NettieSlic
EdwardPl
brijordanpas
Zoroak71
ewikibsv
lvfmqmlg
grewdoxa
andomben
fleetrowl
mailotnalt
Michaelvody
jantoniozki
GdTRZmmwoR
jamequodavrn
tabathasa3
gaferuffwet
gynchoppy
mjktcalw
TerrellChet
sheilald4
SharaDuaps
KiOll
jonziworld
Fesastode
tobamakirqu
Robertslug
oosqfnxelk
Michaelpn
Andressl
Victorhob
KcNOSbmjpK
macoooo
Nicolasea
slrcolvteu
Patricklasp
CuEGRpchoV
jiuexmtvc
Timothyrage
Korsckrk
ichigo
apollonida
Richardkal
oaerxlxxg
qjacklht
Jeffreyniz
ScottyPef
Donniesl
EgGIUsairC
UnAQZbhtpT
WnEYSttjrN
JpRHZgpedJ
YxIWOtnrrB
WiQQGkepeP
HzFHTqriyW
alextitanic0218
Philbert515
crimvoipMr

&&&&

EDIT: snip, moved to a pm

sorry for bumping a spam thread, but i just was thinking: maybe, to verify for absolute sure that sombody doesnt join unless they are a human who belongs here, the sign-up process should require the user to answer one of these three obvious, yet relevant,questions. then the account isnt activated unless an admin approves the answer. so even if it's humans who create the account for their spam bots to use, they still cant get in, because they wouldn't know the right answer.

Who is the main antagonist of our favorite game here?
[user input box here]

What is hammer?
[user input box here]

what character in the third game has brown eyes?
[user input box here]

notice that it doesn't say which game. spammers probably cant figure out what game this site is for. the third game thing is also another trap; a spammer would try to answer cleverly like "oh, well, you know! it's her. " a legit user would say, "valve cant count to three..."

Re: manually graded signup quiz - Spambots create more work for the admins, let's solve the problem by creating more work for the admins ! Yay

A solution I've seen on other places is just deleting all a user's URL tags until they reach a small number of posts. Spammers exist to post links, and if we take that away, what's the point.

quaternary wrote:
Re: manually graded signup quiz - Spambots create more work for the admins, let's solve the problem by creating more work for the admins ! Yay

A solution I've seen on other places is just deleting all a user's URL tags until they reach a small number of posts. Spammers exist to post links, and if we take that away, what's the point.

first paragraph: good point...

second pragraph: what about all the real users who post url tags here literally all the time?

BenVlodgi brought up a good point that the spam bots post links inside their profile - these literally cannot be changed by moderators (msleeper most probably). It still comes up through Google bot search even though their account is banned.

Manual signup quiz is just annoying, they should be generic one word or phrase answers that is portal specific. A computer spambot isn't smart enough to Google answers and most of the human spammers probably don't get paid enough to be bothered.

Also keep in mind that not everyone that signs up to this forum actually use hammer. They might just like to play custom Portal maps or post feedback.

The phpBB forums do have a fair amount of anti-spam discussion, for example this thread, though I'm sure you guys have looked there before.

What I took from it is that the current captcha system used here, reCAPTCHA, can be broken by bots - so we need to find out another method. My 2 cents on the issue is that Q&A is the best way to go. Or, admin approval maybe? I'm not sure about the traffic here so I don't know how practical that would be; and I think msleeper wants the site to not require constant babysitting. Plus discerning a spammer from a non-spammer could be hard, unless there was some giveaway in the registration fields that would help distinguish bots.

tile wrote:
second pragraph: what about all the real users who post url tags here literally all the time?

You're right - and on the forum where I stole this idea from, that's an issue. The trick is to set the number of posts really low, like five posts or so. Most spammers sign up, post once, and go away forever. It's just a minor annoyance for anyone else, because they can just post four more times.