The attack is bad enough that it might be worth putting something at the top of the main page acknowledging the problem and telling people not to post in spam threads. I am talking about putting this in the place at the top where you would announce upcoming site changes. That way, fewer people should forget.
OK, got a few this morning. Unfortunately, I'm working today (9AM - 2PM; ah, the glories of retail) so I can't keep it up.
I must admit, though, I WAS tempted to vary the reason for flagging and tag 'twerk' as 'offensive'!
They're getting cleverer...still posting twice, but in different forums.
Edit: You KNOW it's a bad job when you'd rather stay and flag spam than go to work!
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This is my flag button. There are many like it but this one is mine.
My flag button is my best friend. I must master it as I master my life.
My flag button without me is useless. Without my flag button, I am useless. I must flag spam posts true. I must flag more accurately than my enemy who is trying to spam me. I must flag him before he spams me. I will...
I don't even know what forum they're in...I tend to just watch the sidefeed.
Likewise, i shoot down anything i see, but they are persistent.
So many moles whacked... O.o
Only one way to be sure.
No man, a nuke from orbit's the only way. :)
thejeff did mention a filter.
What if said filter applies to any account whose flagged posts already reached 5.
(because we all know they easily reach that quota)
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I don't know but I've been told,
I don't know but I've been told,
Spam can't get me if I'm bold,
Spam can't get me if I'm bold.
It can't get through my thick skull,
It can't get through my thick skull,
When the letters look so weird,
When the letters look so weird.
Sorry about not rhyming. The nice thing about flagging korean spam is that ads can't get stuck in my head since I don't speak the lingo. Their efforts are completely wasted on me.
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I think the Swarm might also have a small hint of intelligence as it seems to be trying to assume various humanoid identities with the names chosen. Small but there.I would guess that it's an automated script which has the capabilty of mass producing paizo accounts, confirming them and then using them to attack the forums. I suspect it's a form of hacker advertising.
I've been imagining something more corporate, where the hackers are assigned user name ranges, and then the boss runs reports to see which posts were successful at getting indexed, and each person gets a payout based on how often they show up on the reports.
I wonder if anyone has considered just renaming the forums? They seem to be targeting anything with the word "General" in it. That and the Beginner Box, but that may be a simple fix until you can address it more completely.
Aptha would work only if the spammers were not human. Renaming the forums won't work for more than an extremely short time, because the spammers will just find the renamed forums and/or target other forums (even if they are using a bot, they just have to change a setting on the bot). Also, reaming the forums WOULD confuse legitimate users far ore than enforcing moderation of the first 2 or 3 posts of new users, especially if you have to keep changing the names to dodge the adaptive spammers.
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G**&$%n it!! Those f&!+ing a%!#+@%s keep taking the best f~~+ing aliases! Now how do I properly express my feelings for chicken!
Now they're attacking Off-topic!
This will not stand! That's cool, been awhile since I rampaged with my Tesla Cannon...
And Beginner's Box.
Stay awn targit!
Stay awn targit!
Aptha would work only if the spammers were not human. Renaming the forums won't work for more than an extremely short time, because the spammers will just find the renamed forums and/or target other forums (even if they are using a bot, they just have to change a setting on the bot). Also, reaming the forums WOULD confuse legitimate users far ore than enforcing moderation of the first 2 or 3 posts of new users, especially if you have to keep changing the names to dodge the adaptive spammers.
There are being run by humans, we've tried a number of tricks which they adapt to fairly quickly. Power banning is helping but we're discussing other solutions internally. It's a balancing act between keeping the boards user friendly while creating enough barrier to entry to discourage the spammers.
O_o
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When I'm not flagging and fragging...
I will say I'm seeing fewer of them, so something is working.
Thanks.
OK, so that was a new tactic: 5 identical (?) posts, website in the screen name, and one a response to one of the other posts.
Aaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
They're back in force!
Note to tech staff: due to my trackball on the laptop I've flagged a few wrong. Sorry.
:::Changing to desktop/non-trackball:::
Anther note: Zum is posting way to often to be anything but a bot.
Well, back to the front lines.
Edit: Paizo General Discussion is clear...for now.
Holy cow.
General discussion is a wall of spam.
Holy cow.
General discussion is a wall of spam.
Yea, it's so bad that when I use the Flag & Hide strategy, there are NO posts in General Discussion!
That was weird - suddenly, zerg rush...
I can't help thinking 'owe#' is a loan company targeting all those who used the gambling sites.
;)
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I wish there were a way to flag threads without having to enter them, and to hide threads or remove the (x new) from the sidebar.
I second that idea. It would make flagging faster.
Also, how about some sort of notation that a thread has been flagged. It would keep people from multi-flagging.Also if there is something that has been flagged in a post (that is not a spam) it could warn readers ahead of time until the moderator can remove it.
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I wish there were a way to flag threads without having to enter them, and to hide threads or remove the (x new) from the sidebar.I second that idea. It would make flagging faster.
Also, how about some sort of notation that a thread has been flagged. It would keep people from multi-flagging.
Also if there is something that has been flagged in a post (that is not a spam) it could warn readers ahead of time until the moderator can remove it.
I don't think multi-flagging is a bad thing. Especially for things other than spam it gives the mods an idea how hot something is. It's also easier to inadertently minimize problems in a thread if it's only the same "squeaky wheel" flagging things -- knowing how many flags something has and who is doing it is very good info for mods to have.
I'm actually making a point to not spam flag the same way everyone else does (I tend to do it by users rather than forums) because that makes it harder for the spammers to design counter-measurers. I noticed yesterday there was one guy who was making the standard two posts per account, but the two posts were always in different forums -- if you're just going top to bottom in a forum, you'll might miss half the spam that way.
Diversity is strength.
Still going on flagging.
Any chance of actually identifying the spammers and/or their hosting company, for the purpose of taking legal action against them?
Wait, so what do we check for the flagging reason? I'm not seeing a "spam" option.
Wait, so what do we check for the flagging reason? I'm not seeing a "spam" option.
You check "Breaks Other Guidelines".
I really wish they'd just put in a flagging option for "Spam".
Can we just ban anyone with steffiechun in their name? -_-
Oddly cathartic to flag posts, he he.