Alternative to forum ban

[40oz]

I couldn't help but notice the extreme number of accounts forum trolls have been generating. It's kinda ugly to see Doomworld welcoming our newest forum member shittyPOOPlolHEHEHEHE etc.

I know I don't really have any place to be discussing forum operations but I know this forum has a function for ignoring certain people. I haven't used it yet but if I remember correctly it simply makes their posts invisible. How effective would it be in preventing trolls making duplicate accounts by instead banning them, just making their posts invisible to everyone? That way people can carry on with their posting and forum trolls won't know that their garbage isn't obstructing conversations?

[Craigs]

40oz said:

I couldn't help but notice the extreme number of accounts forum trolls have been generating. It's kinda ugly to see Doomworld welcoming our newest forum member shittyPOOPlolHEHEHEHE etc.

I know I don't really have any place to be discussing forum operations but I know this forum has a function for ignoring certain people. I haven't used it yet but if I remember correctly it simply makes their posts invisible. How effective would it be in preventing trolls making duplicate accounts by instead banning them, just making their posts invisible to everyone? That way people can carry on with their posting and forum trolls won't know that their garbage isn't obstructing conversations?

Then that person would just use a different proxy to create another account. Also I'm pretty sure they'll notice once they log out that all of their posts are invisible

[esselfortium]

Man, I wish. It's kind of a nuisance having to keep banning the same dumbass 10 times a day.

[DoomUK]

40oz said:

ignore function

A temporary solution. They'd just keep re-registering & posting more shit until they get noticed.

[Grazza]

40oz said:

It's kinda ugly to see Doomworld welcoming our newest forum member shittyPOOPlolHEHEHEHE etc.

Yes, that's the one noticeable thing that remains after they've been banned and their posts deleted or helled. Admins can delete accounts, which might remove it (but I'm not sure). But other than removing the "welcomes our newest member" message entirely (so it never appears), it's not obvious how it could be prevented from being there for a while.

As it stands, the "Ignore" behaviour (i.e. add the offender to everyone's ignore list, even assuming that's possible) wouldn't solve the problem, since you can see that a post is there, and who has made it - just its content is hidden.

BTW, this thread is also giving the moron more attention than he deserves...

[GreyGhost]

DoomUK said:

A temporary solution. They'd just keep re-registering & posting more shit until they get noticed.

Agreed, very temporary. Given how short the list is, it's a feature probably best used while waiting for a miscreant to be banned. I don't see it as an alternative to banning since visitors to the forums (who don't have access to that feature) will still have to wade through the crap posts and most likely leave with a poor impression of the place.

[finnw]

40oz said:

How effective would it be in preventing trolls making duplicate accounts by instead banning them, just making their posts invisible to everyone? That way people can carry on with their posting and forum trolls won't know that their garbage isn't obstructing conversations?

Also known as a HellBan. It can work but only if the troll is not aware that it is being used.

[Blastfrog]

finnw said:

It can work but only if the troll is not aware that it is being used.

Since he's already seen this thread, I don't think it will work, unfortunately.

[GreyGhost]

finnw said:

Also known as a HellBan.

AKA the Miserable User hack - sounds like fun if you're not on the receiving end.

[Maes]

40oz said:

ignore function

That is never a good solution. What e.g. if the other guy starts insulting your mother?

[The_MártonJános]

How I've already known that this guy is gonna have it's ass kicked maybe minutes after he have registered.

[DuckReconMajor]

I think this is a good idea. Sure there may be a couple people who know about it and have read this thread. But the great majority of people aren't going to have any idea.

Craigs said:

Also I'm pretty sure they'll notice once they log out that all of their posts are invisible

Do people log out? I've logged out of these forums maybe twice. Ever.

[C30N9]

DuckReconMajor said:

Do people log out? I've logged out of these forums maybe twice. Ever.

What if your evil friend/brother uses your account and start trolling as you? :P

I don't leave it open or log in automatically.

[AndrewB]

Many years ago, I advocated this idea for other forums that had trouble with trolls. I'm not aware that anyone has implemented this.

[AndrewB]

Craigs said:

Then that person would just use a different proxy to create another account. Also I'm pretty sure they'll notice once they log out that all of their posts are invisible

One option is to allow them to be visible to logged-out people. Again, this wouldn't interfere with any conversation.

[DuckReconMajor]

C30N9 said:

What if your evil friend/brother uses your account and start trolling as you? :P

I push people in my social circle away for this very reason.

AndrewB said:

I'm not aware that anyone has implemented this.

Anyone ever or anyone on that forum? I know Game Informer did this to get rid of First! commenters on their news posts.

[GreyGhost]

AndrewB said:

One option is to allow them to be visible to logged-out people.

That bring me back to my main objection to this idea, foisting those junk posts onto the forums' guests (its largest user base) will more likely give this site a reputation of being an ill-moderated cesspit. Might as well paint it all red and orange.

[finnw]

AndrewB said:

One option is to allow them to be visible to logged-out people. Again, this wouldn't interfere with any conversation.

On the forums I've seen it used on, you could see the banned user's posts if you had

1. the offending cookie, or
   
2. the offending IP address

but not otherwise, so most guest users wouldn't see it.

[Bucket]

Problem is, all that stuff can be spoofed. What's more, we could be banning potential future members that way. The next logical step is probably requiring CAPTCHA on login.

[hobomaster22]

Since I haven't registered since I made this account I'm assuming email addresses aren't required to register. Most sites require an email address to register and send an email to that address to verify. At least this way you have to create a new email address for every account you want to create.

[DoomUK]

Bucket said:

The next logical step is probably requiring CAPTCHA on login.

CAPTCHA doesn't deter persistent spammers or trolls or idiots of some other nature. All it does is piss off everyone else.

[gggmork]

Just because bears eat campers from time to time does not mean that they aren't one of the flying spaghetti monster's beautiful earth creatures. Frankly, I'm surprised by all the group-think anti-troll racism here. Trolls have to live under bridges almost their whole life and eat bridge mold (SOMETIMES the occasional passerby who fails to pay a toll, but trolls need money too and they're completely discriminated against in the job market so what choice do they have?). Did you know that 73% of trolls who are denied their relatively harmless forum release of tension go on school shootings instead? Trolls have special needs just like retarded people. We don't deny special needs to retarded people do we? They're completely ostracized by society and forced to live under bridges with no love. The least we can do is give them the attention they crave from time to time. :(

Was shittyPOOPlolHEHEHEHE a false flag inside job by power tripping moderators as an excuse to clamp down on doomworld's domestic population?? Just what are the ties with doomworld moderators and reptilianoids?? Take the red pill sheeple.

[Sharessa]

gggmork said:

Was shittyPOOPlolHEHEHEHE a false flag inside job by power tripping moderators as an excuse to clamp down on doomworld's domestic population?? Just what are the ties with doomworld moderators and reptilianoids?? Take the red pill sheeple.

...

I honestly have no idea if you're trolling with these kinds of posts anymore.

[DoomUK]

gggmork said:

Just because bears eat campers from time to time does not mean that they aren't one of the flying spaghetti monster's beautiful earth creatures. Frankly, I'm surprised by all the group-think anti-troll racism here. Trolls have to live under bridges almost their whole life and eat bridge mold (SOMETIMES the occasional passerby who fails to pay a toll, but trolls need money too and they're completely discriminated against in the job market so what choice do they have?). Did you know that 73% of trolls who are denied their relatively harmless forum release of tension go on school shootings instead? Trolls have special needs just like retarded people. We don't deny special needs to retarded people do we? They're completely ostracized by society and forced to live under bridges with no love. The least we can do is give them the attention they crave from time to time. :(

Was shittyPOOPlolHEHEHEHE a false flag inside job by power tripping moderators as an excuse to clamp down on doomworld's domestic population?? Just what are the ties with doomworld moderators and reptilianoids?? Take the red pill sheeple.

[Technician]

I'd like to know what gave kids the inspiration to troll a Doom forum. Seriously, this place is pretty obscure, considering.

gggmork said:

Was shittyPOOPlolHEHEHEHE a false flag inside job by power tripping moderators as an excuse to clamp down on doomworld's domestic population?? Just what are the ties with doomworld moderators and reptilianoids?? Take the red pill sheeple.

Maybe UGO is fucking with us.

[HumanBones]

You could get really extreme and make it so Administrators have to approve forum accounts, but that is a huge pain in the ass!

[40oz]

Or you could have forum members print out a waiver that they have to sign accompanied by the signature of a legal parent/guardian then fax it to the Administrator.

[Gez]

HumanBones said:

You could get really extreme and make it so Administrators have to approve forum accounts, but that is a huge pain in the ass!

Why? It's a one-time-per-account operation, and only for people who registered after the extension takes effect. The admins wouldn't have to approve each of the current member list.

[Justince]

Sodaholic said:

Since he's already seen this thread, I don't think it will work, unfortunately.

Let's get rid of both of you, problem solved.

[DuckReconMajor]

HumanBones said:

You could get really extreme and make it so Administrators have to approve every single post

fix't

Because Bloodshedder doesn't have enough to do already.