[Discussion] regional telegram spam

[Eluvatar]

I have blocked the regional and recruitment telegrams via telegram preferences. Yet people are sending me such TGs (trying to recruit people for some regional gameplay thing involving the region I'm in) without the tags. Is there anything I can do except put them one by one on the block list?

Eluedit: Renamed from "Question to mods about regional telegram spam" to "[Discussion] regional telegram spam"

[Wrapper]

We lowly forum mods can't handle gameside issues. File a GHR. Include the telegram time stamp (right click on the time, e.g. "9 hours ago", and copy the link) of any offending telegrams.

[Frisbeeteria]

The game can't distinguish between legitimate regional telegrams and spammy regional affairs. You can block them all in your Telegram Preferences via the "Region (official)" checkbox.

Apart from that, you'll have to talk to your region mates and officers about not spamming using the official channels. It's a regional matter, not a Moderation matter.

[The North Polish Union]

The thing is, as someone who has a puppet in this region, the TGs aren't being sent by the regional government or using the region tag. They're sent by a group of people that wishes they were part of the government but aren't and are using a campaign of TG spam requesting that we unendorse the sitting WAD

EDIT: I've just filed a GHR from said puppet

[Eluvatar]

The unfortunately-named "External" category may be what you would want to block. (The title-text for that category, by the by, is "Mass Telegrams of unspecified type").

[The Glorious Hypetrain]

I've been recently informed via VoM that unendordement telegrams without a WA tag is in violation. Will be adjusting as asked. Sorry for the troubles OP & company.

[Zaolat]

I've been recently informed via VoM that unendordement telegrams without a WA tag is in violation. Will be adjusting as asked. Sorry for the troubles OP & company.

@mods: does this apply to telegrams externally? I just want clarification because for cases such as GCR coups or civil wars/whatever usually have unendorsement campaigns. It would make sense for nations outside the region, but not so much in it. Does it apply to both or just one?

It's important to know, because lots of people could potentially run afoul of rules unknowingly if both is the case and if its just for external it's a good thing to kno as well.

[Tinhampton]

I've been recently informed via VoM that unendordement telegrams without a WA tag is in violation. Will be adjusting as asked. Sorry for the troubles OP & company.

@mods: does this apply to telegrams externally? I just want clarification because for cases such as GCR coups or civil wars/whatever usually have unendorsement campaigns. It would make sense for nations outside the region, but not so much in it. Does it apply to both or just one?

It's important to know, because lots of people could potentially run afoul of rules unknowingly if both is the case and if its just for external it's a good thing to kno as well.

And what about endorsement telegrams, which Sedge ruled to be exempt from being tagged as recruitment or campaign TGs last October? Do they come under the new set of rules?

[The Northern Light]

Can you also clarify the same about telegrams sent to non-WA nations in the region, asking them to join the WA? Do these need to be marked as WA campaigns?

[Roavin]

I've been recently informed via VoM that unendordement telegrams without a WA tag is in violation. Will be adjusting as asked. Sorry for the troubles OP & company.

@mods: does this apply to telegrams externally? I just want clarification because for cases such as GCR coups or civil wars/whatever usually have unendorsement campaigns. It would make sense for nations outside the region, but not so much in it. Does it apply to both or just one?

The ruling came because of a GCR coup, so I presume so.

[The Glorious Hypetrain]

I've started up a technical thread to get more clarification on this, and for it to be added to the help text when marking telegrams: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=421944

[Kyrusia]

Just letting y'all know that (un)endorsement telegrams, WA campaign TG ticking, etc. are currently being discussed by Moderation - along with some tangentially related matters. These questions have not gone unnoticed. Your patience is appreciated.

[Zaolat]

Thank y'all.

[The Glorious Hypetrain]

Thanks for the update Kyrusia

[Reploid Productions]

Tangentially related, but after complaints of people using dispatch tags to basically notification-spam/sorta evade TG filters/blocks by tagging people in dispatches, the Ignore list has been updated so that aside from keeping a blocked user from TGing you, it also blocks notifications generated by that blocked user (such as RMB or Dispatch tags.)

Still poking the techies about the endo TGs though, since the simplest and least subjective solution would probably be to add an endorsement campaign category so that folks can simply filter them out if they don't want to hear about it.

[Eluvatar]

For the time being, I would like to make clear that nations are free to send telegrams requesting endorsement / unendorsement and should not mark those telegrams as WA campaigns, but should not telegram the same nation more than once in a reasonable timeframe such as 28 days.

[Flanderlion]

Out of curiosity, is the complaints only from Laz (not mine) or have there been other ones?

[The North Polish Union]

I TGed the people sending these mass TGs and asked them to stop sending me TGs and tagging me in dispatches 4 days ago (looking at TG timestamps). Until today I hadn't received any messages, but today I got tagged in another dispatch about the situation (again asking me to unendorse the sitting WAD and that "You can join the resistance today").

My question is does this continued contacting of me after I requested this org to stop run afoul of spam/harassment rules? Note that the nation that tagged me in a dispatch was not the same one that I TGed to stop but is affiliated with the same GP org.

Again, I can file a GHR if need be, I just wanted to check here first.

[Mousebumples]

I TGed the people sending these mass TGs and asked them to stop sending me TGs and tagging me in dispatches 4 days ago (looking at TG timestamps). Until today I hadn't received any messages, but today I got tagged in another dispatch about the situation (again asking me to unendorse the sitting WAD and that "You can join the resistance today").

My question is does this continued contacting of me after I requested this org to stop run afoul of spam/harassment rules? Note that the nation that tagged me in a dispatch was not the same one that I TGed to stop but is affiliated with the same GP org.

Again, I can file a GHR if need be, I just wanted to check here first.

It's currently under discussion. If you could file a GHR with links, that would be helpful. Optimally, including links to the TGs you sent to them (i.e. the timestamp link - https://www.nationstates.net/page=tg/tgid=#######) would be useful - as well as the link(s) to the dispatches and the TGs you've received from them as well.

[Zaolat]

For the time being, I would like to make clear that nations are free to send telegrams requesting endorsement / unendorsement and should not mark those telegrams as WA campaigns, but should not telegram the same nation more than once in a reasonable timeframe such as 28 days.

28 days is a very long time for a coup type scenario. By that time it's practically already over. Either the "Couper" already won or the "Resistance" fizzles out. If such a limit is in place, personally I'd rather have it at once a week or every 14 days at the least.

Whoever holds the delegacy (be it a couper or regime defending against a coup) has unlimited regional telegramming ability that those outside of the delegate/ROs simply do no have.

[Frisbeeteria]

28 days is a very long time for a coup type scenario.

If they're not changing after one telegram, they're probably not changing after four of 'em. It's even worse when there are a dozen people urging for change, as is the case in Lazarus right now. Residents are getting inundated with annoying and duplicative requests.

I recognize that some players are really committed to coup politics, but I also recognize that an awful lot of players dislike the level of spam.

[Altmoras]

28 days is a very long time for a coup type scenario.

If they're not changing after one telegram, they're probably not changing after four of 'em.

This assumes that all telegrams are equally persuasive which is silly.

[Frisbeeteria]

This assumes that all telegrams are equally persuasive which is silly.

Since I'm the one seeing the spam reports, and the telegrams in question seem to follow an identical script from different players, it's anything but silly. If there's anything silly here, it's your baseless argument.

Furthermore, the point that Zaolat is arguing is that a single nation should be allowed one begging telegram per 7 days. It's also my experience that players tend to use exactly the same text in each repeating telegram. They put their best arguments in the first telegram, and then just copy it over and over again. There may be exceptions to that observation, but I suspect they're quite a bit less common than the copypasta brigade.

[Altmoras]

This assumes that all telegrams are equally persuasive which is silly.

Since I'm the one seeing the spam reports, and the telegrams in question seem to follow an identical script from different players, it's anything but silly. If there's anything silly here, it's your baseless argument.

Recognizing that different people have different levels of persuasive writing skills is baseless?

As an aside, is this Lazarus situation seeing an unprecedented volume of telegrams unlike other coups? Or is it just the straw that broke the camel's back when it comes to spamming natives during times of disputed governance?

[Zaolat]

28 days is a very long time for a coup type scenario.

If they're not changing after one telegram, they're probably not changing after four of 'em. It's even worse when there are a dozen people urging for change, as is the case in Lazarus right now. Residents are getting inundated with annoying and duplicative requests.

I recognize that some players are really committed to coup politics, but I also recognize that an awful lot of players dislike the level of spam.

I absolutely agree. Which is why I did suggest once every 7 or 14 days than every day or unlimited.

If protection from potential spam comes first, that's fine. I just wanted to give those in power a slight advantage than the full one they hold now.