[Q] Expand the Moderation Team please!

[The Archregimancy]

I'll also briefly add that we can't really offer a direct insight into some of the points raised in this thread since they'd require us to openly discuss issues of site operational security that any putative spammer could exploit if we were to make them public.

I'd merely ask you to consider the possibility that some of these issues might just have come up for internal discussion previously. Behind the scenes moderation discussion isn't all about finding the best tea and biscuit combination (Mrs Arch's homemade oat biscuits and iron goddess of mercy loose leaf tea, obviously).

[Senkaku]

Is there a way where new players could have to receive permission to post images in forum posts? (Sorry if someone already raised, I didn't go thru page 2)

I just thought since not everyone is super involved forum side, it wouldn't be like every single new player submits a request or whatever, so it could be a manageable workload? (I don't know the figures of how many new people we get every day though, obv, so might be wrong abt that?) And it would create a cool-down period between nation creation and being able to spam shock images + let mods see if a DOS was asking for permission

[Frisbeeteria]

Is there a way where new players could have to receive permission to post images in forum posts?

No.

[The Reformed American Republic]

Is there a way where new players could have to receive permission to post images in forum posts?

No.

It's a shame you guys are unable to upgrade, as newer versions of phpBB have the option to place restrictions on new users that bars them from doing certain things, like using the image bbcode or with an extension, even posting url links.

[Heloin]

A limit on posts per minute seems more appropriate. Or a data limit per minute to target the picspam.

It's pointless to speculate on the number of minutes or hours in the suggested limit, as phpBB doesn't appear to support the concept at all. Given that we're using a version that's several years old (and which can't be updated without days or weeks of downtime), you're not going to find a patch that we'd be willing to use.

I'm not going to lock this thread at this time, but I will mention that every single technical suggestion made to date is both obvious and unobtainable. There's not going to be a technical solution. As mentioned earlier,I don't think we need the non-technical solution either (more mods); so you're really just spinning your wheels.

We could all gather in a field and cast a hex on any who would try and spam. Though I assume the logistics involved would be a bit much even if there wasn't a pandemic.

[Luna Amore]

It's pointless to speculate on the number of minutes or hours in the suggested limit, as phpBB doesn't appear to support the concept at all. Given that we're using a version that's several years old (and which can't be updated without days or weeks of downtime), you're not going to find a patch that we'd be willing to use.

I'm not going to lock this thread at this time, but I will mention that every single technical suggestion made to date is both obvious and unobtainable. There's not going to be a technical solution. As mentioned earlier,I don't think we need the non-technical solution either (more mods); so you're really just spinning your wheels.

We could all gather in a field and cast a hex on any who would try and spam. Though I assume the logistics involved would be a bit much even if there wasn't a pandemic.

We tried that. Why do you think Blaat left the team? He knows which way sacrifices go when there are sheep about.

[Katganistan]

Oh, that joke was baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhd.

[Kyrusia]

Oh, that joke was baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhd.

Bahmen to that.

[UniversalCommons]

I've learned that I am both bigger and longer than is humanly possible. Can we have a brief period before people can start posting images. Lets say a week. The spammers would at least have to plan a little bit more for their messages.

[Silvedania]

I've learned that I am both bigger and longer than is humanly possible. Can we have a brief period before people can start posting images. Lets say a week. The spammers would at least have to plan a little bit more for their messages.

What Fris said:

A limit on posts per minute seems more appropriate. Or a data limit per minute to target the picspam.

It's pointless to speculate on the number of minutes or hours in the suggested limit, as phpBB doesn't appear to support the concept at all. Given that we're using a version that's several years old (and which can't be updated without days or weeks of downtime), you're not going to find a patch that we'd be willing to use.

I'm not going to lock this thread at this time, but I will mention that every single technical suggestion made to date is both obvious and unobtainable. There's not going to be a technical solution. As mentioned earlier,I don't think we need the non-technical solution either (more mods); so you're really just spinning your wheels.

[Shazbotdom]

No.

It's a shame you guys are unable to upgrade, as newer versions of phpBB have the option to place restrictions on new users that bars them from doing certain things, like using the image bbcode or with an extension, even posting url links.

The issue is with some of the special extensions to get phpBB to work with the website, IIRC.

[The Reformed American Republic]

It's a shame you guys are unable to upgrade, as newer versions of phpBB have the option to place restrictions on new users that bars them from doing certain things, like using the image bbcode or with an extension, even posting url links.

The issue is with some of the special extensions to get phpBB to work with the website, IIRC.

I am very much aware, which is why I said "...unable to upgrade..." Violet already explained the situation to me.

[Cavirfi]

This is a good idea... in theory. But, in practice, having a huge moderation team may have the opposite effect on the site. Trolls can simply come here and try to make work for the mods hard.

[SherpDaWerp]

phpBB doesn't appear to support the concept at all

What's the current system doing then? On some level, there has to be a statement somewhere like "if ($time_since_last_post < $limit) { $block_post; }" - that's a thing that the forum does and I have personally encountered it the past. Hell, I could deliberately re-encounter it right now with a screen recorder, if anyone thinks it's not a thing. Is that process just baked into the forum systems so deeply to be wholly un-editable? The only other explanation that I can think of is that the forum server only has a couple threads for processing posts, with a queue system for if many posts come in concurrently and a limit that a user can only have one post in the queue at a time. If that's the case, maybe a server with more than a handful of threads would be a good investment...

If something that should (in my very-much-not-privileged-opinion) be that basic is unachievable, maybe it really is time for a phpBB upgrade, even if it does require a few months of downtime to figure out re-writing some extensions.

[Torisakia]

Porn and gore spammers have been a thing on this site since even before my time on here. While it's unfortunate that people have to witness such things, it would seem like a waste of time, money, and energy to bring in a whole bunch of new mods to monitor the site 24/7 just to ban one person over and over again. And adding a bunch of permissions is pointless because if someone comes here intending to break the rules, they're going to do it one way or another.

[Drop Your Pants]

it would seem like a waste of time, money, and energy to bring in a whole bunch of new mods

Mods get paid? Oh sign me up. I'll be the replacement Blaat

[USS Monitor]

it would seem like a waste of time, money, and energy to bring in a whole bunch of new mods

Mods get paid?

Not really.

[Mathuvan Union]

Mods get paid?

Not really.

You get paid insanity

I don’t really like this idea, if anything, I think there should be more promotions so that authority can be wielded further and you don’t have to wait for specific moderators.

[Torisakia]

it would seem like a waste of time, money, and energy to bring in a whole bunch of new mods

Mods get paid? Oh sign me up. I'll be the replacement Blaat

Yes. But not in paper currency.

[USS Monitor]

Not really.

You get paid insanity

I don’t really like this idea, if anything, I think there should be more promotions so that authority can be wielded further and you don’t have to wait for specific moderators.

Forum mods can ban a spammer and move their posts even without the expanded toolkit of a game mod.

[Mathuvan Union]

You get paid insanity

I don’t really like this idea, if anything, I think there should be more promotions so that authority can be wielded further and you don’t have to wait for specific moderators.

Forum mods can ban a spammer and move their posts even without the expanded toolkit of a game mod.

I suppose that I was looking at it in a different sense but yes, this works.

[The Archregimancy]

it would seem like a waste of time, money, and energy to bring in a whole bunch of new mods

Mods get paid? Oh sign me up. I'll be the replacement Blaat

I know we're joking about this; but just in case someone misunderstands... No, we don't get paid.

[Valentine Z]

Mods get paid? Oh sign me up. I'll be the replacement Blaat

I know we're joking about this; but just in case someone misunderstands... No, we don't get paid.

Not even with delicious desserts and drinks? Aww.

[United Republic Empire]

Mods get paid? Oh sign me up. I'll be the replacement Blaat

I know we're joking about this; but just in case someone misunderstands... No, we don't get paid.

pffft we all know you all make it rain

[Wrapper]

I know we're joking about this; but just in case someone misunderstands... No, we don't get paid.

Not even with delicious desserts and drinks? Aww.

I got a picture of a danish once. Tried printing it out, but it still wasn't edible. And tech support was no help.