Massive Spambot invasion 4/16/2016

[Lmpkio]

roleplayerguild.com/users/asfahwr
roleplayerguild.com/users/ntyl1156

Here's two more... hopefully everything will be covered in the morning.

[Dolerman]

Will it ever end? War is a vicious cycle....

[SilverRain]

@Lmpkio There's this place herewhere we can paste new spambots.

[Shienvien]

Bots are being reported in too many different places. Pick one, and only one, and make it official. Having more than one location to report bots is ultimately counterproductive.

[NuttsnBolts]

Bots are being reported in too many different places. Pick one, and only one, and make it official. Having more than one location to report bots is ultimately counterproductive.

@Shienvien

Also, only the profiles need to be reported. The mods can look through the post history and clean the spam up that way. Posting multiple threads from one bot is going to be less productive than a profile itself.

Use this thread to report spam bots

Make it easy for the mods so they can spend less time cleaning up.

[Shienvien]

Also, we still do need more mods, even if temporarily. Some of those things stick around, posting things, for hours on end. They've even been reported, likewise hours ago, so there is nothing more I can do, and not for the lack of wanting to. I have hand-fixed databases, I've hand-fixed innumerable programs that simply refuse to compile, I could hand-fix a couple thousand threads, too.

Furthermore, do not chat (or ask questions) in the bot report thread. Chat here, or elsewhere. Only post links to bots' profiles in that thread. Ctrl+F is your friend. Check the last few pages for posts containing the bot's username before you post it. Also check that the bot is not already banned before posting.

[Hank]

Mahz is currently working on adding several new features to the modkit (like a nuke button, which is essentially a ban + a mass deletion of all posts) that will allow us to clear the spam at an appreciable rate. Until that time, please compile a list of known bot accounts in a centralized location (like the Bot Reporting Thread 2.0 in the Suggestions forum).

Additionally, I would like to remind you all that Mahz works a daytime job and can't dedicate all of his time to the Guild. It may take a few days for this problem to resolve entirely and effective countermeasures put into place.

[Ellri]

But-but... We want it fixed the day before it started, @Hank!
[obligatory whining]

That being said, a nuke function will make cleaning up a lot easier for ya.

[SilverRain]

@Hank Would you like the refined list to list just the users, the full url or in another format?

[Bishop]

Couldn't he just program it so every post that has a kanji/japanese/chinese/korean character in it is deleted/prevented from posting?

[Hank]

Couldn't he just program it so every post that has a kanji/japanese/chinese/korean character in it is deleted/prevented from posting?

@Bishop

This would prevent people from ever using those characters in their own roleplays, for aesthetic or symbolic value, not to mention that there are a few legitimate roleplays being held in Korean in the Tabletop subforum. So, no.

@Hank Would you like the refined list to list just the users, the full url or in another format?

@SilverRain

Just the users is fine.

[Vilageidiotx]

Couldn't he just program it so every post that has a kanji/japanese/chinese/korean character in it is deleted/prevented from posting?

@Bishop

That's racist tho. Or something.

Plus I posted those and I don't want to get deleted.

[Bishop]

Just based on the rp's title I meant. And for those who are human and try to post with these character a warning will show up:"Title must be written in Latin letters" just as a temporary solution. OR a good one is to limit the number of RPs you can open the first days you join.

[Shienvien]

Just based on the rp's title I meant. And for those who are human and try to post with these character a warning will show up:"Title must be written in Latin letters" just as a temporary solution. OR a good one is to limit the number of RPs you can open the first days you join.

@Bishop

A few people on the site actually do RP in Korean.

[Bishop]

If you notice, every spam post uses ☆____☆ so just auto-delete every post who uses more than 2 of ☆ or who uses ☆____☆
In all my time here I haven't seen an RP use this image.

[Vilageidiotx]

Just based on the rp's title I meant. And for those who are human and try to post with these character a warning will show up:"Title must be written in Latin letters" just as a temporary solution. OR a good one is to limit the number of RPs you can open the first days you join.

@Bishop

That's a good idea theoretically, but I know jack shit what that looks like from a technical standpoint so I can't say how workable that idea actually is. Sounds like our Dear Leader has a plan in place though, so it seems to be working out. Just gotta wait until that plan drops.

[Shienvien]

Auto-delete/autoban is extremely bad practice. As is forcing people to go through hoops to be able to post. (And suffice to say, I've seen my fair share of funky RP titles, including ones with a dozen special symbols on both sides. I've definitely seen those stars in RPs before.)

It's down to better bot-filter, more than three active mods, and better tools for mods.

[Hank]

more than three active mods

@Shienvien

When it comes to spam of this scale, more active moderators wouldn't have made a difference. I agree with your other points.

[Shienvien]

When it comes to spam of this scale, more active moderators wouldn't have made a difference.

@Hank

There were at least a few bots who were still going about posting four hours after they had been initially reported that I spotted, so at least the number of threads would have been fewer. More mods, faster reactions.

[Fantasy Shadows]

They are back