People: These are the moderators

[The Orichalcon]

DarkeSword
Smoke
zircon
myf
Liontamer

I suggest PM'ing one of these people if there's a spambot around you want to report. Judges have their names highlighted in green because they need to moderate the Judge decisions forum (ie: close threads and such.) Only Liontamer, zircon and DarkeSword are also moderators in the general forums. So if you see a spambot. Send a message to one of them (or better yet, just wait and let them do their jobs and hunt them down themselves.)

[WesPip]

DarkeSword
Smoke
zircon
myf
Liontamer

I suggest PM'ing one of these people if there's a spambot around you want to report. Judges have their names highlighted in green because they need to moderate the Judge decisions forum (ie: close threads and such.) Only Liontamer, zircon and DarkeSword are also moderators in the general forums. So if you see a spambot. Send a message to one of them (or better yet, just wait and let them do their jobs and hunt them down themselves.)
Might I suggest Sticky-ing this so those of us who surf at odd hours can contact mods [ie: I rarely get on before 1am CST-4am CST] when nobody is online?

[Fenrir]

DarkeSword
Smoke
zircon
myf
Liontamer

I suggest PM'ing one of these people if there's a spambot around you want to report. Judges have their names highlighted in green because they need to moderate the Judge decisions forum (ie: close threads and such.) Only Liontamer, zircon and DarkeSword are also moderators in the general forums. So if you see a spambot. Send a message to one of them (or better yet, just wait and let them do their jobs and hunt them down themselves.)
Might I suggest Sticky-ing this so those of us who surf at odd hours can contact mods [ie: I rarely get on before 1am CST-4am CST] when nobody is online?

I second this. It would be mad helpful for all the new members as well.

[The Orichalcon]

It's all already in this post:

http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=88071

Which is already an announcement clearly available to all at the top of the forum.

[Decoy Octopus]

And I'm the ignorant fuck who incorrectly ran to The Orichalcon with my spambot grievances.

My apologies... again.

[The Orichalcon]

And I'm the ignorant fuck who incorrectly ran to The Orichalcon with my spambot grievances.

My apologies... again.

One of several.

[Fishy]

This is absolutely insane. Why are there suddenly so many today? Are we gonna have to introduce some sort of screening process for accounts so that we can check they aren't spam bots or something?

[The Orichalcon]

This is absolutely insane. Why are there suddenly so many today? Are we gonna have to introduce some sort of screening process for accounts so that we can check they aren't spam bots or something?

It's the most likely outcome. But it's a matter of when. Until it happens, we just have to put up with it. And the 4 active mods have an awful lot of work cut out for them to do coping with it all.

[supremespleen]

Maybe it is time for some new mods? It doesn't seem like many mods are on in the mornings (morning here, at least) when these spambots show up.

[Darth Lime]

Yeah no kidding. You should make this a sticky and call it "Spam Bot Topics" or something along the lines of pointing out that this thread has to do with Spam Bots, not spam topics.

Great job, btw mods. You keep my thoughts sane at night by knowing that you are fighting off the evil Spam Bot army so I can a have safe, spam bot free OCR. Thank you.

[Bigfoot]

And I'm the ignorant fuck who incorrectly ran to The Orichalcon with my spambot grievances.

My apologies... again.

Don't feel bad. I did it too once ;p

[DarkeSword]

Maybe it is time for some new mods? It doesn't seem like many mods are on in the mornings (morning here, at least) when these spambots show up.

Shouldn't matter. You're not supposed to reply to them anyway. All you need to do is report them to a moderator, preferably a link to the user profile, not a specific post.

[The Orichalcon]

Maybe it is time for some new mods? It doesn't seem like many mods are on in the mornings (morning here, at least) when these spambots show up.

Shouldn't matter. You're not supposed to reply to them anyway. All you need to do is report them to a moderator, preferably a link to the user profile, not a specific post.

Yeah it doesn't matter anyway. If you have a child that makes a lot of mess, do you just hire more maids to clean it up? No, you smack the child into line so it doesn't make the mess to begin with.

The problem needs to be attacked at the roots. Better auth system.

[Fishy]

According to their profiles, all the mods except Smoke are from the US, Smoke being from the netherlands. Me being from the UK, it's fair to say that pretty much all the mods cept smoke will be asleep in the morning, so maybe there is something to be said for adding perhaps one or two more mods from different time zones just so that there is a bigger chance of being able to contact a mod at any given time?

Spam bots aside, that would be a desirable thing to have anyway.

[RoeTaKa]

Man Ori, you're so uptight lately, take a chill pill! or 6

[Kureejii Lea]

I've gotten a few requests to delete spam myself... not to mention retrieve passwords and lock topics. :lol:

I don't suppose it's possible to assign different levels of moderation with different colours...?

[pixietricks]

Man Ori, you're so uptight lately, take a chill pill! or 6
Hey, you can't blame the guy. It is really annoying getting the same PM's over and over again about something that isn't your responsibility. JJT hazed me in his remixer bio, asking everyone who wants his sheet music to email me. I don't even bother responding anymore. Serves him right! Grumble...

[Xelebes]

Is it time to re-instate Xelebes as a moderator?

[Dhsu]

Man Ori, you're so uptight lately, take a chill pill! or 6
Hey, you can't blame the guy. It is really annoying getting the same PM's over and over again about something that isn't your responsibility. JJT hazed me in his remixer bio, asking everyone who wants his sheet music to email me. I don't even bother responding anymore. Serves him right! Grumble...
HAHAHAHAHA.

Oh man, why didn't I ever think of that? I think Larry is about to get a lot of weird e-mails now... :twisted:

[Gollgagh]

Ahaha.

I sent a PM to Arek once.

[Ayres]

And I'm the ignorant fuck who incorrectly ran to The Orichalcon with my spambot grievances.

My apologies... again.

Don't feel bad. I did it too once ;p
I've done it twice. I was the one who mentioned the "greeness" of his name as well. I'm partly to blame for this thread, too.

[Doulifée]

And I'm the ignorant fuck who incorrectly ran to The Orichalcon with my spambot grievances.

My apologies... again.

Don't feel bad. I did it too once ;p
I've done it twice. I was the one who mentioned the "greeness" of his name as well. I'm partly to blame for this thread, too.

errare humanum est. no you know...

[Bummerdude]

I haven't seen myf in a while.

[Doulifée]

I haven't seen myf in a while.

hell yes, he is often "Away" on instant messanger

[Xerol Oplan]

I haven't seen myf in a while.

hell yes, he is often "Away" on instant messanger

He's working like 100 hours a week to save up to go back to college, so I don't think we're gonna see him anytime soon.

[Arek the Absolute]

Hey, deal with it TO. People sign on and notice that your name is in green. People mistake me for a mod all the time, and when they do, I just relay any messages to the mod that will be signing on the closest (for example I send a pm/aim smoke if it is around 3 am pst)

Someone is going through pms...

Also, if there are any bots up in site projects, hit me up :wink:

[Skrypnyk]

Bahamut 4 mod

[Arek the Absolute]

Ahaha.

I sent a PM to Arek once.
And I kindly replied back to you saying I got it covered :D

[Smoke]

It's all already in this post:

http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=88071

Which is already an announcement clearly available to all at the top of the forum.

Yet people don't seem to actually notice it since we still get replies to spambot threads.

One pointer: Don't reply to spambots, and don't reply to someone replying to a spambot telling them it's a spambot. Keep replies to all spambot threads to a minimum. This includes the ones that post in an already existing thread(Yeah, those happen too and tend to be a lot harder to spot since we simply cannot go through every single topic fully)

We should add a report button for threads or something... But I have a feeling that'd be abused as well.

[The Coop]

It's all already in this post:

http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=88071

Which is already an announcement clearly available to all at the top of the forum.

Yet people don't seem to actually notice it since we still get replies to spambot threads.

In truth though, what's the harm? Everyone knows such threads are going to be deleted, so they post there for their own amusement and to get/give a chuckle before it dies. It's not like they're spamming a legit topic, flaming people to high hell, posting porn (that's usually already covered), or thread breaking (Khan Dancing?).


We should add a report button for threads or something... But I have a feeling that'd be abused as well.

At least once a minute in UnMod :lol:

[Smoke]

There is a kind of harm: The most recently replied to threads in a few certain forums are also posted on the front page.

This means more exposure for the spambots in general, since any unsuspecting n00b could click one and follow the link in it. The spammer can see where he gets most of his hits from, and could very easily be tempted to set more bots on those places as a result.

It's basically the same as spam e-mails: You don't read those and you don't respond to them either, because this just confirms activity.

DarkeSword also explains it here three weeks ago. (http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=2711317#2711317)

[The Coop]

There is a kind of harm: The most recently replied to threads in a few certain forums are also posted on the front page.

This means more exposure for the spambots in general, since any unsuspecting n00b could click one and follow the link in it. The spammer can see where he gets most of his hits from, and could very easily be tempted to set more bots on those places as a result.

It's basically the same as spam e-mails: You don't read those and you don't respond to them either, because this just confirms activity.

DarkeSword also explains it here three weeks ago. (http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=2711317#2711317)

If we had functioning Topic Reply Notification system, I could see what DS said about replying as being a serious issue. But we don't, so there's no way for sender to know anyone read it just by replying to the thread. With that said however, I do see your point about upping the chances of a painfully sheltered newbie clicking the links (though they could be clicking them anyway whether a topic is replied to or not unfortunately). That's something I hadn't really considered since more and more kids are getting reasonably Internet savvy at a younger age, so I'll agree with you on that.

But sometimes it's just so tempting to reply ;)


However, if memory serves, don't spam bots also rely on whether or not a given message actually went through? You know, if a message to an address isn't deliverable, it no longer goes there. But if it goes through, then it keeps going through whether the message is read or not.

I don't read my spam E-mails, but they keep coming. So that tells me that something else is at work, letting the dickwads sending the spam know that an actual address is being reached, and to keep going there.

[Smoke]

Well, the replies do bump threads. Also, most spambots are registered with throwaway temporary addresses, so even a fully functional topic reply notification wouldn't help.

As far as spam mail goes: There's not only checks to see if a message is delivered, but images with referrer links inside them that are triggered when they're viewed are another method to measure exposure.

Also, posting your e-mail address visibly anywhere on the internet is pretty much an invitation to spam these days.

[TCK]

If we had functioning Topic Reply Notification system, I could see what DS said about replying as being a serious issue. But we don't, so there's no way for sender to know anyone read it just by replying to the thread.It works for me.

[The Orichalcon]

Man Ori, you're so uptight lately, take a chill pill! or 6

I'm always up tight.

This thread is for directing all those people to the right moderators so that their reports are actually worth something.