# Stop the bots!



## ComplicatioN (Sep 10, 2009)

Gbatemp should have a rule where you must post into the introduction section.
Doing this shall allow you to view the rest of the forum.

Anyone agree?


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## BoxShot (Sep 10, 2009)

Then I wouldn't be on this forum until I finally do an introduction. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Either way bots make spam post if you don't realize that and they could just put one in the intro section.


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## ComplicatioN (Sep 10, 2009)

it could help xD


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## tj_cool (Sep 10, 2009)

We just need a real bot detection thing at sign-up
Currently, you only need to enter the message "There are No roms on GBAtemp".
This sentence is useless in 2 ways:
It doesn't stop bots at all (just program it to enter that line
Real members seem to ignore it quite a lot
It should generate some Numbers/Letters in a picture like other sites have:


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## Domination (Sep 10, 2009)

LOL, the introduction section will become more lively and finnally becomes the "ads and spam section"

I agree with tj, we should have something like that. CAPTCHA perhaps?


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## kobykaan (Sep 10, 2009)

what difference would any of the above make when various rom sites are still leeching the NDS release images direct from here via direct linking!


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## Hadrian (Sep 10, 2009)

I've seen many places with the code enter thing be attacked with spambots anyway.

As for the "must post an intro", as already said, they'd just post their spam there instead.  Spambots aren't that much of a problem and they hardly ever last long if people report them.

To help us:
Report them if you see them.  You may think that someone has already reported them but every now and again one will slip through.
DON'T reply to them at all, that is actually helping them more then anything.


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## Omega_2 (Sep 10, 2009)

I am not a bot, I'm a crazy fox; albeit a nanite bioform 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




--
Off topic shenanigans aside, depends on what the req's for the captcha are:

Will it be a one time captcha post?         Oh wait, bots can be set after the initial post.
Ok, how about one for each post?           Wait, that becomes a pain in the ass eventually.
Well, how about phone verification?        ...I'd rather not have to use the phone at all XD
Perhaps upon login?                              ...might work

In the end, we'll have to rely on our own eyes and that 'report post' button. Unless we can figure out a reliable method. I'm for this, though.


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## BoxShot (Sep 10, 2009)

Well I'm always logged in via firefox save pages. Soo that might be moot. Either way we don't see so many spammers that it's out of control. Eyes + report button = best weapon here


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## Omega_2 (Sep 10, 2009)

BoxShot said:
			
		

> Well I'm always logged in via firefox save pages. Soo that might be moot. Either way we don't see so many spammers that it's out of control. Eyes + report button = best weapon here



Unless we can wield other users as a sword and defeat the spambots


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## dice (Sep 10, 2009)

kobykaan said:
			
		

> what difference would any of the above make when various rom sites are still leeching the NDS release images direct from here via direct linking!
> 
> A staff member said this a while ago:
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> QUOTECostello said the hotlinking of the images has nothing to do with any slow down on the site...


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## tj_cool (Sep 10, 2009)

What version of IPB is this anyway?
My guess is 2.2.2

reCAPTCHA is included with 2.3.6

2.3 has everything 2.2 has and is completely compatible.


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## Costello (Sep 12, 2009)

tj_cool said:
			
		

> We just need a real bot detection thing at sign-up
> Currently, you only need to enter the message "There are No roms on GBAtemp".
> This sentence is useless in 2 ways:
> It doesn't stop bots at all (just program it to enter that line
> ...


you are wrong we have captcha on registration


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## Quick-zeno (Sep 12, 2009)

With the "There are No roms at GBATemp"
You can type anything from penis island to abc and it still will work..


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## Rayder (Sep 12, 2009)

I think that anyone who is not registered should only be able to see topic titles and not he topic content.   As soon as they attempt to view the topic content, they should be instantly directed to the register page.  

I also think that ANYONE who ask for links to ROMs and has less than 100 posts should be instantly banned, especially since they must type out that there are NO ROMs on GBAtemp when they do register.


I could go on about a lot of things I think should be, but no one cares what I think, so....whatever....


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## dimmidice (Sep 12, 2009)

Rayder said:
			
		

> I think that anyone who is not registered should only be able to see topic titles and not he topic content.   As soon as they attempt to view the topic content, they should be instantly directed to the register page.
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> I also think that ANYONE who ask for links to ROMs and has less than 100 posts should be instantly banned, especially since they must type out that there are NO ROMs on GBAtemp when they do register.
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you got your wish? i surprisingly had to log in when trying to view a thread this morning o.o
i blame pokemon HG/SS xD


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## SecretChao428 (Sep 13, 2009)

Well blame one new worm that is just like the conflicker, the Storm Worm, and even the Mebroot worm, a new one called W32.Fnumbot, maybe the reason the DDoS attacks are going on at this time on here, given they want to hijack more servers and try to open backdoor relays when it comes to bots slowing a server severely down, that should probably answer the question to our bot problem.


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## rockstar99 (Jan 2, 2010)

WE can have something like this:
We can have a group of reliable members who will be given this job:
Whenever a new member joins before he posts his first post it has to be approved by that group of members that way if we ever see a porn link or anything we dont have to approve of it thus not letting it show up and the group of members can even save the posrn link for their own needs


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## prowler (Jan 2, 2010)

http://recaptcha.net/
nuff said.


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## MegaAce™ (Jan 2, 2010)

deanxxczx said:
			
		

> http://recaptcha.net/
> nuff said.



You think it's easy to build it in?


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## ComplicatioN (Sep 10, 2009)

Gbatemp should have a rule where you must post into the introduction section.
Doing this shall allow you to view the rest of the forum.

Anyone agree?


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## Guild McCommunist (Jan 2, 2010)

Lol, I was just gonna post a topic on this. Anyway, I didn't, but here's what I wrote before I saw this:



			
				QUOTE said:
			
		

> Sorry Hadrian, couldn't find the old thread. No rotten skull fucking today.
> 
> Anyway, we've been having a recent spike in spambots. The only thing to stop us from clicking on a thread and having a computer screen plastered with dicks is the mods striking it before we do. So, how about some preemptive measures? List your suggestions here!
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## Hadrian (Jan 2, 2010)

Problem is that its hard enough to find staff we can trust as it is, look at what happened with JPH!  I can see some members being predujice to certain new posts.  We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods if we still have to check all the disapproved posts anyway?

We could have it so only staff can approve posts but that would be more hassle then just pressing our spambot button seeing we get shit tons on new posters each hour.

*think on*


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## Domination (Jan 2, 2010)

Hadrian said:
			
		

> We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods.



We could have one special mod just to overlook this.

I VOTE HADRIAN! DEMOTE HIM!


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## rockstar99 (Jan 2, 2010)

Hadrian said:
			
		

> Problem is that its hard enough to find staff we can trust as it is, look at what happened with JPH!  I can see some members being predujice to certain new posts.  We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods.
> 
> We could have it so only staff can approve posts but that would be more hassle then just pressing our spambot button seeing we get shit tons on new posters each hour.


how about staff can see who deletes each topic and if the topic was good then they take the guy who deleted it out


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## MegaAce™ (Jan 2, 2010)

Domination said:
			
		

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He sure already has enough work as moderator.


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## Zalda (Jan 2, 2010)

Hadrian said:
			
		

> Problem is that its hard enough to find staff we can trust as it is, look at what happened with JPH!  I can see some members being predujice to certain new posts.  We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods if we still have to check all the disapproved posts anyway?
> 
> We could have it so only staff can approve posts but that would be more hassle then just pressing our spambot button seeing we get shit tons on new posters each hour.
> 
> *think on*



What happened to JPH?


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## rockstar99 (Jan 2, 2010)

MegaAce™ said:
			
		

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why not somebody from former staff like Thug4life


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## Guild McCommunist (Jan 2, 2010)

Rockstar said:
			
		

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There's a reason they're "former" staff. That doesn't mean they're bad, but it usually means they aren't nearly as active or got sick of all the weight they carry.


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## rockstar99 (Jan 2, 2010)

Guild McCommunist said:
			
		

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sorry then just dont read my post


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## tj_cool (Jan 2, 2010)

you could also work the other way around:

give certain members the option to UNapprove messages
if they unapprove a message, it won't be visible for other members
but moderators can still re-approve it in case of abuse/whatever

although that wouldn't differ much from Reporting
only the post would be hidden a little faster 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




edit: former staff does still have moderating power I believe, but as stated, most of them are not very active


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## Hadrian (Jan 2, 2010)

I am still open to Dommy's idea of letting certain members help with approve posts we could have them as a new group:

NEW POSTER APPROVER

Has to be in pink HAS TO BE! And the group name would need to be better...fuck it call them:

HADRIAN & TONI'S MINION

And they could do "other stuff" for us 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Also pretty much all staff ranging from Mag to Admin could also chip in if they have spare time.  I can probably pick 10 people who can do this and not abuse their "power" but would that even be enough?  And also would they be quick enough to deal with new posts so that it wont push away potential great new members.


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## Guild McCommunist (Jan 2, 2010)

Anyway, I'll go to my favorite point which was harsh first-post (or first 5 posts, 10 posts, etc) restrictions. No pics so we can't see big dicks and titties on every spambot post (as much as we may like them), no embedded links (like this), character restrictions (since I find a lot of spam bots give rather long spam posts on occasion), and maybe something silly like a question that has to be answered with a yes or no check. These questions would be simple, like "is GBAtemp a .net or a .com?", but just enough so that you can't always check the box to go through with it. These restrictions would be gone after the first (or the first few) posts, of course.


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## p1ngpong (Jan 2, 2010)

Well I don't really get all this spambot hysteria, I don't see them as a huge blight on the forum. Generally all that happens is a spambot makes a thread that nobody is interested in that at most lasts a couple of hours, then it gets deleted. Sure they are annoying and once in a while they post porn or other crap, but they aren't really overrunning the place now are they?


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## Guild McCommunist (Jan 2, 2010)

p1ngpong said:
			
		

> Well I don't really get all this spambot hysteria, I don't see them as a huge blight on the forum. Generally all that happens is a spambot makes a thread that nobody is interested in that at most lasts a couple of hours, then it gets deleted. Sure they are annoying and once in a while they post porn or other crap, but they aren't really overrunning the place now are they?



That's true, it's not like a wave, but I'm sure you're not a fan of seeing these posts as much as the next guy. And if we can enforce measures to stop a problem, we might as well. If there's a hole in your clothes wouldn't you want it fixed? (well, unless it's your "special hole" in your pants pocket).

EDIT: Oh yeah, anyone just thought of blacklisting words like "porn"? I mean, most of us say pr0n or stuff like that. Not to mention if you were posting a site like Toniplutonijsmoosethongporn.com it'd be messed up then.


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## Danny Tanner (Jan 2, 2010)

Why does it seem like the bots only post spam topics on the GBA Games section?

Also, locking out content to non-registered users would make a lot more noob topics because since people have to sign up anyway, it's easier to just post than search. I've lurked these boards for a very very long time, and never felt the need to post until I got an account. And now I have posted quite a bit in the past week


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## MegaAce™ (Jan 2, 2010)

Bixbite said:
			
		

> Why does it seem like the bots only post spam topics on the GBA Games section?
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> Also, locking out content to non-registered users would make a lot more noob topics because since people have to sign up anyway, it's easier to just post than search. I've lurked these boards for a very very long time, and never felt the need to post until I got an account. And now I have posted quite a bit in the past week



The bots sometimes post in the Blog section.


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## connor_walsh (Jan 2, 2010)

Bixbite said:
			
		

> Why does it seem like the bots only post spam topics on the GBA Games section?
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> Also, locking out content to non-registered users would make a lot more noob topics because since people have to sign up anyway, it's easier to just post than search. I've lurked these boards for a very very long time, and never felt the need to post until I got an account. And now I have posted quite a bit in the past week


ive started to post more recently (since cheat forums getting quiet) i find all answers to questions are in stickys 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



i think there should be a restriction on how many "what flashcard shud i buy" "HELP I BRICKED MY WII!!!" "how can i hack my dsi/ps3" questions 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




edit : why are the christmas smileys still here ?


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## rockstar99 (Jan 2, 2010)

I would Laugh Out Loud if a SpamBot posts in this thread.


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## tj_cool (Jan 2, 2010)

p1ngpong is right. The amount of spambots is too low to take action
and Hadrian already stated on page 1 that you just have to report them, thats all

We tried that approval thing on another forum once btw
and it didn't turn out very well
eventhough the forum wasn't even very active



			
				Zalda said:
			
		

> What happened to JPH?


He got banned
Since then, we have no Head of Mag. Staff (as they decided we don't need one)


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## Zalda (Jan 2, 2010)

I can see that by myself tj, but why did he get banned? he seemed such a nice guy.


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## ComplicatioN (Sep 10, 2009)

Gbatemp should have a rule where you must post into the introduction section.
Doing this shall allow you to view the rest of the forum.

Anyone agree?


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## Hadrian (Jan 2, 2010)

THOU MUST NOT TALK ABOUT THE BANNING OF JPH!


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## he_returns (Jan 2, 2010)

Hadrian said:
			
		

> THOU MUST NOT TALK ABOUT THE BANNING OF JPH!


wat happened to jph


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## Satangel (Jan 2, 2010)

he_returns said:
			
		

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BLASPHEMY!!!


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## ProtoKun7 (Jan 2, 2010)

Funny how there happens to be a recent bot spamming sighted in GBA...again...


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## Magmorph (Jan 2, 2010)

Would it be possible to give certain members the ability to hide posts? Like if your post count is greater than a set amount it would give you the option to hide offensive posts instead of just reporting them. That would get rid of the porn in the GBA section much faster.


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## ProtoKun7 (Jan 2, 2010)

Magmorph said:
			
		

> Would it be possible to give certain members the ability to hide posts? Like if your post count is greater than a set amount it would give you the option to hide offensive posts instead of just reporting them. That would get rid of the porn in the GBA section much faster.


Maybe have an option to report while still in thread view, so if it's painfully obvious that it's spam, then it can be reported without being opened.


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## p1ngpong (Jan 2, 2010)

ProtoKun7 said:
			
		

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This got me thinking, how about....

If a thread from an unconfirmed member that is up to an hour old gets five or more reports in its OP, it automatically becomes invisible to everyone apart from the mods. This way a new sub group of mods does not need to be created, and everyone can do their part.


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## Elritha (Jan 2, 2010)

connor_walsh said:
			
		

> edit : why are the christmas smileys still here ?



Still considered Christmas until another few days. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I've noticed the bots do tend to spam the GBA section the most also. I like p1ngpong's suggestion, once it isn't abused for other reasons.

I also wonder would making registration that bit more difficult cut down on these bots?


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## _Burai_ (Jan 2, 2010)

p1ngpong said:
			
		

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This is a good Idea but sometimes people tend to report N00bs... -_- I've seen them


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## Guild McCommunist (Jan 2, 2010)

_Burai_ said:
			
		

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How would you know if a noob gets reported? Not many people will say "REPORTED!" on a noob just asking a simple quesiton about cIOS or their Wii. And most reported "noob" posts are reported because they're asking for/giving ROM links, which shouldn't be viewable by us here. 

I like p1ngy's option a lot, but the last thing we need is dipshits abusing this by reporting perfectly fine threads that are popular just to be asses. And it'd be just as much work for mods to clean up these as it would be to just delete the adverts.


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## Snorlax (Jan 2, 2010)

Just curious, is there CAPTCHA when registering?


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## MegaAce™ (Jan 2, 2010)

Turtle said:
			
		

> Just curious, is there CAPTCHA when registering?


You must write "There are no ROMs in GBAtemp" in some field.


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## Magmorph (Jan 2, 2010)

Guild McCommunist said:
			
		

> I like p1ngy's option a lot, but the last thing we need is dipshits abusing this by reporting perfectly fine threads that are popular just to be asses. And it'd be just as much work for mods to clean up these as it would be to just delete the adverts.


Even if people did abuse it, I would rather the porn be hidden than have some of the younger members of this site be able to view it.


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## Hadrian (Jan 2, 2010)

MegaAce™ said:
			
		

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That isn't really there to stop the spambots, its suppose to actually make people look at it and realise that we don't have roms here at all.

Which makes those who say "where do I download this here" look even more stupid.


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## Snorlax (Jan 2, 2010)

MegaAce™ said:
			
		

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Oh right. :/ Well, we should defs introduce some sort of CAPTCHA system. o_o
I'm getting sick of seeing topics leading me to 'gay porn movies', then being disappointed when they're deleted before I could view the valuable content!


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## Guild McCommunist (Jan 2, 2010)

Magmorph said:
			
		

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Agreed. But not to keep bumping my idea, first few post restrictions like image blocking and embedded link blocking could do that. Sure, a younger member may stumble upon a thread about porn, but if images were blocked at least they won't see some naked chick suckin' cock.


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## tj_cool (Jan 2, 2010)

Turtle said:
			
		

> Oh right. :/ Well, we should defs introduce some sort of CAPTCHA system. o_o
> I'm getting sick of seeing topics leading me to 'gay porn movies', then being disappointed when they're deleted before I could view the valuable content!
> I already suggested that, but costello confirmed that we already have one:
> 
> QUOTE(Costello @ Sep 12 2009, 06:44 AM) you are wrong we have captcha on registration


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## Snorlax (Jan 2, 2010)

I just went through the registration process, and I couldn't find a captcha system. :/ 
WHAR IS THIS ILLUSIVE CAPTCHACHACHACHACHA?! D:>


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## Deleted_171835 (Jan 2, 2010)

Turtle said:
			
		

> I just went through the registration process, and I couldn't find a captcha system. :/
> WHAR IS THIS ILLUSIVE CAPTCHACHACHACHACHA?! D:>


What is your second account? Tell me, nao!


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## Snorlax (Jan 2, 2010)

Revolutionize said:
			
		

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Trophy.
D:< I demand a CAPTCHA system be implemented immediatly!


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## ComplicatioN (Sep 10, 2009)

Gbatemp should have a rule where you must post into the introduction section.
Doing this shall allow you to view the rest of the forum.

Anyone agree?


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## tj_cool (Jan 2, 2010)

Turtle said:
			
		

> Trophy.
> D:< I demand a CAPTCHA system be implemented immediatly!


Lol, you made a new account just for this?

I just checked it btw.
Trophy - registered Today (some minutes ago)

Ban him 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			




j/k but don't create more accounts


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## MegaAce™ (Jan 2, 2010)

Turtle said:
			
		

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This isn't something you can build in in some seconds.


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## wchill (Jan 2, 2010)

MegaAce™ said:
			
		

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You could always use that reCaptcha service for captchas.
But there are always ways around that...


Spoiler



Decaptcher - $0.02 per captcha


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## tj_cool (Jan 2, 2010)

Just checked myself (without completing the registration)
and indeed, no captcha (unless its on the next page)





which means one of these things:[*]I'm half blind[*]Its on the next page[*]Costello lied 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




[*]They removed it for some reason


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## MegaAce™ (Jan 2, 2010)

tj_cool said:
			
		

> I already suggested that, but costello confirmed that we already have one:
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Look at the date Costello said that 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



Maybe in these past months he removed the captcha.


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## tj_cool (Jan 2, 2010)

MegaAce™ said:
			
		

> Look at the date Costello said that
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Yeah, I already thought about that
But why would they remove it in the first place?


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## Snorlax (Jan 2, 2010)

MegaAce™ said:
			
		

> This isn't something you can build in in some seconds.


Yes, but that doesn't mean that there's not plenty of already-made IPB captcha mods.


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## DSGamer64 (Jan 2, 2010)

The spammer problem still comes from a software program, several of them are the root of the spam problem on the internet because they are constantly updated to bypass all forum security features. So in reality there isn't much we can do about it unless you make the automated registration process manual and authenticate every registered member manually instead of just getting an automatic email as soon as you sign up, plus making a larger number of required fields to be filled in when registering.


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## dice (Jan 2, 2010)

There is a captcha, you just can't see it 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	





(nor can I)


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## referencer (Jan 2, 2010)

Rayder said:
			
		

> I think that anyone who is not registered should only be able to see topic titles and not he topic content.   As soon as they attempt to view the topic content, they should be instantly directed to the register page.


Sites that do this are incredibly fucking annoying. Wasting three minutes of your time registering an account just so you can read the one post you found on Google which may or may not have what you need is not something that endears people to a site.


Widespread spambots are only updated for CAPTCHA systems that are popular enough to be worth their time. Just mix up a shitty one of your own specific to this site and they'll fall for it.


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## Hatsu (Jan 2, 2010)

referencer said:
			
		

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Use Google Cached.


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## Issac (Jan 13, 2010)

I'll stand at the point I made a few years ago during a noob-flood starting with some populare game released. have a quiz! The site "way of the pixel / pixelation" had that before, where you had to read the rules, go to the next page and answer the quiz correctly to get in. That would help against "romz plz!" and even some "translejshun plz" noobs. Maybe not bots so much, but a captcha could help against that.


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## Deleted User (Jan 13, 2010)

http://decaptcher.com/client/

Resistance is futile. Stop suggesting captchas! 



			
				QUOTE said:
			
		

> You pay for correctly recognized CAPTCHAs only
> The price is $2 for 1000 CAPTCHAs. We accept payments from $10.



Maybe a little quiz or something.


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## playallday (Jan 13, 2010)

Hadrian said:
			
		

> Problem is that its hard enough to find staff we can trust as it is, look at what happened with JPH!  I can see some members being predujice to certain new posts.  We could have mods etc over seeing that they are approving posts properly but then that would kill the point of letting members do it taking the heat off us mods if we still have to check all the disapproved posts anyway?
> 
> We could have it so only staff can approve posts but that would be more hassle then just pressing our spambot button seeing we get shit tons on new posters each hour.
> 
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Yeah, then you try to click on page 2.

Forcing users to register is a bad idea.  You might just as well cut off registration.


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