Silk Road forums
Discussion => Silk Road discussion => Topic started by: astor on January 17, 2013, 01:34 am
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Looks like it just went live. Hopefully this will be the end of the spam.
It's interesting that we can't post in it. That might spell the end of PGP Club, since most of those posters are newbs. If I could post in the Newbie section, I'd restart it there.
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Saw that, yay! But why can only newbies post there? Not that I am an expert, but who is going to answer their questions? Sounds like the blind leading the blind
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I was surprised by that too.
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Oh wow. Blind leading blind, nothing could go wrong.
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I think it's a terrible idea. How are newbies supposed to learn and ask questions about PGP encryption and scammer vendors if they can't even post in the relevant boards? The 50 post requirement for member status is also way too high, it should be dropped down to 10 if anything.
Oh, and the newbie board doesn't even allow members and higher to post there, so it pretty much means none of their answers can be answered by any veterans. What the fuck is the point of that?!
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I know established members can't post in the Newbie thread but is it true that they can't post on the "normal" Forum with the rest of us?
As others have said, who will answer their questions? Could be the start of a large volume of mis-information to hit the thread which is no way to start your SR experience.
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scout just posted in there, though he's a global mod. What's weird is that danknugsdun posted in there. He's a vendor and a hero member, other hero members can't post. So is it just global mods and vendors?
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They will probably fix it so that hero members can post there. Otherwise, yeah, it'll be the blind leading the blind in some respects. But the noobs can read the entire forum which answers all noob questions.
But when noobs have vendor issues, they may need the advice of senior posters who can 't post in the noob section.
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scout just posted in there, though he's a global mod. What's weird is that danknugsdun posted in there. He's a vendor and a hero member, other hero members can't post. So is it just global mods and vendors?
well that much makes sense - noobs to the forum or not, they'll still need access to their vendors, and the vendors to their buyers. I think global mod and vendor statuses make sense - hopefully no more, no less.
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I've started a Newbie PGP Club thread over there - hopefully the other mods will agree to letting me make it a sticky. Some people are participating while most are spamming the section to get their 50 posts.
At least it's not the same kind of spam as the "bitcointalks" and "virwex" douche!
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I've started a Newbie PGP Club thread over there - hopefully the other mods will agree to letting me make it a sticky. Some people are participating while most are spamming the section to get their 50 posts.
At least it's not the same kind of spam as the "bitcointalks" and "virwex" douche!
Why can't anyone but newbies post in the newbie board? The current system seems counterintuitive
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And how are people supposed to get to 50 posts if all they can post in is one shitty newbie board? Ain't nobody got time for that.
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And how are people supposed to get to 50 posts if all they can post in is one shitty newbie board? Ain't nobody got time for that.
well, several people seem to be getting their 50 posts all in. lol.
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well i this is both helpful for the spam, AND for the copious amounts of noobs trying to get free samples!
that shit makes me cringe....
you have 5 posts and you think anyone in the community is going to give a shit about your opinion? NOPE
but i do think its a little bogus. would suck to be in their shoes and i know a vendor that cant access his product offer thread because hes a "newbie" now
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Oh, and another thing: How are new vendors supposed to communicate with their buyers on THEIR vendor threads? It's fucking bullshit not to let them do it, and it needlessly hurts their business and closes off contact with their customers. Most vendors start out new accounts with 0 post counts here and many don't ever reach 50 posts, so this is something that needs to be addressed.
My guess is that people will just start spamming in the newbie boards to quickly get to a 50 post count. Oh wait, that's already happening... (http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=107220.0)
This is the dumbest fucking idea since the "Jump to Conclusions" mat.
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I'm assuming this is a short-term solution? Now the 'show unread posts' button brings up more spam than ever - i.e. all the newbies trying to get their posts up - but it's not instantly obvious so you can't just glide over them any more.
It will also prevent whistleblowers from creating shill accounts to out dirty practices or report on something that has happened IRL. There's a lot of reasons people might not want to make certain posts under their usual handle.
I can't see this being a long term solution.
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This is the dumbest fucking idea since the "Jump to Conclusions" mat.
Sorry you feel that way, lesseroftwoweevils, but it was necessary to do SOMETHING - ANYTHING - to help make the spam more manageable. But, this is a new feature, so I'm sure DPR and the admins will be keeping an eye on it over the next few days to see whether or not they're happy with its function.
Who knows if it'll last or not, but I'm sure they'll see these suggestions and criticisms and make the best decision that they can for the community.
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noobs to the forum or not, they'll still need access to their vendors, and the vendors to their buyers.
The best channel for that is messaging on the marketplace. I think the benefit of quarantining the newbs is that by the time they earn the privilege to post in vendor review threads, they'll be able to write higher quality reviews, and they'll have some posting history on which others can judge them, as opposed to all the shill accounts that pop up now.
And I realize that they are spamming their way to 50 posts, but realistically that means they still have to spend a few hours on the forum, in which time they'll learn the ropes, at least a little.
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It will also prevent whistleblowers from creating shill accounts to out dirty practices or report on something that has happened IRL. There's a lot of reasons people might not want to make certain posts under their usual handle.
And there's nothing preventing them from posting that in the Newbie section, but let's face it, there a probably twice as many shill accounts spreading FUD and bullshit as actually useful information.
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This is such a Bad idea -
before when clicking Show unread posts since last visit = Virwex / Btc talk spamming - need to delete the account with all their posts
now when clicking Show unread posts since last visit = million useless messages from people trying to get 50 posts with no ability to answer, that never get deleted.
is it so hard to implement a better captcha or textual captchas? to make time intervals between posting?
i run 3 forums and i think this is the weirdest solution i ever saw...
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is it so hard to implement a better captcha or textual captchas? to make time intervals between posting?
i run 3 forums and i think this is the weirdest solution i ever saw...
I, too, am left wondering what is going on in DPR/staff's heads.
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you know, if they made it to where you had to message someone on the main site with your actual account to get access to an account on the forum, that would be bulletproof.
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just grew out of it
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i run 3 forums and i think this is the weirdest solution i ever saw...
It's partially the solution bitcointalk.org uses. There you need 5 posts, but 4 hours logged in. That way you actually have to spend time reading the forum rather than just spamming to get to a number.
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you know, if they made it to where you had to message someone on the main site with your actual account to get access to an account on the forum, that would be bulletproof.
I like this idea. Either that or have a one-time $1 fee to gain posting access to the SR forums. It doesn't have to be much, just enough to make spamming impossible.
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i run 3 forums and i think this is the weirdest solution i ever saw...
It's partially the solution bitcointalk.org uses. There you need 5 posts, but 4 hours logged in. That way you actually have to spend time reading the forum rather than just spamming to get to a number.
Actually, this might be an even better idea. At any rate, something needs to be done, because this plan clearly isn't working out...
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you know, if they made it to where you had to message someone on the main site with your actual account to get access to an account on the forum, that would be bulletproof.
I like this idea. Either that or have a one-time $1 fee to gain posting access to the SR forums. It doesn't have to be much, just enough to make spamming impossible.
yes thats a great addition to the idea!
if it was a "purchase" on the actual site people would have that place to go, sr itself would benefit from the small fee, spammers arent going to pay shit, it will put someone in charge of it all.
its perfect!
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Actually, this might be an even better idea. At any rate, something needs to be done, because this plan clearly isn't working out...
I still support a newbie section, but yeah, it needs to be refined.
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you know, if they made it to where you had to message someone on the main site with your actual account to get access to an account on the forum, that would be bulletproof.
I like this idea. Either that or have a one-time $1 fee to gain posting access to the SR forums. It doesn't have to be much, just enough to make spamming impossible.
yes thats a great addition to the idea!
if it was a "purchase" on the actual site people would have that place to go, sr itself would benefit from the small fee, spammers arent going to pay shit, it will put someone in charge of it all.
its perfect!
How would you get the $1 out of said new member if he/she doesn't know how to acquire btc yet?
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you know, if they made it to where you had to message someone on the main site with your actual account to get access to an account on the forum, that would be bulletproof.
I like this idea. Either that or have a one-time $1 fee to gain posting access to the SR forums. It doesn't have to be much, just enough to make spamming impossible.
yes thats a great addition to the idea!
if it was a "purchase" on the actual site people would have that place to go, sr itself would benefit from the small fee, spammers arent going to pay shit, it will put someone in charge of it all.
its perfect!
How would you get the $1 out of said new member if he/she doesn't know how to acquire btc yet?
... bitcoin isnt illegal... you can look up how to do that on clearnet very easily...
i learned how to do everything on sr BEFORE i came to sr.
you dont march into battle without your rifle do you? ::)
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i suggested this before, I'm going to say it again. MAKE IT TIME BASED NOT POST COUNT BASED. Make them auto-convert from the newbie section in 3-7 days, that way they can't post their way out of it. Come on people, this isn't rocket science
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I think the noob section allowing only noobs is a good idea. This way they have to use the fucking search engine.
On the time-based vs post count-based issue, none of these options are entirely satisfying.
A noob should be able to upgrade his status according to the frequency of his use of the search engine.
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I think the noob section allowing only noobs is a good idea. This way they have to use the fucking search engine.
On the time-based vs post count-based issue, none of these options are entirely satisfying.
A noob should be able to upgrade his status according to the frequency of his use of the search engine.
The search engine on this site is probably the worst one i have ever seen in my entire life. It is completely inaccurate and i honestly didn't find a more than a single piece of useful information using it. I simply read all the stickies and asked a few questions and i was good to go.
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It is pretty shit. I've found it's very word sensitive. Change a couple of words around or replace a few and you seem to get different results. :)
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It is pretty shit. I've found it's very word sensitive. Change a couple of words around or replace a few and you seem to get different results. :)
That's the problem. It shouldn't be so finicky. However they did update the forum software today, i don't know if search improvements are included in that update
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I think the noob section allowing only noobs is a good idea. This way they have to use the fucking search engine.
On the time-based vs post count-based issue, none of these options are entirely satisfying.
A noob should be able to upgrade his status according to the frequency of his use of the search engine.
The search engine on this site is probably the worst one i have ever seen in my entire life. It is completely inaccurate and i honestly didn't find a more than a single piece of useful information using it. I simply read all the stickies and asked a few questions and i was good to go.
I'm not sure everyone knows that, but please read:
Whenever you search for anything, you need to be on the forum HOMEPAGE, not in a subsection. Attempting doing a search anywhere else than on the homepage will return very few, if any, results.
I always get the results I want when I do so.
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I think the noob section allowing only noobs is a good idea. This way they have to use the fucking search engine.
On the time-based vs post count-based issue, none of these options are entirely satisfying.
A noob should be able to upgrade his status according to the frequency of his use of the search engine.
The search engine on this site is probably the worst one i have ever seen in my entire life. It is completely inaccurate and i honestly didn't find a more than a single piece of useful information using it. I simply read all the stickies and asked a few questions and i was good to go.
I'm not sure everyone knows that, but please read:
Whenever you search for anything, you need to be on the forum HOMEPAGE, not in a subsection. Attempting doing a search anywhere else than on the homepage will return very few, if any, results.
I always get the results I want when I do so.
This information is something i did not find in ANY of the stickies. Please have a mod amend the stickies to include this, as this is beyond important information
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I think the noob section allowing only noobs is a good idea. This way they have to use the fucking search engine.
On the time-based vs post count-based issue, none of these options are entirely satisfying.
A noob should be able to upgrade his status according to the frequency of his use of the search engine.
The search engine on this site is probably the worst one i have ever seen in my entire life. It is completely inaccurate and i honestly didn't find a more than a single piece of useful information using it. I simply read all the stickies and asked a few questions and i was good to go.
I'm not sure everyone knows that, but please read:
Whenever you search for anything, you need to be on the forum HOMEPAGE, not in a subsection. Attempting doing a search anywhere else than on the homepage will return very few, if any, results.
I always get the results I want when I do so.
This information is something i did not find in ANY of the stickies. Please have a mod amend the stickies to include this, as this is beyond important information
Yeah, it's something I've understood only recently, and I've been a member for more than a year.
The only downside to noobs not being able to post anywhere else is the unability to post a useful vendor review.
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I think the noob section allowing only noobs is a good idea. This way they have to use the fucking search engine.
On the time-based vs post count-based issue, none of these options are entirely satisfying.
A noob should be able to upgrade his status according to the frequency of his use of the search engine.
The search engine on this site is probably the worst one i have ever seen in my entire life. It is completely inaccurate and i honestly didn't find a more than a single piece of useful information using it. I simply read all the stickies and asked a few questions and i was good to go.
I'm not sure everyone knows that, but please read:
Whenever you search for anything, you need to be on the forum HOMEPAGE, not in a subsection. Attempting doing a search anywhere else than on the homepage will return very few, if any, results.
I always get the results I want when I do so.
This information is something i did not find in ANY of the stickies. Please have a mod amend the stickies to include this, as this is beyond important information
Yeah, it's something I've understood only recently, and I've been a member for more than a year.
The only downside to noobs not being able to post anywhere else is the unability to post a useful vendor review.
Obviously I've never admin'd a forum before, but there must be a way for them to allow them to post in threads where people have vendor status. They could even do it selectively, so they couldn't get into the samples section
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I think what will need to happen is that everyone will need to have the ability to post in the newbies section.
Also newbies will need to have their daily posts capped at say 5-10 per day, meaning that it takes a minimum of 5-10 days before they can post anywhere else.
It might be an idea to have the mods manually authorize newbies once they reach 50+ posts. This means that before they can post in the rest of the forum, the mods quickly check their last 50 posts and basically just look for spam.
Mods may want to request regular members (once they can post in the newbie forum) to report spam or pointless posts designed to increase post count. Pointless posts will be deleted and spam ends up with an instant ban.
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I think what will need to happen is that everyone will need to have the ability to post in the newbies section.
Also newbies will need to have their daily posts capped at say 5-10 per day, meaning that it takes a minimum of 5-10 days before they can post anywhere else.
It might be an idea to have the mods manually authorize newbies once they reach 50+ posts. This means that before they can post in the rest of the forum, the mods quickly check their last 50 posts and basically just look for spam.
Mods may want to request regular members (once they can post in the newbie forum) to report spam or pointless posts designed to increase post count. Pointless posts will be deleted and spam ends up with an instant ban.
That's a much more refined and better idea than mine. I like it
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Yeah I think that is a good idea; a combination of time and post count, with a daily post count limit. The spam is already getting through. The manual authorization is vital though if it's feasible.... Otherwise the spammers can just pipeline the spam in automatically over whatever time it takes. It's really fucking annoying.... is anyone actually falling for the scams? I guess they must be.
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Yeah I think that is a good idea; a combination of time and post count, with a daily post count limit. The spam is already getting through. The manual authorization is vital though if it's feasible.... Otherwise the spammers can just pipeline the spam in automatically over whatever time it takes. It's really fucking annoying.... is anyone actually falling for the scams? I guess they must be.
I think the 2 factor modulation he suggested would be the best automatic solution. It would make the mods job of banning spam accounts infinitely easier, and it would be much much harder to game. Why make so much work for the mods manually approving people, when they'd have to ban so many less people already with an automatic solution?
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So after spending the morning getting to 50 posts in the newbie section so I am allowed to contribute once again in the main section. I went back to contribute to a useful thread and find I am now blocked from posting there. The mind boggles.
What use is a Newbie section if its just newbies chatting with each other surely you need contributions from established members to make it productive.
How many druggies does it take to run a drugs forum?
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So after spending the morning getting to 50 posts in the newbie section so I am allowed to contribute once again in the main section. I went back to contribute to a useful thread and find I am now blocked from posting there. The mind boggles.
What use is a Newbie section if its just newbies chatting with each other surely you need contributions from established members to make it productive.
How many druggies does it take to run a drugs forum?
And yet somehow you failed to read this thread and find that has already been mentioned as a major problem. Clearly the newbie forum is not working
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So after spending the morning getting to 50 posts in the newbie section so I am allowed to contribute once again in the main section. I went back to contribute to a useful thread and find I am now blocked from posting there. The mind boggles.
What use is a Newbie section if its just newbies chatting with each other surely you need contributions from established members to make it productive.
How many druggies does it take to run a drugs forum?
LOL
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So after spending the morning getting to 50 posts in the newbie section so I am allowed to contribute once again in the main section. I went back to contribute to a useful thread and find I am now blocked from posting there. The mind boggles.
What use is a Newbie section if its just newbies chatting with each other surely you need contributions from established members to make it productive.
How many druggies does it take to run a drugs forum?
And yet somehow you failed to read this thread and find that has already been mentioned as a major problem. Clearly the newbie forum is not working
Would you have preferred it if I had started a new thread :-*
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The newbie forum wasn't a pleasant experience, and I'm sure most people who had to go through the 50-post limit will, or should agree. At least you tried to run with the idea, too bad it wasn't a successful one. On paper it might of looked like it could have worked, or at least had the potential to, but when it came to the real deal, all it did was piss a bunch of people and vendors off. So it's safe to assume it's a major fail. Well, at least you tried, you wouldn't of known if you didn't try. (This idea is also off putting for someone who wants to join and become actively involved within the community but has to go through the newbie bullshit and endless spam threads and posts, when maybe they actually are very knowledgeable and have a lot to offer and want to be serious about it. This forum isn't for a bunch of 14-year old's. Everything should be taken seriously when it comes to illegal activities whether it's drugs, guns or other information that lil' kids shouldn't view.)
My solution would be to close the registration system and make it invite or customers only. Or some sort of referral system like other forums have. Something along the lines, it would take longer to implement but in the long run it would prove to be useful. That's just my idea, of course on paper it might look like a great idea, but when it comes to life it might be a major fail. Who knows.
Robin.
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The problem with both auto-promoting after 7 days and rate limiting posts to 10 per day is that the spammer can create 100 accounts ahead of time and wait for them to auto-promote or post 10 posts per day until he reaches 50. It may stop the spam for a week, but as long as he pre-registers tons of accounts, he will eventually be able to keep spamming.
It does make his job harder, at least, but it looks like he makes enough money to justify the work (I heard of $1000 off a single scam).
An effective solution must involve *making account creation more difficult*.
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The problem with both auto-promoting after 7 days and rate limiting posts to 10 per day is that the spammer can create 100 accounts ahead of time and wait for them to auto-promote or post 10 posts per day until he reaches 50. It may stop the spam for a week, but as long as he pre-registers tons of accounts, he will eventually be able to keep spamming.
It does make his job harder, at least, but it looks like he makes enough money to justify the work (I heard of $1000 off a single scam).
An effective solution must involve *making account creation more difficult*.
That is a very fair point. And I agree with it 100%, thing is most of the best spam prevention systems are for the vBulletin forum system. And Silk Road is using SMF (Simple Machines Forum), I think switching to vBulletin would be better as it supports a lot of plugins and has a lot of spam prevention addons. There are other more severe methods of preventing or in some cases completely eradicating spam, (especially when it comes to registration) but these would require users to loose some of their 'anonymity' - some high-end forums, and websites like Google.com etc., employ phone verification. But of course, that's not to say that the spammer couldn't use a virtual phone number. But hey, at least we're suggesting something. You never know, some of these ideas as crazy as they sound might actually be employed in the forum.
The easiest and most effective solution is just to have more moderators. Get more moderators who live in different time zones, which would be able to monitor the forum at certain times when others can't if their busy with work/college etc.
Robin.
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I think switching to vBulletin would be better as it supports a lot of plugins and has a lot of spam prevention addons.
vBulletin is proprietary and requires a $100 per year license. Of course, there are pirated copies floating around, and really, what are they going to do, threaten SR to take it down? :)
There are other more severe methods of preventing or in some cases completely eradicating spam, (especially when it comes to registration) but these would require users to loose some of their 'anonymity' - some high-end forums, and websites like Google.com etc., employ phone verification.
A simpler solution is to require a Gmail address when registering. Then you hand the problem over to Google's very effective spammer blocking mechanisms. Obviously we can't do that, though.
The easiest and most effective solution is just to have more moderators. Get more moderators who live in different time zones, which would be able to monitor the forum at certain times when others can't if their busy with work/college etc.
That has problems of its own, namely trust. That was the solution they tried a few months ago and apparently someone went rogue.
BTW, to anyone who says they don't care about the spam, if you are a vendor, then all the money going to the spammer is money not going to you. The $1000 that somebody sent the spammer a few days ago is a pretty big sale that some vendor lost. This potentially affects you personally and financially, so you should care.
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vBulletin is proprietary and requires a $100 per year license. Of course, there are pirated copies floating around, and really, what are they going to do, threaten SR to take it down? :)
Hehe, I don't think for a forum designed for clients of a website which sells illegal items, services and warez having a pirated copy of a forum would be a concern.
That has problems of its own, namely trust. That was the solution they tried a few months ago and apparently someone went rogue.
I suppose that is a fair point, I think there are some genuine people here who could do the job very well. Of course, like you said, it all goes into trust and you never know when someone might go rogue.
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It's not good to hear of so many Newbie's rushing to post any comment on any thread in a bid to hit that 50 post mark. It was supposed to get Newbie's asking questions and learning the basics of staying secure and remaining anonymous. This can't be learned overnight and takes some time to get it right. It's so important to learn the correct procedures from day one instead of potentially jeopardizing your anonymity through trusting, unbeknown to you, some misinformation thrown around by other Forum members on how to stay safe. There seems to be a lot of new members, not all of course as there are some excellent ones who understand the importance of protecting their anonymity, who are prepared to just dive in head first without knowing how deep the water is just so they can make a purchase on SR. While in some respects it's encouraging, however they don't comprehend the potential consequences a buyer could encounter by not understanding and applying the correct security and anonymity practices required to stay safe.The importance of this cannot be under estimated. To do so, will be to your detriment. Complacency is to be avoided at all costs, stay on your toes and remain vigilant.
There are Mods such as SSBD and scout who are highly visible and display their Forum title in their profile for all to see. Additionally, there are Mods working in Stealth such as NB who do an enormous amount of work behind the scenes and of course there are the 3 Admins including DPR himself. Together, there are enough officials to keep the forum running smoothly however, an additional couple of Mods wouldn't go astray, especially as the membership numbers continue to grow exponentially.
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It's not good to hear of so many Newbie's rushing to post any comment on any thread in a bid to hit that 50 post mark.
That's right. They even started an ad-hoc post count thread. Post count doesn't mean shit, using the search engine does.
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It's not good to hear of so many Newbie's rushing to post any comment on any thread in a bid to hit that 50 post mark.
That's right. They even started an ad-hoc post count thread. Post count doesn't mean shit, using the search engine does.
That is right post count doesn't mean shit, but being an active member within the community does, and without that 50-post count a member won't be able to participate within discussions or share his or her knowledge or expertise within a subject, or furthermore, even answer questions that some members with their 500+ post count couldn't answer in main sub-sections and sub-forums within the main forum.
I hope you get my point? It would be a little more forgivable if members with more than 50-posts could actually post in the Newbie Section of the forums and maybe then, the countless spam threads to boost post count could be avoided. Hence, the 'newbies' could then ask questions and get answers from experienced and respected forum representatives.
Robin.
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t would be a little more forgivable if members with more than 50-posts could actually post in the Newbie Section of the forums and maybe then, the countless spam threads to boost post count could be avoided.
This. I still don't understand why we can't post there. If we could, then we could answer questions and have fruitful discussions rather than making it a kind of purgatory that everyone is trying to get out of.
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Except, ironically, the Newbie board is the only place the scammer can post. :)
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Except, ironically, the Newbie board is the only place the scammer can post. :)
+ Agree'd.
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The idea for the Newbie thread came up on another thread a short time ago. The discussion suggested it to be a place for Newbie questions because every third post on the other boards was "Hey, I'm new here and have the same damn question as the last six threads." Don't think any of those involved in the discussion ever intended to suggest it be a place where only Newbies could post, but a place where their questions would go and more experience members could answer the same questions over and over. It was supposed to limit the repetitive posts and cut out some of the scammers. I think the intention of it was misinterpreted when it became reality.
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Thank god I'm out of that noon hellhole. I was up to my balls in spam. I'm afraid the flood gates are about to open.. hope you mods ate your Wheaties
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Thank god I'm out of that noon hellhole. I was up to my balls in spam. I'm afraid the flood gates are about to open.. hope you mods ate your Wheaties
Lol. +1
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I don't like posting this but the new Newbie thread has totally missed the target. Sure it helps prevent spam from getting on the main Forum but there are an awful lot of "newbie's" who have the wrong attitude about why they were made to begin posting there. Instead of grasping this opportunity to ease into the water at their own pace with the help of the Mod's to guide them through and answer any genuine questions, it's more like a food fight at a kid's 10th birthday party, with a lot of member's demonstrating their main objective is to reach 50 posts in the quickest possible way by posting childish, immature remarks about anything and everything and starting pointless, meaningless threads achieving absolutely nothing. This was a time to build a foundation on the safe use of SR so that you'll be able to make informed decisions concerning your security and anonymity. It's just my opinion but from what I can see, there will still be these annoying threads popping up everywhere. There certainly needs to be some refinements made to better utilize the thread for it's intended purpose and a change in some newbie's attitude to show a little patience and use this time to ask questions and learn as much as they can. It' s easy to make potentially life changing mistakes should you not know how to protect your identity.
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Thank god I'm out of that noon hellhole. I was up to my balls in spam. I'm afraid the flood gates are about to open.. hope you mods ate your Wheaties
Good lord do we need a keyword ban function in thread titles.
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Instead of grasping this opportunity to ease into the water at their own pace with the help of the Mod's to guide them through and answer any genuine questions, it's more like a food fight at a kid's 10th birthday party,
That's the biggest problem. 3 mods can't cater to that maddening crowd and answer all their questions, 24 hours a day. Senior members should be allowed to post there. We could answer questions and direct the conversations in more fruitful ways, so instead of posting just to get posts, they could be asking questions and getting useful answers.
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Instead of grasping this opportunity to ease into the water at their own pace with the help of the Mod's to guide them through and answer any genuine questions, it's more like a food fight at a kid's 10th birthday party,
That's the biggest problem. 3 mods can't cater to that maddening crowd and answer all their questions, 24 hours a day. Senior members should be allowed to post there. We could answer questions and direct the conversations in more fruitful ways, so instead of posting just to get posts, they could be asking questions and getting useful answers.
Exactly astor. +1. There must be some reason there not allowing this to take place. That reason though is anyone's guess. Don't forget there are also some Mod's working on the Forum in "Stealth" mode as pointed out by scout, in addition to those we know of. NB is one of them but there are seemingly others actively working behind the scenes.
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Yeah I think that is a good idea; a combination of time and post count, with a daily post count limit. The spam is already getting through. The manual authorization is vital though if it's feasible.... Otherwise the spammers can just pipeline the spam in automatically over whatever time it takes. It's really fucking annoying.... is anyone actually falling for the scams? I guess they must be.
I think the 2 factor modulation he suggested would be the best automatic solution. It would make the mods job of banning spam accounts infinitely easier, and it would be much much harder to game. Why make so much work for the mods manually approving people, when they'd have to ban so many less people already with an automatic solution?
Yes you're right. You could make it 5 posts a day and 25 posts. Even if someone is auto spamming this would give the mods five days to notice and ban them. I guess the manual authorization would make too much work for Mods. And members should definitely be allowed to post in newbies section.
I think it was envisioned as a place of teaching; I think with these slight tweaks it could be improved. It's always going to have people just getting their post count though.
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This is what Scout told me why they had to make the Newbie one.
No big deal really, was just a shock at first.
Quoted by Scout:
it is 100% due to our need for preventing those spammers from spamming everywhere with their scam websites.
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This is what Scout told me why they had to make the Newbie one.
No big deal really, was just a shock at first.
Quoted by Scout:
it is 100% due to our need for preventing those spammers from spamming everywhere with their scam websites.
Yep, it gives us a better opportunity to catch and delete the spammer's spam before it reaches the main forums.
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I wonder what percentage of newbie's actually read the "stickies," found in some threads which cover most, if not all, of the basic tools needed to operate safely on SR? Based on some of the questions continually being asked here on the Forum, I'm guessing it wouldn't be very high. :-\ I remember starting out on SR, I took a few weeks (obviously not all the time) to first read through as much of the Forum as I could before asking any questions from other members. I wanted to have a basic understanding of things before asking others as it helped me comprehend things I otherwise wouldn't understand. Knowledge is power and the more time you spend educating yourself on the topics of security and anonymity, the better prepared you will be for the journey ahead. :)
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Would it not have been better to premake some useful threads and kick off the conversation in the newbie section before opening it? Then people can actually learn some stuff instead of spamming.
I also agree it's mad to only allow newbs to post there.
Newbs can have a valuable contribution to make IMO. I think it'll actually do more harm than good excluding certain people from the forums.
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It's not good to hear of so many Newbie's rushing to post any comment on any thread in a bid to hit that 50 post mark.
That's right. They even started an ad-hoc post count thread. Post count doesn't mean shit, using the search engine does.
Mate (in a condescending tone) just cause we posted to get out of that shit doesnt mean we dont search ... mmmkay
I want to call you a fuckwit but I will be gentle because I think you just dont understand human nature. Some people recycle, some people dont give a shit ... do you get it or not?
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It's not good to hear of so many Newbie's rushing to post any comment on any thread in a bid to hit that 50 post mark.
That's right. They even started an ad-hoc post count thread. Post count doesn't mean shit, using the search engine does.
Mate (in a condescending tone) just cause we posted to get out of that shit doesnt mean we dont search ... mmmkay
I want to call you a fuckwit but I will be gentle because I think you just dont understand human nature. Some people recycle, some people dont give a shit ... do you get it or not?
I will call you a FUCK WIT, despite your incorrect assumption about my understanding of Human Nature. You sound like the sort of bloke who does recycle his toilet paper after hanging a shit. I get it champ, however, dopes like you just can't comprehend the fact that if you posted relevant information and created discussion on topics of interest, your post count would still go quickly while your actually learning something instead of the hundreds of posts made in that thread which are nothing but pointless dribble, only adding to the spam issue already rife on there. Pull your head in and smarten up Mr KnowItAll!!
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if you posted relevant information and created discussion on topics of interest, your post count would still go quickly while your actually learning something instead of the hundreds of posts made in that thread which are nothing but pointless dribble
Exactly. The "posting just to get posts" thing is born of the same laziness that causes people to repost the same questions over and over again when a forum search would bring up dozens of threads on the same topic (even despite the fact that the search function sucks). At least now they could be reposting the same questions in the Newbie board, but they're not even doing that. They are posting to get posts and THEN coming on the main forum to repost the same questions. :(
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The 50 post count rule will ruin the rumor mill. Killing the motivation for new buyers to interact and leave feedback. Very short sighted decision by someone.
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Excuse my rudeness, but I hated that Newbie forum. I paid over $500 USD for a vendor account and I have to sit for a few hours shitposting in a forum to get 50 posts and be able to interact with everyone else. Absolutely ridiculous. Since I dished out hundreds of dollars to SR, I feel at least a little bit entitled to something more than a holding pen.
All of the newbs that I've interacted with hate the design and they're basically spamming to meet the quota.
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Some of us, heaven forbid, might have a proper job. Yes. A proper job whereby you might have to interact, physically, with other people.
Having been a member for 3 months and consider myself as been as active as necessary had amassed, as of yesterday morning, a grand total of 34 posts.
Mostly reviews on purchases which I hope where useful to both new and established users of the site. I don't feel the need to usually spam, ask daft questions or pointless rubbish. But if I hadn't then at my current post count it would have been a few more months until I could post again in the main forum.
We are not newbs, just useful albeit not regular contributors, excluded without any notice or forewarning.
You have to expect some negative reactions.
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I survived the Newbie board with only the scar of -2 Karma. That saddens me as I'm not a negative Karma kind a guy. I'm very happy spam is being fought against. I think ability to make new topics might be a better place to fight spammers atm, tho they will adapt. Good Luck with the fight.
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Excuse my rudeness, but I hated that Newbie forum. I paid over $500 USD for a vendor account and I have to sit for a few hours shitposting in a forum to get 50 posts and be able to interact with everyone else. Absolutely ridiculous. Since I dished out hundreds of dollars to SR, I feel at least a little bit entitled to something more than a holding pen.
All of the newbs that I've interacted with hate the design and they're basically spamming to meet the quota.
Here in lies the problem with some people's attitude towards the whole situation. spacyschiz, the $500 you paid to open a vendor's account is an initial, start up payment only, aimed at reducing scamming vendors starting up throw away accounts. Once you reach a certain number of successful transactions or have been vending for a certain amount of time, you will receive a partial refund of that initial payment from SR as recognition of you working hard at being a "legit" vendor and not a scamming one.
As astor so rightly pointed out, we now have a stack of new members who have decided to rush through by posting meaningless, childish, silly comments about anything and everything in a bid to hit that magical number of 50 posts. You have idiots creating threads and posts where they are attempting to create a back lash for SR by posting a link to the BMR Forum and telling people to join there instead. The amount of posts saying "this is ridiculous" or "you have no right to do this to us just because we are new" and so on just pisses me and many others off no end. Now, all these half wits who posted these stupid comments just to get their quota's up and allow them to get out, have returned to the main forum and guess what, are again posting these dumb, repetitive posts that should of been asked in the Newbie's section. I mean, what is it about some of these people who believe they have a sense of entitlement to this site, think they know it all and are out to re-invent the wheel. They are failing to realize that containing the spam was the main reason for The Newbie Section in the first place. However, whilst there and with some help and advice from the Mod's, they didn't have to whinge and moan about the new 50 post rule but instead, ask some relevant and pertinent questions and use this time to better educate themselves on the various topics, amongst others, such as your Internet Security and Maintaining their On-Line Anonymity while using the site. If you click on the link just right of your avatar which says "Show unread posts since last visit," you will notice an incredible amount of stupid posts and threads, just for the purpose of getting back to the main forum!
Norfolk83 is a typical example of a smart ass attitude prevalent in a lot of Newbie's, but certainly not all by any means. I have a proper, full-time job as a professional dopey and work very hard indeed, just as many other members do. Some of us can use our time here effectively where as others write posts that are not only incorrect and untrue, but a complete waste of time for all concerned and achieve nothing!! Narrow minded, ill informed innuendo such as this is just bullshit, pure and simple, which shouldn't be posted as it's not true. Ask away and I'll happily answer such questions if I can, but posting untruths about others is not on. I have helped loads of Newbie's out where ever I can and will continue to do so, especially those who are polite, courteous and make an effort to learn all they can. I was new myself once, but I can say unequivocally, with out a shadow of doubt, that I never posted silly questions or responded to established members in such a way where I was rude and condescending to a comment they made, especially one which was not directed at me personally, as an individual, but to a collective group of Newbie's, whinging about what DPR has put into place to curb the Spam flooding the site daily. Finally, I don't have to expect anything champ. People make up their own minds on how they choose to conduct themselves and are solely responsible for their own actions. If there are some people who feel like they have suffered in some way by needing to reach 50 posts before being allowed to exit, feel free to chuck a tantrum. Just remember, others will judge you on your actions and to anyone who has an understanding of the sites continuing Spam issues, what DPR has implemented is a positive step forward in the battle, even if some new members were prevented from using the main forum temporarily.
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I survived the Newbie board with only the scar of -2 Karma. That saddens me as I'm not a negative Karma kind a guy. I'm very happy spam is being fought against. I think ability to make new topics might be a better place to fight spammers atm, tho they will adapt. Good Luck with the fight.
Thank you NW Nugz for having such a great attitude regarding the implementation of the Newbie's Section. If only some other Newbie's felt the same way. +1 for you. :) :)
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I can only re iterate, the whole newbie forum idea is a bit elitist and ill thought out IMO.
MANY 'newbs' have a lot of valuable contributions to make. Just because you've made less than 50 posts doesn't mean you should have to sit spamming for over half an hour in order to reply to a proper thread.
At least implement a word block function blocking 'virwex' or whatever before cutting off the forum to anyone that doesn't spend a significant amount of time here...?
BoT :P
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I can only re iterate, the whole newbie forum idea is a bit elitist and ill thought out IMO.
MANY 'newbs' have a lot of valuable contributions to make. Just because you've made less than 50 posts doesn't mean you should have to sit spamming for over half an hour in order to reply to a proper thread.
At least implement a word block function blocking 'virwex' or whatever before cutting off the forum to anyone that doesn't spend a significant amount of time here...?
BoT :P
I'm not sure what you mean when you say -
Just because you've made less than 50 posts doesn't mean you should have to sit spamming for over half an hour in order to reply to a proper thread.
What makes you think you were spamming for over half an hour? If you are saying you had to navigate the spam to post a reply, that is exactly what has been happening on the main forum for many months now. I'm sure there are some improvements in the works for the Newbie Section of the forum and they will roll out when there ready to implement them. It's by no means perfect but it's a work in progress. Just to clarify one point made yesterday by Moderator, scout, where he posted that the decision to roll out the Newbie Section was 100% based on tackling the Spam issue clouding the site. To say it's a bit "elitist" is way off the mark when you consider it's purpose is not to stop Newbie's using the forum but to prevent the spammers flooding the forum. It's a shame about the min. 50 posts but when you realize it's solely to combat an ongoing spam issue and actually doesn't involve Newbie's at all, people should think twice now before making any further comments. I'm not saying members with a post count of less than 50 have nothing to contribute to the forum and have never said that. However, there is a hell of a lot of information which needs to be absorbed by a buyer to protect themselves from any unwanted attention. It will take some time to build the confidence to place an order knowing you have followed the Guidelines by DPR. Through knowledge, comes power and the more you can read and educate yourself on how things work here, the safer you will be when you begin placing orders, either locally or from O/S vendors. Your security set-up and ability to remain anonymous are paramount and the most important issues you will have to deal with. Anonymity is No. 1 as it wouldn't matter what security you were running on your PC, if they can't find you to begin with, that's the best security measure you can have. A lot of new members seem to think some members have it in for them, but like anything in life, first impressions last. What you learn in the beginning when first starting out is very important in setting a standard by which you're known and operate by. Set the bar high to start with and never compromise on anything related to security. ;D
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I can only re iterate, the whole newbie forum idea is a bit elitist and ill thought out IMO.
MANY 'newbs' have a lot of valuable contributions to make. Just because you've made less than 50 posts doesn't mean you should have to sit spamming for over half an hour in order to reply to a proper thread.
At least implement a word block function blocking 'virwex' or whatever before cutting off the forum to anyone that doesn't spend a significant amount of time here...?
BoT :P
I'm not sure what you mean when you say -
Just because you've made less than 50 posts doesn't mean you should have to sit spamming for over half an hour in order to reply to a proper thread.
What makes you think you were spamming for over half an hour? If you are saying you had to navigate the spam to post a reply, that is exactly what has been happening on the main forum for many months now. I'm sure there are some improvements in the works for the Newbie Section of the forum and they will roll out when there ready to implement them. It's by no means perfect but it's a work in progress. Just to clarify one point made yesterday by Moderator, scout, where he posted that the decision to roll out the Newbie Section was 100% based on tackling the Spam issue clouding the site. To say it's a bit "elitist" is way off the mark when you consider it's purpose is not to stop Newbie's using the forum but to prevent the spammers flooding the forum. It's a shame about the min. 50 posts but when you realize it's solely to combat an ongoing spam issue and actually doesn't involve Newbie's at all, people should think twice now before making any further comments. I'm not saying members with a post count of less than 50 have nothing to contribute to the forum and have never said that. However, there is a hell of a lot of information which needs to be absorbed by a buyer to protect themselves from any unwanted attention. It will take some time to build the confidence to place an order knowing you have followed the Guidelines by DPR. Through knowledge, comes power and the more you can read and educate yourself on how things work here, the safer you will be when you begin placing orders, either locally or from O/S vendors. Your security set-up and ability to remain anonymous are paramount and the most important issues you will have to deal with. Anonymity is No. 1 as it wouldn't matter what security you were running on your PC, if they can't find you to begin with, that's the best security measure you can have. A lot of new members seem to think some members have it in for them, but like anything in life, first impressions last. What you learn in the beginning when first starting out is very important in setting a standard by which you're known and operate by. Set the bar high to start with and never compromise on anything related to security. ;D
I can't disagree with anything you've said. I suppose the newb section has some potential, it just need to be structured and organised properly. It's kind of went to shit cos it was just introduced with apparently no warning or explanation on what it's purpose is :)
All well intentioned work is well appreciated :D
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I can only re iterate, the whole newbie forum idea is a bit elitist and ill thought out IMO.
MANY 'newbs' have a lot of valuable contributions to make. Just because you've made less than 50 posts doesn't mean you should have to sit spamming for over half an hour in order to reply to a proper thread.
At least implement a word block function blocking 'virwex' or whatever before cutting off the forum to anyone that doesn't spend a significant amount of time here...?
BoT :P
I'm not sure what you mean when you say -
Just because you've made less than 50 posts doesn't mean you should have to sit spamming for over half an hour in order to reply to a proper thread.
What makes you think you were spamming for over half an hour? If you are saying you had to navigate the spam to post a reply, that is exactly what has been happening on the main forum for many months now. I'm sure there are some improvements in the works for the Newbie Section of the forum and they will roll out when there ready to implement them. It's by no means perfect but it's a work in progress. Just to clarify one point made yesterday by Moderator, scout, where he posted that the decision to roll out the Newbie Section was 100% based on tackling the Spam issue clouding the site. To say it's a bit "elitist" is way off the mark when you consider it's purpose is not to stop Newbie's using the forum but to prevent the spammers flooding the forum. It's a shame about the min. 50 posts but when you realize it's solely to combat an ongoing spam issue and actually doesn't involve Newbie's at all, people should think twice now before making any further comments. I'm not saying members with a post count of less than 50 have nothing to contribute to the forum and have never said that. However, there is a hell of a lot of information which needs to be absorbed by a buyer to protect themselves from any unwanted attention. It will take some time to build the confidence to place an order knowing you have followed the Guidelines by DPR. Through knowledge, comes power and the more you can read and educate yourself on how things work here, the safer you will be when you begin placing orders, either locally or from O/S vendors. Your security set-up and ability to remain anonymous are paramount and the most important issues you will have to deal with. Anonymity is No. 1 as it wouldn't matter what security you were running on your PC, if they can't find you to begin with, that's the best security measure you can have. A lot of new members seem to think some members have it in for them, but like anything in life, first impressions last. What you learn in the beginning when first starting out is very important in setting a standard by which you're known and operate by. Set the bar high to start with and never compromise on anything related to security. ;D
I can't disagree with anything you've said. I suppose the newb section has some potential, it just need to be structured and organised properly. It's kind of went to shit cos it was just introduced with apparently no warning or explanation on what it's purpose is :)
All well intentioned work is well appreciated :D
You obviously have at least a fair amount to contribute, cause you came to the same conclusion i have about the word block function. Been posting about that for a few days now. Would cut the spam instantly if implemented
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I can only re iterate, the whole newbie forum idea is a bit elitist and ill thought out IMO.
MANY 'newbs' have a lot of valuable contributions to make. Just because you've made less than 50 posts doesn't mean you should have to sit spamming for over half an hour in order to reply to a proper thread.
At least implement a word block function blocking 'virwex' or whatever before cutting off the forum to anyone that doesn't spend a significant amount of time here...?
BoT :P
I'm not sure what you mean when you say -
Just because you've made less than 50 posts doesn't mean you should have to sit spamming for over half an hour in order to reply to a proper thread.
What makes you think you were spamming for over half an hour? If you are saying you had to navigate the spam to post a reply, that is exactly what has been happening on the main forum for many months now. I'm sure there are some improvements in the works for the Newbie Section of the forum and they will roll out when there ready to implement them. It's by no means perfect but it's a work in progress. Just to clarify one point made yesterday by Moderator, scout, where he posted that the decision to roll out the Newbie Section was 100% based on tackling the Spam issue clouding the site. To say it's a bit "elitist" is way off the mark when you consider it's purpose is not to stop Newbie's using the forum but to prevent the spammers flooding the forum. It's a shame about the min. 50 posts but when you realize it's solely to combat an ongoing spam issue and actually doesn't involve Newbie's at all, people should think twice now before making any further comments. I'm not saying members with a post count of less than 50 have nothing to contribute to the forum and have never said that. However, there is a hell of a lot of information which needs to be absorbed by a buyer to protect themselves from any unwanted attention. It will take some time to build the confidence to place an order knowing you have followed the Guidelines by DPR. Through knowledge, comes power and the more you can read and educate yourself on how things work here, the safer you will be when you begin placing orders, either locally or from O/S vendors. Your security set-up and ability to remain anonymous are paramount and the most important issues you will have to deal with. Anonymity is No. 1 as it wouldn't matter what security you were running on your PC, if they can't find you to begin with, that's the best security measure you can have. A lot of new members seem to think some members have it in for them, but like anything in life, first impressions last. What you learn in the beginning when first starting out is very important in setting a standard by which you're known and operate by. Set the bar high to start with and never compromise on anything related to security. ;D
I can't disagree with anything you've said. I suppose the newb section has some potential, it just need to be structured and organised properly. It's kind of went to shit cos it was just introduced with apparently no warning or explanation on what it's purpose is :)
All well intentioned work is well appreciated :D
It's people with an attitude like yours who keep my hopes alive and spirits up on the continuing success of this site. Someone who is prepared to look at a situation again after having already formed an opinion on it, is a rare quality in people today. +1 for your last post. :) Thanks for some very kind words indeed. See you round the traps! :)
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Looks like it just went live. Hopefully this will be the end of the spam.
It's interesting that we can't post in it. That might spell the end of PGP Club, since most of those posters are newbs. If I could post in the Newbie section, I'd restart it there.
This is seriously the most stupid anti spam method ever used...
About the new forum methods:
http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=108860.0
Now I can not post replies there anymore?
Doesn't make sense to me.
An Error Has Occurred!
You are not allowed to post replies even to your own topics in this board.
So annoying...
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Again, it was set up to tackle the influx of spam and that alone. It wasn't set up specifically for Newbie's and they were only there due to their low number of posts. Once you hit 50 posts, you must move to the main forum, just as members with more than 50 posts were not allowed to post in the Newbie's section either. It's a shame that you may have got caught up in it all but the drop in spam to the main forum has been remarkable (for the time being anyway). The spammers would need to post 50 replies to gain access to the main forum and as a consequence, this means new members will need to spend time there until they reach 50 posts before getting full access. Think of the Newbie's section as an apprenticeship of sorts before finally becoming a tradesman and gaining full access.
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Again, it was set up to tackle the influx of spam and that alone. It wasn't set up specifically for Newbie's and they were only there due to their low number of posts. Once you hit 50 posts, you must move to the main forum, just as members with more than 50 posts were not allowed to post in the Newbie's section either. It's a shame that you may have got caught up in it all but the drop in spam to the main forum has been remarkable (for the time being anyway). The spammers would need to post 50 replies to gain access to the main forum and as a consequence, this means new members will need to spend time there until they reach 50 posts before getting full access. Think of the Newbie's section as an apprenticeship of sorts before finally becoming a tradesman and gaining full access.
New members should see this annoyance as what it is supposed to be. Forced encouragement to learn. You hate being required to reach 50 posts in order to ask "real" questions? Let me tell all you newbies something. The first 50 posts i made here could very well could have been considered trite, if not spam. I fully supported this idea even when i had first joined, and i would have willfully suffered through it to see the end result, which is less spam. Yes it was meant to contain spam like Virwex, but the actual goal is to stop real spam like questions that have been asked 10 billion times.(90% of what you suggest when you first get here has already been talked to death a hundred times over. You have to get a little deeper into the silk road forum culture to know what hasn't been asked before or if it has and you can't find it, barely been asked or there was a poorly formed discussion about it.
You know the saying "All originality is dead in Hollywood"? Think of that times a billion and you've got yourself the internet. These Admins have been running this successfully for 2 years, and while yes there is room for improvement, I completely understand the slow methodical changes so as not to lose the already dedicated customer base, while still accepting new ones. It shouldn't have been as easy as it was for me to get on here and start posting, and while i am certainly glad i didn't get caught in the spam tsunami, again I would totally have understood
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The first 50 posts i made here could very well could have been considered trite, if not spam.
Making everyone go at the pace of a person who doesn't read and search for information by himself before posting is dumb. "No child left behind!"
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The first 50 posts i made here could very well could have been considered trite, if not spam.
Making everyone go at the pace of a person who doesn't read and search for information by himself before posting is dumb. "No child left behind!"
Ah how wrong you are. I spent minimum of 3 weeks doing research every single day before i spent a bitcoin cent. I wonder how many times you have finalized early ::)
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The first 50 posts i made here could very well could have been considered trite, if not spam.
Making everyone go at the pace of a person who doesn't read and search for information by himself before posting is dumb. "No child left behind!"
Ah how wrong you are. I spent minimum of 3 weeks doing research every single day before i spent a bitcoin cent. I wonder how many times you have finalized early ::)
Jeeze, I dread to think how long it takes you decide what to wear each day..f
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The first 50 posts i made here could very well could have been considered trite, if not spam.
Making everyone go at the pace of a person who doesn't read and search for information by himself before posting is dumb. "No child left behind!"
Ah how wrong you are. I spent minimum of 3 weeks doing research every single day before i spent a bitcoin cent. I wonder how many times you have finalized early ::)
Jeeze, I dread to think how long it takes you decide what to wear each day..f
Just under 10 seconds actually
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I would never FE.
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I would never FE.
Then you are among the few intelligent people on the site. Honestly before the newbie section, you have no idea how many posts every single day on the main forum was something like "hey i FE'd how can i get my money back?" or "I like this vendor a lot is it ok to FE". This measure was aimed at those people not you. Of course it isn't a one size fits all glove, not everyone is that stupid, and just because i may have implied it doesn't mean i meant it. Like i said earlier, i truly do understand the frustration and anger, but like wadozo has said, this is not meant to punish you. We as a community(members who regularly post) are beyond sick and tired of the spam. Once you're on these forums regularly, you won't believe the volume of questions asked that have been answered a billion times.
It's honestly unfortunate since currently there is no "Let me prove myself" function to get out of the spam, but anything that can be gamed at all, WILL. Bots can beat any prevention measures that aren't system level, it sucks ass. Short of hacking the server, they are stuck with the post count limit.
I really get how confusing it can be when you can't ask a question of anyone knowledgeable, and i think we are all in agreement that this is a current major flaw. Hopefully this puts the anger and resentment to rest
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dbz4u, In agree with your sentiments regarding the need for some, not all, newbie's to knuckle down and get their hands a little dirty by doing some of their own research FIRST before starting countless new threads. I've encountered some great new members who took some initiative and made an effort to find some answers for themselves, and did so successfully I might add. It's great that these members are serious in doing all they can to protect both themselves and the community. There are some members who need to follow the example set by the newbie's I just mentioned previously, where they appreciate the complexities and effort required to keep both this Forum and the SR site itself, not only running trouble free but most importantly, retaining it's Anonymity for the enjoyment of it's members.
One point dbz4u I just want to clarify and put to bed once and for all as it seems to be an ongoing contentious issue among some people. The Newbie Section, according to Mod, scout, posted the following comment which reads - Quoted by Scout:
"it is 100% due to our need for preventing those spammers from spamming everywhere with their scam websites."
He was referring to the Newbie threads SOLE purpose, which was a 100% genuine attempt by the Admin/Mod staff to counter act the on going influx of spam to the forum. New members can take a little solace in knowing that the SR Support Staff did not intend on causing you any grief when implementing this new system, however, it's a consequence for some of you, due to the stern actions taken to eliminate once and for, all this useless spam.
I think some newbie's owe the Admins and Mods, an apology for all the derogatory comments yesterday when having to reach a quota of 50 posts was 100% due to the spammers and not an attempt to"discriminate" against newer members as first thought by some of you.
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dbz4u, In agree with your sentiments regarding the need for some, not all, newbie's to knuckle down and get their hands a little dirty by doing some of their own research FIRST before starting countless new threads. I've encountered some great new members who took some initiative and made an effort to find some answers for themselves, and did so successfully I might add. It's great that these members are serious in doing all they can to protect both themselves and the community. There are some members who need to follow the example set by the newbie's I just mentioned previously, where they appreciate the complexities and effort required to keep both this Forum and the SR site itself, not only running trouble free but most importantly, retaining it's Anonymity for the enjoyment of it's members.
One point dbz4u I just want to clarify and put to bed once and for all as it seems to be an ongoing contentious issue among some people. The Newbie Section, according to Mod, scout, posted the following comment which reads - Quoted by Scout:
"it is 100% due to our need for preventing those spammers from spamming everywhere with their scam websites."
He was referring to the Newbie threads SOLE purpose, which was a 100% genuine attempt by the Admin/Mod staff to counter act the on going influx of spam to the forum. New members can take a little solace in knowing that the SR Support Staff did not intend on causing you any grief when implementing this new system, however, it's a consequence for some of you, due to the stern actions taken to eliminate once and for, all this useless spam.
I think some newbie's owe the Admins and Mods, an apology for all the derogatory comments yesterday when having to reach a quota of 50 posts was 100% due to the spammers and not an attempt to"discriminate" against newer members as first thought by some of you.
Agreed generally i agree with most if not all you say, except when i perceive a hint of condescension, but i know that can't be helped due to the seniority and post count. It's just subconscious, no need to apologize. Please talk some sense into jezuz, this guy is going into a flameout spin
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dbz4u, In agree with your sentiments regarding the need for some, not all, newbie's to knuckle down and get their hands a little dirty by doing some of their own research FIRST before starting countless new threads. I've encountered some great new members who took some initiative and made an effort to find some answers for themselves, and did so successfully I might add. It's great that these members are serious in doing all they can to protect both themselves and the community. There are some members who need to follow the example set by the newbie's I just mentioned previously, where they appreciate the complexities and effort required to keep both this Forum and the SR site itself, not only running trouble free but most importantly, retaining it's Anonymity for the enjoyment of it's members.
One point dbz4u I just want to clarify and put to bed once and for all as it seems to be an ongoing contentious issue among some people. The Newbie Section, according to Mod, scout, posted the following comment which reads - Quoted by Scout:
"it is 100% due to our need for preventing those spammers from spamming everywhere with their scam websites."
He was referring to the Newbie threads SOLE purpose, which was a 100% genuine attempt by the Admin/Mod staff to counter act the on going influx of spam to the forum. New members can take a little solace in knowing that the SR Support Staff did not intend on causing you any grief when implementing this new system, however, it's a consequence for some of you, due to the stern actions taken to eliminate once and for, all this useless spam.
I think some newbie's owe the Admins and Mods, an apology for all the derogatory comments yesterday when having to reach a quota of 50 posts was 100% due to the spammers and not an attempt to"discriminate" against newer members as first thought by some of you.
Agreed generally i agree with most if not all you say, except when i perceive a hint of condescension, but i know that can't be helped due to the seniority and post count. It's just subconscious, no need to apologize. Please talk some sense into jezuz, this guy is going into a flameout spin
dbz4u, you can't talk some sense into someone with no common sense! That dickhead with his racist rants and complete lies and misgivings is a stark, raving lunatic. I wouldn't even spend a minute more of my time engaged in a discussion with him, regardless of the topic at hand. Seriously, he needs psychiatric help. Not just one psychiatrist, but a whole team of psychiatrists from Viena. Even then, I would have my doubts he could be treated.
I wasn't "talking" down to you if that's what you were thinking and I'm truly sorry if you felt that way? It's just some of these newbie's were complaining that they were unfairly targeted and unduly scrutinized by SR Admin's yesterday for having to participate in the newbie section by forced. I was merely stating that the sole purpose of the newbie section is to stop the spammers and give Admin/Mod's the time it would take to write up 50 posts to remove them from the forum altogether and close their accounts.
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Not to drudge up this shit again...but I am.
Firstly...I cannot stand to read through pages and pages on the scam topics when I click on "unread posts since last visit." I don't exactly follow one sub-forum so that's typically the go to. And it's driving me bonkers to see the pages of spam/scam all in the newbie forums. At least it was contained to that sub-forum I thought... until.....
Secondly, just made a post in security (or something, I have shit for a memory) and saw that now these spammers have been able to get through 50 posts-one up to almost 100 (on more than one account) in just today alone. It's barely midday here so I can't imagine what they'll 'accomplish' by midnight.
I'm sorry, I know the mods are working hard. And I appreciate it. I really really really do. You guys are awesome. Please believe that!!
But.
I really really really hate seeing the spam.
I know it's been discussed to death. And I don't have any solutions to fix it.
I hope someone does something soon....please?
I just needed to get that off my chest.
Am I the only one that is driven mad by the spam in the unread posts and has noticed this new ability to make that many posts and get out of the newbie forum?
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dbz4u, In agree with your sentiments regarding the need for some, not all, newbie's to knuckle down and get their hands a little dirty by doing some of their own research FIRST before starting countless new threads. I've encountered some great new members who took some initiative and made an effort to find some answers for themselves, and did so successfully I might add. It's great that these members are serious in doing all they can to protect both themselves and the community. There are some members who need to follow the example set by the newbie's I just mentioned previously, where they appreciate the complexities and effort required to keep both this Forum and the SR site itself, not only running trouble free but most importantly, retaining it's Anonymity for the enjoyment of it's members.
One point dbz4u I just want to clarify and put to bed once and for all as it seems to be an ongoing contentious issue among some people. The Newbie Section, according to Mod, scout, posted the following comment which reads - Quoted by Scout:
"it is 100% due to our need for preventing those spammers from spamming everywhere with their scam websites."
He was referring to the Newbie threads SOLE purpose, which was a 100% genuine attempt by the Admin/Mod staff to counter act the on going influx of spam to the forum. New members can take a little solace in knowing that the SR Support Staff did not intend on causing you any grief when implementing this new system, however, it's a consequence for some of you, due to the stern actions taken to eliminate once and for, all this useless spam.
I think some newbie's owe the Admins and Mods, an apology for all the derogatory comments yesterday when having to reach a quota of 50 posts was 100% due to the spammers and not an attempt to"discriminate" against newer members as first thought by some of you.
Agreed generally i agree with most if not all you say, except when i perceive a hint of condescension, but i know that can't be helped due to the seniority and post count. It's just subconscious, no need to apologize. Please talk some sense into jezuz, this guy is going into a flameout spin
dbz4u, you can't talk some sense into someone with no common sense! That dickhead with his racist rants and complete lies and misgivings is a stark, raving lunatic. I wouldn't even spend a minute more of my time engaged in a discussion with him, regardless of the topic at hand. Seriously, he needs psychiatric help. Not just one psychiatrist, but a whole team of psychiatrists from Viena. Even then, I would have my doubts he could be treated.
I wasn't "talking" down to you if that's what you were thinking and I'm truly sorry if you felt that way? It's just some of these newbie's were complaining that they were unfairly targeted and unduly scrutinized by SR Admin's yesterday for having to participate in the newbie section by forced. I was merely stating that the sole purpose of the newbie section is to stop the spammers and give Admin/Mod's the time it would take to write up 50 posts to remove them from the forum altogether and close their accounts.
Much love wadozo <3
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*Coughs nervously* Guys is this a silly question? Why don't we all club together and take turns to delete this spam. Soon as it lands have 20 of us ready to delete. That way we will keep on top of things. and one or 2 spammers won't make a dent in the overall running of things.I would volunteer.