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[Aquin]

Wasn't that when the forum was made or remade or whatever?  That was a long long time ago 

[Oddball]

We all had a party. Didn't you get your invite?

[Core Xii]

That service worries me. So, now CAPTHCAs are completely ineffective.

How about a computing problem? Proof of work. A JavaScript function that takes maybe 30 seconds to calculate some hash value or something. To your average user, having to wait 30 seconds whenever you register to a new website is hardly an inconvenience at all, but to spammers, that means they have to wait 30 seconds for every spam bot that registers on a website, slowing down their efficiency to less than 50%.

[Christian Knudsen]

It doesn't even have to be a computing problem. It could just be that the CAPTCHA doesn't appear until 30 seconds after the page has loaded. But the dudes running that service would probably just do what every legit user does; open a new browser window/solve some other CAPTCHAs until the 30 seconds have passed...

Could it be tied into the TIGdb? To register for the forums, you have to rate/review one of the games in the TIGdb? That would probably also stop a lot of the one-time "check out my new game!" posters.

[Paint by Numbers]

Hell, 30 seconds? It could be bumped up to a minute or two and it wouldn't inconvenience anybody legit.

If the ban system TIGSource has doesn't do IP bans, we might want to institute a system that allows us to distinguish between banning regular people and spammers. The spammers would be IP-banned, hopefully to slow them down a bit.

Could it be tied into the TIGdb? To register for the forums, you have to rate/review one of the games in the TIGdb? That would probably also stop a lot of the one-time "check out my new game!" posters.

This is true, but sadly, bots would eventually find a way to auto-rate games and then the ratings would be screwed up forever.

[Core Xii]

But the dudes running that service would probably just do what every legit user does; open a new browser window/solve some other CAPTCHAs until the 30 seconds have passed...

That's why it must be a computing problem. The spammers cannot open millions of new windows if each one eats a portion of their processing power! If one such window takes 30 seconds to compute, then two take 60! The more windows they open, the more time it takes per problem.

[Netsu]

That's why it must be a computing problem. The spammers cannot open millions of new windows if each one eats a portion of their processing power! If one such window takes 30 seconds to compute, then two take 60! The more windows they open, the more time it takes per problem.

And I guess on some netbooks it will take 10 minutes instead. I'm not sure if it's such a good idea if it relies on computing power of the person registering.

[Christian Knudsen]

I don't get the impression that the spammers have millions of windows open at the same time. They're doing the CAPTCHA solving manually, remember. And would "one window takes 30 seconds, two takes 60" be programmed into the script, or is it just that the spammers have such crappy computers?

[Core Xii]

I don't get the impression that the spammers have millions of windows open at the same time. They're doing the CAPTCHA solving manually, remember.

Well it's irrelevant whether they do or not. It doesn't matter if it's one bot with a million windows or a million humans with one window each... Point is, a computing problem slows them down regardless. CAPTCHA crackers are half-automated; A bot crawls the 'net for forms. First they try an optical character recognition program on it, if it doesn't work, it's solved manually in some sweatshop somewhere.

But if it's a computing problem, a human being can't solve it - They'd have to pay for processing power, and thus make less money, making the whole ordeal less profitable (= less spam).

And would "one window takes 30 seconds, two takes 60" be programmed into the script, or is it just that the spammers have such crappy computers?

It would be a JavaScript function that on average takes some time to compute. Such as, for a given random string (a token the server generates for each form), repeatedly hash it with SHA1 until the N first characters are all zeroes. Impossible to calculate any other way than millions of SHA1 calls, which slows down any spammers considerably. This same scheme was proposed to counter e-mail spam, but it'd require wide-spread adoption to work... But any site can use it for registration forms fine. It does require JavaScript, though.

[Paint by Numbers]

So, uh... this is some nice... clearing out zero-post members we got here.

[Bandages]

So, uh... this is some nice... clearing out zero-post members we got here.

This is sarcasm.

How do I know? Because of that smilie, and because we have 42,725 at the time of me posting this right here.

[Paint by Numbers]

Really, though. It's a total waste of servers and a misrepresentation of TIGSource itself to let so many spammers just chill out here.

[phubans]

Derek doesn't come on, let alone care about TIGSauce fawrumz anymore; he's moved on to bigger, better things... That's why he said he's handing them over to me! Why do you think I've been allowed to post such ridiculous things here with impunity? This forum was a birthday gift to me from Derek; a place where I could fap freely and wallow in the mess.

*pulls a dangling chain and the TIGSource logo falls off to reveal the new name: PHUBSource Phorums*

 

[Türbo Bröther]

he's moved on to bigger, better things...

Oh fuck, we're being "Planetised" aren't we?

That's why he said he's handing them over to me! Why do you think I've been allowed to post such ridiculous things here with impunity? This forum was a birthday gift to me from Derek; a place where I could fap freely and wallow in the mess.

I think I'd rather take my chances with Planetisation. Just kidding Phubes, you rock buddy *thumbs*.

[Paint by Numbers]

*pulls a dangling chain and the TIGSource logo falls off to reveal the new name: PHUBSource Phorums*

New boards: Wanking, Internet Memes, General Creepy Comments and Pretend Devlogs. And that's all.
sorry

But seriously, we need to throw Derek a party. Dude's pining for the good old times when it was just him and three other people. Indie gaming is so mainstream now...

[s0]

*pulls a dangling chain and the TIGSource logo falls off to reveal the new name: PHUBSource Phorums*

 

[ink.inc]

Of the 43000 members currently on TIGS, 42300 have <100 posts.

[Dustin Smith]

As long as I get to be the moderator for the Wanking forum I'm happy. 

[moi]

*pulls a dangling chain and the TIGSource logo falls off to reveal the new name: PHUBSource Phorums*

 

[Aloshi]

Of the 43000 members currently on TIGS, 42300 have <100 posts.

Just because I don't post much doesn't mean I'm a spam bot! I lurk a lot here (Total time logged in: 16 days, 11 minutes), I just don't have much to say. I think an e-mail to everyone with, say, less than 10 posts that requires activation within a week or so would work fine, or at least be a start.