Captcha Hilarity

[Skorpyo]

Title pretty much says it all.

Recently, the Escapist introduced their brand new "ReCaptcha" system to the forums, to cut down on the sudden attraction spam-bots had to our dearest of forums. I personally like the Captcha system, as not only does it make the forums a cleaner place, but it also helps in the transcribing of old, handwritten books.

Brief explanation:


But, there is a catch.

On many occasions, Captcha's have lead to hilarity. Just today, going through the forums, I ran across this gem:

Discussion: Have you ran across any strange or funny Captcha's on the Escapist since their implementation?

Or:

What is your opinion on the Captcha system here?

 

[imnot]

I got an umlat.

I dont like captcha can't read the bloody thing.

 

[Simalacrum]

errr....

I haven't encountered the Captcha system while browsing The Escapist...

Maybe Pub Club users don't get them? Wouldn't know why though...

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Yes. I got words that were upside down, words I did not understand, words not in English, words that don't exist.

It takes me at least twice to enter the damn thing correctly, which is annoying, but, hey, if our forum feels it needs to cut down on spam, so be it.

 

[Something Amyss]

Nothing funny yet, but I'll keep looking.

Opinion? Annoying. Several times, I've had to type five or six words I didn't know existed (and maybe don't, who knows?) in a row, only to be told I didn't type it right. I don't think I've ever had this kind of problem with a Captcha I've had to use with regularity.

 

[Something Amyss]

Yes. I got words that were upside down, words I did not understand, words not in English, words that don't exist.

It takes me at least twice to enter the damn thing correctly, which is annoying, but, hey, if our forum feels it needs to cut down on spam, so be it.

Oh yeah, I did have one with "the" as one of the words. It was like, upside down and backwards.

 

[Anarchemitis]

Virgil has done things like this in the past, experimenting with new implements in the forums for one reason or another.
I recall one week where threads would be interrupted every 15 posts with a GoogleAds space inbetween posts, with content indicated by what was relevant in the thread.

In Role-Plays, this usually looked like

"Hammond," beckoned Richard the IX, sword at the ready. "are you prepared to raiseth hell?"

Viking Reenactment Replica Manufacturers?

All natural Performance Enhancement?

Steam Boresight Drilling Implements?

Cheap Accommodations in Hell and other locations for less than $200"

"Yes Richard, well I- what the shi

 

[Ranchcroutons]

Wow thank god I haven't run into any Captchas that dense. There's been a few where I wasn't able to quite distinguish the word but nothing in Japanese yet.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

I got "sacrifice redigerna" once. I don't know who Redigerna is but I don't think Captcha likes them. So Redigerna if you're reading this, watch out, I think you've made some enemies somewhere.

 

[smearyllama]

Well, I often find spam to be hilarious, although it is an issue.

The Captchas are much less of a problem now that they have a purpose.

 

[Sevre]

errr....

I haven't encountered the Captcha system while browsing The Escapist...

Maybe Pub Club users don't get them? Wouldn't know why though...

PubClub don't get them, it's part of a genius plan to make Chinese spammers pay for Pub Club to avoid captchas.

Actually I think Pub Club may get them, but not as frequently. But Staff don't get them, so it's part of a genius plan to get Chinese spammers to contribute to the well being of these forums to the extent that Kuliani gives them moderator powers so they can avoid captcha. Of course I still get to ban them.

 

[theComposer]

I never knew they had a purpose like that, so that's pretty cool. Still I'm not sure why we need them on the Escapist, as I've never noticed any spam.

 

[Sevre]

I never knew they had a purpose like that, so that's pretty cool. Still I'm not sure why we need them on the Escapist, as I've never noticed any spam.

That just means I'm doing my job well, plenty of users will tell you we get spammers, because plenty of users report them to me.

 

[Harlemura]

I haven't had any funny word, I just get words that are annoying to spell. Usually because they aren't even real words, just a random selection of characters making it too hard to type out what I need to type.
But whatever stops spammers, I guess.

Speaking of lolz, when I signed up to Facebook I had to type "manures arson" to it.
Manures arson"? That's probably some kind of summary of Facebook.

 

[mexicola]

I'm seeing these thread pop up all over but I still didn't encounter it. Then again this is my first post today...

 

[Skorpyo]

Get rid of the captcha, those things are atrociously terrible. Spam isn't a big problem on this forum, and I see no reason why the fuck they would implement such a thing.

We've had at least 3 spam-bot threads in the past week. That's bad enough for me.

 

[GiantRaven]

Every time I've had to type one in I do it correctly and it claims I'm typing it wrong.

I understand and encourage the use of them to minimise spam but GODDAMN are they annoying!

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

Easy, only one word has to be right, to tell which one doesnt have to be right, look for things like punctuation marks, foreign language, different font, etc.
Just a little trick i picked up from......somewhere

 

[Rainboq]

errr....

I haven't encountered the Captcha system while browsing The Escapist...

Maybe Pub Club users don't get them? Wouldn't know why though...

Because you give the Escapist monies X3

 

[PureChaos]

none of mine have been funny. sure i'll get one (or asian characters) at some point