Why not disable CAPTCHA after 100 posts?

[llafnwod]

The purpose of the CAPTCHA system is to ensure that spambots are not able to constantly sign up and flood the forum with posts (something it doesn't do [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.300279-Have-you-ever-bought-a-game-you-knew-nothing-about-and-upon-playing-it-found-it-to-be-AWESOME?page=2#11953089], but that's a discussion for later). Why not disable the requirement after an account has something like a hundred posts, and has presumably proven that it is not a spambot?

Moderation tends to jump on padding posts reasonably quickly, so it's unlikely that they could just spam a hundred posts and then let the bots do the work. The only reason I can think of to not do this is that its not a standard feature in your CAPTCHA plugin, but what are sysadmins for? The forum's power users get to stop typing (more) nonsensical gibberish in every other post, everyone gets to stop seeing disbelieving appendations of whatever phrase the system came up with tied to the end of a post with a bad pun, and I don't have to type "lonvies misaseru" when I'm trying to make a thread complaining about the service on a forum I access for free.

What say you?

 

[Worgen]

it would be nice but I have a feeling they are also using captcha as a profit generator since it turns off if you join the publishers club

 

[Stilkon]

it would be nice but I have a feeling they are also using captcha as a profit generator since it turns off if you join the publishers club

The plot thickens.

 

[Vakz]

it would be nice but I have a feeling they are also using captcha as a profit generator since it turns off if you join the publishers club

What captcha? *huge grin*

 

[Richardplex]

I share the beliefs of the guy perpetually bound to playing the same note for all eternity. Only a suspicion though.

 

[aba1]

it would be nice but I have a feeling they are also using captcha as a profit generator since it turns off if you join the publishers club

I agree but I was just saying a few moments ago I can't really have streaming going on while I am at work I could get in trouble so those video ads are a hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee pain in my arse n if they keep up Ill have to leave.

 

[brunothepig]

There would still be problems. If someones account got compromised it could run havoc. Oh, and I joined before captcha so I don't know, but unless it automatically pops up on your first posts, of course accounts will get a few posts in before they encounter captcha.
It's really not that inconvenient guys, why the constant complaining?

 

[llafnwod]

There would still be problems. If someones account got compromised it could run havoc. Oh, and I joined before captcha so I don't know, but unless it automatically pops up on your first posts, of course accounts will get a few posts in before they encounter captcha.

Havoc? It's a trivial matter with any modern (i.e. using PHP) forum software to disable a user and delete all their posts back to a certain date. And I said a hundred, not a few.

It's really not that inconvenient guys, why the constant complaining?

This needs to stop. I see this every time anyone says anything about any forum function. There was no tone of complaint in the thread; it was a suggestion.

 

[Littlee300]

There would still be problems. If someones account got compromised it could run havoc. Oh, and I joined before captcha so I don't know, but unless it automatically pops up on your first posts, of course accounts will get a few posts in before they encounter captcha.
It's really not that inconvenient guys, why the constant complaining?

I am sure the mods have a system where they can delete every post from a single user. If not the code monkey can get on it

 

[Fayathon]

I approve of disabling Captcha after a user has used an account long enough to prove that they're not a bot, but implementing that would be a bit tricky.

it would be nice but I have a feeling they are also using captcha as a profit generator since it turns off if you join the publishers club

The staff has said on a number of occasions that PubClub membership actually costs them money compared to people viewing ads.

 

[brunothepig]

There would still be problems. If someones account got compromised it could run havoc. Oh, and I joined before captcha so I don't know, but unless it automatically pops up on your first posts, of course accounts will get a few posts in before they encounter captcha.

Havoc? It's a trivial matter with any modern (i.e. using PHP) forum software to disable a user and delete all their posts back to a certain date. And I said a hundred, not a few.

It's really not that inconvenient guys, why the constant complaining?

This needs to stop. I see this every time anyone says anything about any forum function. There was no tone of complaint in the thread; it was a suggestion.

They could do the same with spam accounts. The point is to stop the spam before it gets posted. And the last comment wasn't necessarily directed at you, although I'm sure I've seen even this variation on this thread before.

 

[llafnwod]

The staff has said on a number of occasions that PubClub membership actually costs them money compared to people viewing ads.

That's... interesting. Revenues from a click on a banner ad generally run in the area of a few cents. PubClub runs at $20. It's hard to believe the average Escapist user clicks on banner ads hundreds of times per year.

snip

They could do the same with spam accounts. The point is to stop the spam before it gets posted. And the last comment wasn't necessarily directed at you, although I'm sure I've seen even this variation on this thread before.

They could do the same what? I honestly don't know what you're referring to.

 

[brunothepig]

The staff has said on a number of occasions that PubClub membership actually costs them money compared to people viewing ads.

That's... interesting. Revenues from a click on a banner ad generally run in the area of a few cents. PubClub runs at $20. It's hard to believe the average Escapist user clicks on banner ads hundreds of times per year.

snip

They could do the same with spam accounts. The point is to stop the spam before it gets posted. And the last comment wasn't necessarily directed at you, although I'm sure I've seen even this variation on this thread before.

They could do the same what? I honestly don't know what you're referring to.

If you click on your username in the quote box I snipped it will take you to the relevant post. Anyway, I was talking about how you said they could simply delete posts after a certain date if an account got compromised.

 

[llafnwod]

If you click on your username in the quote box I snipped it will take you to the relevant post. Anyway, I was talking about how you said they could simply delete posts after a certain date f an account got compromised.

Ah, alright. I don't really think a persistent inconvenience to every member of the boards is really worth a few minutes of quiet time in case an account gets hijacked.

Assuming it actually blocked spam, which, as I mentioned, it doesn't.

 

[Fayathon]

That's... interesting. Revenues from a click on a banner ad generally run in the area of a few cents. PubClub runs at $20. It's hard to believe the average Escapist user clicks on banner ads hundreds of times per year.

I would theorize that the before video ads and the enormous pop-up ads all pay a 'per view' kind of fee due to the nature of them being so in your face about it, I wouldn't think that all of the ad revenue is from clicking alone, there's got to be other stuff in there. Also, you have to think the that even to get 200 clicks on ads is only one ad clicked two out of three days, looking at it like that it doesn't seem so unreasonable.

 

[FalloutJack]

it would be nice but I have a feeling they are also using captcha as a profit generator since it turns off if you join the publishers club

What captcha? *huge grin*

Okay, from now on club members doing this is officially trolling.

OT: This is actually a rather good idea. The spambots are all new with a post-count of MUCH LESS THAN A HUNDRED. Cautionary fellow might say 500 posts, but I think after my 6,000 that I should be clear, yes?

 

[evilneko]

I agree but I was just saying a few moments ago I can't really have streaming going on while I am at work I could get in trouble so those video ads are a hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee pain in my arse n if they keep up Ill have to leave.

Disable flash when browsing at work. That'll stop it.

 

[llafnwod]

That's... interesting. Revenues from a click on a banner ad generally run in the area of a few cents. PubClub runs at $20. It's hard to believe the average Escapist user clicks on banner ads hundreds of times per year.

I would theorize that the before video ads and the enormous pop-up ads all pay a 'per view' kind of fee due to the nature of them being so in your face about it, I wouldn't think that all of the ad revenue is from clicking alone, there's got to be other stuff in there. Also, you have to think the that even to get 200 clicks on ads is only one ad clicked two out of three days, looking at it like that it doesn't seem so unreasonable.

That's right, I hadn't considered the stuff besides banner ads. In that case, why the big hullabaloo about the-Firefox/Chrome-extension-that-shall-not-be-named? It's client-side, the ad servers should have no way of knowing.

 

[Futurenerd]

Because then you could still just post 100 times and then unleash your bot.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I'm sure the Escapist isn't concerned about bots, they're more concerned with a gimmick that encourages people to buy PubClub, or a way to shoehorn even more advertisements.

I totally agree with this idea anyway.