Necromancy as a result of the 30 post limit

[Aves]

With the introduction of a 30 post limit for pVp events and tourneys, we now see an increase in people spamming one sentence, thoughtless or useless comments. These posts can be found anywhere, but can be especially irksome in old, dead threads as they push more recent threads out.

Noting that we do have a welcome message that is sent to all players, I propose that we: Hi, [newbie]! Welcome to the Official forums for Elements The Game.

The forums are an expansive, friendly community of Elements enthusiasts. Here, we discuss everything and anything related to the great Elements the Game.

Before you do anything else, please read Forum rules (http://elementscommunity.org/index.php?action=rules).

Forum FAQ (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,6459.0.html) is a good place to start because it answers all the most frequent newbie questions.

The Profile page (http://elementscommunity.org/index.php?action=profile) can be used to to add a forum signature and other additional information about yourself. Remember, you need at least 30 posts before you can have an avatar.

Newbie Tutorials (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/board,54.0.html) are a good place to start reading the forums. There you can learn everything from how to build solid decks to how to get rich and powerful.

Help with your Deck (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/board,56.0.html) can be requested here, and our long-time players are always happy to deliver some constructive criticism. Don't be afraid to post your ideas, no matter how crazy they might be!

The Events and Competitions (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/board,76.0.html) section is where you can compete for bragging rights (and sometimes in-game prizes) in everything from PvP tournaments to making Elements-related art!

Member Map (http://elementscommunity.org/index.php?action=googlemap) tells you if your neighbor is playing Elements. You can also add a pin on your own hometown, and maybe find new friends.

Come say hi in our own Elements chatroom (http://elementschat.co.cc/). You have to make a separate account for that. Look for "REGISTER" button on the login window.

If you have technical difficulties with Elements, try Troubleshooting FAQ (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,1501.0.html).

If you have any questions and the forum search function doesn't help, please PM me or one of the Global Moderators. You can find us on the Staff page (http://elementscommunity.org/index.php?action=staff).

So what are you waiting for? Get out there! Explore! And, once again, welcome to the community that is The Elements Forum!
a. Recreate the formal Rules thread/list, and update the link in the welcome message.
b. Post a warning about necromancy specifically in the welcome message. Something along the lines of, "The pVp events are part of what make this community great. However, please don't spam in old threads in order to meet the common 30 post requirement. There are better ways of acquainting yourself with the community, including x, y, and z."
c. Lock old topics that are generally acknowledged to not be worth further discussion, or topics regarding obsolete decks.

[EmeraldTiger]

I agree, but this is an old problem.

[Absol]

c. Lock old topics that are generally acknowledged to not be worth further discussion, or topics regarding obsolete decks. I disagree. Topics are not locked for being old, they are locked for potential flame war/inappropriate content. Posting in a very old topic is fine, as long as it is actually useful. Not spamming.

EDIT: and a thread to report spammers. Definitely that. As spammers typically don't have avvy, makes incoherent sentence, and posts a lot in a short timespan, they can effectively be tracked.

[Aves]

Mmm...
@ ET- Well, I guess it gets another burst of awareness.
@Absol-
c. Lock old topics that are generally acknowledged to not be worth further discussion, or topics regarding obsolete decks.

Right, which is why I specified only those that aren't worth further discussion. I suppose you could argue that all non-inappropriate threads could be revived with worthy discussion, but if they're buried under pages and pages of newer threads most of us will probably have forgotten something that unimportant. Maybe something for our Council to determine, if it comes to it?

Regarding the second part of that point, obsolete deck threads tend to be misleading, as we can see with SG's ultimate FG killer. Even with the huge [obsolete] stickers slapped onto it, it's still gathering attention.

Also, you can report spammers to the g-mods Edit: I do agree that a thread could be useful.

[Absol]

:hipsters: playing SGBow

Jokes aside, yes, this especially jarring, but nothing can be done to prevent this (as there will always be noobs that don't read the rules and will go "WTF U DIDNT TELL MEH!!1!"). And as long as the registration is still free and open, we can only fix what we can. A thread for reporting openly would be nice, as to draw attention to the more sane members not to deal with them. After all, if one can't respect the rules, why should we respect them?

Suggestion to Council, then, if really needed.

[Naesala]

I agree, especially with the suggestion of having a "report spammer" thread or perhaps a button on profiles. There's been someone like [censored] or similar thats been clogging especially the humor threads. It's really bothersome to see.

[Pineapple]

I agree that the welcome message should have some basic rules for newbs to read before they tl;dr.
It would also help, obviously, if there was a rules page.

Spammers aren't that hard to spot, so there's no need to create a whole thread dedicated to reporting them.
Plus, it's not the spammer who makes the posts that is bad, it's the unhelpful posts of spam. It's not like it's possible to just go through the usernames in the hypothetical thread and delete all the posts by that user. They still have to go through each post and preserve the helpful ones, which is what is accomplished with or without the help of the current system of reporting posts.

I'm also against the "lock old threads" idea,  as that would result in the creation of similar and therefore unnecessary new threads.

[Absol]

I agree that the welcome message should have some basic rules for newbs to read before they tl;dr.
It would also help, obviously, if there was a rules page.

Spammers aren't that hard to spot, so there's no need to create a whole thread dedicated to reporting them.
Plus, it's not the spammer who makes the posts that is bad, it's the unhelpful posts of spam. It's not like it's possible to just go through the usernames in the hypothetical thread and delete all the posts by that user. They still have to go through each post and preserve the helpful ones, which is what is accomplished with or without the help of the current system of reporting posts.

I'm also against the "lock old threads" idea,  as that would result in the creation of similar and therefore unnecessary new threads.

They are not hard to spot. It's just for convenience's sake. About their posts, they can be slowly deleted, after their account is banned. A spammer generally have NOTHING useful to say, just posting to increase their post count.

Rarely does old members spamming, which is why a spammer is almost always new and useless. All of their posts.

Certainly there are many more, and we can help hunt them. The mods don't always active in the forum, so a thread for this would be helpful.

[Pineapple]

Rarely does old members spamming, which is why a spammer is almost always new and useless. All of their posts.

You can't justify deleting every single post by a member just because you can label that member as somehow who is "almost always new and useless".

Good job citing two examples of the current system working perfectly fine. These two users were properly taken care of before anyone else noticed them. Alternatively, do you expect the global mods to check the hypothetical thread on a regular basis, or worse, go through pages upon pages of false accusations and repeat posts? Just look at the "Report a Bug" section, or all those threads started about hacking.

[Higurashi]

I have no idea why you guys are accusing people in public when we specifically have a report function. It should be obvious that's not a way to build a nice community. That's causing much more trouble than you're trying to prevent. In truth, one of these two "spammers" is a legit member who simply needed some direction. He got it in chat, and was very cooperative and understanding.

As patch said, they were taken care of before I even got a report, which isn't always the case, but they're always taken care of swiftly. I see no point in a thread since I can track users perfectly fine with the report function. Just use it.

Aves' suggestions are fine. SG has said several times she'll recreate the rules page when she has time. Necromancy has not been treated as a problem on this forum because it doesn't matter as much when you post; most topics can always be somewhat relevant. That brings me to my third point: locking threads that can still cause discussion would be counter-productive. Part of my job is to encourage and facilitate posting, and obsessing over old threads has shown to be a very good way of doing the opposite on all the forums I've been on.

In fact, we even have a specific rule that says deck threads don't actually get "old" in that manner, and cannot be necroed. One board the Council -will- prune is the Tutorial one, however.

[Absol]

Not all new members spam. That's why you have to check first. I'm just saying, if it's a spammer, big chance they will be newbs. Because they need the post counts.

Not to say anything abnormal or what. Just to fasten things up.

And it's easy to track a spammer. Open their profile page, check their posts. Useless, kick. No false accusation, you can go and verify it yourself. It's not thread-based, it's user-based. You don't check what everyone posted in a thread, you check what a user posted everywhere.

Not hacking, not bug. Not sure where to put.

I have no idea why you guys are accusing people in public when we specifically have a report function. It should be obvious that's not a way to build a nice community. That's causing much more trouble than you're trying to prevent. In truth, one of these two "spammers" is a legit member who simply needed some direction. He got it in chat, and was very cooperative and understanding.

As patch said, they were taken care of before I even got a report, which isn't always the case, but they're always taken care of swiftly. I see no point in a thread since I can track users perfectly fine with the report function. Just use it.

Aves' suggestions are fine. SG has said several times she'll recreate the rules page when she has time. Necromancy has not been treated as a problem on this forum because it doesn't matter as much when you post; most topics can always be somewhat relevant. That brings me to my third point: locking threads that can still cause discussion would be counter-productive. Part of my job is to encourage and facilitate posting, and obsessing over old threads has shown to be a very good way of doing the opposite on all the forums I've been on.

In fact, we even have a specific rule that says deck threads don't actually get "old" in that manner, and cannot be necroed. One board the Council -will- prune is the Tutorial one, however.

Well, in that case, thanks for clearing things up. And the report button. Never noticed that. And i apologize for accusing those 2 people in public. Will never happen again.
Also, rule page. We really need that.
One more question. Does the "reporter" (via report button) could be known by name, or is it anon?

[Higurashi]

To be honest, we haven't been 100% sure we should have a rule page at all times. The reason being written rules can often cause more problems than they prevent thanks to people trying to find loopholes. Some think they have diplomatic immunity or something because they're not breaking a written rule, which forces us to invoke the "Undefined" clause, i.e. a rule that lets us do anything.

It's pretty silly to need a rule like that since it's obvious, and not having written rules actually promotes using common sense to some degree. Common sense is usually enough to judge who is a productive member and who is not.

When you report a post, you get to type in a reason. I and any other Staffer that has moderation rights over the board the post was made in will see the reason, the reporter and the post. By extension, we also see who made the post and in what thread.