Dealing with spammers

I saw this idea posted somewhere else, and I haven't read through this entire thread so I'll just go ahead and suggest it anyway;

Rather than a captcha, why not have a game, something very very very simple like 'Complete the face' which has a blank face and a variety of objects that you can drag and drop onto it.

Here's what I'm talking about:

<img src="http://slacktory.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Complete-the-Face-captcha-game.jpg" border="0" />

I like that idea by Wrangler! Maybe something can become of that!

I think these days most of the spam we get is actually done by paid humans - so anti-robot techniques won't work.

maybe a good idea is something like this: one administrator check the user data(when the user is joining to the site) before that person can write something in the forum.

agree to that. some steps must be made to prevent that - it's been a plague for last few days :(

We get a large number of signups every day, so having to verify each one when we are already extremely busy is untenable. Spammers can do a fairly good job of looking legit in their signups anyway - like I say, a lot of spam these days is done by paid people.

people paid to spam...that is sad.

Considering what's going on here, this might be useful for our spammer.

It really depend on the spammer, some do it automaticaly and other low tech ones will do it manually.

many games offer links to websites which tells you some tasks to do for in game credit, the tasks are usually spamming.

If spam bots are purchasing construct 2 to make spam posts here, you guys would be missing out on a major money making possibility by denying them.

Instead of just treating the new customers like third rate citizens, and potential spam bots, why not make a quarantined area for them to post.

Edit your HTaccess file, so Google and the other spider bots ignore the quarantine area. This should keep all those embarrassing newbie posts away from potential customers eyes, and it would completely defeat the spam bots mission.

Plus, you guys would have all the extra revenue from the bots continually buying licenses to post here.

I really do not think people are wasting their money to post spam links though.

I think Scirra is basically seeding the search engines with complete polished products, to keep its image high.

The point system only truly verifies weather a person has RTFM or not.

I have no problems with it, I think it is a good idea to force people to RTFM before they ask questions, or post finished works. I just dont like being told that I am a potential spammer after i gave a company $100+ dollars.

If after you guys verify my steam account, my paypal account, My email account and you see me actively conversing on the forums,and you guys still call me a potential threat, then I really question the security of my sensitive information with your company.

Seriously... If someone spends $100 on something, and you can not verify weather they are a customer or not, there is something seriously wrong here.

If spam bots are really buying full licenses, then shouldn't they be treated like customers too? Don't spam bots get equal rights if they purchase a license?

If they follow forum rules they should be allowed, especially if they bought a Commercial or enterprise license?

The only time they should get silenced is when they break the forum rules and post spam.

Why deny them at this point? You guys would probably be the first company in history to actually profit from spammers.

Please excuse the dry humor, you guys really have to laugh at it when you stand back and look at the situation from a distance.

jojoe - spam bots don't buy licenses. We've had huge problems with spam for a long long time, often getting so bad it takes up all our time, so we have to take extreme measures. Direct purchasers from our site get the restrictions lifted, but I'm afraid we're not integrated with Steam yet to be able to tell who's purchased. The points system, while not perfect, allows for a wide range of activities for users to be able to gain trust.

It is not really a big deal to me. I just lost a few sentences when I tried to edit my post with a link, and it told me I could not post links after I hit submit.

The only reason I mention it is so that you can see it from a customers standpoint in an extreme condition.

Most people would just blow it off, and say nothing. It just seemed really odd to me at the time , so I thought I would point it out.

I am really glad to hear that the issue is already known, being addressed.

Ashley Tom - are you sure the code to lift the link posting restriction is working? There's another user here with a badge on his profile page who can't post links: http://www.scirra.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63932&PID=392363&title=hud#392363

steveyaar - links aimed at promotion are removed outright, without notice, regardless of the user. So just don't post promotional links.

Juuust to be clear... So a link to my video game development Facebook group would be considered promo? If so, then I'll surely not put it in my sig.