Has a spam problem closed the door in people's faces?

[Chamberlain]

So I got interested in OD&D and went online to find places where people talk about it and post stuff about it.

Here was okay-- there was a process to sign up to verify I was a person with a legitimate interest
odd74 -- I followed the procedure outlined and got in contact with the person indicated. I got the activation email. Woke up this morning to find "you have been banned from this forum" now replaces the entire forum. I didn't even post anything and now I can't even just read the forum? Great. Now when I read something like "there's a really good discussion about that on odd74 and here's the link" I can't even read it.
Delving Deeper -- signed up for an account on immersive ink and started reading some play by post games. I found them very interesting. Woke up this morning to discover my account was deleted

I wonder how many others have had a similar experience and just said "screw it" and not bothered to say anything.

Or has this entire forum based side of things been sort of unofficially retired and no new people are really wanted in it anymore? Have I stepped into an unofficially closed circle? Am i intruding in private clubs that don't seem to have any indication that they are private?

This is just a hassle. I understand that there are spammers, but OMG this has totally taken the wind out of my sails. Why in the world would you assume that someone who does not post is a spammer and just ban them or totally delete their account for no reason?

[Falconer]

Every community has to figure out what lengths they’re going to go to to keep out spambots and sockpuppets, and on the extreme end it is going to make it difficult, and sometimes not worthwhile, for new members to get in. Sorry to hear about your problems. If you are not a sockpuppet, you may have some luck if you send a private message to Finarvyn here or on DF. That’s considered an accepted way to try to prove your personhood. Good luck!

[Juju EyeBall]

These are all fan-made sites, not everyone is an IT professional or able to maintain or monitor them on a constant basis. Some of the older board softwares are targetted more often by spambots and other malicious web thingies. Plus there was a small cadre of disenfranchised greifers who liked to make appearances from time time as sockpuppets.

[EOTB]

Or has this entire forum based side of things been sort of unofficially retired and no new people are really wanted in it anymore? Have I stepped into an unofficially closed circle? Am i intruding in private clubs that don't seem to have any indication that they are private?

This is just a hassle. I understand that there are spammers, but OMG this has totally taken the wind out of my sails. Why in the world would you assume that someone who does not post is a spammer and just ban them or totally delete their account for no reason?

There's a space between "no new people wanted" and "everyone is welcome because they all contribute genuinely". Because neither of those are true, and implementing either one will lead to people leaving due to low quality posting.

How long have you lurked/read the old school boards? I ask because you may not have seen all the shitshows that preceded these sorts of measures. OD&D74's experiences with unstable posters are very, very recent - when did you start lurking around there? Did you see them as they happened?

[Chamberlain]

I have not been lurking long enough to have seen that sort of thing. It sucks that I should have known something I had no way to know like a history of sock puppets and bad posters. I still don't really know what I could have or should have done differently to not have my account deleted or to prevent me from being preemptively banned.

I think I'm going to primarily go back to lurking though. Hopefully my access (even read only is fine by me) to ODD74 will be restored as there are loads of interesting threads on there that I would have liked to read. I can't believe the default response when someone signs up is to ban them before they can even make a post. And that was after I had already PMed Finarvyn as part of the signing up process. He even said he'd keep an eye out for my approval. And then instead I'm banned from even reading the site now.

What a mistake it was to actually want an account there. Now I can't even read the old content.

[Juju EyeBall]

It's possible he mistook you for a previous problem account.
Don't get too bent out of shape.

[rredmond]

Or an automated piece of the system kicked you out.
Fin is a good and reasonable guy. PM him and you’ll be all good.

There are boards out there that were really hurt by spammers and the like and are no longer in existence (Goblinoid Games and Alive and Out of Print come to mind) so everyone deals with it differently. Here at the Alehouse we just harangue you, draw-and-quarter you and then (gasp) deny you alcohol to kick you from the forums.

Let us know what Fin says.

[tetramorph]

Chamberlain, just PM Finarvyn. That is the first step.

ODD74 is one of my main fora, I'm a big fan and it is a friendly place.

He has had to deal with a huge problem recently.

Just reach out to him and tell him what happened.

[Falconer]

Yeah, Chamberlain, bro, chill!

[Falconer]

[EOTB]

[Zenopus Archives]

Chamberlain, I am a mod over at ODD74, so I may be able to help you. I will PM you.

It is a bit suspicious that your 2nd and 3rd posts on this forum are to complain about a different forum. Generally that is considered bad form, although I can understand that being blocked limits your options.

I note that you have made 10 times as many posts at DF. Why did you start this thread here instead of there?

[blackprinceofmuncie]

What a mistake it was to actually want an account there. Now I can't even read the old content.

Unless Finarvyn has gone to some extreme lengths, you should be able to go back to read-only by clearing your cookies. That will remove your login info and the forum will start treating you like a non-member again.

[Falconer]

They have gone to extreme lengths, FYI. Read here for more info. The whole Dungeons & Dragons category is now visible only to members logged in.

[blackprinceofmuncie]

They have gone to extreme lengths, FYI. Read here for more info. The whole Dungeons & Dragons category is now visible only to members logged in.

Well isn't that... interesting.