Regarding the Frequent Spam Comments on Hacked Games

[Xnite]

I actually meant the like whoring that did not involve anything offensive. For example "thumbs up if you like this game".

I agree any comments that are "racial, gender-related, sexuality or more" are not acceptable and need to be discouraged, and removed.

[POWERMAN]

Yes, but I'm saying that often that kind of whoring has offensive content in it.

"thumbs up if you like the ****ing game"

[Carpet]

I'm totally agree with this spam problem. But, as already said here, it's atm very hard to come by against it on the technical side with a filter. Because, they ALWAYS find a way to bypass it. For example the word "****", one of many ways to bypass it, is, to write "fluck". And that goes with any whoring word/s, sentence/s, and not only here, also everythere, where are chat-systems implemented, as like multiplayer games like Edgeworld, Godfathers, and so on, and so on.

As you already mentioned, which i'm personally prefers and would be the best first step, is, to "educate" them on a subliminal way. You said, you have knowledge with that, and after what i read so far, i believe you your knowledge. So i'm seeing forward to it with pleasure, to see you in action. That would help the APH-Community a lot. Plus, this education would have also a nice side effect: It would make the world a little more nicer, because, they learn through this a good path for their own life. You see what i mean? Filtering, deleting, and anything like that, is only a passive way, it only "cures" the symptoms for a bit. But education is an active way, there you can cure the roots.

PS: I hope, you understand me, because, i'm still not so good in english. I'm writing now for many years already in english, through chatting with my english speaking friends, but still have here and there my little problems with the grammar, which is very differently to our german grammar now, through changing all the time the grammar structures through our "stupid" law givers. xD

[POWERMAN]

I am currently discussing this with Xnite and selectLOL.

Also, regarding the "subliminal education", selectLOL and I have voiced our opinion that it would not be realistic to expect young children to follow the required but tightly bound rules that would be required, or expect them be affected by our such "subliminal education" effectively.

Please read the following. This was a PM (though probably not private anymore) that I have recently sent Xnite and selectLOL regarding the spam.

Through encouraging our users to write higher level comments, we can get higher level comments overall. Using subliminal messaging perhaps, or a few simple lines of text above the comment box reminding you the expectations one's comments are needed to be. I have done this with other communities.

selectLOL's response to this:

In short, this site is used by little children and wanting high level comments is too much. I agree with removing the spam, but getting high level comments is impossible. Most of them dont understand what they are doing.

What we should do is focus on the removal of spam, not getting it into a constructive statement. I think we should set our priorities and make a list of what our goal is.

Goal: No spam on comment boards.

And how are we going to achieve such a feat?

1. Removal of spam.
2. Prevention of further spam.

What we should do is remove the spam first.

Now as selectLOL has said in a post on the topic, the problem with APH is that is has no real, established goal. Why is Kongregate so uniform? Because you want to work hard and earn badges, and because badges give you points, you want to get as many points as possible to level up a user level. By earning user levels, the higher level you are, the more respected you are among the other members of the community.

With APH, we have no goal. We just host hacked games and that's it. Perhaps we could incorporate ExpoundParadox's Hack Point system into APH as a tool that effectively discourages users from spamming (but we should add some form of hierarchy such as user level). This relates to the next paragraph, so please remember that the HP gives our users a goal.

Before I move any further, let's discuss spamming. Why do users spam? Let's think like a kid. It's a rainy day, you're inside playing flash games. You can't beat the level so you play the hacked version. Because it's hacked, you finish the game quickly and you move on to next games. Eventually you become a jaded gamer and you grow tired of hacked games because you've played your favorite games that are famous and popular, and don't want to play the no-name games on the rest of APH. You head over to the comment board and start spamming because it's fun to feel needed and "liked" by people who don't know. Or maybe you just type in something random because you are EXTREMELY bored and someone sees you as a retard and you two start a fight. Everything's boring. There's nothing to work for. Not in any games for achievements, or on the site itself.

If we gave something that the users could work for and everybody wants, then we will have more permanent users and less spam because most of the users will be working for Hack Points.

There still will be some spammers. Every site has some. APH will have about as much or perhaps slightly more spammers then Kongregate.


With every tactic we throw into play, there is either improvement or no effect, or little effect, rather. The spamming situation can't get any worse, so what have we got to lose?

I am in favour of your idea to educate our users, Carpet. The idea of Hack Points can be found here: http://www.arcadeprehacks.com/forum/...380-Scorebored

By giving them a goal, our community can function with an objective. With objective naturally comes responsibility. I believe when our users are more commited to APH, they will learn to be responsible and care for our site.

[selectLOL]

I am in favour of your idea to educate our users, Carpet. The idea of Hack Points can be found here: http://www.arcadeprehacks.com/forum/...380-Scorebored

By giving them a goal, our community can function with an objective. With objective naturally comes responsibility. I believe when our users are more commited to APH, they will learn to be responsible and care for our site.

Basicly, its based on comments. So it would cause more spam, we already know that. So if limit the points by comments, the only way is hacking games. This might cause something which we dont want. I cant say it in the public. If its based on hacking games, i see a very big problem for APH.

[Carpet]

So far i see, it's this Hack Points system anyways totally useless, because, there are only 2 hackers active, select and cili. And if i understood right, both have the total domination about to allowed to be hacking. New and/or old hackers are not allowed to join. If i remind me right, i read here somethere, that APH has already enough hackers, which will point to these 2 ones, select and cili. (If i'm wrong, then i'm sorry and please accept my apology. lol)

And to consider this fact into the decisions for the possibilities of education/s, then this HP system is useless and we have to consider other ways. For example like badges like KG is using, which we could change to other goals like playing the most games, make the best constructive comment, being social or whatever. Ways for making goals are unlimited, we have to be only open us personally and being social and constructive on our own, so we can see then these goals. Like to be, parents are "idols" for their childrens, the "leader", who pushes their kids onto their right path. The kids are looking up to their parents and are making the pathway to their own, which their parents are going. You see what i mean? The parents are the main-role, so should we do the same.

We should FINALLY think again as like a FAMILY. This were, what greeny wanted to reach. To make this community as a whole family, with the same spirits, which a family has. So, let us now begin to fulfill his dream and try to go his way, then we'll succeed in no time.

At some points in the past, we had slightly the correct step into becoming a family. But special circumstances, i think, you all know which i'm meaning, "destroyed" this plan again and again, and we were again on the wrong way, and forgot now totally, that this, to become a family, were our main goal.

If we now try to remind us, on becoming a family, and begin to THINK like a family, then a light will come into this thick forest, and we'll see then automaticaly the right path out of it, into a place, there all goes better and better, and we all want to stay.

PS: I hope, i spoke not to much in "riddles" like a poet, and you understand my (and greeny's) opinion. xD :)

[POWERMAN]

Think outside the box. Don't always stick to comments. We can always innovate.

A useful thing that I have learned at KMN is to start with a solid foundation. Dream, plan, make it all perfect. Figure out how to do it later. Right now, everything's on paper (for me, at least) and can change on a whim. If new features are required to make this spam history, then so be it. If it consumes time, energy and resources, then so be it, for all good things come with a price.

The purpose of this thread is to brainstorm ideas on how to deal with the spam. I didn't raise this issue so that we could jump to building the anti-spam system.

I know you are simply looking into the fact and being realistic, selectLOL, but free your mind. Though computers may be bound by logic, humans have been blessed with imagination, creativity. Create. Think first. Do later.

Kong may have badges, but APH has something yet to be unleashed. Perhaps an semi-original user system like those of Kong and Armor that will evolve into something new. I envision a bright future, and I plan to devlop my fledgling ideas and turn them into works of art.

Again, let's not think about how the system will be built. Let's think in terms of how the system will be instead.

EDIT: Carpet, I think we are all aware of what greeny had hoped to achieve. It should be set as a common goal in our far sight, however.

[Carpet]

I know, the only problem is, that some (or all?), are somehow "mind-blocked". We HAVE to set this family spirit into our main mind. We have to free us ourselves from any bonds, which are exist and are blocking us. I wish, we could meet us all at one place personally and then we could make a group-session, there we can free our minds and souls together with some of these wonderful techniques, which are exist. But that's not gonna be happen, so we have to find another way for this on the "virtual" way. xD

What i'm meaning is:

1. We have to free our minds, to realize, that we're humans NOT a machine, and formost, as you mentioned, that we're blessed with wonderful things like imagination, creativity and much more.

2. After reaching the first goal, to set us free, we have to manifest into our mind the fact, to think and act as like a family. Then we're able to reach the next, the third step automatically and with easy, to solve all the problems we're at the moment are encountering.

We have to act not only as a team, we have to act so, as like we're all in a family. Only then we're able to see the right possibilties to push us all further on the ladder of the "carreer", and APH will become THE number 1 in the world wide web, which we all ever wanted since. But as you said, we HAVE to build first a solid foundation, otherwise the house, which we want to build on, can not stand for a long time.

After we built this foundation with these 2 steps i mentioned above, we are able then, to build a new castle on it, there everyone wants to "live" in it.

PS: Again, i hope, i'm not too complicated with my thoughts. lmfao

[POWERMAN]

I was just making a point saying that we need new ideas. After your elaboration, it sounds like a cult XD

But yeah. Point proven. Thanks.