Obnoxious Verification Image

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thetavi

Brand new here....and the first thing I have to say is, the verification image for signing up is freaking obnoxious. I have 20/20 vision, and yet on my hi-res monitor it was nearly impossible to read, causing me to nearly give up even signing up for the site. I finally got in on what would have been my last attempt (probably around 15th or so) before quitting.

It's supposed to be computer-proof, not human-proof.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.
 
I agree. Spambots are a problem, but it shouldn't get to the point where it puts people off because they simply cannot make it out themselves. Imagine if somebody with less than 20/20 vision tried to sign up. They couldn't.
 
I do have to agree with this. I remember it took me about 5(?) tries to get signed-up.

In general though, most verification images are obnoxious.
 
I have horrible vision (+6.8 i think or something like that), and it took me FOREVER to sign up. Like what Oglemi said, all verification images are pretty difficult to read; would it be possible to change it to the reCaptcha ones? IMO they're slightly better in terms of readability, and you can opt to listen to it (the voice is creepy, though).
 
Sound can be captured by SpamBots too, whereas the verification is just too hard too be verified by the bot. But I agree, the image needs to be easier to read.
Why not make it easier to read, but create more images. Note easier not easy
 
Hawkflight said:
I agree. Spambots are a problem, but it shouldn't get to the point where it puts people off because they simply cannot make it out themselves. Imagine if somebody with less than 20/20 vision tried to sign up. They couldn't.
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Nearsightedness would probably not hurt your chances at reading a CAPTCHA at all.

I don't see why people couldn't implement recaptcha here, which is easier to read and actually serves a purpose.
 
I myself run a vB and it has given me an insight as to how these forums are run. Spambots were an enormous problem, sometimes up to 40 joining within one hour, flooding each subforum with ads for Italian penis-enlarging supplements. One of my admins (the one who installed the forum software) implemented a recaptcha and no spambots have joined. Plus, they are really easy for human eyes to decipher. I say change the image to a recaptcha to get the greatest effect without having to attempt to join 5 times.
 
I cant remember when I joined but I have had some trouble with other places questions. Might I suggest asking an easily answerable pokemon question which can be found on the front of the site or is common knowledge. IE, what is Ash's main pokemon? If you cant answer that then you shouldn't join a pokemon site.
 
Destiny Warrior said:
@above:

Not everybody on Smogon plays Pokemon, some sign up to play Smogon mafia.

Just thought I'd point that out.
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I think it's safe to say everybody knows what ash's main pokemon is though


Although if it was only one question, I'm sure bots could be modified to answer it.
 
Destiny Warrior said:
@above:

Not everybody on Smogon plays Pokemon, some sign up to play Smogon mafia.

Just thought I'd point that out.
Click to expand...

Nobody finds Smogon explicitly to play mafia or through any channel unrelated to pokemon really. If mafia does drive somebody to register, they've definitely already lurked the site for pokemon related purposes. Like VKCA said, the questions could be easy enough that even if common knowledge isn't enough, a quick google search will be sufficient.
 
If someone came to Smogon with both zero interest in Pokemon and the inability to Google the answer to a simple question, they shouldn't be here.
 
I would also like to point out that the search engine uses a verification image. What the F, Smogon? I gotta go through the torturous process every time I want to use the advanced search?
 
What? I frequently use the Advanced Search function and have never had to get past any verification. There's a wait time, sure, but no Captcha or anything of that nature.
 
Oglemi said:
If you aren't signed in, you need to do a verification image every time you do a forum search.
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Why don't you sign in? You only need to view the obnoxious image one time (or however many times it takes you to make an account), then you'll never need to again. That itself is a non-issue. The idea of asking rudimentary Pokémon questions seems logical, though.
 
the current catchpa is intended to be the first of many trials for up and coming smogon users. those who fail the catchpa would certainly fall to one of the later, and more dangerous trials. congratulations to all of you who have managed to slip past this tender early pitfall!
 
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