Add a Question during signups

[Plusle]

Lately there has been loads of spammers. I think this is because the image verification has been cracked.
http://www.allspammedup.com/2010/01/google-recaptcha-cracked/

So I suggest we add some verification questions
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/show...eased-Spamming-Attempts-and-Ways-to-Combat-It

 

[ck49]

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83389

This was suggested a bit earlier and denied (in a very unserious way), without a real answer given. I would like this to happen as well.

 

[Nix_Hex]

I run a vB and the spammers were non-stop until i implemented "what is ash's first pokemon spelled backwards?" and I've only had humans sign up since. It's worth it.

edit: lol, coolking94 i got the idea from you. since that post the spam bots broke my recaptcha, so the pikachu question is working swimmingly

 

[Rising_Dusk]

This is a very good idea. I've seen it implemented on other forums I frequent on the internetz and it would appear from a user's perspective that spam on those forums with this implemented is considerably reduced. This would not only make it nicer for the users, but save a lot of unnecessary work for the mods.

 

[(makeup)]

Would this be for every post? Personally, I think it would be very annoying to enter a code after every post :/

 

[Rising_Dusk]

No, it would be for when you register for the forums. Hopefully you only do that once in your entire Smogon career.

 

[Engineer Pikachu]

It sounds like a good idea. Nobody likes botting or spam, and I don't think anyone would object to removing the [quite annoying] reCaptcha.

 

[Curtains]

The problem is what if people never watched the anime? What if they are deaf and incapable of answering the questions? Many variables should be addressed to keep people with insignificant knowledge or disabilities from joining.

 

[Oglemi]

Again, from the last thread that was like this,

It's a great invention called GOOGLE.

 

[Rising_Dusk]

The problem is what if people never watched the anime? What if they are deaf and incapable of answering the questions? Many variables should be addressed to keep people with insignificant knowledge or disabilities from joining.

This is quite nearly a ludicrous point to make. The only requirements are that you can read, you can see, and you have the mental capacity to use a search engine if you don't know the answer. All of these things are already required in order for users to survive the captcha, so there's no added requirement for a simple question. We're not proposing to test the user's knowledge of some topic, just verify that he isn't a robot.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

This is a good idea; I'll actually suggest it to the moderators on another forum I frequent which is having problems with spambots.

The problem is what if people never watched the anime? What if they are deaf and incapable of answering the questions? Many variables should be addressed to keep people with insignificant knowledge or disabilities from joining.

Okay, we'll test the question picked. If you can get the right answer, we'll assume it's good for everyone else too.

 

[XienZo]

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but I was wondering if we could implement this sort of question, except instead of asking something about the anime or w/e, we could ask questions that refer the Rules, like:

"The Rules state: Do not ___ old threads."

Not only would this solve any spammer problems, but it would also make sure that legitimate new users know that the Rules actually exist, and might help keep them from causing problems since they at least know that there IS a fat list of rules they have to follow.

Not to mention, while it may take a few seconds to find the rules and Ctrl+F through it, why would we ever want anyone who CAN'T find the rules to create an account?

 

[ck49]

I like that idea, although some people may get mad because they didn't use the right wording. If you know the rules but didn't ctrl-f for it, you may get it wrong. For example, If I said revive, I wouldn't get your question right.

 

[XienZo]

I like that idea, although some people may get mad because they didn't use the right wording. If you know the rules but didn't ctrl-f for it, you may get it wrong. For example, If I said revive, I wouldn't get your question right.

Yeah, there's definitely ways to refine it and whatnot(???? instead to indicate # of letters or w/e), but that's literally the word-for-word text from the rules, and if that person read the rules like they were supposed to (unlike everyone nowadays), it'd be hard for them to miss the exact same word-for-word text.


I mean, yeah, if you've been lurking for a long time and know the rules, but don't want to look up the wording, it's a minor annoyance, but chances are, you're going to end up making an account WAY before you know the rules well by memory.

And even then, there's likely going to be some random rule or two that you didn't know of, just because they don't actually come up as often in the forums.