Anti-Spam Measures by Warmane

[AlexisIndesign]

Good evening.

During night+morning period of time every 2nd message is spam. I mean this messages: "Welcome to the web. 100g = 1$ Visit theirwebsite.com". Right-click on nickname to 'Report Spam', doesn't seem to work efficiently.
Is it possible to:
1. Implement Low level restriction for writing in global chat?
2. Install the chat filter by keywords, which automatically bans spam bots?
3. Give previlegious to some players-moderators, who can manually ban people?

[Hillnor]

1. Seems a good idea, since most low level players don't actually need global channel at all.
2. Too risky, you could use the keywords by mistake and get banned by mistake.
3. If you have a good method to choose those players... some of them would ban people that bothered them, and by the time a real moderator could take part in the matter it would be too late, they would already have lost players because of a bad choice.

Having more active moderators, since you see like 50 bans a day in like 1 hour once or twice a day, which seems to be the time a moderator dedicates to the game.

[Acopalypse]

Also the one global channel which was used to get groups and trades on the others servers before now also works for ppl that are offering their characters or gold for coins. In my opinion we need someone to get rid of that in the global channel, so we can use that channel for playing-purposes like groupfinding or itemtrading ingame only. Also there is already a channel for guildrecuitment. If I am not looking for a guild, I just don't join the guild-recruitment channel and still get bothered.
Half the time you can't read the LFG's and if you've read it, you have no time to click the name to whisper. It's just making this less fun to play, because it's very annoying to read all that stuff.

[AlexisIndesign]

I've been playing on a good lineage server. So, anti spam system was banning pretty accurate and there were 4 to 10 in game moderators online, so not only there were no spam bots, but any trade stuff that appeared in Global would have been banned for several hours. Its pretty much easy to do and I belive in its effectiveness, since in my prev exp. there were no bots and spammers.

[Baleroc]

Good evening.

During night+morning period of time every 2nd message is spam. I mean this messages: "Welcome to the web. 100g = 1$ Visit theirwebsite.com". Right-click on nickname to 'Report Spam', doesn't seem to work efficiently.
Is it possible to:
1. Implement Low level restriction for writing in global chat?
2. Install the chat filter by keywords, which automatically bans spam bots?
3. Give previlegious to some players-moderators, who can manually ban people?

I can tell you: these idea's almost absolutely will not work. Here's the reason's why:

1. Implement Low level restriction for writing in global chat?

As far as I am aware, this is currently implemented. I do not recall the exact level, but I believe you cannot talk in global until level 19, although I am not certain.

2. Install the chat filter by keywords, which automatically bans spam bots?

This is difficult to explain unless you have knowledge of programming. A chat filter would take weeks/months of work depending on its complexity. One thing you have to look at with chat is context - and a standard chat filter does not consider this. You cannot ban based on keywords, since people will be banned all the time. You would have to detect how those words are used in the sentence.

Suppose the chat filter looks at how these words are used in a sentence, well, the problem extends further if you have a chat filter that looks at the order of words, and then bans based on what is said. For example, if a bot said: "Welcome to the web. 100g = 1$ Visit theirwebsite.com", then their solution would be to change the order of the words, presenting a different context, alternatively, they can substitute specific letters to avoid the chat filter.

3. Give previlegious to some players-moderators, who can manually ban people?

This will get abused. Player's should not be given moderator power. Bad idea. I think the current GameMaster system is most effective. In short, player-moderators would have to be moderated by Warmane - which adding extra work is something that would be undesirable.

In summary, for Warmane to take months developing an advanced chat filter that would reduce spam on global chat, is most likely cost-ineffective. Note the word reduce. This method will not eradicate spam chat, because as mentioned above, bots will find alternative solution's to get past the chat filter, by substituting/omitting words, or presenting the sentence in different contexts, add random words in-between each sentence to by-pass the chat filter, or find equivalent methods for by-passing a chat filter.

[AlexisIndesign]

Lineage and WoW such a similar games. I've played on a lineage server (name 'Asterios') where all the stuff I wrote above have been impelemnted and worked, in such a way there were no bots and spammers, because even when you write 'WTS 1H weapon for 10 golds' you would have got banned for 3hours in just a moment by a moderator.

PS
There is no restriction on global chat for low levels
forgot to mention. In lineage there are 2 different chats for General messages and Trade ones.

[Mercy]

Is it possible to:
1. Implement Low level restriction for writing in global chat?
2. Install the chat filter by keywords, which automatically bans spam bots?
3. Give previlegious to some players-moderators, who can manually ban people?

1. Already in place on other realms. Decided against it on TBC due to the slower nature of leveling.
2. Already been done, numerous times. Which is why you see them type in weird looking text.
3. Not going to happen.

[AlexisIndesign]

1 moderator, who's playing 6 hours/day can easilly ban all spammers and they just wont create any accounts, knowing to be banned 100%.
The position about botting and chat spam are bad news for many of players.

[Hillnor]

1 moderator, who's playing 6 hours/day can easilly ban all spammers and they just wont create any accounts, knowing to be banned 100%.
The position about botting and chat spam are bad news for many of players.

It takes arround 1 min if you do it slowly to create a character, which makes banning them quite useless, they do it, and they will continue to do it to have the game as clean as possible, but they will never get actually rid of it.

Also I think making separate channels to make the chat have less spam (since you have to get through all the messages of buy/sell when LFG and also the other way arround (I didn't even know about the guild recruitment channel which Acopalypse mentioned, never needed it though). Anyway this is not what the post is about.

[AlexisIndesign]

It takes arround 1 min if you do it slowly to create a character, which makes banning them quite useless, they do it, and they will continue to do it to have the game as clean as possible, but they will never get actually rid of it.

Also I think making separate channels to make the chat have less spam (since you have to get through all the messages of buy/sell when LFG and also the other way arround (I didn't even know about the guild recruitment channel which Acopalypse mentioned, never needed it though). Anyway this is not what the post is about.

Guys from asterios.tm completly removed bots+spammers from game using those 3 tools i mentioned at the top of post.
Now you say it takes 1 min to create character. Not a big deal: "1. Implement Low level restriction for writing in global chat?"

"The position about botting and chat spam are bad news for many of players."

[Mercy]

1 moderator, who's playing 6 hours/day can easilly ban all spammers and they just wont create any accounts, knowing to be banned 100%.
The position about botting and chat spam are bad news for many of players.

We're not giving players that kind of power. It will be abused. Period.