I have seen some (assumed) bots promoting random stuff cropping up on the forums, and there may be a way to fix this.

If you set a minimum user level (a very low one, like level 1 or level 5) to post in the forums, it might deter bots. If those spam accounts are actually people, they would have to play the game slightly before posting their ad, which may discourage them from creating many new accounts to promote with.

As for actual, real new players, it would be extremely easy to reach that low level and unlock the forums. I see brand new players in the level 30's-40's all the time.

Ignore this if it cannot be done.

Edit: I just noticed the spam accounts I saw did not create any starter pets. Perhaps that could be utilized against them as well.

My only concern with this would be genuine new players who have questions about the very start of the game, like the tutorial and creating their starter pet. There have definitely been people in the past who posted questions about those things. If they can't figure it out and can't post to get help, they might leave in frustration.

If that could be mitigated somehow, then this idea might indeed help to deter spam accounts.

Maybe they could only post in the 'newbie friendly' forum before getting that low level? That way they can still ask questions without being able to advertise?

That is a good point, and right now the bot accounts seem to be few, far between, and manageable.

But the bigger this site gets, the more bots there will be. If a minimum level or anything else of the sort was implemented, new players would still be able to read player guides on the forums. They would just not be able to post.

Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=99385&page=1#3 Author: Minochrome Time Posted: 8/17/2021 at 8:19 AM Maybe they could only post in the 'newbie friendly' forum before getting that low level? That way they can still ask questions without being able to advertise?

I agree with Somneli, and my concern with this, is that this would funnel any bots into the newbie forum, making it more difficult for new players to get help.

As said, right now, bots are few and far between, but if we start getting more, and this is the norm, then I could see genuine questions drowned out by bots, because those would be the only places those bots can post.

Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=99385&page=1#4 Author: Dracaena Time Posted: 8/17/2021 at 8:24 AM That is a good point, and right now the bot accounts seem to be few, far between, and manageable. But the bigger this site gets, the more bots there will be. If a minimum level or anything else of the sort was implemented, new players would still be able to read player guides on the forums. They would just not be able to post.

Unfortunately, player guides don't always cover everything, or, as I found out, are up to date in all cases. So, I feel this would be very new player unfriendly, because if they do have a genuine question, especially one that actively prevents them from leveling, they wouldnt' be able to ask questions, and guides wouldn't necessarily help them, as the guide might not cover the issue.

Perhaps a better idea would be to prevent those bots from signing up, so have some sort of 'bot prevention' on the registration screen rather than limiting what the new players can access.

Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=99385&page=1#6 Author: Jemadar Time Posted: 8/17/2021 at 4:23 PM [quote=2553947] Unfortunately, player guides don't always cover everything, or, as I found out, are up to date in all cases. So, I feel this would be very new player unfriendly, because if they do have a genuine question, especially one that actively prevents them from leveling, they wouldnt' be able to ask questions, and guides wouldn't necessarily help them, as the guide might not cover the issue. Perhaps a better idea would be to prevent those bots from signing up, so have some sort of 'bot prevention' on the registration screen rather than limiting what the new players can access.

You're right, I don't know why I didn't think of that. Bots should be prevented from joining the game in the first place. That would be much more effective. Silly me.

Don't worry :) I have done the exact same thing, and I have seen the idea of preventing new players from posting on the forums on Flight Rising until they fulfill some requirement as well, so you aren't alone.

I've thought recently about this as well and been thinking something similar with having a level requirement (maybe even just one battle) to post aside from some newbie areas. My thought being even if those bots spammed there that at least they could be quickly noticed and removed instead of just popping up randomly here and there to be hunted down.

I added some various protections against spambot posting both for the Forums and for Private Messages.

I also re-implemented the "Report" function for Private Messages and improved how it works (on our end).

As always, if you didn't know, players can report Forum Threads/Posts as inappropriate. After 5 reports, the post is automatically flagged. This is a great tool players can utilize against unwanted posting if myself nor Faiona are not readily available.

We can then always review the reported posts later on to make sure the feature is not being abused to grief other players or something.