There are always exceptions so it is ok like it is now.

Well of course, in fact I was just using Win 3.11 under DosBox to run Jezzball. 🤣 But I was just saying, something like this would help to keep out the riffraff who don't know what they're doing.

And you should also mention that spammers get tagged and deleted almost immediately.

That's a bit of a different situation though, because that's mainly done by bots; they aren't going to care what a disclaimer says. Of course, neither will a lot of people who just want to get through and post on the forums. 🤣

If you are worried about bots, perhaps forced moderation is the key. I know at WineHQ we solved much of our PHPbb forum spam by making a user have 2 posts approved by a moderator before they are allowed to freely post.

Downside is that it does keep the moderators much busier as they have to approve newbie posts.

Other than that, I don't think a splash page is really nessessary.

mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:

That's a bit of a different situation though, because that's mainly done by bots; they aren't going to care what a disclaimer says. Of course, neither will a lot of people who just want to get through and post on the forums. 🤣

Same about lame question askers. They aren't going to care what a disclaimer says.

Here's my own point list of why none of these will work to detur stupid people:

- We do NOT support the Android versions of DosBox
"Oh, well I have a Samsung Galaxy phone so I'm good!"

- DosBox does NOT run Windows games
"But I can run DOS games in Windows so aren't they the same thing?"

- We do NOT support abandonware
"But I downloaded the game off the internet so it must be legal!"

- DosBox is NOT made for running non-gaming applications
"Yeah, but they work perfectly fine 99.999% of the time so I still wanna ask about them."

- If you want help with any of these things, go somewhere else!
"No. You guys are right here and I'm too lazy to look up some other place."

:P

Depending on how it's done, a splash page might just be annoying.

I think locking threads with a brief explanation why is good enough.

Quite entertaining as well at times.

I kind of like the probationary moderated idea. Cuts away alot of the driftwood. Of course it makes more work for the mods.

I doubt a splash screen will stop anyone. Don't underestimate the stubbornness of people.

A keyword search during writing of a post and a notice that pops up before posting for new users if some offending keyword is found might work..

..or if that's too difficult, then the above kind of popup for everyone if their post count is below 10 or something.

Gemini000 wrote:

Here's my own point list of why none of these will work to detur stupid people: […]
Show full quote

Here's my own point list of why none of these will work to detur stupid people:

- We do NOT support the Android versions of DosBox
"Oh, well I have a Samsung Galaxy phone so I'm good!"

- DosBox does NOT run Windows games
"But I can run DOS games in Windows so aren't they the same thing?"

- We do NOT support abandonware
"But I downloaded the game off the internet so it must be legal!"

- DosBox is NOT made for running non-gaming applications
"Yeah, but they work perfectly fine 99.999% of the time so I still wanna ask about them."

- If you want help with any of these things, go somewhere else!
"No. You guys are right here and I'm too lazy to look up some other place."

😜

I actually thought of this too after I wrote my original post. I couldn't come up with any better ideas though. 😜

Sol_HSA wrote:

I doubt a splash screen will stop anyone. Don't underestimate the stubbornness of people.

A keyword search during writing of a post and a notice that pops up before posting for new users if some offending keyword is found might work..

..or if that's too difficult, then the above kind of popup for everyone if their post count is below 10 or something.

The keyword search thing is an excellent idea. 😁 It would definitely cut down on the number of stupid posts, and while we're at it, we could use the notices that pop up to educate people as to why abandonware or whatever isn't tolerated here!

ratfink wrote:

I think locking threads with a brief explanation why is good enough.

Quite entertaining as well at times.

That would be an effective n00b deterrant. 🤣 And for the ones who aren't deterred, we'll get to laugh at their stupidity!

I was a n00b here not that long ago, and I still ask stupid questions semi-regularly. The thing I like about this community is that it's tolerant and doesn't laugh.

And I dunno if you noticed but the forum package this place runs on is far from cutting edge, keyword searches, etc are well beyond it's capability I assume. And that's another thing I like about this place, it's old school, no annoying pop-ups, suggestions, etc.

badmofo wrote:

I was a n00b here not that long ago, and I still ask stupid questions semi-regularly. The thing I like about this community is that it's tolerant and doesn't laugh.

And I dunno if you noticed but the forum package this place runs on is far from cutting edge, keyword searches, etc are well beyond it's capability I assume. And that's another thing I like about this place, it's old school, no annoying pop-ups, suggestions, etc.

Same, I wasn't aiming at noobs, we're all in that boat at some point and searching for answers is often difficult anyway. I was thinking more about the "help with with this abandonware" posts.

Another forum I frequent has a special subforum for beginners. New users may only post there for the first two weeks. I guess that helps the moderators since all garbage posts and spam just ends up in one subforum and does not pollute the interesting topics.

jwt27 wrote:

Another forum I frequent has a special subforum for beginners. New users may only post there for the first two weeks. I guess that helps the moderators since all garbage posts and spam just ends up in one subforum and does not pollute the interesting topics.

That's a good idea. It would make it easier to find and delete spambots if they are limited to posting in only one forum for a while.

I agree with robertmo like it is good like it is now.

Another forum I frequent has a special subforum for beginners. New users may only post there for the first two weeks. I guess that helps the moderators since all garbage posts and spam just ends up in one subforum and does not pollute the interesting topics.

This might work for some forums, but I think it will hurt Vogons. Many people are lurkers here and only signup and start posting when they stumble on an interesting topic where they feel they can contribute in some form. If people have to wait two weeks before being able to post in the interesting threads then I fear that many will never bother and thus the community will suffer. You don't want to impose too much "DRM" on normal users.

badmofo wrote:

I was a n00b here not that long ago, and I still ask stupid questions semi-regularly.

There are no stupid questions. Just stupid askers. =)

I moderate the Legend of Grimrock forums, and I totally symphatize with the spambot / stupid user problem. To compound things, there seem to be some kind of spam farms where humans do bots' work, and are less easy to spot. Or at least, make apart from legit stupid users.. =)

Unfortunately, there are no perfect answers. To inconvenience users, or moderators?