[Lifino]

Okay, so the big issue of the month is SPAM. August 02 will forever be remembered as the month that it rained spam.

There've been suggestions for a gestapo state to take over, and the heavy arm of censorship to lay over the board until us spammers die a slow and painful death.

Admitedly most of the smappers ;) are slowing some. And some of the former organized spaming uninions have disbanded. Hopefully this blight will be clearing away in the near future...


Along those lines, one of the things I've seen done in other forums was to hide the post count display. It often is seen as an item of status, similar to that low ICQ #.

The next step after this is to take certain forums, such as our General Discussion, and make it so that any and all posts to this forum do not get counted in the post count.

A certain amount of spam is okay, I think. Even enjoyable. But it should not be seen as a challenge. The spammer should not be glorified for thier post count, rather they should be recognized for thier attempts at humor, joviality, and fun...

That's my $.02

Silas

[Sammie]

Ultimately one for Dag.......but in all honesty, the recent spam fest seems to be dying it's own death - i'm not sure it's really cause for further concern.

(my $0.02 :))

[Holbrook]

Ok, a few thoughts here concerning what you call "spam"

If a thread on General contains stuff you don't like or wish to read don't open it again.

As for post counts, do they really matter? Is it just ego talking.....

Most folks only "talk" on the general forum. I try not to joke on serious threads, but folks come here for the company and to speak to their friends. Take that away and the place would die.....

[Eventine]

It often is seen as an item of status

I agree, and also feel that if the General Discussion threads didn't count towards post counts we would still get genuine friendly conversations without some of the more ridiculous spam wars going around.

My only worry would be that spammers would move into the other threads, but I hope they wouldn't disregard the other members in that way.

[Lifino]

Eventine (I can't help reading Ovaltine:rolleyes: ) I doubt that the spammers would plauge other forums... For the most part we all respect the rest of the board... Besides that's where the moderators will come and clean away...

Post count won't fix the problem, just take away one of the motivators...

[fortytwo]

This is the second thread I've noticed recently concerning "spam" so I assume it is an issue with some members.
Speaking personally I was delighted when I found this site because of all the informed comments that were posted.
Earlier this month things seemed to get completely out of hand with all the spam and I decided not to visit so often.It seemed at the time that a high proportion of the threads were affected by it and it was not confined to the G.D. section.
It is a lot better now but if some members get a buzz by having more posts than another then it's an attitude that I don't understand.
Surely it's the quality of the posts not the quantity?
Even on the "serious threads" I think there can be room for humour, perhaps to defuse a heated debate, and I know it's human nature to wander off the thread sometimes.
I like this forum because generally most members are responsible and the moderators only need rule with a light touch.
Personally as long as spamming is kept in the G.D. section and don't spill over into other section I'm happy.

[Erebus]

I think the issue of post counts, and the barrage of unnecessary spam that has been created to increase them, has been discussed at length in many other topics already.

However, before I close this thread, I will just say again that there is no contest or no prizes given for the number of posts a member may have attained here at SFFW. The policy on this has been widely advertised, but, I and many others, will no doubt have a lot of respect for members who post insightful and imformative contributions to what is a wonderful speculative fiction genre forum. That in itself should be reward enough. :)