RMB Spam

TAO

TAO

TNPer
TAO here ... willing to represent the CommRangers International regarding our mission for Feeder unity.

We have been moderately successful in establishing a Feeder-First Anti-Spam league in TWP, TP, Lazarus, and TEP. There are several dedicated players who daily give time to RMB warfare and, regardless of the players original home region affiliation, promote the feeder region of operation. In this sense, we feel legitimate in calling ourselves an INTERNATIONAL organization instead of just a TWP one.

Also, as a pet-peeve ... the term Feeder is less clear than Game Region to us. Lazarus is better described as a Game Region than a Feeder and so is the RR. But I do understand the the common usage of Feeder. And I also recognize that Game Region could aptly apply to the WarZones.

Greetings to all.
 
Speaking of anti-spam, we have been discussing that in TSP for a bit. Our Prime Minister, Kloister, was given a warning for "impersonating a Mod" when he issued a warning to an ad-spammer for violating the NS ad rule. It tooka bit of time to get a full answer out of the Mods on that, as you can see here.

What I liked was Frisbeeteria's last post before closing it:

One last comment, and then I'm closing this.


QUOTE 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kloister 
It sort of makes a mockery of the whole purpose of having rules that are nigh on impossible to enforce!.. 
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You're right. They are just about impossible to enforce, except for egregious violators.

The adspam rules were put in place at the request of players who didn't like all the regional adspam. The rules were balanced by the desires of players in player-created regions who didn't have any other way to reach new players. Like all compromises, neither side is entirely happy with the results.

To be frank, the mods aren't entirely happy with the results either. We spend a lot more time adjudicating essentially minor issues with adspam than we'd like, in the face of more pressing issues. In a perfect world, adspammers would be reasonable human beings who would react positively to politely-phrased requests to post less frequently ... and feeder residents would only respond politely, rather than being abrasive and abusive to spammers who are often brand new to the game.

Our ruleset is massive. It's not easy to find for brand new players. Adding more rules, or posting them in more prominent locations, would diminish some of the fun of this game. Despite the fact that some of us build our lives around this site, it is ultimately just a game, and we don't want to restrict it so much that it's no fun for new players.

We're not interested in punishment for punishment's sake. If that happened, Max would be entirely correct to remove us as mods. We'll continue to enforce the rules as written, and players are encouraged to help us make this a pleasant place to play. If that means that a few bad apples slip through the cracks, so be it. "Fun" is ultimately more important than "order".
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Hope you don't mind me splitting this, so we're not having too many conversations in one thread.

The CommRangers are great, and I think I'd like to see TNP get involved in that, and if we can get all the feeders to sign up to it, that would be great. I guess the main thing which needs to be done here is to advertise it better here, so that people know it exists and that they can help out. Do you have a forum for the CommRangers at present which we can point people too?

Another thing is the "15 line rule", which we currently have in TNP. What do others think of it, just wondering, as if we all attempt to apply the same rule it may give it more influence. I noticed that TSP were having a discussion along these lines.
 
Hope you don't mind me saying something really quick in here since I was very active in RMB clearing.

A while back it was discussed about having a CommRanger's forum and I created one but it never got much further than that. What I have found that works for watching spam is getting a group of people to watch and log all spam messages. If a duplicate ad is discovered then the offender is warned by telegram. If it happens again then they are reported to the mods. When this system had enough people working in TWP there was a significant decrease in the amount of spam
 
We've found that you honestly have to send copies of the RMB to the Mods or they will not act. Certainly having a cadre of boardwatchers to kep an eye on things is vital. If you have that set up, the more aggresious ad-spammers will be stopped.
 
The real key to spam removal is an ACTIVE RMB group. During our active periods (and sadly, many of the CommRangers have been much less active because of RL), the CommRangers had a goal of leaving no spam up for longer than two hours. And we were quite good at meeting that goal.

But such effort requires time and or numbers. In TWP, TP, and Lazarus, several small cells developed around time zone accessibilities. Those who could meet online about the same time each day did so and were able to keep the RMBs cleared until the next group came online. Most groups were only two to three hours apart.

If each feeder were to develop a regional team similar to the CRs, similar results could be had by all. And it would provide your region's Communication or Interior ministry opportunities to recruit and train newbies.

In TWP, TAO is encouraging the current Interior Minister to create a new group of Interior Deputies called the MinIntMen. This is what TAO has been able to develop so far as a suggestion ...
The TWP MinIntMen

The Vision of The West Pacific MinIntMen is to be the Public Outreach Arm of The West Pacific.

The Mission of The West Pacific MinIntMen is to unite and expand the On-site and Off-site Community of The West Pacific through participatory performance on the Regional Message Board (RMB) and in the Forum of The West Pacific.

Our Mission will be achieved through:
[1] Our continued, perpetual presence on the RMB as agents of spam reduction and as recruiters for the support of our Delegate and Regent, our Off-Site Forum, our Diplomatic Corps, and our Regional Guard.
[2] Our commitment to communicate freely and reassuringly with our fellow regional residents.
[3] Our continued individual participatory activity in the forum.

The Ministry of the Interior is divided into the following Divisions:
[1] The Division of Immigration and Recruitment
[2] The Division of Forum Community Culture
[3] The Division of Role Play
[4] The Division of Spam-Reduction

Each Division will have a Division Chief (DC).  Each DC will be responsible for hiring three to five members to work as Division Agents (DA).  DAs cannot hold a position in more than one Division at a time.
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This concept could be used by every feeder. And some of you are very brilliant detail oriented people and some of you are great recruiter/motivators. The kind of multi-regional force needed to all of us to reclaim the RMBs for our region's use will take the talents of several for planning and organization.
 
Then a simpler system could be used. Lazarus already has a group of CommRangers (even if we are a bit lazy). :fish:
 
:ph34r:

Our CR "cell" worked well until the summer came. We are currently reorganzing it with some of our newer members who seem eager to contribute in this way.
 
I would agree with a 15-line limit. I know of at least one region that enforces that limit in their own recruitment messages, and they are clean, to the point, and don't take up a large amount of space.
 
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