Spam?

[Sinomin]

So, here's what was done today.

The spambots all use simple code that just creates new topics to perform their spam. This code is common and used on hundreds (thousands?) of forums every day.

They never post replies.

All members of the LL forums have been moved to a new usergroup, "Lurkers". The default usergroup, "Members", is now a spambot catcher. Users in this group cannot post new threads. They can only reply to current ones. Upon their first post in any thread, they are automatically promoted to the Lurkers usergroup and can then create new threads.

"But Bolty, what if the bots get smarter and just start posting replies?" Well, we'll face that hurdle when/if it comes. :)

Also, users now just have 24 hours to validate their new account or it's thrown out (old value was 48 hours).

-Bolty

Good job! Now can you stop the spammers in WoW? :angry: