Hmmm...I wasn't sure whether this goes in Whatnots or Sorcerous Sundries, so Tal, BTA or Ex, please move it if it's in the wrong Forum. :)
Now;
I have recently felt that there is too much 'Spam' (http://www.sorcerers.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=002320) here on Sorcerer's Place, and it's near the point where I do not open the Whatnots Topics because it's all Spam (http://www.sorcerers.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=002320)!
Tell me what you feel about this...

Poll Information
This poll contains 3 question(s). 48 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Is there too much Spam on Sorcerer's Place? (48 votes.)

Is there too much Spam on Sorcerer's Place? (Choose 1)
* Yeah, there's far too much. - 58% (28)
* Well, there's quite a bit. - 19% (9)
* Not so much to bother about it. - 15% (7)
* I am a spammer! Hail the king/queen baby! - 8% (4)

Do you think something should be done to stop this? (Choose 1)
* Yes, it should be stopped. - 44% (21)
* It would be good, but I don't mind. - 35% (17)
* No, leave it, I love spam! - 10% (5)
* What?! I just told you I didn't see any spam! - 10% (5)

Are you really that bothered about it? (Choose 1)
* Yes, I must increase my post count! <Spam> <Spam>!! - 15% (7)
* Not really, It isn't a big issue. - 35% (17)
* Yes, I don't enjoy Sorcerer's Place as much because of it. - 50% (24)

Way too much spam.

Whole topics even are completely covered in Spam:

http://www.sorcerers.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=7&t=002325&p=1

It first it added clolour and a little amusement. Now I'm just drowning in it. 2/3s of the topics in Whatnots I don't even look at.

I have been spamming alot latley i know. Not nice spam, but just goddamn awful spam. I've tried to cut back on the one sentence junk, i didn't realize at first and i apologize. This dosn't mean i'll post less, but i'll try to make the posts better. I personally don't mind the spam, but if it bothers people so much then i guess my clan will have to cut down. /me orders his minions to assemble and apologize. (gothmog, 8people, padeen and keneth)

Oh and Gopher, of course this should be in sundries. :p

[ September 15, 2002, 16:55: Message edited by: Z-Layrex ]

Yes, WAY to much spam...
The babling post should be locked down!

No, silly. The reason we HAVE the random babbling thread is for people to say random things. Unfortunately, spam has become prevalent almost everywhere in Whatnots.

Here I was, writing twenty minutes on a long and maybe even good reply. Then I decided to delete it all and spare you the flames that the civilized persons I used as examples would've no doubt replied with, turning this topic into a flamefest, like some stuff at whatnots.

This cancer just seems to spread on all popular messageboards. I remember when SP was a nice little place to check every day, now it's like just another big board (WotC, Black Isle) you visit, to find spam, badly-done sarcasm, general hatred, thinly veiled insults, and people who get their kicks out of feeling superior over someone on a messageboard. (Whoops, came dangerously close to giving another example.) And no, it's not just the new people, I could come up with several oldies who really don't behave as they should.

Anyway, I used to check 90% of the boards. (Ignoring the in-character roleplay stuff and the place people post their own stories in, and some games I didn't play.) Now? Now I check three or four places here, some of them not always getting even one post in 24 hours.

At least they are mostly peaceful.

Yes there is too much. The original "doh nothing has been posted topic" by slappy took several months to fill up but the new "random babble topics" fill up within a week, 2 at the most and are filled with one-liners and such like. In the original "doh" topic it was for just that when the boards were dead and you just needed to say something not for spam which then gives the impression that spam is allowed on the boards, it isn't.

This is a badly named and defined topic, since it's obviously aimed only at Whatnots, not the rest of the boards. As long as most of the spam's confined in there, it's not too bad.

I think you lot are realy over reacting. There is next to no stupid posts on any of the game forums. And all the Misc forums other than whatnots are free too. Stop acting so silly all of you. You're moaning about a few topics in whatnots.

Funny you should say that! You know who posted those topics?

And what stupid topics might that be...hmm?

There is too much spam in the Whatnots board. And I agree that the topic name should be edited.

My 2c.

I agree that there is too much spam in the Whatnots forum, but I don't usually mind it unless it starts filling up the topic or primarily flaming.

The game forums have almost no spam in them, and that is certainly a good thing.

As long as the Spammers have a place to spam... all other forums should be fine.

At least Spammers respect they have only one place to spam. I bet Tal would just about murder them (banning them of course!) or just plain shut the spam posts and topics.

I think Tal is smart enough to see that Spammers can't be destroyed. They are like those goblinoid races; they replicate so fast and come from everywhere. So Tal has to give space for them; after all, this forums are democratic in nature and leaving out a major part of society is unfair, even if they spam. As long as they do it in one place only and we don't harbor criminals... everything should be OK.

And Tal, congratulations, you have managed to accept spam in an acceptable way for everyone else.

Spam was once all good and fun, only a very few posts were spam. Now the whole freakin' boards are covered in it (well, OK, two of the boards)
I am quite sick of 'Hail spam' threads to be perfectly honest.

There is a bit too much spam, but I'm not terribly bothered. :)

@Z-Layrex
Minions! The Darkforest shall never bow to you Z!

I do however apologise to all that hate my spamming personaility it's just the way I am :p . Sooo what I did was leave BoM alone until I have something of value to say and it actually works.

/me leaves SS and heads to whatnots

I can barely be bothered to read the boards, anymore, because of all the mindless drivel. It was never this bad.

What I don't get is, do people think that a high post count makes them cool? Like, everyone will disregard the fact that they got that high post count by babbling childishly and mucking up these lovely baords.

That's not just here though, I see it everywhere. I used to see it everywhere but here, but I guess nothing's perfect forever.

Well; my dear Damona:

Spam is there to get us... Too bad.

I wouldn't complain if there weren't too many Spammers or maybe we have too few high quality Spammers?

Spam is a pretty big problem around here, IMHO. There are a lot of serious posts that have potential for interesting conversation that are disturbed by plenty of pointless, if not sometimes humorous, spam. Indeed, we're up to our necks in spam here.

I agree more along the lines of Tal. This problem is not as bad as some of you are making it out to be with these "woe is me" statements like we're up to our necks in spam :rolleyes:

There really isn't anymore than there used to be. The problem is the recent bragging about it, and spam about spam. The disturbing fact is that spam is beginning to get treated (by some recent posters) like it's ok to do even beyond a regular basis and to the extreme of every post. I think that's what really has people upset. There's not really much more spam then there used to be, it's just getting talked about and bragged agout more so that people perceive that there is more spam.

So what's got to go is this bragging about spam and being more reasonable about what you post. The Random Babbling Thread is a great thread to put forth an idea that really isn't worth making a whole new topic about but still is worth putting out there. If numerous posters express interest in this idea, than a new topic which expounds upon it could be created and that would be ok. But getting rid of the Random Babbling Thread is a big mistake. And the mods do a good job of putting a stop to conversations in this thread and directing people towards pm or chatroom for that. By converstation I mean a good 3+ posts in a row between just two or three posters in a short period of time.

And Whatnots is just as its always been, any given Whatnots frontpage gives you a few posts on serious topics (i.e. What did you do to Remember 9/11, Wars: Are they good or bad?, foreign socities, Wednesday the 11th of September.) Note that The Remembering of 9/11 and Wed, 11th of September could have been combined to the effect of what are your thoughts on the upcoming September 11th and what do you plan to do? This way you knock out two birds with one stone and is more efficient. But back to types of Whatnots topics: you'll always have some relevant social posts (i.e. Retrospect-What I Learned, What do you admire most?, Popularity, Homosexuality: Good or Bad?, When did you loose your virginity?, Commitment, Misery, and Angry/Annoyed?). Note again that maybe Angry/Annoyed could have stayed in the Misery topic discussion. Then you've got your political topics as always: (America bombs Canadians, Is Bush a Moron?, Greece goes Insane). Then you have your likes/dislikes/hobbies topics which are a great way to get to know people on SP: (Any Athletes?, SW A New Hope Classic Moments, Anyone like classical music?). Then you have your tests and fun posts, always a good thrill: (How Intelligent Are You?, Police Investigate a Rodent in a Roadster, got a good joke?, Game: Who's your favorite celebrity?, The perfect plan...sort of).

Basically Whatnots is a great way to get to know other posters and to provide a place for that on the boards. For example, in the What did you do for 9/11 topic I learned that Shralp drives a motorcycle. Well I never knew that! But thanks to Whatnots and that topic I now do. Further involvement leads to pm and chatroom. But there has to be a place for it on the boards because it shouldn't be in the gaming forums.

So the people bragging about spamming and getting it out of hand need to back off and re-evaluate their posting and just be smart about how and what they post. And the people freaking out and making "doom to SP" statements need to chill out and listen to classical music, play games on their Mobile phones, drink Coke or Pepsi, and/or write some Fan Fiction :p .

I'm fairly new here, but so far I think this board and its admins have done an excellent job of keeping everything on-topic. Most of the other boards I've visited have threads that fall apart after 2 or 3 posts because spammers start filling them with irrelevant crap.

I've noticed the threads in Whatnots tend to have more "irrelevant" comments, but I think the nature of that group of forums sort of lends itself to that. Seems to be a place to go just to have informal conversation when you don't feel like talking about a particular game.

I just wanted to put my two cents in (I expect change) and let everyone know what a great place this is. Keep up the good work.

To be fair, my first post may have come off as whiny.

These boards, have always been and still are, head and shoulders above your typical board. Tal and the rest of the mods run a clean, strict ship. There's not too much farming, no bumping, little flaming (though a good flame fest is entertaining once in awhile), and the mindless drivel is kept on a relatively short leash. I'm just spoiled, that's all. When I want to be reminded how inane some boards can get, I just head over to the VN Wintersebb boards. *shudder*

It has been getting out of hand, a little, with people posting just to have the last word, or make nonsensical remarks. See Shadowhunter's comeback to my post, for an example. First, my post didn't require a response, and second, am I the only one who totally didn't get what he was saying?

Everyone's guilty of a little spamming now and again, myself included, but it seems to be more focused around a certain few people, lately.

I also agree with Big B, in that the spamming about spamming, and it becoming a trophy thing is just enhancing the whole mess.

/me feels so very lowly

I have no idea what caused me to spam that much lately... mass hysteria, I think... Now, in retrospect, I see what a damn fool I was... such a moron.

Yes, there is too much spam. And the spam has also lost it's quality.

Once, everything in SP was done with finesse and skill, producing an unmatched quality... even spam. Now? We get thirteen-in-a-dozen spam stuff all the time. It doesn't really work like that...

Yeah, too much spam all right.

Ara
(Hmmm.... I need to write stuff...)

This reminds me of old people moaning about how everything was so much better in the "olden" days. Not really, folks. It's hardly any different today. The only difference is that these days more people post in Whatnots (and some of them younger), than they did back then. The ratio of good posts vs. spam is pretty much equal to the golden "olden" days you have such fond memories of.

So instead of sounding like a bunch of grannies and grandpas on their deathbed, go to Whatnots and contribute either good new threads, or make good replies to existing good threads. Ignore spam, and it'll diminish. If all you do is keep talking about it you're just creating some imaginary Spam Monster in your head that's not there in reality.

Just a note here;
I did in no way complain about the lack of Moderating, or the spammy-ness of these Boards. I do in fact, think these are the best Game-boards on the net, and it was just me being picky.
Hmmm...I'm not about being called a granny, but maybe I will post some new topic...hmmm?
Anyway, keep up the good work!