Unregistered Posting

[Archaic]

Thusfar, for the most part, I would like to think that Bulbagarden's experiment with unregistered posting has been a success. Recently however, one very prominent person is abusing this system to skirt around his ban. Furthermore, he's using proxies to avoid IP bans placed on him.

This leaves me with a dilemma, so I would like to ask the opinions of the community here. Do we disable unregistered posting, or leave it as it is.

I'd appreciate it if some of the prominent unregistered posters who've been with us for some time without registering for an account could weigh in on the discussion, and perhaps tell us why they've avoided registering.

 

[Geodude]

DISABLE IT. What the hell is the point of banning someone when they can continue to post as much as they want as an "unregistered"? It really undermines our power as mods, and has invited a ton of disrespect from that one user.

 

[Fig]

Killing something that has worked great so far just because of one idiot doesn't strike me as the best solution...

...but then again, having not really seen that proeminent user at work, I don't know how bad things have gotten, so it's quite possible he does, in fact, justify cutting unregistered posting.

I don't know - is this one user's case really so bad as to require cutting unregistered posting altogether, when other than this one case, it's been a success thus far.

 

[Misty]

"That one user" is WPM, you know he's been posting in public forums so it's not like people aren't aware.

 

[Archaic]

And it's not like he hasn't been told repeatedly to not. His inability to stop doing something when clearly and firmly told by the Administration to stop is what led to his (originally temp.) ban in the first place.

 

[Doctor Oak]

Guest Posting is an extremely stupid thing anyway. In specific forums, where you're asking for people to submit stuff or something and having the hassle of signing up getting in the way of that, yeah - turn it off. That's what people use it for everywhere else.

But for the whole board? It only invites spammers, ban evasion and confusion over who each guest is meant to be.

If someone has got something to post, taking the 3 minutes to sign up isn't the biggest inconvienience in the world and if everyone else can do it, there's no reason they can't either.

 

[Fig]

You know I don't pay much attention to the boards WPM hang out at usually, Misty.

As for Guest Posting being stupid, I'll hold to my guns that so far, with the sole exception of WPM, it's done much more good than harm. We've had very few unregistered spammers (perhaps, first and foremost, because unreg. can't start threads), only two cases of ban evaders via guest posting that I'm aware of (WPM and Serebii), and I haven't noticed that much of a confusion problem with guest posting.

And if you think the 3 minutes inconvenience isn't going to keep people from posting on BMG, then you are about as clueless about basic human nature as it gets.

Some people will still register, obviously, but some who would have had insightful things to contribute to this or that thread just won't bother with the hassle of registration for a single thread. That's just the way human nature goes.

Plus, if someone is already determinate enough to evade a ban, it's not exactly HARD to get new email address and re-register ad nauseam - the only way to stop those people is IP bans, and if they have proxies, then there's nothing to be done.

That said, if you guys really feel like cutting unreg. posting will help out in the long run, well, it's your decision to make, and I have no intention of throwing up a stink about it. I've got better things to waste time on.

 

[Kasumi]

As I said in the Cabinet: allowing unregistered posting was a very bad idea. If people want to post so badly, taking 3 minutes to register in the forums is not going to take away their lifes as Doctor Oak said.

Edit: in reply to Damian, if that people can't take 3 minutes of their time to register then I don't think we'll be missing prominent members of the community. I'd rather have 3 dedicated members than 300+ unregistered posters that will probably never come back.

 

[Fig]

Proeminent? Nope.

But lots of people can have useful contributions to make, yet not have enough of them to justify going through the hassle of registering. I know several boards I personally visit where there are threads I could say lots about - but those threads show up once every other week, once every month...never enough at a time that I want to go through the hassle of registering for.

That's the benefit of unreg posting - it gets you the people who can contribute highly interesting stuff on a handful of very specific topics, but have no interest in the rest of BMG. The knowledgeable people, etc.

Dismissing them as "they'll never be proeminent members" is ridiculous - it's not about being proeminent members, it's about contributing quality knowledge and information.

 

[Barb]

Guest posting should be disabled for the time being, and maybe reinstituted later. As far as the 'quality knowledge and information' from unregistered posters goes, I'd like some proof of this.

 

[Rayne]

Honestly, I would defend unregistered posting. Lurking around, I haven't
seen any signs of abuse [Except in the case of WPM] and people contribute
to posts, however may not wish to stay.

But these hidden posters will post to get at what's on their mind. And if they
return thats great. I think that the guests who come, but don't post, are
afraid to commit or can't find the time to be online, but are always eager
to share. More possible, they may just be intimidated by the community
in place and afraid to intrude. It’s the anonimity that gives them the courage
to post in the first place.

When they do post, I've only seen constructive thoughts. One of the more
recent cases being 'theGadfly' in the Voice Actors thread. They deserve a
chance and this ability shouldn't be bannished just because of one person.

 

[the gadfly]

Some people will still register, obviously, but some who would have had insightful things to contribute to this or that thread just won't bother with the hassle of registration for a single thread. That's just the way human nature goes...

...That's the benefit of unreg posting - it gets you the people who can contribute highly interesting stuff on a handful of very specific topics, but have no interest in the rest of BMG. The knowledgeable people, etc.

Speaking as one of those prominent unregistered guests (now, a registered member), the gadfly would like to think he made a worthwhile post or two in the well over 100 posts made anonymously.

I was, and still am, only interested in a single thread or topic, those related to the business aspects of the show where I hope I can contribute some valuable insight from my own experience. I've posted about the Jynx controversy, the transfer of marketing rights from 4Kids to PUSA, the voice actors and the SOVA campaign. I have no interest in the rest of BMG and know I'll never post there (although I did debate Damian about government in the world of Pokemon).

Some of you may think I was just too lazy to get off my butt and register. I suppose that's somewhat true.

However, if I had been unable to post as an unregistered guest, to see for myself by posting my thoughts and seeing how they were received, that joining was worth doing, I would have never registered. I'm sure there are others like me out there.

Whether you want to encourage others to join by letting them test the waters is up to you.

 

[Porygon]

Just a heads up about this whole WPM thing. He's made it clear to me that he's unable to access and read the forums. He only has a few unique computers of frequent internet acess, so I think a couple IP bans would have him away for good, pretty much.
So, I'd say let the guests continue to post.

 

[Archaic]

Unfortunatly, I can confirm that WPM has, as an unregistered user, posted frequently under a large number of IP's. I can't ban an entire ISP just to be rid of one troublesome user.

 

[Joey]

Usually I would say disable it, since it only causes trouble on almost every other message board I've been to, but this place seems to be an exception. For some reason most of the guest posts I read are intelligent and add to discussions quite a bit. And while I admit to not reading every board and thread, I haven't noticed this WPM trolling about. So the one guest that seems to be the problem isn't effecting my enjoyment of the site, and I see not allowing guest posts as doing more harm then good here.

 

[Archaic]

ArchaicEternal (10:52:12): I will say this only once, and I expect you to abide by this. I will not reply to any replies of yours to this, so don't bother saying anything back.

A ban is a ban. It is total. I don't care if you have "good intentions" behind evading the ban, you *do not* evade the ban. If you need something posted on your behalf, ask someone else. Every additional post you make will add 1 month onto your ban, and will be deleted on sight by the admins. You were banned for ignoring the clear directions of the forum admins, and your persistant disobedience of the forum rules by continuing to ignore the direction to stop evading the ban is only making it worse for yourself.
PokeBeachWebsite (10:53:58): Oh well. Your loss. BMG is pretty much turning into the new SPP anyways. Best to avoid it. I think I will ban you to from my forums and remove the affiliation, since we are obviously not affiliates. Good day.
PokeBeachWebsite signed off at 10:54:10.

Obviously, WPM fails totally to understand that affiliates don't go around intentionally and repeatedly violating the rules on others forums. Just because he (was) an affiliate, doesn't mean that the rules didn't apply to him, as they would any normal user.

 

[the gadfly]

If WPM can evade an IP ban, what's to stop him from registering over and over if unregistered guests can't post? Do you then disable registration? Isn't this the same problem that existed in Bulbapedia?

 

[Barb]

We can easily ban usernames when they register. He was using proxy servers to evade the IP ban, which is more cumbersome.

We don't need to disable registration, but then again, we shouldn't be held hostage to the juvenile whims of a twit like WPM who doesn't comprehend the meaning of 'go away and don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out,' either.

 

[Joey]

If no one minds the input, at one of the forums I moderate we had what sounds like a similar problem with a psychotic troll who was obsessed with being a member despite a forum wide unanimous vote to permanently ban her ass. We couldn't manage an IP ban either, so she was like a cockroach who kept coming back, saying she had changed while doing the exact same shit that got her banned in the first place.

Eventually what managed to rid us of her was a complete ignoring. Posts deleted on site, no one allowed to even acknowledge her presence if a mod wasn't available to delete her posts. Heck, we didn't even allow her to be mentioned when she didn't show up, since she was an attention whore like that. Treated her like she never even existed. And lo and behold, we are at peace now.

(Please forgive excessive cursing, the troll disaster is only a few months old and still fills me with a burning hatred. I have an I Told You So Complex.)

 

[Archaic]

The "Final Solution", huh? Yes, I've heard of that being implimented on several people before, on various sites. I'm not sure if it's entirely workable here though, given that we may not always be able to identify if a specific unregistered user is him.