O.T. Time for new registration rules.

[Michael]

This is getting ridiculous. Ban an idiotic spamming troll and he starts under a new name the next day. I think it's time to not only require an email verification to register, but disallow using any free email services such as MSN, Yahoo, Google etc. IndyStar has this procedure to keep the trolling and spamming down. I can't even register there with my dotmac account (which is a bit much considering I pay for that account).

 

[desi-patsfan]

i agree with you a little, but if indystar is your example of a troll free community, we definetly dont want to emulate them.

 

[Bella*chick]

This is getting ridiculous. Ban an idiotic spamming troll and he starts under a new name the next day. I think it's time to not only require an email verification to register, but disallow using any free email services such as MSN, Yahoo, Google etc. IndyStar has this procedure to keep the trolling and spamming down. I can't even register there with my dotmac account (which is a bit much considering I pay for that account).

Well, as long as those of us already registered under MSN wouldn't be affected, I'd have no problem with it. It seems to me, though, that people who really want to will find a way, particularly around this time of the year.

 

[shmessy]

This is getting ridiculous. Ban an idiotic spamming troll and he starts under a new name the next day. I think it's time to not only require an email verification to register, but disallow using any free email services such as MSN, Yahoo, Google etc. IndyStar has this procedure to keep the trolling and spamming down. I can't even register there with my dotmac account (which is a bit much considering I pay for that account).

Excellent idea, Michael.

I enjoy it when fans of other teams come here to talk football, but some of this idiotic woofing is crowding out the football talk here.

I remember what happened to the ESPN boards in the past few years. it would be a shame if this same fate occurred to Patsfans.com.

 

[Mosi Moose]

Has there been any discussion of a small membership fee? Something nominal, but enough that the trolls wouldn't bother registering. Just a thought. I'm sure I am not the first to bring this up.

 

[dryheat44]

Has there been any discussion of a small membership fee? Something nominal, but enough that the trolls wouldn't bother registering. Just a thought. I'm sure I am not the first to bring this up.

No, you're not, and I fully support the idea.

 

[Michael]

i agree with you a little, but if indystar is your example of a troll free community, we definetly dont want to emulate them.

Is that true? I never go there since I can't register. Well certainly it's not fool proof, but it's just too easy now. By eliminating the use of free email accounts you can stop the same people from reregistering with a new name every day.

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

Is that true?

They're almost worse now than ever before. Totally swamped. It takes work to actually find a decent football discussion that hasn't been trampled on by trolls.

 

[homergreg]

Just offering up an observation. What would many of you do here without the Trolls? I know that a few of the type you have had recently are more irritating, posing as Patriot fans.

But I read this board a lot because it's fun to watch you all in search of trolls when the new people come and post, I enjoy the Colts on the brain posts from before too, but the troll hunts are just as enjoyable. Face it, some of you are hooked on troll meat, and maybe a couple of the posters here are cannibals, feasting on trolls here, while they are possibly a troll on another board? If you lock out the few trolls here, where will you go to get your "fix"?

It's all good though! I'm glad you all still have a great successful team to stoke your fire!

 

[njpatsfan]

A useful tool is a 10 day trial period where you can't post. Very effective against the "WE RULZ, YOU DRULZ" crowd. Usually, they can't remember what their login was after they sober up / get straight.

R

 

[len_mullen]

Easier Said than Done

I've thought about this a lot since in my town we are preparing to launch a website for political discourse and would like to limit access to locals without making registration management a nightmare.

So far, just a lot of bad ideas ;-)

In here, the best solution is to simply not respond to topics which are not interesting. Doesn't really matter why the topic is not interesting. Many in here feel compelled to identify these posters as trolls (I think this goes back to the Salem thing), doing so only bumps the threads.

The only management suggestions I have are (and I don't know if these are hard or even possible)...

1) include the 'post count' by the username of the last post
2) institute a waiting period between first login and first post of a newbie
3) not permit people to (bump) respond to their own posts

The waiting period (seven days) would discourage people who join to stirr things up before or after a particular event. The rest would simply help us not reply to uninteresting posts...if I came in and saw a provocative thread by a newbie with no replies, I might avoid it altogether.

First and foremost, though, don't feed the trolls...

 

[nhpatsfan]

I like all three - the small fee (it's got to cost a pretty penny to maintain this site), the mandatory week waiting period, and the non-anonymous email for registration.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Mandatory blood test should be required.

 

[Willie55]

Couldn't Ian get their IP address and ban that completely.

 

[Bella*chick]

Couldn't Ian get their IP address and ban that completely.

I'm sure he could, but there are ways to change your IP address. My friend knows of a way to rotate his IP number so it's never the same. Seems kind of silly and like alot of effort for nothing to me, but it's possible.

 

[Brownfan80]

No, you're not, and I fully support the idea.

I'm absolutely all for a registration fee. Even a ten dollar per year fee would cut back on a portion of the trolling. Make it 10 per month and it'd pretty much be limited down to the most desperate or dedicated of trolls.

 

[Brownfan80]

I'm absolutely all for a registration fee. Even a ten dollar per year fee would cut back on a portion of the trolling. Make it 10 per month and it'd pretty much be limited down to the most desperate or dedicated of trolls.

But I'm not sure if I'm down with the 'non-free-email' idea, as I exclusively use a gmail account. ;/

 

[Bella*chick]

But I'm not sure if I'm down with the 'non-free-email' idea, as I exclusively use a gmail account. ;/

Same with me and my MSN account. It's my account, it's what I use and have always used.

I'm allright with a registration fee though.

 

[patchick]

A useful tool is a 10 day trial period where you can't post. Very effective against the "WE RULZ, YOU DRULZ" crowd. Usually, they can't remember what their login was after they sober up / get straight.
R

I'm all for that...dissuades the passing game-of-the-week trolls simply and surprisingly effectively. I'd also be happy to pay a membership fee for this valuable service, though I recognize there are a lot of students and other loyal fans on the board for whom a fee could be a hardship.

But...PLEASE don't rule out free email accounts! For many of us, our only alternative is a work account which we are unable or unwilling to use for personal business. Plus you don't want to find yourself locked out of your patsfans account when you change jobs or ISPs. I use Yahoo mail for all my registrations for a reason.

 

[QuickOutGo]

I agree with the 10 day no-posting trial period. I think this would not only eliminate most troll threads but would also encourage well-meaning newcomers to read the board for a little while before posting something like "hey, everyone... I'm new to the forum so maybe this has been covered, but does anyone think we should have kept Bledsoe instead of Brady?"

I think registration fees are a bad idea. It'll keep trolls away, but will also probably get rid of most of the casual posters. And, as many have mentioned, free email accounts are way too commonly used by legitimate posters to ban their use.